alexist

I got a bottle of the Harpic Limescale Remover the other day (the hard water here is a killer). It worked beautifully--our toilet bowl looks new. I thought to myself, "wonder how it works... bet it's acid" (I know from experience that half a lemon and some salt will do a reasonable job on limescale--the citric acid in the lemon reacts with the alkali in the limescale, and the salt is an i-forget-the-name-but-irritatting-rubbing-cleaning-thing to help remove it). Rather nasty doing it to the inside of the toilet bowl, though.)

Looked on the label and sure enough--"contains hydrochloric acid". No touching the toilet bowl, boys and girls! I bet this means that the regular "lime and grime" remover (for the tiles, etc) won't work nearly as well... I'll be back to the lemon and salt! (Meh. It works, but it's fiddly. And don't go eco-warrior on me and tell me that it's better for the environment than powerful chemicals. Unless you're prepared to put your principles to the test and do it for us. :) )

See, I may have failed Honours Chemistry I, but I do know some things :)

I really hate these self-justifying SUV drivers.

"I need it for the school run!"
No you don't. I appreciate that it's more difficult with 3 children than it used to be, since kids have to use booster seats longer than they did when I was little, but you can fit 3 kids in a car. Just as importantly, many of the SUVs you're driving only seat 5 anyway! (This is what made me laugh when the reporter actually said something about them seating 7. Most of the real "Chelsea tractors" don't. They're effectively station wagons (estate cars) on higher wheels. An X5 or, ugh, a Porsche Cayenne is no Suburban or Land Rover.)

"I need it because it's safer/I live in an [X] area"
They're not safer, and London roads are not that bad. Even if you do live in "rural Leicestershire" (as one woman did today) a British rural road is the worst place for an SUV. They're narrow and have a lot of blind spots. Smaller and more manoeuvrable is the way to go, car wise. And of course, that woman was driving a Mercedes.

Last night I got so annoyed at one of these women that I yelled at the TV--I said she should try getting a proper Army jeep and see how much she liked it. These people don't need or want a real 4x4--they want a bigger car.

The new £215 tax is a joke. If you can afford £40K on your stupid car, you're not going to worry about the road tax. Slap a 20% purchase tax on them and it might help.

And I know it's funny coming from me, with my background--my sister has a Lexus SUV for goodness' sake, and I yelled at her plenty for it. She parks it at the train station 5 days a week. Meanwhile, my mother's saying they need one, because of where they're moving. (My dad needs a new car anyway.) I said, "Ma, I've seen the houses you're looking at. They all have paved driveways. You do not need an SUV. Exactly what are you going to put in it, groceries and the dog?" (The dog, by the way, has enough trouble getting into my mother's car [Mercedes CL-class] with her arthritic hip!) I told her to get something with 4 wheel drive, which will cope just fine when it snows, and be done with it.

(I have every sympathy for people who do live in remote areas or need something that seats 7 and has room for cargo--my uncle once had a Suburban because of that. But honestly, most of these luxury SUVs you see today are not in that class.)