coldel

I think you are being a little harsh. If the couriers want to keep there employee's they need to keep them happy. Overloading them with parcels at christmas time is not the way to do this.... I just think a little incentive goes a long way.... The employer is not overloading them, its just the nature of the business, its busy at christmas. Fine if they want to reward them thats their prerogative but some sort of thinking that you HAVE to bonus people just to work when their job gets busy, well thats farcical. Not as if its a rare skill and there are no people around that can 'drive a van and knock on someones door to deliver a parcel' although as we have seen even that is beyond some people. Lucky not everyone has the same mentality 'oh its busy - I need money to work a bit harder' otherwise this country would be in an even worse state than it is now.

As for the bonus issue for 'working harder in busy periods' am I missing a joke here or something? I work in market research, christmas for us is also one of our busiest periods, thats life, sometimes your job is busy, sometimes it is quiet it all evens out. Am a little confused as to why people demand money to work a bit harder because its busy? Or maybe I am being a bit too harsh...

Its around this time of year the whole postage system goes up the spout. After some very bizarre incidents I would rather go to 'a shop' and buy stuff at a higher price than rely on companies getting stuff to me in time. The worst incident I had, which tragically was also the funniest, was waiting for a parcel I paid next day delivery for with UPS about two weeks before christmas, a week later nothing. So I chased and chased it, they promised delivery, I worked at home, nothing. Then I went to work got home and missed parcel, so I contacted them and said I would come and collect it so arranged to shift my work around so I could go get it. Rocked up at the sorting office and it was rammed, they couldn't find anyones stuff. About 40 people waiting in there. 2 1/2 hours later they announced that everything was out on delivery whether you said you would collect or not and that we should 'rush home' to intercept it. I got home, nothing. Next day I was off work and it arrived! Next day delivery took eleven days plus endless messing around with work. So, I had a chat with the delivery guy: Col: I paid next day on this, even arranged to collect and I waited eleven days now! Delivery dude: Sorry about that mate, wouldn't use UPS at all if I were you. Col: Really, why? Delivery dude: Bunch of jokers down at that sorting office. Last night they didn't even unload my undelivered's, just left all the post in the backs of all the vans overnight out in the car park because they wanted to get down the pub early and have a lie in this morning. Col: WHAT! Delivery dude: Yep been like that the last few days, not bothering to unload the vans at night because its busy. I got a load of extra stuff to deliver today that should have been picked up so I got an extra long day. Col: Isn't that annoying? You seem quite calm about it? Delivery dude: Not really, my last day. Merry Christmas! And he drove off into the sunset. That, is a true story.

At the very least get on go compare or the like and put your mods in and get a range of quotes. I used Admiral for my Zed, I added the Milltek, induction kit, HFCs, wheels and the increase was around £25 for the year. Then again I have decades of driving and age on my side... ...then they quoted us £600 for a bog standard Ford Focus, so we switched to Sheilas wheels for £290.

TGM has really good reviews, lots of people on here vouch for them. I think the guys name is Tom you need to speak to - knows Zeds very well.

I like the wheels, I think! Could do with some powder coating to make them less overpowering on the car, maybe a darker shade? The best mod I have seen on the silver Zeds are the black wrapped roof's - really sets the car off for little cost.

Nice thought, but I have a Miltek fitted, it is the Berk HFC that I am contemplating...! David Do it, you wont be disappointed. Nice sound when cruising, drop a gear and thump the revs and it sounds STUNNING.

Milltek + Berks sounds fantastic, loud enough to get the whole of Richmond high street taking a look if I revved it a bit! An absolute bargain to be had here if you intend to upgrade.

Sorry to hear, generally Zeds are pretty reliable. I bought mine and within a few months I had to sort out a clicky axle, clutch, flywheel and some paintwork issues (the previous **** owner had a blowover done to cover the paint problems) - cost in the region of £2000. Then I had a year of amazing motoring.

Looks like typical modifications needed to make a K1 fit to me...

Is that Clacton beach that photo of it was taken on...

...apologies if they are reposted, been out the loop a while :1: Decats (I think?) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ARK-de-cats-decat-pipes-for-Nissan-350z-Z33-2003-2007-stainless-steel-/271121376911 Set of 18s at 99p http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/nissan-350z-18in-alloys-/110989578515 Berk HFCs http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BERK-technology-sport-HIGH-FLOW-cats-Nissan-350z-Z33-2003-2007-stainless-steel-/271121380786 Throttle controller http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/D1-SPEC-7-DRIVE-THROTTLE-CONTROLLER-FOR-NISSAN-350Z-/281035219848 Strut bar http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/JIC-Magic-Carbon-Fiber-wrapped-aluminum-front-strut-tower-bar-for-the-350Z-/271121367880 and a very decent looking exhaust... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nissan-350z-Twin-Exhaust-System-/221165627575...

You can get the plastic poppers off ebay for a couple of quid for about 20, a worthy investment if you plan on tinkering as they have a tendency to snap on occasion.

If you ever happen to find yourself at Yotsuya station (where my apartment was) there is a side road with some great eating places just across the road from it. Come out the station, there will be a crossroads just to your left, you need to get to the opposite corner so cross to your left then cross again to the right, go straight ahead and first left you will see an archway, go down there and there are tonnes of great little restaurants tucked away. About 1/3rd of the way down on the left is 'Barbies' which is a soup kitchen type place, you have a machine you put yen into, there are buttons with pictures of food on, select one and give the ticket to the person serving. Also down on the right are some Mexican restaurants, a curry house, and a few Japanese places as well. The Imperial Palace is about 20 minutes walk up Shinjuku-dori from there also. Eating wise though dont be afraid to follow a small sign, up some stairs, round a corner in what looks like an office block, often the best places to eat are tucked away there. In the bigger parts of Tokyo like Shinjuku and Shibuya are KFCs and McDonalds etc if you can't be bothered with the hassle. Great thing is, although I know you hate football, is that to hold the 2002 World Cup there Tokyo had to really change its attitude to foreign visitors so lots of English language signs, menus, etc were introduced! See, football good for something! What I might also recommend, Tokyo DisneySea. Its half an hour on the train and is bloody awesome. There is Disneyland as well which is next door, but its not a patch on DisneySea which has a replica of Venice inside it along with loads of rides etc. Go during a working day and you have the run of the place. You should also get the metro across to Odaiba, a huge man made island, it will go across the Rainbow Bridge which gives you amazing views of the city and bay area. If you like cars there is an enormous museum by Toyota where you can go around, has all the latest tech etc and past decades of cars. Another way to get there is to start your day in Asakusa which is very old school Japan and worth a visit and getting the boat to Odaiba, you get to see a lot enroute. Roppongi is a well known place for ex-pats, it gets a bit sleazy in the evening with a lot of pished people about but a good time can be had if you want as its open 24hrs in general. Rebecca and I plus another couple (sounds dodgy already but I promise it isnt!) went on an all nighter there, met up at 7pm, went to a few bars, loads of night clubs, some with no one but us and the staff in there, was great fun, we found one place where the DJ let us DJ, see how cool he was... ...we ended up having pepperoni pizza in an American themed bar at 5am watching the sun come up, odd, but it kinda worked. For the best views of Tokyo I would go up the Government Metropolitan building, something like 60 floors up, restaurant at the top, and a 360 degree view from the centre of Tokyo. See there I go again...I could rattle on for hours!

I agree, wouldn't sell JUST because of fuel economy, if its really killing you don't buy a sports car and get a 320D or something. The differences you will see will be minimal, my commute in the Zed got me about 20mpg which was a mix of motorway and city.

So still struggling with this concept, you have to still wash the car (or at the very least get the jet wash out) before you should use it, and probably go through about ten micro fibres...why not wash the car then dry it?

For those that don't know, putting microfibres in the machine on a low temp with non-bio works well and should be done after every use. Doing so before the first use is a good idea as well! Yep, all we have is non bio as we have to use it with the babies clothes!

Its not worth trying to sell - I had C5UPE on my zed, it probably helped sell the car at the premium price I was asking.

04 DE and same for me, main key.

What he said...its a no brainer, using a dirty microfibre over and over will scratch the car. I avoid this stuff like the plague. Superficially it might look fine when you finish, but close up you will see the damage you have done.

I would advise you check with your service provider before you leave regarding the phone. I have seen the looks of terror on tourists faces when landing in Japan and coming around to the realisation that their phones will not work. Otherwise Skype is the way forwards as choptop says, so much cheaper.

I used to live in Tokyo...I am always trying to convince people to go visit as its not normally on most peoples 'to go to' list despite it being fantastic. A top three tips: 1. Your mobile phone wont work there, but you can hire phones from the airports 2. Your cashcard will only work at post office machines and citibank machines in general 3. Learn the word pronounced sumi-ma-sen, if you bump into someone or want to get past them (will happen a lot its a busy place) use that word, it effectively means 'excuse me' and is very polite You will have a great time, lots of shopping (I remember you were after a camera lens a while back, prices are half there what they are here) - be wary of buying digital cameras or the like though as they generally do not have an English language option. Money wise dont be afraid of carrying large wads of cash, its quite common in Tokyo as crime is pretty much zero. Also, remember to look up. Sounds bizarre but due to the compact nature of the city lots of bars and restaurants are on the 2nd floor or above in buildings. Saw you have pre booked excursions, are you heading to Nara by any chance? I would recommend it if you like culture, temples etc. Snow Monkeys will be good fun, crazy little fellas, look so cool reclining in the hot water and there is somewhere a 'snow monkey webcam' on the internet if you can find it. I also went to Hiroshima and it was AMAZING it really was, you can't help but get caught up in the emotion of it all. Do you have any tattoos? If not you can use whats called On-sen which are in effect public baths (gender separate though!) where you scrub yourself down in a cleaning area first then relax, in the buff, in the mineral enriched hot tubs. Takes some courage but you will get a lot of Japanese respect you for it! Can you get up early? If so then you should also visit the fish market, its a big industry there and you will see all manner of stuff and get to try fish straight out the sea. Only thing is you need to get there for about 5am. Make sure to go to Harajuku (station of the same name) in Tokyo, come out the station, turn right and head for the bridge you will see young Japanese 'expressing themselves' by dressing up as dolls and various other weird outfits. Its very famous, basically as Japan has strict cultural rules, the youngsters (tend to be goth types) go here and openly go against those rules. You should get your photo taken with them they dont mind. Also just across the bridge and to the right is the Meiji Shrine, a huge park area with an amazing temple in the middle. Great for getting away from the hustle and bustle. If you go on a Saturday/Sunday you might even see a wedding there. I am not sure, but you might be able to walk up Mount Fuji in May, you should check, I did it in August. No mountaineering skill required, a few places you have to clamber up but its doable in a day (or you can stop at night for a few hours in a hut halfway up) and the view from the top is breathtaking and will stay with you for the rest of your life. I could go on and on... I would just say mate, trust people. They really are amazing people, they are so kind and always trying to help. I asked for directions once of a young couple whilst in Shibuya square (famous one with the multiple directional crossing) and they took me to the place themselves, ten minute walk out of their way. So just smile a lot, make eye contact, smile again, a little bow of the head as you speak to people etc and you will get multiples of gratitude back.

How do you make the album artwork on the main music screen smaller? There used to be a slider somewhere which could reduce the size of them down, can't find it.