Geezah1984
New Member
Hi all,
So, let me introduce myself. I am Andrew, I currently live in Leicester, and have been into Land Rovers for the last 20 years (sounds a bit like a Alcoholics Anonymous intro. )
Anyway, I got my love for Land Rovers back in the mid 90's. I remember recording "The Car's The Star" featuring Quentin Wilson, and watching it over and over again. I started buying Land Rover magazines, just to look at the pictures. I was hooked.
In 2006, I purchased my first (and currently only), Land Rover. F34KFC, a white Land Rover 90 station wagon, with the 2.5TD engine. I was in heaven. I took it anywhere, and preferred driving her than my girlfriends 2 year old Fiat Punto. Granted, she needed work, but I had ambitious plans. My dad had just retired, and he had given me £5000 of his retirement lump sum to spend as I saw fit. Great, time to work on the Land Rover, and get her into decent running condition. I had planned to get a full new chassis and front bulkhead, and rebuild her. However, these plans were soon shot to pieces.
In early 2008, my girlfriend changed jobs. She went from being a nurse in the NHS, to being a nurse in a charitable trust (which will remain nameless). Things were great. That is until mid 2008 when she started taking ill. She would collapse and she spent a lot of time in hospital. This was a bad time, and was topped off by the place of employment saying it was "all made up". After a meeting where they basically said they was going to terminate her employment, she asked if she could hand in her notice instead. They accepted and she left.
After leaving she started applying for other jobs. All was going well, people were really impressed by her, and her abilities, however, nobody would take her on. We thought this is strange. However, it all became clear when a letter arrived on our doorstep. The letter was from the NMC (Nursing and Midwifery Council), stating that she was under investigation for her practices at the Charitable trust. This, as you can imagine, turned our lives upside down. This is why nobody would employ her.
From this point on, we became a single income family. My girlfriend was doing all she could to get work, and I was doing all the hours I could to pay the bills, both my own, and hers. This lasted for 2 years. We lost 2 x £25000 from her wages due to her struggling with health, and not getting a job. The £5000 I was gifted was put on living, and we had to take out some loans (£2000, £1500, and a credit card). Times were hard.
In 2010, we got what we were hoping for. The NMC had done their investigation, and my Fiancée was cleared and was called a great example of what a professional nurse should be. I wanted to sue the charity for deformation of character, and loss of earnings, but my fiancée had had enough, and wanted to leave it. We did seek advice, but they said it would be very hard to get anything out of them.
2010 we got married, and took KFC to the Lake District for honeymoon. We were getting our lives back on track. My wife had started training to become a Aromatherapy Masseuse, and went on to become self employed. That year though, KFC failed its MOT. It needed welding doing, and I did not have the money to get it done. I decided to SORN her. I borrowed my dads Escort van to get about.
2012, KFC was still off the road, and my mechanic friend took ill. He went through a bad time, and sadly passed away in 2013 of cancer. KFC, which was in his yard, was moved to our driveway, where I hoped to get her at least sorted and on the road once more.
This though was put back again. The Escort, which was my only form of transport, starting breaking down. In just over a year I ended up spending nearly £1000 on keeping it on the road (starter motor, water pump, alternator, and other little bits and pieces). My wifes Punto then wanted to join in the fun. A new Radiator, Clutch set us back £700, then it started coming up with engine failure on the dash. After numerous visits to the dealer, and being another £800 lighter, the car was sorted. However KFC was not.
So, that brings us to today. I have now left job in the NHS to be a Class 1 HGV driver, my wife is now fully self employed with her aromatherapy business, we have a 1 year old son called William, an KFC is still sat on my drive needing work. I really hope I can get her on the road this year. It really upsets me seeing her every day outside like she is, but until I can afford to do something, she will have to stay off the road.
Thanks for reading, and please look through my attached pictures. I am sure I will be posting on here once I can get started on her.
Andrew.
So, let me introduce myself. I am Andrew, I currently live in Leicester, and have been into Land Rovers for the last 20 years (sounds a bit like a Alcoholics Anonymous intro. )
Anyway, I got my love for Land Rovers back in the mid 90's. I remember recording "The Car's The Star" featuring Quentin Wilson, and watching it over and over again. I started buying Land Rover magazines, just to look at the pictures. I was hooked.
In 2006, I purchased my first (and currently only), Land Rover. F34KFC, a white Land Rover 90 station wagon, with the 2.5TD engine. I was in heaven. I took it anywhere, and preferred driving her than my girlfriends 2 year old Fiat Punto. Granted, she needed work, but I had ambitious plans. My dad had just retired, and he had given me £5000 of his retirement lump sum to spend as I saw fit. Great, time to work on the Land Rover, and get her into decent running condition. I had planned to get a full new chassis and front bulkhead, and rebuild her. However, these plans were soon shot to pieces.
In early 2008, my girlfriend changed jobs. She went from being a nurse in the NHS, to being a nurse in a charitable trust (which will remain nameless). Things were great. That is until mid 2008 when she started taking ill. She would collapse and she spent a lot of time in hospital. This was a bad time, and was topped off by the place of employment saying it was "all made up". After a meeting where they basically said they was going to terminate her employment, she asked if she could hand in her notice instead. They accepted and she left.
After leaving she started applying for other jobs. All was going well, people were really impressed by her, and her abilities, however, nobody would take her on. We thought this is strange. However, it all became clear when a letter arrived on our doorstep. The letter was from the NMC (Nursing and Midwifery Council), stating that she was under investigation for her practices at the Charitable trust. This, as you can imagine, turned our lives upside down. This is why nobody would employ her.
From this point on, we became a single income family. My girlfriend was doing all she could to get work, and I was doing all the hours I could to pay the bills, both my own, and hers. This lasted for 2 years. We lost 2 x £25000 from her wages due to her struggling with health, and not getting a job. The £5000 I was gifted was put on living, and we had to take out some loans (£2000, £1500, and a credit card). Times were hard.
In 2010, we got what we were hoping for. The NMC had done their investigation, and my Fiancée was cleared and was called a great example of what a professional nurse should be. I wanted to sue the charity for deformation of character, and loss of earnings, but my fiancée had had enough, and wanted to leave it. We did seek advice, but they said it would be very hard to get anything out of them.
2010 we got married, and took KFC to the Lake District for honeymoon. We were getting our lives back on track. My wife had started training to become a Aromatherapy Masseuse, and went on to become self employed. That year though, KFC failed its MOT. It needed welding doing, and I did not have the money to get it done. I decided to SORN her. I borrowed my dads Escort van to get about.
2012, KFC was still off the road, and my mechanic friend took ill. He went through a bad time, and sadly passed away in 2013 of cancer. KFC, which was in his yard, was moved to our driveway, where I hoped to get her at least sorted and on the road once more.
This though was put back again. The Escort, which was my only form of transport, starting breaking down. In just over a year I ended up spending nearly £1000 on keeping it on the road (starter motor, water pump, alternator, and other little bits and pieces). My wifes Punto then wanted to join in the fun. A new Radiator, Clutch set us back £700, then it started coming up with engine failure on the dash. After numerous visits to the dealer, and being another £800 lighter, the car was sorted. However KFC was not.
So, that brings us to today. I have now left job in the NHS to be a Class 1 HGV driver, my wife is now fully self employed with her aromatherapy business, we have a 1 year old son called William, an KFC is still sat on my drive needing work. I really hope I can get her on the road this year. It really upsets me seeing her every day outside like she is, but until I can afford to do something, she will have to stay off the road.
Thanks for reading, and please look through my attached pictures. I am sure I will be posting on here once I can get started on her.
Andrew.
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