$2 CAD is only £1.186 Sterling per litre the current average in my home town here in the UK is £1.471! If you ever wondered why we don't drive V8 powered trucks then it ought to be obvious now. I wouldn't consider buying a vehicle that couldn't achieve 55 MPG in real driving conditions.

My sympathies lie with a Scottish acquaintance named Angus Flockhart - his name is "corrected" to Anus Flowchart! It sounds like something that woud be hung by hospital staff at the foot of his bed.

I agree that it is a gauge for machine setting or checking components for conformity. The clue is in the complete lack of adjustability - measuring gauges and calipers in engineering are adjusted to a component to take a measurement. I was instructed that anything that can be adjusted will eventually become adjusted. To prove the point that allowing a workshop employee to use a pair of compass calipers when checking a setting was not acceptable I "dropped" them onto the floor and it had altered by 2 millimetres when I insisted that he check them. He was going to continue to use them unchecked.

Definitely Ash timber for larger body components. Consider the construction of boat and aircraft in the early 20th Century in which greater stresses would be encountered than in a lightweight car body. Whilst a child in the 1950's I recall many estate cars in the UK having ashwood frames, the Morris Minor Traveller/Countryman model being the most common. Ash must be durable in order to perform well as handles in all the woodworking tools that my Dad used, especially the mortice chisels that got hammered so much with a mallet. The Morgan has a more "mature" customer base that presumably appreciate the classic design and handmade production over the current car engineering that is electronically governed and dependent. By the way I have very much enjoyed your contributions to the Chit Chat section that are based upon your extensive experience.

A simple check on the history of Einstein and the Manhattan Project reveals that he wasn't involved due to (a) he was a German citizen and (b) he was viewed as holding left-wing views whilst the USA was at war. When informed of the use of atomic bombs in Japan he was reported to have said, "Woe is me". Is there any evidence of his direct involvement in the Manhattan Project? It seems that the Wright Brothers are equally responsible for the use of atomic bombs because aeroplanes were used to deliver them.

Who?

As soon as I recognise it as a robo call I shout "Get lost! You scamming b******s!" into the phone. Except today I got a call and my wife asked "who was that?". I told her it was another of the usual and she wanted to know why I hadn't replied as I normally do. I pointed out that we were sitting on a bus and the other passengers didn't need to hear a flood of abuse.

It can work in the opposite fashion when dealing with customers. A customer asked me how much an item cost so I told him. He said that was too much because another store across town had quoted him a price at nearly half that. I asked him why he hadn't bought what he wanted there. Apparently they hadn't any stock left so he had come to our store. He claimed that the other store was always cheaper than us.
"Not in this case" I said, " they a were trying to overcharge you".
"How do you make that out!" he demanded.
"Well I would have offered you one for free whilst we hadn't any in stock".
He decided to purchase the item because he needed it that day but I could see that he was still trying to work out what I'd meant.

And that happened where the globe is spinning slowest. Imagine how difficult it must be to control your car at the Equator where the globe is moving fastest!

My wife gets embarassed when I challenge the mental agility of people working thoughtlessly in shops and restaurants. For example:
A saleswoman was standing by the supermarket exit with her clipboard ready to ambush us as we were leaving.
"May I ask sir if he might be interested in a Dolphin Shower fitted in your home?"
"No thank you, I wouldn't", I replied.
"May I ask you why not, Sir?" she persisted, with pen poised to fill in her form.
"We don't have a dolphin or any other pets", I told her, struggling to keep a straight face.
Her face told me that she had never had anyone come back with that reply before. Meanwhile my wife was berating me for yet another rude display. I just can't help myself when presented with people who just don't seem to see what they are actually saying.

Or the fox that gets into a chicken shed and kills every last one of them! More than it can eat in a month.

In the UK some sections have the lanes marked with large chevrons set at the appropriate distance for the legal speeds so that drivers can adjust their distance from the vehicle in front. This rarely works as drivers continually use the "spaces" to pull into from faster lanes thereby negating the whole safety measure. As you fall back to allow the proper distance you can bet money that another car will pull over into the slot you have left.

A work colleague was making a big point of being 10 years younger than me as if it was a major achievement. He was puzzled when I pointed out that he was actually catching up to me.
"That's not true!" he complained.
"Okay, when you was born I was already 10 years old, agreed?" I asked.
"Obviously" he agreed.
"Ten years later when I was 20 years old you was already half my age. When I was 30 years old you was two thirds my age. Another 10 years later you was three quarters my age by the time I'm 50 years old you will be 80% of my age. Now do you see why you seem to be catching me up?"

I hope that you have a second car to drive whilst that one is in the mechanics' workshop. It is usually in the top 5 vehicles in the most unreliable surveys. I ought to be supportive of the Land Rover/Jaguar production here in the UK but they don't appear to be bothered about improving their products.

A work colleague objected when I told the rest of the office that he was going to have his head examined. "I am only going for a check up at the dentist's surgery!" he said loudly for everyone to hear. " And where do you keep your teeth, if not in your head?" I replied.