Well I've now recovered from the crash and I have a new car (Vauxhall Vectra).

Today is my last day of work and I'm taking a break over Christmas. Apart from computer callouts all web sites and mail order companies are closed until the 3rd Jan. Boy do I need a break :)

I don't know if you've seen recently in the local paper but there is a storm brewing over car park charges. I've been saying this for months and months now; £7 to park all day is a joke. People won't stay if they have to pay half their holiday money on just car park charges.

This price should be brought down to £3 a day and then more people will stay longer and spend more. I tend to avoid car parks as much as I can during the summer because the prices are so high. To put it another way maybe you have a 1 in 10 chance of getting a fixed penalty ticket for parking on double yellows. Even if you got caught twice you'll still £10 better off!

This council is promoting illegal parking because in the long run a few fixed penalty tickets a year is still a huge saving.

I only use car parks when I'm fishing because I carry so much gear with me. I've spent over £400 in car park charges this year so next year I'm going to run the double yellow line gauntlet instead.

I'm fine!

I want to thank everyone who helped me after the crash on Sunday and in particular Kiwi and Talis from the forums for getting me back home safely. I was still in shock yesterday so didn't have chance to post anything and I also didn't want to talk to anyone about it.

I went to Dartmouth yesterday to inspect the car in daylight and it was a write off so it's now been scrapped. I am totally gutted but in one piece.

For those who don't know I went to a fishing meet in Slapton on Sunday and on the way back I clipped some wet leaves on a hairpin bend and it sent me into a slide. The leaves and road were so slippery the ABS couldn't do anything to stop the slide. I bounced off a sign into a wall. The airbag did its job perfectly and it allowed me to walk away without any kind of injury; not even whiplash. Thankfully there was a Police van behind me so I had instant help and support while the others from the meet started arriving and offering assistance. I had brought so much fishing gear with me it would have been impossible to do anything without the help from the forum members who fully loaded one car with my gear while another drove me back home.

It's strange because you feel so safe in a car like a Vauxhall Omega with ABS that you never really think you'll be in a situation where the ABS can't do anything to stop an impact. Wet leaves have now changed my view on this completely. ABS is great but when it has nothing at all to grip on it makes no difference if you have ABS or not. I suppose its obvious but this was my first car ever to have it so lesson learnt.

I doubt I'll be posting anything else for a few days while I sort out what I'm going to do about transport.