Z waffles as if it's the old days

I felt a little alarmed when I realised the date.  But the C-word date is inexorable and it doesn't really matter whether I feel ready for it or not.  In any case, I've got a social life to sort out before that.  Today, we're having lunch with friends in Norwich - they're really my sister's friends, but I'm the driver of the family and so she can't go without me.  My car is back in the garage, though.  

For some months, various warning signs came up when I started it.  These were just notifications that alerts didn't work - but they did, so it was evidently the warnings that were faulty.  It started up as an occasional fault and then increased in frequency, but it took me a while to get around to having it looked at.  Finally, it was sorted out in September except for one, which was about the electric traction system and that notification, it seems, was a known fault and would be replaced free.  Six weeks later, the part finally came in and I was lent a car while mine was being dealt with.  The replacement car was enormous.  Both much wider and longer than mine, also electric - it was actually a pleasure to drive, but I felt ostentatious and was glad when I returned it.  It was also a problem to park, as it needed so much space.  But it has been good not to have warnings pop up any more - until Friday evening, when it happened again.  So I phoned the garage - this time, someone came over to fetch the car, so I'll use the other one when we go out.  So nice to have the car picked up, just like the old days when lovely Graham from Charlish's used to offer.

However, we've had a lot of frost since I last drove the BMW and I'm not quite used to a reliable battery on it, so I think I'm going to take it for a spin now, rather than risk having to jump start it when we're due to leave.  I hope that 'spin' won't be literal, as - for complicated reasons that I'm sure I've explained before - it has summer tyres on it, so I don't usually take it out much in winter, though last night's frost has lifted.

I'll have time for shopping when we get to Friday afternoon, I think.  I wonder what people would like?