Back on the Road

I don't know what it is about my car that can inspire such joy. Probably the handling. But occasionally, it can inspire misery that can rival the pleasure. Like when I let it overheat. It wasn't the car's fault, it was mine. But the ensuing repairs were a disaster for me. And getting it through this year's MOT. Financially, that was very similar.

But after a few months of being stored on the drive, the SORN is cancelled and I am MOTed, taxed, insured and full of fuel. I can finally drive again.

Not that I have anywhere to drive to.

The MOT is a test every car must pass to be allowed to drive on the road. It ensures the vehicle is safe. Older cars must have one every year. I gave the car to my mechanic expecting some modest repairs necessary to get it to pass the MOT. It had been declared SORN (Statutory Off-Road Notice) since I wasn't driving it and it was on private land. You're allowed to drive it only if on your way to an MOT. I gave it to him, and he had it tested and left it parked on the road, where it was promptly clamped.

To add to the troubles of having to pay to have it unclamped, the repairs necessary to pass its MOT came to a lot more than I was expecting. More than triple. But I paid those, and I jumped the government hoops to tax the car again, and finally, I can leave it on the street again, where all I fear is a drunkard scraping along the side of it.

On the positive side, it has new rear suspension and new rear tyres, as well as new brakes, which give its road handling a real boost. I had been driving my father's car for a while so I was used to six cylinders, so going back to four was a shame, but not all bad. I just need to keep the revs up a little more.

Paying for the tax has cleared out my temporary savings, so any dinners I have planned will have to be cancelled. Although last week, I did manage to put a little of my savings into buying film developing equipment. I'd been planning on joining a photography club where I could learn how to use a darkroom, but they all required a year-long membership, which I didn't want. So with advice from Alyssa and my father, I taught myself how to develop black and white film. I had an old Ilford canister lying around, probably from my school days, and I feared that I may have overexposed some of it. I used that as practice.

Making the downstairs toilet a temporary darkroom, I loaded the film by feel into my new developing tank, and when I finally had the courage to mix the chemicals without contaminating our cooking utensils, I developed the film. It came out completely clear (or as clear as film gets). That almost confirmed the overexposure I was fearing, or I messed up the developing somehow. Then I noticed a dark strip at the end, with what looked like half of one perfectly exposed picture. Then I realised that while I'd overexposed the end, the rest of the film was underexposed, and was in fact, unused film.

This had been removed from the camera many months ago, so it wasn't a huge shame to waste it, and was a perfect place to start my developing career. Now I have a half used film in my father's old Pentax that must be finished soon, and then I can actually get around to making some pictures.

There haven't been many pictures in this update. I haven't taken a recent photo of my car, but I can show you my darkroom setup:



Alright, cheap joke. Which I stole.

I just finished my first complete roll of film, which means that tonight I can try developing something that won't be blank, and they're pictures I took recently, which are relevant. South Africa, family gatherings, and pictures I even took today. I hope that'll be done tonight. The film's already out of the camera.