Mississippi Bullfrog

The tennis ball idea is very old school. Maybe I should give it a go, it seemed to work. I just thought it looked a bit naff back in the day. These day...who cares? I'm too old to worry about such things. (Except bar muffs...I'm not that old.)

Today's nomination is anyone who drives a white BMW. For some reason I had three of them pull out right in front of me because they came a junction and couldn't be bothered to stop and look.

Coming back on a rural A road the car in front went through a very dirty puddle which then meant it was sending up muck for the next few hundred yards. Not wet enough to wipe away without smearing. In the dark with oncoming headlights it was pretty horrible. But the wet wipe did the trick. Even wearing Gerbing heated gloves I had the dexterity to flip it back under the fuel cap flap and chuck it in the bin when I got home. There was nowhere I could have stopped on that road which usually means I'm riding with vastly reduced visibility or have to open the visor and get the crap all over my glasses. Quite pleased with that idea. But I'll look at the doggy bag suggestion as well. Probably easier than the fuel flap.

I shall have a look at those, maybe steal my sister's, she has dogs. I shoved a biodegradable wet wipe under the fuel tank flap today. Only needed it once but it worked. The tricky bit was getting it back under the flap afterwards.

See above - there is nowhere to stop on the M57. Just to repeat. I carry a spray of Muc-Off visor cleaner. I carry a microfibre cloth. When I can stop I use these to clean my visor. But there are times I can't stop and the visor is so dirty it is hard to see clearly. I've been riding for 40 years - I have a little bit of knowledge about riding in winter conditions and the need to clean the visor when it is possible to stop.

Those are fine - but it's where you can keep it on the handlebars to get at on the move. The old system of a wet sponge in a container was simple and worked really well. I don't know why I stopped using it but I since whatever I had it in has gone I suspect it just broke and one summer I chucked it away and never got round to replacing it. It was probably just something I zip tied to the handlebars but I can't think what it was. Just thought someone who rides all winter might have a suggestion. I can get a bit of sponge no problem.

One of my regular journeys is up the M57 - no services at all and no slip roads where you can pull off and then get back on again. It's not long but it is long enough that on a day when the road is wet but it's not actually raining the visor gets covered in salt and crud very quickly. To stop would mean using the hard shoulder, which is not ideal. The spray bottle and microfibre cloth is in the top box. On particularly bad days, when the road has been gritted and is damp, I'd need to be stopping very frequently. So it's either stopping on the hard shoulder which I prefer not to - or being able to give the visor a quick wipe and being able to see properly.

That's a bit Formula 1 - not sure I quite qualify for that just yet. Plus it's not great for the environment. I will try a wet wipe shoved between my instrument cluster and screen.

I used to have a wet sponge on the handlebars, it was really good for those days when muck is thrown up but not enough rain to wipe the visor clean. I get the police and being in control thing, but giving the visor a wipe with a wet sponge isn't that much difference from wiping it with a glove. It's safer to be able to see than to be riding half blind on a stretch of motorway where you can't stop.

I carry a spray and cloth to clean the visor at stops. Riding in heavy rain isn't an issue it just runs off. But visiting my mum in hospital with the road so filthy but not actually raining means the visor is getting splattered but there's no enough moisture to wipe it off. I used to have a sponge in a little container but I can't see anyone selling things like that these days. I might try a V sponge if I pass J&S this morning. But any other brilliant hacks to clean the visor whilst tootling along in the outside lane of a motorway?

Thanks guys. I got back home about 10.00ish - had a bite to eat, opened a few cards then crashed out. Everything else can wait for another day. My mum is in a quite serious condition but the staff at the hospital have been excellent. A very different story from when she fell Oct 2022 and was in for 8 weeks being shunted from ward to ward because no-one wanted to know about an elderly lady who had a broken shoulder and multiple other issues as a result. They just wanted to deal with the shoulder and ignore everything else. But this time she's on a dedicated stroke ward and they know what they're doing. Daughter is OK, but sore. Granddaughter is fine thank goodness. The insurance is sorting the car out which is a hassle but these things happen. Wheeled bike out of garage this morning, up the icy slope, and went arse over tit - but saved the bike. Life's just that little bit better! The big issue is what happens when my mother needs to be discharged as she lives alone and I suspect won't be able to cope. I'm parking that worry for when we need to cross that particular bridge.

Thank you. Unfortunately birthday celebrations are postponed - my mother had a stroke yesterday and someone crashed into the back of our daughter's car with her toddler on the back seat. We waited the usual 7 hours for an ambulance - and then they said that for a stroke they are required to get her into the assessment unit within 6 hours so she got shunted to A&E which was a solid row of trolleys backed up the full lenght of the unit and out in the back corridor. Fortunately someone saw sense and fast-tracked her back to the stroke unit. But we were there all night and just about woke up in time to clear my wife's car of snow so she could go to work.

When you ride motorbikes any car is just a tin box on wheels. I always buy something 2-3 years old then run it into the ground. As they older and more battered I enjoy them more. I only had a new car once and hated it.

Some years ago I was asked with regard to a gas fire - Did a professional fix that? To which I answered with complete honesty - Yes. I am a professional. Just not a professional gas fitter. They had their chance, several times, and failed.

It 4.4C here, so positively Mediterranean. Today I am salvaging the remains of the fence that blew down before Christmas to make compost bays.

I had to turn my gloves up to medium heat this morning. I didn't think it felt that cold. Maybe it's just very damp at the moment. Or the onset of old age!

It was indeed. I had to break the ice inside my boat before I could go sailing today.

So far so good. Getting the door open wasn't as bad as I'd feared. The hinges do have grub screws so I'd have been stuffed going down that route. Turns out the central lock mechanism is worn so the push rods running to the rollers and top and bottom gearboxes aren't running right leaving the rollers and hooks partially engaged. A bit of levering persuaded them to open. Sealco in Scotland have been very helpful identifying parts. The actual multipoint mechanism is obsolete but the separate gearboxes are still available. So I've had to butcher the current gearboxes to allow them to close the door and lock it without it jamming. Then order new gearboxes and retro fit them to the existing faceplate.

The lock itself is OK. It's the multipoint mechanism that has failed somewhere. The butt hinges are accessible but whether replacement pins are obtainable if I cut them? I'm hoping the pins can be drifted out but that depends whether they have the hidden grub screw. I think I've identified the hinges and the schematic doesn't show a grub screw so I may be lucky. It is a back door with two glass panels so if I can get those out it ought to give me some wriggle room with the door itself.

My weekend, which means Friday as I work the actual weekend, will be spent trying to open my daughter's upvc kitchen door. It unlocks but Turing the handle doesn't release the door. I suspect they had a few issues but didn't do anything until it failed completely. Locksmiths don't want to know about it. I am very much hoping the hinge pins aren't held in by a grub screw which you can only get at with the door open!

No idea about the insurance. I bought a bike that had been written off and it wasn't a problem. In that case it had been nicked and needed a new ignition barrel. That was it - otherwise the bike was perfect.

The reason their profits declined is because I cancelled all my policies with them after they suddenly decided they weren't willing to quote for renewing the insurance on my Vauxhall Astra. Now I realise that as a high performance supercar the Astra represents a massive risk for them but they'd insured it quite happily for the past 13 years so I don't see why they suddenly got frightened of it.

I bought my mesh jacket for about 1/3 usual price in March. Generally things are so bad retailer's are cutting things close all year round so there's little margin for sales.

I got to sail my new boat before the year was out. Rather lively wind but j stayed the right way up.

I'm still waiting to hear that Stu has been made a knight of the realm in the New Year Honours list. For services to mental health and wellbeing by keeping this place on the road. It would be a better choice than the toads I have seen so far whose only contribution seems to have been to line their own pockets, or just do a job they are already well paid for.