08.00 — Mon 24 Oct 2005
zb zb zb zb zb, well that’s zbed the job up, a phone call from a customer cancelling a job for this morning to Glasgow 
, which was to tie in with a collection from Elgin, O zb’s. So not going anywhere at the mo, start ringing round to see if another job up north can be found.
09.30 — Tues 25 Oct 2005
Still no joy, so after about 20 phonecalls over the last 24 hours, and a phone call from the Elgin job customer wanting to know where I was up to, I bite my lip and hit the M6 for Scotland, running empty.
After loads of slow crawling traffic around J19 Knutsford, and up to Thelwell, the road then clears. Stop for a 45 at Charnock, then head off and make good time up through Lancs and ■■■■■■■■ but loads of heavy showers.
Catch up with a truck that looks a bit familiar on this website, Is that you Dafman ?.
A bit of sunshine bit still heavy showers
Onto the M74, weather still a bit iffy
Weather does improve.
reach Glasgow then head off across to Perth, stop just outside Perth for another 45, then up the A9 for Inverness
Darkness falls.
Reach Elgin and park by the Foden Dealer, find food (Big Mac meal), and then some telly then bed.
07.30 — Weds 26 Oct 2005
Out of bed and a coffee, then set off to find the commercial repair workshop for my first collection, a 1980’s vintage Merc Unimog. Find the workshop, but the Moggy’s not here, so follow the mechanic out to a farm near Lossiemouth and park on the road and load.
She’s a bit of a hybrid, Merc Axles and chassis, VW Transporter cab with an MAN engine, and boasts a wood chipper, hiab and side tipping body.
Aint she a beaut 
, the new owner travelled all the way from Dibden Bay, Southampton to buy, which is where the beasty is to be delivered to.
So loaded and off we go, now heading for Rosyth to collect some small items of plant, three compressors and a Mini Digger to go to a customer at Louth, so onto the A96, and head for Aberdeen.
Make a phone call to give an ETA, only to be told that the items are still at several locations and they want to cancel the job 
. So after a bit of renegotiating it is agreed that I will collect the items seperately, not ideal but better than trying to find another load back. Get to Rosyth at 16.00, and collect compressor no1, then over to Kircadine, pick up the Mini Digger. The other two compressors are in Glasgow, and no chance tonight, and anyway its absolutely [zb]ing down so up to Sterling Services to park up.
07.00 — Thurs 27 Oct 2005
Onto the M80 drag into Glasgow, arrive at the GAP Depot at 08.30, and theres only one compressor in stock, and they don’t know what the fleet number is, or where it is 
.
So after several phone calls the compressor is located at the rear of the yard, behind several others and a couple of road rollers. Spend the next hour helping the yard man FLT everything out of the way, and then load up and on the way down the 74. Call in at Abingdon for a 15 and a coffee, then fuel up. As I was leaving Abingdon, it starts to be a seriously sunny day 
.
Past the Ministry Checkpoint at Moffat, where they are open for business, I carry on, down to Penrith and onto the A66, stop on the top for another break
Then over to the A1, M62, M18, M180 into Grimsby. Stop at Macdonalds for some tea,
then carry on,down the A16 to Louth, then cross country to the customers yard.
Unloaded its time for bed, the customer lets me park in his yard for the night, 
07.00 Fri 28 Oct 2005
Theres a cup of coffee waiting for me in the customers office, before I run about another 6 miles and load up the empty section of the trailer with straw to take back to Cheshire (The Unimog will have to wait till Monday).
Once loaded, its back upto Grimsby, M180, M18, M62, then stop at Hartshead for a 45, then onward. Get to J25, and notice the VOSA battenburg at the bottom of the hill.
Keep going, watching the mirrors, and sure enough spot him in lane two gaining on me. Getting close to the top he suddenly overtakes and activates the light bar and matrix with FOLLOW ME.
Leading into the long slip road with me keeping a sensible distance, a 7.5 tonner carves me up and cuts in between us. There followed quite an amusing episode of FOLLOW ME, no don’t follow me, as VOSA man pulled onto the hard shoulder expecting Mr 7.5 tonner to pull past, but instead Mr 7.5 tonner followed him onto the hard shoulder thinking he was being pulled. There followed much eratic arm waving as VOSA man tried to get him past and out of the way. Anyway into the checkpoint, over the axle weigher, 39,200 kgs, no tacho problems, but Mr Vosa mechanic spent a good 30 minutes crawling over, underneath, and inside, and came to the conclusion there was nothing wrong…………apart from a slightly lose handbrake valve, and kindly furnished me with a PG9a, delayed prohibition.
So onward towards Cheshire, tipped the straw then back to the Yard, and start to find out how to cure the handbrake valve problem, cured in 20 minutes with the right screwdriver, right, that’s me done for the w/end .
05.00 — Mon 31 Oct 2005
Out of bed and down to the yard, then off to the test station in Middlewich for a 07.00 appointment to get the prohibition lifted, ”jesus mary and jane mutter mutter [zb] me, a prohibition for that’’ said the tester as he climbed down the steps from the cab.
So, a brake test, prohibition lifted and £75 lighter 
, I’m on the way to Shropshire to pick up 2 tractors bound for Newbury, with one due to return.
So tractors collected, it’s the A41 down to the M54, eventually after following this monster selp propelled forager for 5 miles
Theres a 780 HP Merc V12 under that hood…….erm Yes please. The silver coloured cylinder on the n/s is the exhaust silencer 
.
M6, M40,A34 to Newbury Showground.
Tip two and reload with one Tractor, then back onto the 34, M3, M27, towards Beaulieu with the Unimog, I kept wondering if it was bound for the Motor Museum.
Into the New Forest across the open moorland, the guys yard is just up on the righthand side, and he turns out to be a bona-fida tree surgeon.
so tip the Unimog and back up north, stop at Tot Hill on the A34 for the night.
07.00 — Tues 1 Nov 2005
Head off back for Shropshire, tipping the tractor then back to the yard, as no more machinery jobs as yet this week, so ring the container firm to see if anything going.
Nothing today or tomorrow, but plenty of work thurs fri and sat .
