At the moment - stuck in a motorway services hotel near Bristol with a borrowed but immobile minibus ( to take back to Brussels those things that I wish to keep as my brother and I sorted out our late parents' house to clear it to complete the sale). The minibus which I have frequently borrowed with no problems chose this trip to develop demonic possession.

When I was trying to leave Brussels, it would not start, so the owner came along with jump leads and we got it started, and it worked, including starting normaly after the Eurotunnel, two stops for petrol and a coffee break. It then stalled at traffic lights leading on to a major roundabout entering Exeter and would not start again. A mechanic arranged by the police got me started again, but I decided to play safe (as it was about half past ten at night) and booked into the Holiday Inn on the other side of the roundabout.

The following morning, since the mechanic was convinced that the problem was the battery, I chased up a replacement by phone, took a taxi to collect it, and then had to call the mechanic again to fit it because I thought at the time that I had no tools with me. By that time, I didn't want to start the rest of my journey, so I booked in for another night.

The following morning (Christmas Eve) it only started with great difficulty, and then was making strange "blowing" noises that it had never made before. At this point, my brother drove up from Liskeard in Cornwall to pick up me and my luggage.

Christmas and Boxing Day were great!

On Wednesday I went back to Exeter by train and got the minibus to the local Toyota garage. They diagnosed a faulty gasket on the inlet manifold, for which a replacement would take about ten days to arrive - Toyota is notorious for this sort of delay. In consultation by phone with the owner, it was decided that with all bolts on the manifold tightened up, I could keep on using it. It got me to Liskeard.

We spent three days sorting the house (it's not finished, but we have emptied the loft - which was definitely a two person job - one to lower stuff down and one to receive - one person would have had to be up and down the ladder all the time - even working together, the loft still took us two days).

Leaving to go home seemed to start OK - until I noticed a strange noise every time I steered left. A call to the owner reassured me that this was nothing to worry about.

Then I noticed that the engine temperature was rising - and from my previous use of the vehicle I knew it normally ran fairly cool. i stopped to let it cool down while I had something to eat, topped up the water in the radiator, and carried on. Within 20 kilometers it was overheating again so I stopped on the motorway hard shoulder to let it cool. At this point the police turned up - they had me freewheel down the slope I was on and as far up the next uphill bit momentum would take me, then let it cool down so I could add water. Then I drove the last quarter of a mile to the next service area and in that short distance, he temperature was nearly into the red.

At this point, Touring Secours and the AA come into the picture.(Touring Secours is the Belgian equivalent of the AA and they have reciprocal arrangements). The AA mechanic who (finally!) arrived identified the problem as a leaking water pump. At this point, the obvious answer, given the delay on Toyota spares, was to invoke the "Get-You-Home" clause in the Touring Secours cover. That's when we discovered that it was only valid if the owner was driving the vehicle!

The AA (in theory) arranged for a tow to a garage to try and solve the problem - however, this was Sunday - Monday was New Years Day - so nothing could be done till Tuesday. I waited all day Tuesday in my hotel room waiting for the promised call to arrange picku-up - when I lost patience and started phoning round again, I discovered that the record of the request for my tow had been lost! They have now promised me that someone will turn up at 8 am Wednesday to do the tow. In the meantime, I am paying out for hotel rooms, etc.

So that's where I am at the moment. Prior to all this, I had two shows in two weeks, an emergency techie stand-in, two weeks of a bad cold possibly mild flu and preparations for my UK trip. Not much time to spare on the Board!

Edited for spelling
Edited for spelling again