Another old git here, not following the trend of the day.
I was a banger racer in my misspent youth, great fun, later on after i'd given up on that (no longer affordable with kids mortgage etc) and become a family man, it wasn't my 3 lads who loved the banger racing so much as my daughter, the youngest, she loved nothing more than getting filthy and enjoying the sound and crashes and the inevitable burger chips and ice cream, no surprise she's a petrol head with no fewer than 3 Honda Civics in her own car stable, she's also ridiculously old fashioned in many other ways certainly compared with her peers, long may individuality last, not wanted nor approved of by the state clone machine so ever more important they grow in number and stature.
When she was 4 there was a steam rally at Crick, by then the wife had left me for pastures new but i always saw my kids at weekends, anyway my eldest lad and daughter were with me this Sunday and we went there.
At said fair there were couple of decent chaps with steam engines allowing kids to ride on the engine itself or trailer around the village, Wiggy couldn't get on there quick enough together with her brother, she sat on the engine rear wheelarch beside the coal and got suitably plastered in coal dust, to be fair her mum wanted the best for the kids so no complaints.
Standing beside the engine was a little lad of about 7 or 8 looking up longingly at the other kids, i was going to lift him up as well and hand him up to the driver who was seating the kids where he could...some of the saddest words i've heard from a little lad was no he couldn't get on because he would get his clothes dirty...a once in a lifetime ride (wouldn't be allowed now) which he daren't take because someone responsible for him had a thing about dirt, his sad little face as the engine drove off was something else.
My own perspective on life now, i want as little to do with the modern world and modern attitudes as i can manage to avoid for as long as possible.
I won't ever have a battery car, not because i have anything against them or those who have them they just arn't for me, can easily see me having a Toyota Hybrid in retirement mind, mostly because it will cope with local running and carefull bought can have free VED...VED is becoming a serious issue now, our Forester cost £615 to tax beginning of the month, will be nearly £700 next year, they're determined to price us off the road, leaving the Zil lanes clear for those who are more equal.