October 2021

I t’s been a scary couple of years hasn’t it? Disease stalking the land, international strife of the European variety, and some very strange stuff going on beyond. Add onto that existential dread resulting from the climate crisis, and yes, that is a long list of things to scare you silly. How are we going to distract ourselves at Parkit Motors this Autumn? Why, by going full-on Halloween again of course! Ghouls and witch hats will bedeck the garage once more, fished out from Mrs P’s closely guarded Halloween decoration stash. She has so much in fact that she can mix it up year-in, year-out so it is never quite the same two in a row. She enjoys deciding how to decorate, and then getting it all set up. She especially likes decorating the staff, so some of my boys end up with bolts on their necks and the like. To be honest, given their style inclinations, I’m surprised some of them don’t have that sort of thing already. They already set off metal detectors with their various piercings I imagine. Sticking extra bits on for fun is not just confined to the mechanics though. People do it to their cars as well. Modification is not something we tend to get involved in. Many of those owners are already mechanics, and would baulk at paying for work they do themselves. Of course, doctors often make the worst patients so we do get a couple of the more self-aware ones. To do it well you need to spend a lot of money, and you also need the right car in the first place if you ask me. Sticking a metal bucket on the back of a Peugeot 206 and calling it a sports exhaust is one option, but for the true aficionado you need to get into total engine rebuilds, chassis reconstruction, new bodies, ooh it would make your bank manager cry. Mainly we see these cars at MOT. Of course, we are a little busier than usual this October, thanks to the MOT Exemption, the government measure that keeps on measuring – measuring how annoyed I can get about the fact we are so busy. I mean, I like customers, in theory, and I like getting the money, but to have all of our usual MOTs all happening between September and Christmas is a bit much. I know we will manage, as we have been preparing ourselves for this for some time. However, I would prefer it if things would get back to a normal pattern. That may happen faster than expected, but it is still going to be rammed this year. Then, when we get to the Spring it will be quiet again. I can use that time to get everyone training, and prepping for the next Autumn. It is all about preparation in the end. Speaking of preparation, I will need to give Mrs P a ladder for this year’s décor, as I see that bat streamers have come out. SCARY TIMES! 66 AFTERMARKET OCTOBER 2021 TEABREAK: MEMOIRS OF A MOTOR MECHANIC www.aftermarketonline.net