Good to know the figures aren't too outlandish then. Seems a bit low to me, but I have got used to the Caddy - and the main reason that the 1.9SDI remained in production for so ridiculously long (I think the marine derivative still is) was the tiny rate at which they sip fuel. How that thing got north of 50mpg when heavily laden and getting hammered up or down the M6 in full juggernaut mode I've no idea. Given the aerodynamic profile it really didn't seem it should be possible. The HDI knocks it out of the park in terms of refinement and get up and go though it has to be said.
Speaking of numbers, a few random ones from our weekend of madness:
[] Number of light fixtures vibrated out of the ceiling of the main stage room by the sound system: 8.
[] Rashers of bacon consumed per day during breakfast service: 850.
[] Lifts broken during event: 1.
[] Money raised for charity: ~£20K.
Total attendee figure hasn't been published yet, but if it's far short of 1,200 I'll be really surprised.
I actually didn't take a massive number of photos this time round, especially not on my phone. I do have two films, but they're yet to be developed. Most I do are just general snaps, as I quite like capturing moments of what my mind likes to term as us in our natural environment. Like the sort of scene you'd generally see if just looking down from the mezzanine level balcony down into the hotel lobby at any time of the weekend.
Said mezzanine level also proved useful when i crossed paths (by chance as I'd forgotten it was happening) a gathering of a decent number of suiters with dragon/dragon adjacent themed characters, as there's no way in hell I'd have got them all visible in shot from ground level. I'm off to one side as there was actually a professional photographer involved and I wasn't wanting to get in their way.
This one I snapped purely because it was one of the very few occasions I've seen the rainbow husky to the right actually staying still long enough to focus on them. That is Snowcone and they are *precisely* as much of an agent of chaos as you would think to look at them.
Actually belongs to one of the chairmen of the event, who outside this is very much a serious, no-nonsense sort of guy who works in heavy electrical engineering day to day.
When we moved to this venue it was originally a three year contract for 2021-23, which for obvious reasons became 22-24 (thankfully the hotel let us carry it over or that probably would have been the end of the event). As such we knew that behind the scenes work had been going on to negotiate things for the next couple of years. This is the point at which it becomes VERY obvious quite how much of a positive impression we've made on the hotel. The contract for Scotiacon 2025-27 has been signed - with NO increase to the venue costs. We were bracing for a 20-30% increase (especially as the costings for 21-23 were all agreed *well before* COVID arrived), so this was both very welcome and unexpected news. Find me another residential event hosting >1000 people who haven't had their venue put their prices up since 2021.
If I find any photos when the film comes back which I think are worthy of sharing I'll add them at the time, but we'll likely be back to the usual content here aside from passing on the final attendee figure once it's shared. Until ConFuzzled in May anyway. Which I've got a bunch of things to sort out in advance of so I'm sure is going to arrive far quicker than expected.
We had some truly biblical rain through here last night so I was really curious to see how much had found it's way into the cabin of the Trabant. Happily the answer turned out to be "none." Or at least none I can detect. Carpets and underlay all still seem bone dry. Given how badly the thing was leaking when I got it I'll take that.
One area which has really suffered from the long term water ingress is the headlining. Well, such as it is. The "textured vinyl pad stuck to the inside of the roof" would be more accurate. It does a decent enough job of keeping the panel from drumming and dampens echoes in the cabin so what more do you need? Sadly the mould really has gone after it.
Interesting that there really wasn't much of it on the seats, steering wheel or seatbelts where it usually turns up. Just the roof. I have already given that a scrub down with a couple of cleaning products (including one to kill anything still growing there), but the staining really does seem to be ingrained into the texture printed onto the lining. The ideal approach to this would be to attack it with a bleach solution and a stiff scrubbing brush. However that's kind of difficult with it being glued to the roof, and I don't particularly want a face full of bleach or to find out the hard way which bits of the interior can be bleached of their colour. I very much doubt it will come out in one piece to allow me to deal with it on the ground. One thing I do have which I think may be worth a try is the steam cleaner. At the end of the day, a new headliner is €70 from the usual suspects, so I'll be planning on ordering one along with whatever the next batch of parts is I think. If I do manage to shift the grime in the interim that will just be a bonus.
Grubby headlining or not, the car was out and about again this afternoon, making a Fiesta look big.
The car came with a selection of random bottles of two stroke oil which I've been working through. Just finished a Car Plan branded one (never knew they sold anything other than really watered down screen wash and even more awful wiper blades) and switched to some Lucas (the American one) branded oil today and had an immediate reminder that two stroke oil is one of those fields where all oils are not created equal. The engine almost immediately ran smoother and is created better power.
I guess given it is actually passes all the way through the engine that there really will be a difference in how it behaves from one formulation to another depending on the different burn characteristics. Just not used to seeing something quite that measurable just using my ears and the butt Dyno. Something which is very obvious is that with this oil the car is far more willing to drive nicely at speeds requiring a light throttle (maintaining 30mph for example), than before. I mean, it's still a two stroke, but definitely a better mannered one.
I did consider doing some reading on "which is the best oil to use?" however know that's likely to be one of those topics where there are going to be a dozen different factions all of whom will defend their preferred brand at all costs...The only advice I know I have seen widely circulated is to steer clear of fully synthetic oils as (just as in many older four stroke cars) they don't play nicely with some of the seals used. So I'm just going to stick with what I know and go for Castrol R as that's what everyone I know who has actual experience with two stroke engines that I personally know has used since the dawn of time and swears by. Fact that you can't beat the smell is just a bonus. The only downside I know of that is that it doesn't do well if sitting around for long periods, but given that this car is in regular use I'm not expecting that to be an issue. To be fair, John's snowmobile regularly got forgotten for a few years at a time, and aside from having to blast the mouse nests out of the fan cowling and air box with the air line, it always just coughed and sneezed back to life after we swore at it loudly enough. Well aside from the one year the pull start rope snapped the first time I gave it a full strength pull and I went sailing backwards straight through the wall of the shed. See also: Moments from my past I wish I had on video as it was absolutely hilarious. Up there with the day I learned the lesson about how high a voltage a starter motor solenoid can generate when you disconnect it from the power supply.
Yes indeed, stair racing is a suburb workout and there are organised races up the stairs of tall buildings - finding a suitable venue is not easy as for the big events a wide flight of stairs is needed...
