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Some well earned self indulgence

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This evening, I’ll be back in the driving seat for the first time this year as I’m off to Teamsport Bristol with another noob karting Dad 🙂 What was once a monthly outing has had to take a back seat of late, in fact I’ve not been since Junior was quicker than me for the first time at the back end of last year. I’m really hoping to put that disappointment behind me – it took some time getting over 😉 It also means I get to wear my birthday present from last year – in my opinion, it’s the best present ever! What do you reckon?

helmet

Birthday boy

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Question: What do you get for a boy on whom you’ve spent over £2000 in the past month? Answer: Absolutely nothing! Ok, that isn’t strictly true – we gave him a karting t-shirt, a small Toblerone, a small packet of jelly beans (Jelly Belly, of course) and a large packet of Parma Violets!!! Having received his next 20 birthdays worth of presents last month, he wasn’t ever getting much from us. We did allow him to have presents from other family members which basically consisted of something he wanted – a mirror red visor for his Bell KC3, and something I wanted – a Mychron 4 USB data key. I’ve wanted to sit down and play with the AiM Race Studio 2 software so now is my chance. And as these things weren’t funded out of my now-empty coffer, I’m not adding them to the total cost 🙂

The great garage/unwanted toy/crash helmet clear out

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In a bid to recoup some of the not-budgeted cost of the Bell KC3 and to clear some space in a now very crowded garage, I’ve been having a bit of a clear out. Gone are the petrol hedge trimmer that I hated using because of the fumes (ironic, huh?) and the kids bikes that have sat unused for three or four years. That’s £50 back. Going are a couple of fantastic items on eBay 😉

Firstly, a mightily impressive Traxxas E Revo 1/10 Monster Truck that has sat on top of my son’s cupboard for over a year. Pleasingly that soared to £170 in the first three days and has over 50 watchers. Unfortunately, with every desirable item you get any number of people enquiring as to whether or not you have a Buy It Now price in mind – I have sold a lot of desirable stuff on eBay and only once have I turned down an offer and not made at least as much by letting the auction run. I added a comment stating I’d let the auction run but that hasn’t deterred the bargain hunters…

Secondly, I have listed my son’s first crash helmet – a Nolan N62 Melandri Replica. I searched high and low for a decent, not bland, extra small sized lid that my son would really love and found it in this Melandri replica. Everything about is cool – the colour, the number, the skeleton teeth… 🙂 Anyway, my son is not happy about it as he prefers this to the plain white Bell but it needs to be done. Currently going for £9.52; it’s always interesting to see the random amounts people bid – is it that they think a little extra over the exact pound or 50p will seal the deal?

Total funds raised for the cause: £229.52 (guaranteed)

What am I doing???

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It’s been little over a month since I seriously started considering getting my son a kart of his own. I’ve never owned a kart before and I am about as far removed from being a mechanic as it is possible to be; to the point I gave up on my petrol hedge trimmer after two months as I didn’t like messing with the choke, the petrol and the fumes!

Since my son was deemed big enough to drive an adult arrive/drive kart around 18 months ago, I’ve been indoor karting with him – prior to that I’d karted four times in 40 years! Things have snowballed since looking to get him a free test in a ‘proper’ kart a few months back and I’ve spent a month investigating the costs, the options, trying to pick up everything I could to make an informed decision on whether to take the plunge and buy a kart. I figured this blog might actually help others in a similar position, whilst also allowing me to think out loud and maybe get some expert opinion where things get vague (I am a noob, remember!).