colin harris

2009's first resolution (of sorts) is my decision to finish playing. After the Skegness contest on 17th Jan, I will hang up my mouthpiece.

It was a shame but I do not have the time to play to any standard anymore - my only playing committment in 2008 was tuba at New Tyneside Orchestra and even that was becoming too hard to fit in.

I don't know how people play AND conduct in bands - either they have no other committments or are obsessed to the point of nothing else mattering. I doft my hat to them.

This decision will give me more time to spend with my family and more time to write music - something I have sadly abandoned in the last few years.

So no more noisy bass trombone solos!

I've had a rotten 2008 - don't even want to start cataloguing my misery. And it looks like it will end in less than spectacular fashion as I continue to battle illness, one which I've had for a couple of weeks now and apart from having one of every symptom possible, is neither identified nor treated by the wonderful NHS yet. Still it could be worse, I could be Mark Hughes.

2009 promises a lot of interesting things - watch this space as I tidy up vauxhall-senator.com over the holiday period to reflect my new life both from a work and personal perspective. Plus I really do need to get rid of the cats page!

Best wishes for all you nosey people who check out this site - and here's for a prosperous 2009. I'm off now till 5th Jan

If you don't believe me, get a copy of this week's NUTS and look at the right-hand picture.

Deny yee not, little scouse minx!

Sad to say but I'm starting to fall out of love with my Vauxhall Vectra. Now 3 years old, out of warranty and over the dreaded 60K mileage, things are going wrong.

First it failed its MOT on a broken coil spring, for which the main dealer at Morpeth wanted the princely sum of £500 to fix. Ahem.

I don't understand main dealers - they attest they are the experts, yet there is little evidence of it. On the day of my MOT in September I booked it in and was told it would be ready in an hour or so. On attending the garage to pick it up, I was firstly told it had failed on the coil spring, that it would require the whole corner suspension to be replaced as Vauxhall have changed the way the springs now sit, the parts were on back order and wouldn't be in stock till after my MOT was due and that the car wasn't ready to pick up yet. 3 hours after the initial drop-off I picked my car.

So I took it to a more reasonable garage and got both corners and an MOT done for less than £200.

I don't get main dealers - they attest to being the experts when they a) overcharge where ever possible b) give very poor customer service c) demonstrate a lack of knowledge about their own cars and d) have no interest in giving value for money.

It isn't just me, during my 2 hour stay in the cramp waiting area, I was treated the man on reception dealing with complaint after complaint - why wasn't my car ready? why did it cost so much to do a simple job? why don't you know what is wrong with my car? I never heard a nice thing said all afternoon.

Anyway back to the Vectra - after getting the coil and MOT sorted it still wasn't quite right - some strange grumbles from the front wheels made me worried. A quick look underneath showed a damaged weather shield, I'm not surprised as I have the lowest car in history, for a diesel anyway, so that needs fixing. Why on earth VX sell a 1.9 CDTi with sport suspension I do not know.

And now to top it all off, someone has tried to pinch a wheel, got as far as the final bolt and given up. This I discovered doing 70mph on the A1 in rush hour traffic when the car went out of control doing bumpy noises. I parked up in a lay-by, attached some spare bolts and got it back home, but it is not a well puppy now and I fear the damage this pit stop has caused, on top of my frayed nerves and several sheered bolts.

You get to a point with a car when you lose faith in it - and I'm fast approaching it. Trouble is I'd probably get something daft if I got rid of it (if anyone would have it!) like an E-Class Estate. And they really are £500 to change a coil spring!

Sadly, my daughter Abi has Chicken Pox. She's doing very well considering, but being covered in spots can't be much fun when you are 3.

Still at least she enjoys being covered in Camomile six times a day.