Mishap on a grand scale

So I'm kind of adopting a 'one step forward, two steps back' approach to rally planning. Went to a party last weekend at (cringe...) Aquarium in Old Street (that wasn't where we planned to go, it's where we ended up) and I managed to get my bag stolen, containing my wallet, phone, housekeys, utility bills, wait for it...passport and rally car keys. So now the beautiful Princess Roo is sans keys.


Anyway, next tuesday the boys are coming up to Kensal Green and are going to break in and hot wire the Princess and then drive her back to Potters Bar and strip her. Princess Roo is going to become our designated 'parts' car. ARRRGHHHGGH. I feel so guilty to Mrs. Edwin.


What will become of Princess Roo?

100 day action plan (well, sort of...)

A group of us are doing the Mongol rally - a race from London to Mongolia, driving over 7 mountain ranges, 3 deserts, across the Caspian Sea and then through a load of scary sounding countries ending in stan - Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan (good scrabble word that last one). If this wasn't hard enough, the organisers have introduced a tiny but fatal rule. We have to do the race in a 1000cc car (think hairdryer on wheels).

My car is the lovely (but sometimes difficult) Princess Roo - a 1993 Austin Maestro Clubman. Picture coming as soon as I can get over to Kensal Green. I bought it from ebay for £126 from the lovely Mrs. Edwin Lilley, whose husband had owned it his whole life:

In the back of my head I wasn't sure how well she'd take the news about what we were planning to do with her car, but I decided to tell her and and she was absolutely thrilled, so I feel okay about everything we're going to do now. We'll keep her posted with our plans.

Anyway, in case you're wondering what on earth I'm doing, the point of this rally is to raise over £5000 for a number of different charities. This is obviously loads of money, but I'm naively hopeful I can do it. So, if you're feeling flush, click on the justgiving bar to the right and donate some money - anything you give will go directly to the charities and will be hugely appreciated by both me and them. Thanks a million, love Tamsin x