Monday, January 21, 2008

tell me why (I don't like Mondays)

In work we have a porch light. It costs £10.50 to replace. I know this because that's how much it cost to replace 6 months ago when someone put a lighter to the cover and blew the bulb. It has happened once since until today. To day it was smashed twice. Of course no-one saw it, but i persisted in investigating. Th three main suspects were C, G and J.
I waited for each to cone in again. The first was C and he had an air tight alibi, his mother.
J was the main suspect, he has been a lot of trouble to us and it is his style. But some one came in and was an alibi for him. This younger YP told us that they were sailing around a car together, and he noticed that the light was on when J got in the car, and the light was off when J got out of the car. That struck me as unusual. You do not notice the usual (the light being on) but the unusual (the light being off). I needed more info.
I did get to talk to J and he confirmed he was not there, but that he got in the car just before G hit the light. This was confirmed by others, and G never came back into the drop-in all night.
I am really disappointed it G, a good kid, but is easy to be talked into bad stuff. It pains me to loose confidence in the honesty of him.
The question now is what do we do about it. Of course he will have to pay for the bulbs, and he will be barred for a time, but that is just part of it, the punishment,; but what about the rehabilitation?

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Scenic, done it.

Over the week end i had to change a break light in the Scenic. This is the first time i have had to change any of the bulbs in the car, and i found it a bit complicated. You need a screwdriver and a bit of force. The Astra just had a hand turned plastic nut. But there you go.
Today, Julie noticed a front bulb gone. So i looked at the book to see how to change it. Then I looked under the bonnet, then I looked in the book again. I went on line. I looked at the car again. The problem is that the recommended way of changing a head light is to drop the wheel arch, which involves putting the car on a ramp. The odd person has taken the battery out. You basically have to put the car into the dealers and get them to do it. What was the design team doing the day that they thought that would be a good idea. It is only one wee bulb, and it is costing me £20 and half a morning. And i know that another bulb will go in a short time...