Equal measures

Today is one of my favourite days of the year. It’s the Spring Equinox. It’s a milestone for me every year. A sure sign that we’ve made it through the gloom of Winter and longer, warmer days are on the way.

And it was a scorcher! The Upgrade said 18 degrees. Yes, my new car tells me the temperature. The Comedy Car was devoid of this feature. So now I can actually know, rather than just going with hot or cold.

The Upgrade also has working air conditioning. Now that’s a real luxury. The Comedy Car did have AC, but it didn’t work. Rather pumped out even hotter air! Kinda defeated the object really. I got used to the windswept look from having the window open. I usually arrived slightly battered. But no more…

Buddy had his own AC today. A naked day in the field. After months of rugs, it must feel good to have the sun on his back. I sat with it on my face and boy did it feel good!

Spring is my favourite season. Full of hope and wonder. Days like today make me smile.

Rear view

The Upgrade has had an upgrade. And so has Bert. He’s getting too big to be on the front seat next to me. Bless him, I keep hitting him in the head when I change gear. The Upgrade has a much bigger boot than the Comedy Car, so it’s time for Bert to graduate to the rear.

In order to do that, I had to get a dog guard fitted. Ordered a posh boot liner too. The dog guard said it was easy to fit. No tools needed. 10 mins max. My arse!! Whoever wrote that was very optimistic to say the least.

I started last night. After much huffing and puffing, I got the boot liner to fit, so I started on the dog guard. It took me 20 mins and a screwdriver to do step 1. So before I threw the bloody thing on the floor, I quit.

Today saw Round 2. I looked liked I’ve been in a wrestling match by the time I’d finished. Honestly, I needed about 5 hands to sort it. And a hammer! There may have been a bit more huffing and puffing. There was definitely a lot of swearing!

Still I got it secured in the end. Let’s see if Bert actually goes in there now. Thankfully I have years loading horses, there must be similarities. Right?! Fingers crossed he enjoys the rear view…

The upgrade

Today’s been a busy one with a flying trip to my Dad’s. My Dad bought himself a new car (well it was his birthday). That means I get his old one! So I went down to pick up ‘The Upgrade’.

I got the train down. It’s the first time I’ve been to London in a long time. But it was plain sailing all the way. I had a few flashbacks to my commuter days. Especially when we stopped at London Bridge.

I’d gone back and forth over whether to take Bert with me or leave him with someone. I think he would have been OK with the trains, but I wasn’t sure. Thankfully two friends came to the rescue and looked after him between them. Sounds like he had a lovely day. You can see how tired he is.

Driving my new car meant I had a rather lovely day too. It made a huge difference on the M25 I can tell you. Let’s face it, the Comedy Car doesn’t go that fast, so made a refreshing change to put my foot down and get a reaction. Going to have to watch I don’t get too carried away. I’d rather not do another speed awareness course…

Upgrades

This is the latest upgrade for the Buddymobile. It can run hot and with the hot weather, I wanted to make sure Buddy is as comfortable as possible.

He’s already like an oversized Labrador with his head out the window as I keep the living one open. I can see him sticking his head towards it was we drive along.

This is the next logical step. And works a treat. Took Buddy over to a friend’s this morning, so while we went for a hack, her partner fitted the fan.

It’s been so hot today, Buddy definitely approved. It also helped to keep me cool while I was cleaning the lorry after getting back.