Here's a picture of me with my famous hat. There may be more pictures here.
If you would like to be a Reverend, just visit the Universal Life Church at http://www.ulc.org and click your thingie on 'Become Ordained'. You can print out a certificate to put on your wall. Doctors are a bit more tricky because you have to send money, but at $20 it seemed like a good deal to me.
Unfortunately, it started making rather expensive noises :-( The expensive noises culminated in the back of the front propshaft detaching itself from the transfer box and proceeding to spin around taking chunks out of the gearbox housing and gearbox.
In the meantime I've acquired a Citroen BX 19 GTi. What a car! It's fabulous :-)
Latest news on the car front:
I've upgraded from the BX to a shiny and relatively new Citroen Xantia. When I bought it, it was just coming up to 3 years old with 72,000 miles on the clock. It's an excellent 'Q-car' :-) Although it's disguised as a standard Xantia, it actually has a 3-litre V6 under the bonnet, producing about 200 bhp. Woof! It also has a very smart automatic gearbox, which watches how you're driving and adjusts it's programme accordingly. Fantastic.
Aug 2003 - the Xantia has accumulated 140,000 miles, and it's booked in for a major service/overhaul. Among the things needed are a major service, a new cambelt and a new LHM pump.
Aug 2004 - I seem to have had a bit of a car upgrade :-) I now have a Mercedes Benz C43 AMG. It's the small Mercedes Benz saloon, but it has what can only be described as a ludicrously large engine. It's a 4.3 V8 with 302 bhp and 302 lb-ft of torque! Woo-hoo! The acceleration is just relentless. 0-60 in an alledged 5.8 seconds. The brakes are equally awesome, and I'm just starting to learn that the handling is phenomenal too. My one is a 1999 model which cost GBP 47,000 when it was new (plus optional extras - I have xenon headlights and a boot spoiler, amongst others). I'm pleased to report I only paid a small fraction of that amount for it :-)
I still have the Xantia, so I've become a 2 car family :-) Now I have a choice of speed or comfort, although niether option is too bad in the other department :-)
For some time I had a half share of a Citroen BX GTi 16V, which was the most-fun-to-drive car I've had for a very long time. Like the Peugeot 205, it just wants you to drive it faster all the time, and with 160 bhp it has the means to do it. What a fabulous car. Martyn (the other part-owner) and I sold it on eBay for GBP 500, as part of our Car Rationalisation Scheme.
Feb 2010 - I ran my original Xantia V6 up to 199,000 miles. Then I got another one, a MkII V6 for 1000 pounds. After a year or so that became uneconomic to repair - it needed a new gearbox and a second-hand one was going to be about 1,600 quid. So, for about a month I had the BL Autos and Sons courtesy car - a Xantia estate with a 2 litre diesel and a manual gearbox.
Now, with BL's help, I've bought a Citroen C5. It's a 2001 saloon in silver with only 46,000 miles on the clock. It's a 2.2 litre turbo-diesel with leather interior, cruise control (essential) and a manual gearbox. Having the Xantia estate kind of acclimatised me to diesels, and the C5 is much quicker than the Xantia ever was. So I'm damn pleased with it :-) Hopefully, when I next need a new car I'll be able to get an automatic again. Changing gears is OK, but why would you if you had technology to do it for you?
There are more details of the Benz on my blog.
| UPDATE: the Benz is currently up for sale. GBP 6,000 and it's yours! Mail me if you're interested - benz at dr-jan dot com. |
Eric lives in Atlanta and has a fabulous job.
Big Nick lives in Southampton and has a fabulous bathroom.
Robert lives in South London
and has a fabulous family tree.
Patrick lives in the country and has a fabulous bottom.
And I virtually live at http://www.cix.co.uk/~jives/.
You may also wish to check out http://www.dr-jan.com.