Also, what Alpin said.

What Shoko said, except just leave the tube in.

Nope. Started with the best of intentions, but all I ended up doing was snacking more instead. I’m still mildly determined not to buy any new beer this year – radler doesn’t count – and get the stocks I’ve built up down to a sensible level, but I’m not going to deny myself a few beers or a whisky over a week.

Came here to suggest Slovenia, but I see it’s already been done.

L322. Utterly brilliant when they’re working – we put 70k on ours with very few faults. A bad one will be a nightmare, of course.

I’m 6’2½” in the old money, and ride a Large Scandal. It felt big at first, but that feeling disappears quite quickly – probably after a few pedal strokes. An XL would feel absolutely massive.

@smiffy That’s exactly my experience of Switzerland as well. I just stay away from Switzerland nowadays.

Chilling on a secluded beach somewhere, with Kate Middleton and Shergar.

I love that Ron Swanson quote about skimmed milk.

T5 all day every day. Mine’s on 400k now. T4s are horribly agricultural in comparison. Transits have an awkward driving position and I could never get my clutch foot comfortable. Any Vito in Sweden will be rotten by now. Trafics aren’t awful.

Yeah, not enough information. What’s it for? Have you buggered the seal by overtightening it? Have you tried Gummi Pfelge or Vaseline on it? Can you use gasket paper or even instant gasket instead?

NI car? Yeah, I would. If only because then you can legally have those cool Eurostile Bold type numberplates than shitey New Charles Wright ones.

I’ve had four nights of shit sleep in a row, and I’ve had literally one beer this month, over a week ago. Wondering if it’s just the full moon, though.

Not in any great rush to drink at the moment, and passed up on the whisky festival here this weekend. Not feeling bad about missing it, tbh.

The Vosges is fab with kids – lots of good hiking, Gerardemer for pedaloing, and an amazing luge track.

I was being flippant last night, but I really, really dislike Venice. You know that the Japanese embassy in Paris has the Japan room for tourists who’ve grown up thinking that it’s some Louis XIV fairytale wonderland, then they get there and it’s busy, dirty, and utterly unlike the fantasy they’ve been sold? That. That’s Venice. Yes, it’s beautiful, but it’s busy, dirty, overpriced, and lacking any sort of soul whatsoever. If you want fairytale, take the kids to De Efteling at Katsheuvel.

Anyway. A whole month off! You lucky sod. I’d be overwhelmed by the choice, tbh. I’ve never had more than two and a bit weeks, so haven’t really had time to venture too far. How about some islands? Corsica and Sardinia are both fantastic in very different ways. I think you can even get a ferry from Sardinia to Greece?

Soča Valley in Slovenia hasn’t been ruined yet. I’d avoid Venice as it’s shit.

I have no useful contribution to make.

Don’t forget to buy your Vignette just before crossing the border. You can do it on the internet if you like, but I like having the sticker.

Platoon, and the music was Barber’s Adagio for Strings.

Neck’s not wide enough. You need a Lipton ice tea bottle.

VWoA’s recommendation is 10 years or 100,000 miles. And that’s in litigation-friendly America. The first cambelt on both of our TTs was also supposed to be done at 116k. We sold the last one with a six year old cambelt. I checked it at five years old when the camshaft position sensor failed and it was absolutely fine. I’d check it yearly but not give it too much thought.

Oooh, yes please!

Strong Work Ethic always equals Willing to be Shafted whenever I hear it from an employer. I had a boss like that once. Biggest prick of a boss I have ever had. He tried to put me on a performance management programme because I wouldn’t go over my paid hours. HR quickly put him right on that one. That company had the highest rate of employee turnover I have ever seen, and as soon as I’d paid for our wedding I was off.

I’ve already failed at dryness, as I’ve already mentioned.  But that’s fine, as the few beers I’ve had have made me realise that I don’t need beer.

I’ve got two Fulli tags – one purely for France, and another that does France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. The tags are free but it’s a tenner delivery. Costs me 1,70€ PCM that it’s used if it’s only used in France, and (I think) 2,80€ PCM that it’s used in the other countries. I was anti for ages, but a couple of really bad queues and not having to wake my sleeping co-driver changed my mind. I genuinely wouldn’t be without them now.

Agree with the fizzy juice volume – no way I could drink the volume of fizzy juice that I can easily drink when it comes to beer. Fizzy juice is usually a good bit fizzier, mind you.

As an aside, when the weather’s better? Post-ride cold ice tea is preferable to cold beer.

I managed from the 31st of December until Friday there, when I just really fancied a beer. Started but never finished an Erdinger Dunkel. Had one blonde sitting outside the pub on Saturday afternoon, and a bloody Mary later that evening. Got bored with a Chimay Bruin yesterday and didn’t finish it. Last night was the worst night’s sleep I’ve had this year. Whether there’s a correlation or not, I couldn’t say. I’m not drinking for the rest of the week now, because I’m not feeling like I ‘need’ to.

I’ve set myself a challenge not to buy any more beer this year. I’ll fail at some point, obviously, but it’s still worth a try.

Amsterdam is actually great with kids. The Rijksmuseum is too much at that age, but the Van Gogh Museum is not, especially with the Pokémon speurtocht they have now. Nemo is also excellent, as is Ripley’s Believe it or Not. When you take the tram, try to sit by a monster window – you close one eye and bob your head up and down to ‘eat’ the pedestrians you pass.

The area around the station and Damrak can be a bit grimly touristy, but away from there and it’s fine. Vondelpark is lovely to wander around on a summer’s day, and PC Hoofdstraat next door is great for people watching and people watching watching – it’s full of vulgar expensive shops and supercars.

You’ll find lots of good eating pretty much everywhere, but you should also try shitty snack food from a wall. A broodje kroket is deliciously awful.

Same, but the sequel was excellent.

My outlaws are like toddlers in one particular respect and it maddened me the last time they were here. Felt like I spent 75% of my time moving stuff away from edges. Mugs and glasses an inch from table edges. Mobiles and I pads hanging over the edge. Ridiculous. Drove me mental.

Accidentally in. Got covid on NYE, and have barely eaten in the past week. Definitely haven’t drunk. Feel like shit, tbh, but sleeping better. Last year was a boozy year for me due to stress, so would be good to cut down this year.

I’ve hardly touched them since their minimalist redesign, because I have minimalist redesigns. Poor Mr. Pringle’s lost all his joy.

Anyway. Start with one at a time, double up very soon after, and sooner or later settle on three to five at a time.

Exactly that. Keeping stuff going is the ultimate in sustainability. Anyway, I came across these guys at the Essen Motor Show, where they had a Taiga green 956 on 18″ Cookie Cutters:

https://www.blackrhinowheels.com/porsche-cayenne-off-road-wheels

Don’t forget that G-Wagens have the same PCD as well, so loads of proper offroad wheels available.

Excellent. In for the ride.

You can leave a 986 on the street. Being older and easier to steal conversely means it’s probably less desirable and harder to steal now.

My best pal picked up a 986 for £1200 a few weeks ago. It had sat on a driveway for a good few years at that point. He spent the weekend cleaning it, put a fresh battery in it, and stuck it in for an MoT. It failed on a top mount and brake pipes. He’s spending the winter refreshing the suspension with the view to using it all summer. At that money, he literally can’t lose money on it. They’re still out there…

I’d argue that if you want PDK, then you don’t want a Porsche at all. Yes, it makes for lightning quick shifts and will shave half a second off a Nürburgring lap time, but it’s ultimately joyless and uninvolving.

The theme tune to Grange Hill was originally the theme tune to Give Us a Clue.

How TF are you only getting 15mpg out of a Boxster? Is it a Tip 986 and you’re constantly sitting in traffic? I did 1,500 miles in a week in a 987 with a former friend a few years ago in all sorts of conditions and still managed late 20s to early 30s!

What’s your budget, where do you live, how much are you prepared to do yourself, and probably most importantly, have you ever driven one?

I bought a cheap 964 ten years ago. It had a massive oil leak and a week’s MoT left. I managed to get it on a ramp to ascertain that it wasn’t rotten and that was that. Ten years later it’s been all over Europe with me and I can’t ever see me selling it.

Oil changes from Porsche – for keeping history up, if you care about that – aren’t actually that expensive. I think the older 997s fall under the Classic Programme now. My 964 was £200 for an oil change and a stamp in the book, so the cost difference between buying the oil and filters yourself and dealing with waste oil afterwards wasn’t worth it.

Every part is available. Literally. My thirty year old ignition switch was becoming temperamental earlier this year and the replacement bought was a genuine part that had been made last year. I think it was 115€.

They are huge now, though. The 964’s a dainty wee thing but a 997 absolutely isn’t.  I know a Boxster or Cayman isn’t what you want, but try one. It might actually be exactly what you want!

Wow. Too young.

I’ll second the 99 thoughts, but have to mention his excellentness as a voice actor as well. Couldchuck Burkowitz and the police chief in Zootropolis? Hot damn!