Do you ever feel like....

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Toby_HDi
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Do you ever feel like....

Post by Toby_HDi »

...you've bitten off more than you can chew?

Now I have the Activa on the road, the amount of things I need to sort has practically doubled.

To top it all it seems a wheel bearing is on the way out on the Coupé, so much so that instead of just rumbling, it squeaks.

I know the point of two cars was to run one while working on the other but that doesn't quite work when they both need work. The Activa is sitting ridiculously high a the front.

Too much to do, not enough time, money or inclination to do it.

How you people with 3 or 4 or more cars cope, I'll never know!
Toby


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Chris570
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Post by Chris570 »

i have felt like that yep, the way i do it is to address issues straight away so they can't escalate.

although to be fair my fleet consists of 2 xantias which as we all know are the most reliable car ever produced :roll:
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Re: Do you ever feel like....

Post by CitroJim »

Toby_HDi wrote:How you people with 3 or 4 or more cars cope, I'll never know!
Plus house + kids + garden + cats + work...

It's a juggling act and every so often it all unravels a bit...

Somehow we do though Toby, how we manage it is a another matter..

Some people call it time management and others call it prioritising and some others call it multitasking but what it really is is this: You get to know what has to be done now, what has to be done next and what can wait a bit longer...

Multitasking is a big myth. It does not exit. Those who seem to multitask are just doing one job at a time if you look at it carefully..

It's all a bit like eating an elephant; it's quite possible as long as you tackle it in small chunks one at a time...

Even though it looks at first glance like we're all knitting fog or herding cats we are in fact eating elephants...

On the coupe and Activa, you've got to take the bull by the horns, bite the bullet and get them sorted one job at a time and know what can be shelved for the time being whilst those jobs are being done..

Don't try to fix everytjing in one go and try not to see it as a mountain of jobs. Each job is an entity of its own and this is how to attack it. One by one...

That's my secret anyway.
Jim

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Post by addo »

Well, my ten cars are something I lose sleep over!

To make it worse, it's hard to get up and out to fund them, when you've not slept well from worrying about which cost is the most pressing. :lol:

I'm close to saturation; there's enough variety of the desired types that anything else I am happy to cadge a ride in as passenger, rather than owner-driver.
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Post by citronut »

as Jim says dont cause yourself headache's,

as you can only do what you can do in the time scale you have,


i think its time to dust off my old fraze

loads of PERCY WHAT SIT is required,


just stick in there and dont let the b*s*e*d* get you down


besides you cant even drive them off Beachy head anymore as i hear they have placed post's along the edge :twisted: :roll:



regards malcolm
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Re: Do you ever feel like....

Post by Xaccers »

CitroJim wrote:Multitasking is a big myth. It does not exit. Those who seem to multitask are just doing one job at a time if you look at it carefully..
You've just reminded me of a little test Radio 4 did a couple of years ago to show the differences between men and women.
Man and woman had to recite alphabet backwards, make a soft boiled egg, and a couple of other things.
Woman tried to do it all at once and failed, bloke did it one after the other and completed quickly and without error.
They also tested their navigation skills, around Milton Keynes of all places, and while he was fine visualising the map in his head as he went along, she had to stop (STOP!) at every roundabout and re-check the map!

Personally I think they deliberately found a particularly dappy doris, but it was a good example of why doing too much at once is a bad idea.
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Post by Toby_HDi »

I think the main issue is the scale of the jobs that need doing now. Activa needs ride height tweaking and a wheel bearing on the Coupé is no mean feat.

I suppose I'm just getting tired of stumbling by having to do everything on the street outside.
Toby


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Post by KP »

normally with 2 cars though most people have a cheap donk/workhorse diesel for the daily grind thats a basic model and then a fancy weekender as it were.

In our house we have a near brand new car, the SSS and then had the activa and this worked for a while until i got bored but the way things are going it will end up being my car thats the daily donk/workhorse...

Only way to do it is get one in superb mechanical nick and then slowly work the other one up :)
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Post by Deanxm »

Toby, i dont think your issue is the cars its the working in the street, its awkward and you have to be done quick, quick isnt fun!
I had the same decision as you earlyer, do i run both or one, i ran one, that way the other one is a lesurely project and can be ignored if time and money gets tight and it doesnt cost anything.
Im sure your just having a tough moment and it will get better but think what Andrew and Adam must have to do........
I was talking to a guy at CXM last year about this, im super fussy and could never have more than one car really, it would wind me up, you have to be able to just ignor problems with your fleet and not let them get to you.

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Post by myglaren »

They also tested their navigation skills, around Milton Keynes of all places, and while he was fine visualising the map in his head as he went along, she had to stop (STOP!) at every roundabout and re-check the map!
I think I must have gone in for gender reassignment without noticing 'cause this is me now.
I have to stop every 100 yards on a straight road to make sure I'm on the right road still and forget my directions within seconds.
Thank god for satnavs.
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Post by CitroJim »

myglaren wrote: I think I must have gone in for gender reassignment
Your avatar might suggest that Steve :lol:
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Post by red_dwarfers »

I think the old motivation chestnut could well be a factor here too. Don't worry, you'll have plenty of that on Wednesday after whipping around the Somerset/Dorset countryside!
I'll be on MSN a bit later this evening if you're about to finalise the details?

It's definitely worth using your blog when you plan on doing jobs and note details when you have completed them, you can always then look back to see what you have done and feel a little better about it. Plus of course if you post to say you're going to complete a task then its hard to disappoint the readers, so it has to be done :roll:
Make a written list of the jobs that need doing and as said before, split them up into immediate show stoppers, ones that could wait a bit and ones that really could hold out for a good while.
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Post by Citroenmad »

I think almost everyone has times like that, things appear to be getting on top of you and you dont know where to start in getting back to normality.

Its often like that for me, juggling work, uni attendance and uni work, along with the cars (which mainly rely on me) gets difficult when everything comes at once. Thats not even mentioning a social or family life. But you work it out and get through. Even if it means staying up till 3am doing assignments (like last week was for me!). My one day off goes no where!

Half an hour or so with the Activa will having it sitting at its right height, that shouldn't be too much of a problem, if thats all that is wrong then you can plough that into daily service while your V6 gets repaired as and when you have time.

I do agree though, having one daily car which is a reliable model, cheap to fuel and in good shape will help. If you have a car to rely on then you can fiddle with your weekend/hobby car at your will, without having to rely on two potentially costly or time consuming cars to repair.

Though I realise that anything which is cheap to run on a daily basis will not compared to a V6 Coupe or a Activated TCT! :lol:
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Post by myglaren »

CitroJim wrote:
myglaren wrote: I think I must have gone in for gender reassignment
Your avatar might suggest that Steve :lol:
Wishful thinking perhaps Jim :)
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Post by Toby_HDi »

Deanxm wrote:Toby, i dont think your issue is the cars its the working in the street, its awkward and you have to be done quick, quick isnt fun!
I think you're spot on. That and not really being equipped for bigger jobs, like the wheel bearing replacement the Coupé potentially needs. Also, aligning the exhaust on the Activa. It's difficult lying on your back trying to do it and getting under the Activa always gives me the willies.

Whilst Wednesday's drive in the Activa made me realise I need to get the Activa sorted and start enjoying it properly, I've just sort of lost all interest in spannering.

This heater matrix I've been helping with hasn't helped, especially as the job is so close to completion but the last critical part shows no sign of yielding.
Toby


Previous:
2004 Peugeot 407 HDi 138 SE Luxury Pack
2001 S2 Xantia HDi 110 SX
2001 Peugeot 406 V6 Coupé
1998 S2 Xantia Activa
2000 S2 Xantia HDi 110 SX
1999 Peugeot 406 2.0 16v Estate
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