Q&A 107 - Palmer palming in the Bahamas // Smith and Sniff podcast

[00:00:01]I'm Richard Porter.

[00:00:02]>> I'm Johnny Smith and this is on the other side of things, the Smith and Sniff spin-off in which we answer your questions.

[00:00:12]Oi, oi.

[00:00:13]>> Well, here we are again for our Friday Q&A show answering listeners questions and do you know what? I've got one right here.

[00:00:20]>> What? Really? You're ready?

[00:00:23]>> Yeah, it's No, the this is a listener who has just signed themselves K.

[00:00:29]>> Okay.

[00:00:30]>> Their email address reveals their full first name. I'm not sure if they don't want us to use it, so let's just go with K.

[00:00:36]>> Tread carefully, my son.

[00:00:38]>> This person says, "Hello, you pair of recalcitrant window switches.

[00:00:43]My question is a simple one and relates to something that really gets my goat.

[00:00:47]Why do the ill-informed call those number plates 4D?"

[00:00:53]Now, K has got a little bit of sort of supplemental explanation here.

[00:00:58]They go on to say, "As any good engineer or mathematician will tell you, all objects have three axes, X, Y, and Z.

[00:01:05]>> Yes.

[00:01:05]>> This covers the length, width, and depth of an object. All things in the universe are 3D, even if like a piece of paper, the Z is very small.

[00:01:14]>> Yeah.

[00:01:14]>> The fourth dimension, as we all know, is time.

[00:01:17]In fact, the Oxford English Dictionary defines it as such.

[00:01:21]Therefore, those number plates are not any more 4D than the rest of us as we all whiz around the galaxy.

[00:01:27]The plastic flat number plates that most normal people use are 3D, just flat. The really old ones you see in black and silver on Morgans, etc., are still 3D, even if the letters are raised. They're just raised plastic ones.

[00:01:41]>> Yeah.

[00:01:41]>> Therefore, there is no 4D. It can't be 4D. It makes no sense to call them 4D, so why do people say this? Yours through gritted teeth, K."

[00:01:51]>> I Look, I'm I'm with you, K.

[00:01:55]I'm with you. I I tried to imagine a world where they don't exist.

[00:02:00]If I just want to cheer myself up sometimes, it's my happy place of like number plates which uh make the car less aerodynamic, more of a snag hazard to cleaning cloths, all sorts of >> Yes.

[00:02:13]>> ruining of arrow on on cars. Like, you know, imagine the Mercedes-Benz or Tesla engineers have tried to make a car as efficient or Toyota Prius or whatever.

[00:02:23]Tried to make this car as wind internal efficient as possible. And then some absolute like mouth breather has put 4D plates on it. Raised digit 3D. Should Should we just start calling them raised digit? I mean, maybe the owner should be just called a raised digit. You're an absolute raised digit to be buying such moronic plates.

[00:02:43]They look [ __ ] >> Yeah.

[00:02:46]Um >> They do, though.

[00:02:47]>> But I can't explain it. I think a while ago, did we not we sort of half suggested something on this podcast, which was that we would just start and encouraging other people to universally refer to them as pedo plates >> [clears throat] >> and therefore drive them out of fashion with stigma. But um it's still worth doing.

[00:03:08]>> Do you think so?

[00:03:08]>> Just go No, yeah. That's the way the government lets you know that that person's on an on the register.

[00:03:13]>> It's a pedo plate.

[00:03:14]>> number plates. Yeah, pedo plates they're called.

[00:03:16]>> Wow.

[00:03:17]>> Colloquially. But yes, they're offenders register number plates. They're I don't I I don't I don't think they look good.

[00:03:23]Is is my biggest beef perhaps is I don't even think they look good. I think they sort of look cheap somehow because they look a bit like you've made them in CDT at school. Like maybe your school's suddenly got like a new laser cutting machine for plastic and you're sparingly allowed access to it one period a week.

[00:03:43]So you've made some number plates.

[00:03:46]And it's Yeah, they just look shite.

[00:03:50]>> They're gash, okay? So we should just call them gash plates.

[00:03:54]>> Oh, last yes, good idea. Yeah.

[00:03:56]>> Yeah, plates of gash.

[00:03:57]>> Yeah.

[00:03:58]>> Uh oh, I've one thing I forgot I must add is uh I think one or two auto socks ago >> Mhm.

[00:04:06]>> somebody wrote in to and they called us a um a Toyota Tacoma gasket set.

[00:04:12]Do you remember?

[00:04:12]>> Yes.

[00:04:13]>> Well, one of our friends who listens Matt Tomkins from Practical Classics magazine, Matt actually messaged me to say, "You do know the reference to that, don't you?" And I said, "No." And he forwarded me an image which I'm going to forward to you right now, Richard, because it now makes perfect sense.

[00:04:35]>> Oh, okay.

[00:04:37]>> It's it's a >> [laughter] >> It's a It's It's a water pump gasket for a Toyota Tacoma, I think 1996 to 2010 model.

[00:04:49]>> Mhm.

[00:04:49]>> Um but the gasket set resembles a How would you put it? Slightly crooked shaft and balls.

[00:04:57]>> It's like a biological biology textbook outline drawing of of a gentleman's parts.

[00:05:04]>> Yes.

[00:05:04]>> Both of them. Or what you're you know, the both components of.

[00:05:09]>> Yeah.

[00:05:10]>> Good. Okay, very good. I didn't know that. But that's that's lovely.

[00:05:15]>> Um >> Isn't that nice? So, thanks for that, Matt. I didn't realize that >> Yeah.

[00:05:18]>> that someone was actually referring to that um >> No, no.

[00:05:21]>> on that side of things.

[00:05:22]>> That's good. Yeah.

[00:05:23]>> [laughter] >> I'll just do this one only because of the intro. Although it is a good question as well. It's from a listener called Simon who says, "Greetings you fine pair of MOT failures due to near side front suspension component mounting prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength."

[00:05:40]>> [laughter] >> Good.

[00:05:43]>> These these are getting good.

[00:05:45]>> says, we That is good.

[00:05:46]>> These are good He says, "Can we talk about the Citroen CX Turbo and how wonderful it looks?" And he sent a link to that um infamous uh advert for the CX with Grace Jones.

[00:05:59]She sort of has a hydraulic head and stuff.

[00:06:01]>> She does. It's quite menacing. Yeah.

[00:06:04]>> It's It's a fabulous video. And he uh he point rightly points out Grace Jones was surely made for this video.

[00:06:11]>> Yeah.

[00:06:11]>> My question is, what other car star combo from the '80s would have been more magnificent? Perhaps Robert Palmer in a Senator 3000 CD driving through the Cairngorms. Or Mike Rutherford in a De Tomaso Pantera jumping over five elephants on on a wooden ramp.

[00:06:31]>> [laughter] >> Mike Rutherford, what? From Mike and the Mechanics?

[00:06:37]>> Yes, I think he means from Mike and the Mechanics rather than Mike Rutherford the car journalist. I don't know.

[00:06:41]>> I was going to say. But Mike would work.

[00:06:42]>> Yeah, okay.

[00:06:45]Um >> Yeah, that's very specific. I don't see Mike Rutherford as a De Tomaso Pantera sort of bloke. I don't see Mike as that.

[00:06:50]>> I don't.

[00:06:51]I I'd see him as a Saab 9000 guy.

[00:06:54]>> Oh, yes.

[00:06:55]>> Because he's he just wants a bit of comfort and peace and quiet because he's thinking up ideas on the way to another uh session in the studio.

[00:07:04]>> Exactly. He's He's not one for idiotic rock star excess. He's just like, "No.

[00:07:11]If I did that jump over those elephants, I might damage my guitar in the boot.

[00:07:14]So, no. I'm going to just take the Saab, which has got a very roomy boot. So, if Phil needs help moving his drums, I can do that.

[00:07:21]>> Yeah.

[00:07:21]>> But um also, it's just very comfortable.

[00:07:24]And it's got a good stereo. And those are things I value.

[00:07:27]>> Is there a more '80s combo than Grace Jones and a Citroen CX Turbo?

[00:07:33]Ooh, gosh.

[00:07:35]>> Let's see. Robert Palmer in a Senator, maybe. Yes, but not the Cairngorms. I always think of Robert Palmer as sort of being in the Caribbean for some week.

[00:07:43]>> Yeah. No, I'm with you on that. It would have to be Bahama-based or um >> But then you wouldn't stick him in a Mini Moke. It's not suave enough.

[00:07:52]>> No. What do you do? What do you go convertible?

[00:07:55]>> What about a Saab cab? A white Saab cab.

[00:07:58]>> Oh gosh, yes.

[00:08:00]>> Palmer in the Bahamas, >> Palmer in the Bahamas.

[00:08:04]>> [laughter] >> in a white all white Saab cab even though it was white and he's just >> in the Bahamas.

[00:08:10]>> He's he's wearing a lot of linen.

[00:08:11]>> Well, they would turn into the airbrake that we've talked about before, won't he in a convertible if he's not careful.

[00:08:16]Well, you know, the back fills up of your shirt and you realize as you're driving along your body [snorts] looks twice the size because your shirt is full of compressed air.

[00:08:26]>> [snorts] >> Yeah.

[00:08:27]>> What about though um if I'm trying to think what you would put Obviously there's there's Bryan Ferry in a white in a white dinner suit Jaguar XJ12 series 3.

[00:08:41]>> Would he he be in the the XJ12 for the I'm just trying to think of anything that's a little anything more suave than that? Would it be a Maserati a slightly badly put together Maserati?

[00:08:53]>> XJS cabriolet might >> XJS >> might hit hit some suave notes if uh >> Prime Palmering territory that. Prime Palmering, isn't it?

[00:09:02]>> Oh yeah.

[00:09:04]Palmer in the Bahamas Palmering the Jag.

[00:09:06]>> Robert Palmer cuz obviously if he's in a cab he's on his Palmering is on full display for all to see.

[00:09:13]>> For all to revel in the majesty of his flat-handed steering style.

[00:09:18]>> out of a junction and it's it's sort of a dirt road near a remote beach that he's been to to just enjoy himself.

[00:09:25]>> Yeah.

[00:09:26]>> But he slightly under-corrects it while it's getting out of the junction.

[00:09:29]So he ends up clunking a stone and putting the tracking out straight away.

[00:09:35]>> Oh no.

[00:09:36]>> So it's quite hard to park on the way back cuz the car's creeping.

[00:09:39]>> I was going to say that he he's gives it a bit too much welly on a beach road that's got a fine covering of of a very thin sand.

[00:09:49]>> Yeah.

[00:09:50]>> It steps out. His refusal to use a full grip on the steering wheel because he is by definition Robert Palmer and he he doesn't quite gather it up correctly and the XJS simply drives onto the beach and gets stuck.

[00:10:05]But rather than this becoming a situation, Robert simply allows it to come to rest and then gets out. Now, happily some people are having a lovely barbecue on the beach just nearby. He just gets out, walks up, someone hands him a beer and he just he just makes it look like he wanted to do that all along.

[00:10:19]>> Do they say, "We'll give you a lift back to your your villa if you want." And he just leaves the Jag and it gets claimed by the tide and he goes and buys another one the next day.

[00:10:28]>> [laughter] >> It's the fifth one I've lost this year, but hey, I'm in the Bahamas and life is good.

[00:10:33]>> Um right, let's do another letter that doesn't involve Robert Palmer. This one's from Steven Steve Steven Anderson. Hi you pair of grease nipples.

[00:10:44]>> Steven Steve?

[00:10:45]>> No, not Steven Stevens. Um although it would lovely be great to get a letter from Steve Stevens.

[00:10:52]Um >> Yeah.

[00:10:53]>> Steven Ande- Anderson, "Hi you pair of grease nipples. I've got a motoring etiquette question. I'm a sales director who does an awful lot of motorway work in a 3 L petrol Audi Q7 covering 120,000 miles in less than 3 years. Goodness me, Steven. You must have a fuel card. Wow.

[00:11:13]As a result, I find myself at a petrol station two or three times a week. Thank Oh, thank goodness for company petrol cards in brackets.

[00:11:22]I know both your views on SUVs such as this, so please don't hate me. I also have an Allegro Vanden Plas and I'm a Rover driver at heart, so I'm not sure if the forgiveness is there in my choice of SUV. I think it is.

[00:11:35]I think it is, Stephen.

[00:11:37]What an interesting two-car garage. Um >> [laughter] >> My My question My question is this.

[00:11:42]Imagine doing 120,000 mi in 3 years in an Allegro. That That's not his question, that's my question. I would I'd love [laughter] that.

[00:11:50]Um My question is, when there's a queue at a petrol station, the rear pump is occupied and the front pump becomes free, what's the correct etiquette? Do you drive around the car at the rear pump and use the free one speeding the queue up or do you wait behind and move forward as a pair when they leave?

[00:12:11]I ask because I've managed to upset people doing both.

[00:12:15]>> What?

[00:12:16]>> On one occasion, the front pump became free whilst the car behind remained at the rear pump. After waiting for a moment, I squeezed the Q7 through the gap and filled up. The chap behind then gave me an earful for pushing in and becoming impatient.

[00:12:31]He then went to pay, returned to his car, decided he couldn't fit around me and sat there blocking all four pumps with his arms folded to protest at the wheel of his Ford EcoSport, uh, despite the fact that I just maneuvered something the size of a small cross-country ferry through the same gap.

[00:12:50]The next time, determined to be more Rover driver than Audi driver, I waited patiently behind the rear pump. The driver behind me in the queue immediately went around me, took the free front pump, and threw his hands up in despair as he passed, seemingly assuming I didn't have any spatial awareness of the trusty Q7. So, gents, what is the correct etiquette here? And while we're at it, why do petrol stations insist on arranging pumps in a way that isn't user-friendly? Why not stagger them so cars can get in and out independently? Thank you, Steve. Well, Okay. First things first, the pump arrangement. Why don't we have them hanging from the ceiling like they do in parts of Japan?

[00:13:33]>> Oh.

[00:13:33]>> That would be good. So, there's no there's no big things that you can that you smash into and catch your car into.

[00:13:40]And you don't have to worry about left or right-hand filling. There's just squares or oblongs painted on the ground.

[00:13:46]And they come down from the ceiling and a proboscis, if you like. And then you grab your fuel proboscis and put it in whichever hole on whichever side of the car you wish. Done.

[00:13:58]The etiquette thing, I think he I think Steve is in the right the first time around. If the pump at the front is free and the person in front of you isn't moving to the pump, then they're being dim and they should be punished for being dim.

[00:14:13]This is a >> Well, no, I think is is he not saying that they're already filling up so they can't move, but the person in front of them goes?

[00:14:21]That was my understanding.

[00:14:22]>> No, I thought it was if if these sec if he's second in the queue and the there's a person in there's a two people in front of him, a car is filling up.

[00:14:32]The car in directly in front of him is waiting to fill up, but they just simply don't want to drive around the other car to fill up.

[00:14:39]He gives them a a minute's grace or so and then thinks, "Well, I'm not waiting.

[00:14:45]So, I'm going to go around to the front pump."

[00:14:48]>> Yeah, but that's the thing. I think you should always >> You're not [clears throat] jumping the queue if the person's had a couple of minutes to decide whether they will or won't maneuver their car.

[00:14:57]But, life's too short. I'm not going to sit and wait. That's just mad.

[00:15:02]>> No, I always think that it's a lot of petrol station forecourts are only just wide enough for three cars to you know, and that's that's the distance between the the banks of pumps. So, it is a a a tight maneuver to go through between two cars that are filling up.

[00:15:23]>> Yeah.

[00:15:24]>> I would happily, if I think it's there is enough width, I'd happily do it though to just get to that pump. But I also, sometimes it makes me tense watching other people do it when you think I'm not sure you're fully aware of how wide your car is or where all of its bits are. But I've never seen anyone scrape. So, >> it's doable.

[00:15:45]>> No, I've never seen anyone hit.

[00:15:47]>> The one that drives me nuts is when the occasion you see this when someone pulls into the petrol station and both pumps are free on the side they want to go to, but they stop at the first one.

[00:16:00]So, anyone wanted to use the far one has to go around them. You just go, "Why did you do this?" It's like just sort of blithering idiocy.

[00:16:07]Of not You know, they they are the kind of people who that their driving style is they they just look just beyond the end of the bonnet at all times. And then they're constantly surprised by everything in the world that happens around their car.

[00:16:19]>> there are people that drive to the end of a slip road and then stop because they can't possibly accelerate while checking their mirror. And my brother, when he was giving me a lift back the other night and talking about mummified foxes, um he saw someone do this and it abs- he just erupted. He erupted in rage. He was like, "They shouldn't be allowed on the road. If you can't do two things at once while you're driving, you should not be in charge of a car." He said it's moronic. The whole point of a slip road is no one's going to let you out if you're driving at 10 mph because you're entering onto a fast road.

[00:16:52]>> I saw someone do it just the other week and it almost caused a big accident with other people coming down the slip road cuz you don't expect somebody to stop.

[00:17:00]Quite the opposite, you expect them to be speeding up.

[00:17:03]>> Yeah.

[00:17:04]>> The other one that I always think there needs to be some kind of campaign of education on this, but is there is when people have had to stop on the hard shoulder for some reason and then they accelerate very briefly up to about 10 and pull out onto the motorway. It's like, "No. Keep accelerating on the hard shoulder till you're at motorway speed if you can. If you can see clearly there's nothing else blocking the hard shoulder, stay there until you're at motorway speed. Otherwise, you're going to cause a pissing accident." You are.

[00:17:33]But I saw I saw someone in an Octavia estate just pull I saw them cuz I saw them I was I could see as I approached they were just setting off and I was like and the indicator's going and I thought, "They surely not." And they just immediately pulled onto the motorway and almost got clobbered by a by a lorry. It's just like that's so thick it's almost incomprehensible but people don't really sort of have any foresight, do they? They're not not sort of practically applying themselves to the world around them but Anyway, [snorts] um should we move on then? Should we do another uh another question?

[00:18:04]>> Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:18:06]>> We have one from a listener called Pete who says uh "Salutations, you unlubricated bike chains.

[00:18:16]A year ago, I bought an £800 bangernomic smoker to supplement my ancient Leaf for longer range duties.

[00:18:24]>> Ancient Leaf.

[00:18:25]>> Ancient Leaf. Um sounds like a type of tobacco. Anyway, uh he he says it's occurred to me I have inadvertently bought one of the most S&S coded cars.

[00:18:36]Allow me to explain. It's an old Jag X-Type. It's the Sport trim.

[00:18:42]>> Sport.

[00:18:44]>> It's a 2.2 believe.

[00:18:46]>> 2.2 yeah, don't [ __ ] about you.

[00:18:48]>> It has a transit diesel engine.

[00:18:53]>> [laughter] >> It's a Ford underneath it all.

[00:18:56]>> Ford.

[00:18:57]>> And it's mechanically perfect but cosmetically challenged.

[00:19:02]>> Oh, wow.

[00:19:03]>> But Pete adds, "I could have put my hand on the scales and put two identical Sharda CDs, a Marillion CD and a DJ Khaled album in in multi-changer but I'm not greedy.

[00:19:12]>> Oh, well.

[00:19:13]>> Based on this principle, would there be a higher scoring Smith and Sniff car?

[00:19:18]>> How could there be? I'm just thinking.

[00:19:20]So, it's >> think.

[00:19:20]>> It's a Jag X-Type, which is a Ford underneath. It's in spoke trim. It's got a 2.2 engine, yeah, which is like Ford drivetrain. Haven't you got a 2.2 in your bloody Defender, Rich?

[00:19:32]>> Yeah, I have, yeah.

[00:19:33]>> Bloody Defender, innit? It's a 2.2.

[00:19:35]>> Which is also Which is also a Ford engine, so Yeah.

[00:19:40]>> a Ford forward as uh So, gosh, um >> Given how often we mention old Jags, do you feel like um uh you know, Pete might have got this one? I can't think I mean, there's lots of cars we seem to mention a disproportionate amount, but in terms of sort of hitting all the notes of the uh of the the tropes >> Yeah.

[00:20:01]>> and the and the recurring references, that is is hard to beat. I mean, >> That's impressive.

[00:20:07]>> because otherwise, it would have to be something that was an actual Powertrain and uh >> Yeah, or a Prelude.

[00:20:12]>> Or a Prelude, yeah. But then, that's only covering that base. The the X-Type seems to um So, no. I don't think I'm I'm very short answer, really. No. I think you've got it there, Pete. And anyone like anyone can think of anything better, do you get in touch, but I think you've absolutely nailed it there.

[00:20:28]>> Although, someone someone recently tagged us um in a photograph at a car show of a Matra Murena with a >> Oh, yeah.

[00:20:38]>> with a a Smith and Sniff cap on the dashboard, which was a 2.2 cap.

[00:20:44]Because the Matra Murena, I think, is a 2.2 engine.

[00:20:48]Um So, it was a nice bit of stealth um promotion. So, whoever whoever owns that car, thank you.

[00:20:55]Uh much appreciated.

[00:20:58]Uh Okay, well, I got a letter from I got a letter from a guy. Do you know what I mean? Um It's called It's titled Autotrader push-up challenge.

[00:21:08]From a chap called Joshua.

[00:21:10]Hi, you pair of Lucha's.

[00:21:13]Presumably Ferrari's, but could be Mazda's. Maybe one of us is a Mazda, one of us is a Ferrari. Just, you know, to balance it. For context, I'm an Australian expat with an accent living in Toronto. I recently had an encounter with a no-name mountain biker's Canadian cousin, the sleeveless sweater BMXer guy.

[00:21:31]I've recently purchased a track bike, Aprilia motorbike And need to do the running on the road before I can properly experience the V4 in its natural environment. This isn't much fun as I only have a full leather race suit and look a bit of a knob getting fully kitted out. But I usually break up the journey with a coffee shop stop before heading home.

[00:21:53]C'est la vie, as the French would say. I was sipping on my flat white enjoying a Muskoka chair outside the cafe when I noticed a man in his early 30s riding through a gravel car park on his BMX.

[00:22:05]It looked quite bizarre as he had a white plastic bag hanging from one of the handlebars, no helmet, obviously, and wearing a thick strapped singlet made of sweater material.

[00:22:16]To add to this, the holes for his arms were torn, so his left nipple was exposed as he circled the parking lot like a lion searching for the weak wildebeest.

[00:22:26]>> [laughter] >> What?

[00:22:29]>> [clears throat and snorts] [laughter] >> Oh, looking for the weak wildebeest calf.

[00:22:40]>> This sounds like he's wearing like a like a cricket jumper, but one of those ones that's a tank top.

[00:22:46]Would that be accurate? So, it's got that kind of ropy thing.

[00:22:49]>> And they've they've washed it too too quickly and it's stretched like hell.

[00:22:54]My [snorts] attempt to avoid eye contact somehow gave him the green light to converse. Where the conversation went as follows. BMX guy, is that your bike? Me, ah, yeah. Fully aware that there was one motorcycle in the lot and I was in full black fluoro leathers.

[00:23:09]Is that a 750? No, mate, it's an 1100.

[00:23:12]BMX a guy, I'll give you a beer if you do 10 push-ups.

[00:23:16]>> [laughter] >> I paused. I paused quite taken aback.

[00:23:23]I'm all right, thank you. BMX guy, you can't go 10 push-ups, can you? Me, no, I can. It's just a little bit tough in full leathers and it's 9:00 a.m. BMX guy, how about a beer for 20 push-ups?

[00:23:35]At this stage, coffee was thankfully finished as I rudely got up, said no thanks again, and hurried over to the bike to get out of here. So, my question is, have you ever been challenged to a physical activity at Goodwood or any other vehicle-related sport sport? And secondly, my wife is Canadian and I purposely mispronounce c'est la vie to c'est est la vie to piss her off. It's gone on for so long, I actually forgot how to do it the right way now. Do you mispronounce any words on purpose?

[00:24:05]Pronunciation attached.

[00:24:07]Josh, Toronto, CMTMB. Oh, Josh, what an I mean, I didn't know where that letter was going to go.

[00:24:16]And I and I guess we'll never know the answer to why he wanted you to do 10 press-ups in your leathers in a car park.

[00:24:23]>> [laughter] >> Just I'm thinking about the guy in his 30s on a BMX looking for stricken wildebeest.

[00:24:30]>> Um, I don't know. Metaphorically.

[00:24:33]>> um, >> a subspecies perhaps of no name full suspension mountain bike guy, but a lot of the characteristics. Whether he said there was a bag hanging from the handlebars.

[00:24:43]>> Yeah, a a white plastic bag.

[00:24:45]>> So, was that did it was it a bag of cans? Was he offering him a beer from his bag in turn for the press-ups?

[00:24:51]>> Yeah, I think maybe it was. It just I think it was a bag with some some food stuffs in it which I'm going to guess it's going to be some cans. It's got to be.

[00:25:00]And the fact that he was drinking coffee, it was 9:00 in the morning.

[00:25:04]"How about a beer for 20 push-ups?" a BMX guy says.

[00:25:08]>> [snorts] >> Um >> Yes, I mean, I was just hoping someone would come along with some beer. What I Wow, I I can't think I've ever been in a situation like >> Have you been ever been asked any strange questions? I mean, I would have been asked loads of strange questions.

[00:25:24]It's just channeling them right now.

[00:25:26]What when I wasn't expecting >> Yeah, I just think I feel like sometimes people are It's a bit I mean, I've definitely had that kind of thing where people go like with my Land Rover, people go, "Oh, that's a nice car." And you go, "Oh, thank you very much. Is it for sale?" No.

[00:25:39]>> Mhm.

[00:25:40]>> No, it's not. But in that sort of way where it sounds like if you say no, I'm going to steal it anyway sometimes is where how it comes across.

[00:25:45]>> Yes. Yes.

[00:25:48]>> And [snorts] I'll tell you something else that happened to me years ago which was I think my old XJ R. And a guy came over at a petrol station. He was admiring it, but then he opened the passenger door.

[00:26:01]And I just thought that was sort of that crossed a line.

[00:26:04]We hadn't We know we he just sort of went, "Oh, it's a nice car. Lovely that." And I was like, "Yeah, yeah."

[00:26:08]"How long have you had it?" "Oh, probably about a couple of years now."

[00:26:11]And then just sort of it's like at least let the back and forth go a bit further but and then go, "Oh, do you mind if I just take a look at the interior?" rather than just opening the door. I feel that's quite rude somehow, but maybe that's just me.

[00:26:23]>> Yeah, no, that's that's too much. I think not asking is I've had [snorts] kids open the door and sit in my car at a car show before without when their parents were there without asking and that absolutely crossed a line.

[00:26:35]>> It's that I was thinking it's just it's just good etiquette that when you're admiring someone's car if you want to have a sit in it, I mean, quite often people go, "Hey, you know, have a seat if you want."

[00:26:44]>> Of course.

[00:26:45]>> If you fancy sitting in it, I think it's it's always good that you go, "Do you mind if I" >> Yeah.

[00:26:50]>> "sit in." And then, you know, people always generally say yes unless you go, "Do you if I sit in here, by the way? I just trod in a dog [ __ ] over there."

[00:26:56]Oh, >> [laughter] >> no, I'd rather you didn't, though. But But then, here's the thing.

[00:27:00]>> Yeah.

[00:27:01]>> Is What's the etiquette of then? You sit in someone's car, but then you're different height. I I sort of feel like you shouldn't adjust the seat without asking because >> Oh, no.

[00:27:12]>> You know, a car with [snorts] no memory seats, you can't you mess up someone's driving position. It's just like they're never going to quite get it back again. And um so, you should you should check first, although I suppose it's a bit weird if you go, "Do you mind if I move the seat?" Yeah, I do, actually, so please don't, but it's just that you're 5'4" and I'm 6'3", so this is kind of incompatible. I'm being squashed into the steering wheel.

[00:27:31]Um Anyway, uh I don't know I can't think of any strangers. I've never been challenged to do press-ups in >> I was I was coming out of an event years ago, and I actually can't remember what the event was. But you know when you walk three, four fields away and your car was in a crowded car park and now it's just a car in a field.

[00:27:51]>> Yeah.

[00:27:52]>> And there were some guys, >> [clears throat] >> three or four guys and one motorbike and one helmet.

[00:28:00]And the the motorbike was parked there, and they were running around like a primary school playground activity. They were running around in a circle and then trying to jump over the motorbike each time. You know, like so like show jumping, like horse show show jumping, but they were trying to clear the whole motorbike without putting their hands down.

[00:28:26]And they were and they were chanting at one another.

[00:28:29]And one of them typi- You knew it was going to happen, it was inevitable. I still can't work out if they were drunk or what.

[00:28:36]One of them caught their toes on the on the like the rear carrier of the bike and went just slapped straight down onto the floor.

[00:28:44]And I do I think there was some going going on to it to even start that activity, but it did make me chuckle.

[00:28:51]Josh's question is a really good one and I would like to give it some thought and come back to it another week, but I'd like to put it out to the audience. Can I do that, Rich?

[00:29:00]>> I Yeah, why not? Well, it's it's we we've got to wrap this up now, but it's a good opportunity to give out the email address, which is [email protected].

[00:29:07]If you've got a question, if you wouldn't mind putting otters in the subject line if it's a question, it helps us to find them. If it's not a question, you don't have to bother that, but if you also have tales of very odd things happening to you possibly related to [music] men on bicycles or any car related context, then again, [email protected].

[00:29:31]We'll do all of this Q&A stuff again next Friday. Normal show on Monday, but until then, goodbye.

[00:29:37]>> Bye then, guys. Cheers then. Thanks, mate. Bye.

[00:29:42]>> [music] >> On the other >> [singing] >> side >> [music] >> On the other side On the other