I managed to get myself a 3 year driving ban many moons ago.. Stupidly managed to get a license and lose it within a year. 
I don't by regrets at all, but i can only imagine that my insurance would be cheaper if I didn't get banned! 
I've always loved the look of the mk3 Ibizas, something nice and subtle about the shape. At the time, they weren't a very common car in the area, and not many people truly knew the capabilities of these, and then 1.8 20vt engine. 
Today though, is a very different story, these cars go so cheap, and a half decent one on high miles can be picked up for around £1000-£1500! Making them a cheap, fast hatchback. With simple mods, these can push around 240bhp, in something that doesnt weight much, makes for a lot of fun!

I just wanted to post up a couple of pics of my mates Leon. Its not to everyones tastes, but personally.. I think its pretty nice! 
I guess others must like it too, as its currently getting shot for FastCar magazine. The photographer is loving the moody shots of the derelict building in the background. That, mixed with a very modern looking car in a standard SEAT Kiwi green, makes for a really good contrast! 
For a couple more pics and a quick summary, press the Read More.. 

You meet people in your life, people who will make a lasting impression; who will affect your life so much that you will always remember them. I know plenty of people like this, I have so many funny stories to tell, ranging from fake kidnappings to very stupid camping trips involving too many illegal substances.. 
The character to the left is someone who I believe cannot be forgotten, for good and bad reasons.
To this day, I still find it hard making conversation with people, especially when you know nothing about them. I can become shy and awkward, especially around people with big personalities. 
Press Read more..

Ive never been a massive fan of BMW's, they have never really appealed to me if I'm honest. 
The interiors haven't changed much over the years, and look very dated, especially the dash.. seats.. steering wheel, pretty much the whole thing.
I find that they always sit a bit funny, the fronts are way too high due to the really strange body design. As the front arches sits a lot higher then the rear ones. I'm sure that hasn't gone unnoticed with most BMW owners!?

Got home last Monday, walked into the kitchen to find a couple of Cadbury Roses tins. Now from memory, these are only ever filled with lots of chocolates, or lots of cakes. Typically used by mother to put her cakes in. I thought, great, in for a treat here! But sadly they were filled with memories. 
As of Monday, my aunt with diagnosed with terminal cancer, and she was given months to live, with a very slim chance of seeing out Christmas. 

Well its been a long time coming, but I made a start on taking parts off the car. It wasn't as hard as I thought.. I tend to get emotionally attached to things very easily, and with me loving my car, I thought taking parts of would get to me. 
I know a lot of people who go through a lot of cars.. They modify them, then sell them, and get a new toy. I 'm the opposite, I buy something, and keep it for as long as I can .. which has always been the wrong thing to do, now that I look back and see my track record. Its not good..
The Ibiza Cupra nearly skinted me, £10 a day to get to work and back.. The Audi A4 was literally falling apart, and could of killed me! And now the A3, which has been broken more times then its been fixed. 
So far I've took off the rear lights, Headunit, steering wheel, gearknob, floor mats and parcel shelf. Those have been sold and made me a bit of money. All being replaced with standard parts. I will then get it put on eBay. Was going to advertise it locally first, but thinking I'll just bite the bullet and get it put on there. Once its gone... then its gone. Oh, and now I'm back at work.. fun!

Well I needed to start looking at what was involved.. and its a lot more then I thought!
New Zealand appears to have the easiest methods, and I got accepted to move there easily in 2008.. 115 points, when they only require 100.

Now, moving to Australia is that little bit more difficult. The EOI stays open for 2 years on their SkillSoft page. It costs around $360 to apply for a Migrant Working Visa, which is great.. but The problem is that your qualifications/certificates have to be approved, and that process will only be there for a maximum of 30 days,. and at a cost of $400! And there isn't a guarantee that your qualifications match any of the ones that are required.. so that $400 could be a complete waste of money! thats a scary thought. Is it just worth getting a working holiday visa, and staying for 12 months, and a maximum of 6 months at a time with a chosen employer.. 

My mate Liam has the Audi A4 in the picture. His car is cursed like mine, but not to the same extent! It suffers for a strange ABS/Braking problem that we cannot get to the bottom of. Basically is causes his brakes to lock on , and wears them down a lot by overheating them. Anyway,. enough of the boring stuff.
Liam can only really be described as a person who gets an idea in his head, and wants to do it there and then, usually with the help of me and some others.. and usually not to a very good finish.. because we run out of time, or because he picks stupid times to do things. Like painting a car.. when its raining!
Luckily we had a unit to do it in, so that was the first problem solved. a splitter was bought for the car, but already paint in a nice Audi black (from a B7 shape) and he wanted to paint all the lower plastics black to match his car.. so that he could fit the splitter. Now most people would usually pay to get it done, roughly £160-£200 would probably cover it. A nice finish with the correct paint. No.. Liam wanted us to rush it , so that he could put the splitter on that day! So we did. and to be honest.. it turned out quite well! 2 heavy coats of primer, 3 to 4 coats of paint.. and lots and lots of lacquer. We even waited for it to dry ! Which is probably a first for us.. It was your standard Gloss Black from any motor factors. Simonez product. Worked a treat, and now that the car is clean, it really does look nice! 
RX8 seats fitted, and multifunctional steering wheel. the car is finally getting there. Next on the list is to lower the front more, sits slightly too high and needs to come down by at least 30mm! 

Well I had to go up to bonny Scotland on Tuesday the 3rd.. which meant a lovely 3 and a half hour drive there! Alarm set for 6 and also a slight lack of sleep the night before didn't help.
The drive wasn't too bad, but I was expecting more when I got there.. I expected to see a lot of ginger people, with kilts on, eating shortbread and haggis! 
Instead, I got introduced to Motherwell.. which compares to the slums of India. Its basically not the nicest place to visit. Appears to be heavily based on industry, and common. Common to the point that trying to understand anyone who comes from the area is impossible. 
I can only hope that visits to Dalzell are few and far between.