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Many years ago friend who lives near the Metro centre advised me never to use the multi story car park there for the same reason. If you must go there when it is busy use the surface car park even if it takes a while to find a parking space. Nowadays I would not contemplate going near a shopping centre at a weekend or busy period and early in the day is best, before the locals wake up. :-)
Last edited by: Old Navy on Tue 22 Dec 15 at 20:28
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No idea what was going on today, but I went near sevenoaks this morning at 09:00 and it was fine, on my way out at 11:30 it was chaos going the other way (going into the town centre)
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I shall begin my Christmas shopping at around midday on Christmas Eve. The shops will be quiet, there will be plenty of stock left and some items will already be being discounted.
Done it that way for decades. Never a problem.
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The petrol stations are open till midnight round here. They stock plenty of stuff that make an ideal gift for a loved one.
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>> The petrol stations are open till midnight round here. They stock plenty of stuff that
>> make an ideal gift for a loved one.
>>
I can imagine the response if I presented Mrs ON with a spare headlamp bulb. I might not survive beyond Christmas lunch. :-)
Last edited by: Old Navy on Tue 22 Dec 15 at 20:51
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I experienced a short delay exiting the Hydro MSCP after the Top Gear show having been nominated to take my grandson. It was a well organised exit though with staff having coned exit routes and directing traffic. On arrival they were actively encouraging pre payment of the fixed price parking to reduce delays on exit.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Tue 22 Dec 15 at 20:52
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>> I shall begin my Christmas shopping at around midday on Christmas Eve. The shops will
>> be quiet, there will be plenty of stock left and some items will already be
>> being discounted.
>>
>> Done it that way for decades. Never a problem.
And every wife has complained about men for doing it for decades
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>> I shall begin my Christmas shopping at around midday on Christmas Eve. The shops will
>> be quiet, there will be plenty of stock left and some items will already be
>> being discounted.
>>
>> Done it that way for decades. Never a problem.
tinyurl.com/z4gauwn
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I spent long enough in retail to learn not to go anywhere near towns in the week before Christmas, unless I had to work there.
I did my Christmas shopping early. A recycled bottle of Caol Isla to my best pal ( bought for me last Xmas and unopened). A bottle of Secretary Bird Sav Blanc @ £4.99 from Booths and 3 boxes of Tiger Tim firelighters @ £2.25 for other friends. Practical eh! Total spend a little over £15, including 6 cards posted.
The oldies will have a drive out to Grange over Mud next Spring.
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>> I wouldn't fancy some of that -
I reckon peak traffic was today.
Trip into town around noon to get Roomies new tyres fitted. Roundabout by Sainsbury's jammed up like it sometimes get on Saturday when footie and shopping clash. CAB colleague took 20mins to get off town centre car park that's normally straight to barrier and out.
Christmas Eve should be pretty quiet. Not done the Xmas shopping thing that day for years but remember having a pick of sale stuff at Lewis's in Leeds on 24/12 c1980
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Tue 22 Dec 15 at 23:29
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For several years I deferred buying the Christmas Day meat item until Christmas Eve afternoon when I would visit Waitrose on the way home from work. Always came out with something decent at half price, but we never knew whether it was going to be beef, pork or turkey.
There was one year when I thought I had been done. Got home with a turkey that had no legs. I'd never heard of 'turkey crowns'.
This year we are with our daughter and son in law and I put myself on the hook to get the meat; I did the job properly yesterday and got a nice bit of dry aged wing rib sirloin.
I think that was thread drift.
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Multi-storey hoppers car park log-jammed earlier today. Reason was idiotic behaviour.
Rationally, one enters via the barrier and drives up the car park until finding free spaces.
Clown however get just inside entry barrier and spots returning shopper, laden with stuff, making beeline for her car. He then drops anchor, blocking the way and preventing further entry, while Mrs Shopper stows her purchases folds her coat, starts engine, phones hubby to say she's leaving and finally drives off.
Clown then takes further two minutes to shuffle his Merc C Class into the just about amply sized space. Honestly you could berth the USS Nimitz in less time.
Queue shuffles forward until driver at front, having gone twenty yards spots a laden shopper making a beeline for her car.......
Rinse and repeat ad-infinitum.
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You could have tremendous fun for an hour walking round a crowded multi with a couple of shopping bags, pausing by a parked car now and again while going through your pockets searching for the keys before moving off and repeating at the next level up.
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If some impatient sod sounds his horn 'cos I'm not being quick enough to vacate my space, I switch the ignition on and select R so the reverse lights come on.
Then I wait for the imaginary wife to come back to the car.
Petty and childish ? of course.
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Just out of curiousity, does anyone have theory as to why people continue to walk directly behind a car that has already started to reverse out of a supermarket parking space? I don't really mind pausing the maneover 15 times to let them, but conversely, if I see someone doing the same and I'm the pedestrian, I'll just sort of wait a moment to let them get their car out. Just seems like the sensible, polite thing to do really.
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Talking of reversing, I had no idea such a thing as this existed unto a day or two ago. For under a fiver I might be tempted when the silent electric car turns up.
You swap it for your existing reversing light, apparently, is all.
www.amazon.co.uk/Reversing-Beeper-Backing-light-alarm/dp/B003O30LMW
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>> Just out of curiousity, does anyone have theory as to why people continue to walk
>> directly behind a car that has already started to reverse out of a supermarket parking
>> space?
I do it because there's loads of time to walk across whilst they edge out. No need for either party to stop.
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You want a multi-story that is on top of the supermarket and other shops and is thus accessed by a spiral ramp. I had a drive shaft pop out on the up ramp, just after 0900. Clearly obvious no drive was getting to the wheels and I had a massive queue behind. The giggle was I sussed what had happened after a few seconds, and the following motorists were all shouting "get a move on" etc.
Got out of car, and explained if no-one gave my car a push, we'd be sitting there all day. To their credit, they did give the needed push. Still giggle when I think of it even now.
Garage had boobed with the CV joint replacement and left off the circlip. Owner came out to my house later, and fixed it in about 5 minutes
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>> Just out of curiousity, does anyone have theory as to why people continue to walk directly
>> behind a car that has already started to reverse out of a supermarket parking space?
Worse than people continuing to walk behind are the drivers who speed around you rather than letting you continue your manoeuvre. They can't know you're actually going to stop so they can speed past the rear of the car.
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You could have tremendous fun...
Yep, done that: Waitrose, Wokingham on a Saturday morning. It's an open-air car park arranged in lobes, so I could walk purposefully down to the end of a lobe with an eager Audi Q driver in close attendance, then slip through to the next lobe, leaving Q to reverse out. (My car was a nice walk away, where Beestling Minor was at the judo club.)
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What a mean obstructive bunch of coves you are... this stuff happens by itself anyway in these nightmare huge crap racks.
You need to get out more... but on foot. You can't be trusted with cars. Tchah!
Reversing out into through lanes in a supermarket car park is very fraught as I know to my cost. It's always a great relief to get into the wriggly exit road and take off down the passing minor A road in a civilized manner (if quite often with some demented eager beaver tailgating for a few hundred yards. Usually they don't overtake even when you try to make it easy for them, nowt so queer as folks).
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How about this manoeuvre, AC? Not sure I'd fancy trying it, taken a wrong turn or no.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-35172544
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>> How about this manoeuvre, AC? Not sure I'd fancy trying it, taken a wrong turn or no.
>> www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-35172544
Can't absolutely swear that I've never gone up a slip road the wrong way, but if I ever did the desperate risky last-minute U turn got me out of it before I actually started driving the wrong way up the motorway. There have been quite a few of those urgent U turns over the years, fewer lately I like to think.
Last edited by: Armel Coussine on Fri 25 Dec 15 at 17:15
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Our local mall has a multistory carpark which is a nightmare to get in and out of. Oh, and they ain't shy with their prices for parking either.
Yet a 4 minute walk away is another supermarket, gym and library complex with a huge groundlevel carpark that is normally at >60% capacity. And free. And much easier to get in and out of.
Now, I can see the logic of parking at the multistory place if you are buying trolleys full of gear. But the vast majority of shoppers I saw on the 24th were wandering about with at most 2 carrier bags.
It defies logic and common sense.
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Avoided 90% of the hassle of Xmas shopping - so parking hassle was reduced to only 1 day in Edinburgh. Bought most presents on-line & where we could not get something for adults we provided present(s) to open + folding money for the balance of the budget - ££s always goes down well.
Grandchildren had a budget set by SWMBO but on wrapping a couple of days before Xmas she discovered that 2 tallied up to £20 above the limit!
So, instead of holding back an item for a Birthday, she upped the budget for the other 4 by £20 to compensate!! the £20 crisp new banknotes went down well. Bang goes the budget.
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Long Term Parking - Old Navy
