Eunos Chump

After discovering a nest of Elite nerds at work, I decided to join them in Elite:Dangerous .  First thing required was a massive PC upgrade; new mobo with Intel i5 CPU, 8GB RAM, SSD and this vast GTX960 video card (dwarfing the only-good-for-Minecraft GT610 it replaces): Had to buy a new power supply too, my old one couldn't keep the 960 fed (8-pin PCI-E connector is needed, and many watts). Was it all worth it?  Yes, Elite is blummin ACE .  It's much more space sim than Eve-Online, and more fun too.  It's pure quality throughout, though the learning curve is steep and this is a classic, old-fashioned PC game - it doesn't hold your hand and you're expected to do your homework if you want to make progress; those raised on consoles could soon lose patience.  But look how pretty it is!

I've now owned the MX5 for 8 years.  It cost all of £1200 and apart from looking awful it's still going strong.  Apart from the engine being a bit wheezy.  And the synchros are going on 1st and 2nd gear.  First arrival in January 2007 January 2015 I've been using it quite a lot lately 'cos it's often too cold for bikes.  It's noisy, unrefined and quite thirsty, but it's still so engaging to drive; the steering in particular is like caressing a lovely ladies bottom.  I could make it a lot nicer by swapping out the engine and box, getting it properly mapped and putting OEM suspension on it, but that's a lot of cost and bother and soon it'll be MOTORBIKES MOTORBIKES MOTORBIKES anyway, so it'll probably soldier on until something properly breaks.

Met up with some folks from Autoshite today.  It was BLOODY COLD on top of a hill overlooking Portsmouth, but there was some good stuff: Hot LC10 Vauxhall's finest and the return of Captain Pinky!   As it's currently too cold for bikes and I'm bloody bored of driving the Citroens, I've fixed the MX5. I found another specialist MX5 breaker not far from Winchester - that's the third one I've discovered in this part of the world, is there really this much demand for them?  Anyway, I got a used PAS pipe, flasher relay and a steering wheel in better condition than mine, all for £70. They're Doctor MX5 , they seem sound blokes. It was all fixed within about 3 hours.  The interior was soggy and full of mould, I had to hit it hard with the Dettol to make it habitable again, but now it smells like school changing rooms.