and today i have mostly been...

[steve_earwig]

Wot, none of 'em? Can't you create an account so you can look at them? Oh go on, you know you want to You aren't missing much anyway.

Hmm, it's a bit big...
http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/ ... 157535.jpg
Pfft, that'll do.

[Welly]

So what is it from again? I tried to read some of the yoyo posts but gave up the will to carry on.....

[steve_earwig]

It seems to be part of an engine mount

[Welly]

Oh well

[steve_earwig]

Hmm, I still didn't sort that, or change the plugs (apparently the tips can burn off and drop into the combustion chamber...). Or the aux belt (seems have stopped squealing though) or, umm, wash it (too cold now anyway).

I just thought I'd mention that today is Friday the 13th

I was out with Goran yesterday on his delivery run, he tells me he had some Hungarian guy come into the store with a wheel bearing gone on a 2009 Merc E clarse and asking for a genuine replacement. Goran looked it up - 9,800Kn (that's about 1,080 quid ). Goran tried to point out that he was just paying a fortune for a box and even showed him the same thing made by SKF in his catalogue for 3.400Kn. No no no, he must have the genuine part. So Goran goes and gets it, brings it back and the first thing the guy notices is, underneath all the Mercedes emblems, it says "Made in China" Then he opens the box up and written on the part itself is "SKF"

Hee-haw.

I said that he could always take this box with "Mercedes" written all over it home and put it in his display case so all his friends can see what a dumbass he is too

[Welly]

f*ck sake, perhaps he thought Mercedes make wheel bearings in their nice clean factory and a man lovingly places each bearing in by hand and signs them

There are a lot of people like that though, usually you'll find they once had a 'pattern part' fitted and it all went wrong.....

[steve_earwig]

Yet 'twas a jenuwine water pump that went on my HDI

[Doggy]

Yet 'twas a jenuwine water pump that went on my HDI

But was it being driven by a dodgy aftermarket timing belt?

[steve_earwig]

'twas all đenuine: Job done by a Pug franchise here. I guess I can sympathise with the Hungarian guy as I needed the job done quick (strange noises from engine diagnosed on here as possible imminent crank pulley/aux belt/timing belt demise) and I didn't know who to trust (I do now though )

[steve_earwig]

I hope you had a nice Christmas. Mine was, well...

>> before you read this I should probably warn you that it's not going to be nice and may even be disturbing. I'm writing it here because, while I've not met most of you, I consider a lot of you to be my friends. I'm not expecting sympathy or anything much, it's just something that has happened to me that I feel the need to talk about, to get it off my chest.

Yesterday, December the 25th, at a little before 9 am, my wife's sister Tanja died.

She was diagnosed with breast cancer 3 years ago, it was a tiny lump which turned up on a routine mammogram and was surgically removed and followed up with chemotherapy and she'd been ok after that. Her hair grew back curly, just like my mum's did.

She was having tests every three months and everything seemed more-or-less ok until a couple of months back when some of her markers came back elevated, but hey, they're not all that accurate and can even be affected by things like diarrhoea, which she'd had a touch of. Sadly her symptoms worsened and a scan showed the cancer had returned in her liver. She was scheduled for more chemo (which we were all dreading) but when she was admitted it was found that she wasn't well enough to take the chemo so they kept her in to make her well enough for it. Unfortunately they couldn't and two weeks ago she was sent home, ostensibly to continue the treatment but with a heavy subtext of you won't be coming back. Candidly the doctors told my brother-in-law Ivo that she only had a few months, that she'd get weaker and weaker and...

I guess we were hoping for a miracle, heads in the sand, that sort of thing (I know I was) but last week her liver started to fail on her and my wife went to stay with them last Thursday. I was there every day but, with a house full of hungry animals, I was back here every evening as I am now.

On Monday Tanja was very weak, my wife called the ambulance and they came and gave her glucose. She was on the sofa in their lounge but just couldn't be comfortable, sitting up, lying down, on her side, on her other side...

Tuesday when I arrived she was worse, in bed and barely concious. She had more glucose but it didn't seem to do much. She kept coming to and looking at us, asking for more lemon (my wife was moistening her lips with a weak lemon solution and dripping some in her mouth with a syringe), asking us the time. As the day progressed she lost the ability to to articulate speech and we were having trouble working out what she was saying but at one point while I was alone with her she opened her eyes and looked straight me, so I said "I'm still here" (i.e. I didn't go home yet) "ahh?" (with the look on her face it was obviously "what?") "Još sam tu!" Eventually she stopped trying to speak but just once before I left she look at me again, I did my best to smile, and she scrunched up her eyes at me like she used to. When I went I said I'd come straight back but I was told to stay here because of the fireworks (there were lots).

Yesterday I rushed there as early as I could. I thought she'd have already gone but she was still there, fighting for breath. Her lips were blue and she was a horrible colour. I went out with my wife to try to get some coffee into her but Ivo called us back in. You cannot believe the horror of watching someone you love dying, fighting for their last breath but knowing anything you did would just postpone the inevitable, maybe by a few minutes, maybe seconds. So, with Ivo and my wife and I, and his sister and her husband with her, she stopped breathing and passed away.

She was 54.

Tanja was a lovely lady, every bit as nice as my wife but, while my wife is tolerant (she has to be, she teaches little kids and she's married to me) Tanja was feisty, she didn't take no sh*t. She had a fair bit of English but a lot of our small talk was with sign language, little waves, smiles, scrunching up of eyes... Ivo's not so hot on the DIY but I love it and I did lots of little jobs for her, repairing stuff, changing all the sockets and switches a few months back, cleaning behind the radiators with my compressor. When she came out of hospital I started changing all her roulette pulleys (that's blinds to you) for modern spring-loaded ones as they're much neater and easier to use. Hey, for me that sort of thing is fun, plus it made Tanja happy. Since her first scare we were there every Sunday, I have trouble following the conversation and, rather than keep asking for translations, I was glad of something useful to do.

And now she's gone.

Sadly her and Ivo couldn't have kids. All he has now are his parents in the flat downstairs who, frankly, aren't much company (they used to drive Tanja up the wall). After a road accident a few years back his dad is infirm, so Ivo has to help him in and out of bed every day. So, while there is a big hole in my life now, I really feel sad for Ivo.

My wife has been amazing, obviously this has been really hard for her but she's coped admirably. Sadly she'd already lost her father when I met her, her ma died 4 years ago (on our 1st wedding anniversary, her last act of pain-in-the-bumness) and her uncle died April 1st last year (he was a smashing geezer) so now, with the death of her sister, that's the last of her immediate family gone.

Oops, that's taken me way too long to write. I hope it's ok, I'm too tired to correct it.

[gray]

i am so sorry for your loss Steve

[steve_earwig]

Thankyou.

I've just been out and told the neighbours, I had to refuse their Christmas wishes which felt very bad but I can't do that and then tell them our sad news.

Nobody can believe it.
-¸

[GingerMagic]

Hi Steve, I am very sorry for your loss. It is terrible news only to be doubled by the fact peoples ' joyful ' time of year will be a constant reminder for years to come - although it gets easier.

I am glad you felt you can call us lot ' friends ' as I too feel that I would rather talk on here than some social network site.

I lost my Dad in a terrible accident 12 years ago, I watched my Mum die of Breast Cancer too, although I managed to be with her at the time. We lost my wife's Dad last year and there are been too many friends and family to list, some of which have been as young as 28 when they passed.

I wish I could find a reason why all the good people go....

Please give our thoughts to your family on our behalf - I'm a bit choked typing this as I don't talk about this stuff very much

Kelv.

[DaiRees]

Steve, words fail me. Thinking of you and the family.

[Doggy]

Steve,

I'm really sorry for your loss. It would be hard enough trying to console your wife in these tragic circumstances but your personal grief is so clear from reading your post. Coming at this time of year is another cruel twist, we lost my FIL on xmas eve '91 and that affects my wife to this day.

Your account of these tragic events is harrowing to read, especially for those of us who have lost loved ones in similar circumstances, but I sincerely hope writing it has in some small way helped.

Any words I can add beyond that feel hopelessly inadequate to offer the comfort and support I want to express, but I guess you know that too.

Keep in touch, Steve, we're all thinking of you.