On Independence Day ...

... Orkut does a fine job of giving an Indian motif on its home page. Not quite unexpected, considering that India has one of its largest user base.

PS: And on Diwali, this.

Passing the test

A few weeks back I had the car tyres changed as the offside ones were on the legal limit and would have failed the MOT. The search for the tyres were almost like the search for the car itself (which was like having autotrader as the default page on your browser). Sometimes, options do drive you crazy.

I chose Pirelli P3000s and even though I 'had' to change only two of them, I had all the four changed. I'd rather drive on new tyres myself and sell the car than drive on part worn tyres and put new ones on it while selling.

The difference the tyres made to the overall driving experience was awesome. As soon as I spun the car around the roundabout, I was smiling wide. The braking is firmer and the handling is a lot easier. Small bumps are no longer noticeable and these tyres seem to be a tad quieter too.

The real fun came on the motorway. The car used to show signs of vibration near 80mph. I had suspected this to be due to wheel balancing/alignment. The offside tyres were badly worn, while the nearside tyres still had some life in them. After I had the Pirellis fitted, we drove to Birmingham the other day to visit the temple, and the car did not wobble an inch even when I hit 80mph. Then 90mph. Then 100mph for a short while. The drive was total paisa-vasool, I wish I had these tyres when we drove up to Lake District.

Last week, I also had the MOT done on the car. It was at the usual folks - JS Motoring. Last time I had the MOT done for the Golf, it had set me back sizably. As I watched them size the car up, I got the 'butterflies'. I watched as they went through the motions - doors, check; wipers, check; windshield, check; lights, one bulb blown (fine, not a big deal); tyres, check; seatbelts, check; and so on... It was like the time we ran through our question papers - a ten here, a five here, a ten there, a five more for the diagram, a ten from here and there in the last hour... forty, Yay PASS!!!

Apparently, the car is in good nick. It came out of the MOT clean, with only a few minor niggles like blown bulbs and brake settings to be taken care of. Remarkable, if you ask me, for its age and miles. Peace for 12 more months. :)