J C COLLIER MEMORIAL FUND

The Malvern Home Nursing group met recently and selected Katie Molloy , born and bred in Sheffield as the recipient of the above Award.

Katie, after completing a Health Science year will be studying Medical Imaging Technology in Dunedin. Only forty students are accepted for this course annually.

Katie’s year will be split between Dunedin and Christchurch, and she aims to come back and work in Canterbury.

The Janice Collier Award is annual and designed to assist someone studying in a health field, who has lived in the Malvern area for at least the past two years.

Janice was a local Registered Nurse who (along with Diana Reid) were instrumental in setting up the Malvern Cancer Support Group in 1983, and then in 1985 the Home Nursing Group was established. The Award is in memory of all Janice's efforts.

Domoretomonitoryoursafety!

HelloFellowRoadUsers

It's been a while since I've found time to sit down and reflect on what's happening in the automotive industry. It certainly is a very interesting time both locally and globally. Rising costs and price increases on parts seem to be a weekly occurrence. Domestic and international freighting issues also have had an impact on the length of time it takes to get parts to the workshop. But, we continue to trade steadily and are well supported by locals which means we can continue to support local groups and sports clubs. While I was thinking about this month's column I had a thought about what's not in vehicles anymore. So, let's forget about the price of fuel, inflationary price increases on everything we buy and have a walk down memory lane and think about what we used to have in our cars.

What's not in cars

When was the last time you saw an actual cigarette lighter in a car? The type you push in to get glowing red hot to light your smoke. While on the subject of cigarettes, proper ash trays, with the metal cig butt holder with the ability to be removed and cleaned out. These spaces are now filled with USB charging ports to charge your cell phone and ashtrays have changed into coffee cup holders.

One thing, as a mechanic I don't miss, is the lack of choke levers. Manual chokes to pull out for hard starting on cold mornings.

‘Pump the accelerator twice, pull choke out two clicks then crank it over’, was how Dad taught me on a frosty morning. If you got it wrong you'd flood the carburettor and the engine would cough and stall.

Carburettors are also a thing of the past. They have been replaced with fuel injection systems which are computer controlled and far more fuel efficient.

Good old fashioned manual window winder handles are another thing of the past. Having to lean over to the passengers side to wind down the windows on a hot day was always a difficult thing to do while driving. Maybe electric windows are a good thing. Travel blankets, now I do love a good travel blanket and we do have one in our family car. Ours is the modern plastic backed item and not the old, itchy, tartan printed wool blanket.

Another thing missing from cars, and in particular from glove boxes, and now becoming harder to get after a recent announcement by the Automobile Association (AA),

Road Maps. The AA have announced they will no longer publish free maps and travel guides from September this year. A good up to date travel map was most important on holiday trips a few decades ago. Now we rely on inbuilt GPS in our cars or google maps on our phones. Moving to the boot. A bottle with spare water and another bottle with spare oil, an emergency windscreen kit, a decent selection of tools and a set of jumper leads are all things that we are finding less tucked down beside the spare wheel. Spare wheels are now also on the endangered list. Many vehicle manufactures are choosing to produce cars without spare tyres to reduce weight and cost.

One last thing. This is going back a long way. Do you remember the fluffy toy dogs, looking out the rear window of your car with red eyes that light up when you put on the brake lights. A cute precursor to the modern high stop light perhaps.

Hope you enjoyed the short trip down memory lane.

See advertisement in this issue for contact details.

Happy and safe motoring, from Macca and the team at Darfield Automotive.