Museum

With time to kill after the BMF Show I made the short hop to Coventry to take a wander around their transport museum. Unusually, for an English museum it has free entry, and although you are encouraged to buy a programme or make a donation there is no great pressure to do so, but it does seem a bit churlish not to contribute something.

Unfortunately, the motorcycle room was closed due to some renovation, but otherwise I found it a well thought out museum with enough stuff on display to keep your interest. I reckon that it's well worth a visit if you're in the area.

Hogwarts Underpass

While in Peterborough for the BMF Show Terry and I came across this Harry Potter mural on the walls of an underpass.

Professor Dumbledore

Fawkes the Phoenix

Hogwarts School

Dobby the House Elf

Hedwig the Owl

Harry Potter

BMF Show 2014

A week or so ago Terry and I visited the BMF Show in Peterborough. 

Here are some more photos.

Roadworthy Again

I finally got around to servicing the Tiger at the weekend in anticipation of taking it for its MOT certificate (annual inspection certificate). The place that I use doesn't require that you book an appointment, you can just drop by and take pot luck. Sometimes they're really busy, other times not so much, and how long it takes depends on just how busy they are and how many staff they have working that day. I took the bike over on Monday afternoon during my lunch hour as I reckoned that it would likely be quiet, and so it proved. 

No matter how much care and attention I spend preparing the bike, I find that there's always a niggling doubt in my mind about it passing. This is usually groundless, but this year my nerves weren't helped by another bloke in the waiting area going on and on about failing for worn tyres. Suddenly I couldn't remember if I'd checked my own tyres or not, so that was one more thing to worry about.

Then, it's a bit like that overlong pause before hosts on TV shows announce the winners, or who's getting voted off next. They come in and take the next vehicle away, but no one says anything about your one. And then, just when you're starting to fear the worst the tester duly appears and hands over the certificate. No problems, no advisories, nothing to sort out any time soon. Whew! That's that over for another year.

Foiled!

I woke up to the alarm in my shed going off one night last week. On spotting me advancing down the path in my underpants, a terrifying sight I'll grant you, the miscreant took off like an Olympic sprinter and never looked back.

A few hours later and I had to get up for work and on taking the dogs out for their morning constitutional I spotted a bicycle and a large black holdall lying across the road. Thinking that they might have belonged to the would-be thief I brought them indoors and opened up the holdall.

Now what would a would-be burglar be doing lugging a set of bagpipes around with him? The mind boggled.

I reported it all to the police who sprang into action and sent someone round a day or two later to take a statement and collect the bicycle and bagpipes. It seems that the 'pipes had most likely been stolen from the boot of one of the cars broken into the same night, probably by the same person that I'd scared away.

Pity, really. I had been having visions of someone cycling around whilst playing the 'pipes in the wee sma' hours. 

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