Service

 We were up early again, ready for Ellie to be dropped off. Today is the last day before half-term. Ellie was "up for it" and eager to get to school.

When we returned from the school escort duty, I took the Skoda around to Richmond Motors for its annual service and MOT. I dropped it with the service department and then was collared by a salesman, eager to entice me to upgrade. I allowed him the time to talk and suggested to him that he might not be making the best use of his time. I had, after all, spoken with another of the sales staff a couple of months ago and we concluded that the best they could offer was a car that had a lower specification than ours at a price that was 33% higher. I might be old, but I'm not senile (yet).

I walked home, It was a pleasant 30-minute stroll. Diane was focused on the laundry, so I buried myself in the accounts spreadsheets with a view to planning the changes that I would make by the time I cut the template for next year.

I received a video analysis of the car - nothing to report. By mid-afternoon, I had heard nothing so assumed that everything was tickets-boo and set off to walk back to the dealership. The car was waiting for me and the service had cost nearly £150 less than the original dealership would have charged. That seemed like a win,

Soon after I got home, Pete arrived to collect Ellie. She will be staying with him throughout the half-term holiday. When she had gone, I wasn't in the mood to cook so we ordered an Indian takeaway. Perfect end to the day really!