07 Nissan Skyline 350GT - old car Nazi buys MODERN motor
Discussion
Strela said:
Breadvan72 said:
I confess that I never know or notice how much petrol, milk, or electricity bills are anywhere. Because fortunate. I have never once in my life looked at the petrol prices at a single garage, and I really could never tell you how much a litre of milk costs anywhere. My political hopes are for a world where this applies to everyone.
Are we to glean from this, that you are a thief? Or that you, quite rightly, adhere to the philosophy, "Never pay tradesmen?" Surely, you're not a commie. I eat them for breakfast.If not, I will pass it on to some newly arriving ex pat later this year; someone who shares my unwillingness to drive LHD on the left as a permanent thing. OK, I did that when I had a Matra Murena in the UK, but not on these roads!
vsonix said:
Breadvan72 said:
What you need here are hull climbing power and traction, and sometimes ground clearance.
Sounds like ideal Subaru territory then.I was in New Zealand a while ago, which as you probably know is mountainous with a lot of gravel roads. I had use of a 1995 2.0 Legacy. Only about 150hp but the addition of a dual range transmission and AWD made it run rings around more powerful vehicles even on the steepest unsealed roads. Sometimes it felt more like riding a mountain goat than a car!
There were TWO robo ladies. One was the toll card lady. I killed her by ripping out the toll card machine. The other one lives in the entertainment and satnav system, and has a louder and more commanding voice than the toll lady had. The surviving one is the Manga Battlecruiser planetary bombardment artillery forward observation officer as mentioned above.
She is also in charge of the aircon, and she went on strike just as this year turned out to be insanely hotter than last year, which was insanely hot (also a very active hurricane season this year, but of course AGW is a big old myth, right, Donald?). I had to send to Japan for a widget to get the aircon fixed, and had some right sweaty times until it finally arrived by rowing boat. Now the aircon is ICEEEEEE.
Two of the Yokohamas have died the death that the incredibly s
tty roads here deliver to all tyres quite quickly, so and the car now has two Ho Flung Dung Wan Hang Lo Ditchfinder Specials.
The interior is full of beach. There are dents on all four corners (one put there by me, the others by persons unknown). The car needs two new doors (reasons explained in the thread linked to above). The car uses no oil or coolant, and pulls like a train.
I have not figured out the bluetooth, and the radio only picks up a truly dire American Christian Rock channel (occasionally interrupted by a French news and sports channel from somewhere down the Antilles). There is one CD stuck in the changer, so I listen to Diana Damrau singing Salieri show stoppers on an endless loop. She is the greatest living coloratura soprano, and old Salieri was way better than people give him credit for, so this is not a hardship.
She is also in charge of the aircon, and she went on strike just as this year turned out to be insanely hotter than last year, which was insanely hot (also a very active hurricane season this year, but of course AGW is a big old myth, right, Donald?). I had to send to Japan for a widget to get the aircon fixed, and had some right sweaty times until it finally arrived by rowing boat. Now the aircon is ICEEEEEE.
Two of the Yokohamas have died the death that the incredibly s
tty roads here deliver to all tyres quite quickly, so and the car now has two Ho Flung Dung Wan Hang Lo Ditchfinder Specials.The interior is full of beach. There are dents on all four corners (one put there by me, the others by persons unknown). The car needs two new doors (reasons explained in the thread linked to above). The car uses no oil or coolant, and pulls like a train.
I have not figured out the bluetooth, and the radio only picks up a truly dire American Christian Rock channel (occasionally interrupted by a French news and sports channel from somewhere down the Antilles). There is one CD stuck in the changer, so I listen to Diana Damrau singing Salieri show stoppers on an endless loop. She is the greatest living coloratura soprano, and old Salieri was way better than people give him credit for, so this is not a hardship.
Cheers, but there is nothing to be in awe of, I assure you.
Everyone here is either an adventurer or a runaway. I am the latter. This is a very difficult and not at all fun place to live, and about as far from an idyll as you can imagine, but I am here for a good work gig. For how long yet I am not sure.
Everyone here is either an adventurer or a runaway. I am the latter. This is a very difficult and not at all fun place to live, and about as far from an idyll as you can imagine, but I am here for a good work gig. For how long yet I am not sure.
You have suggested that I am a solicitor, and now I am going to have to have you killed. I am sorry. You seem like a decent bloke. It is nothing personal. I am a lawyer, but not a solicitor.
The BVI are full of lawyers. The islands house an international dispute resolution centre with a very busy Commercial Court handling mega ginormous cases about zillions of dollars. This is because all sorts of people and enterprises, some legit, some crooked, use BVI holding companies as part of their business structures. It is very weird doing sophisticated, megabucks litigation in a place that is otherwise a faraway backwater where the Government is, erm.... not very efficient, and nothing works. I am posting this using a copy of the internet dated 1837, powered by a couple of rather shagged out donkeys.
The BVI are full of lawyers. The islands house an international dispute resolution centre with a very busy Commercial Court handling mega ginormous cases about zillions of dollars. This is because all sorts of people and enterprises, some legit, some crooked, use BVI holding companies as part of their business structures. It is very weird doing sophisticated, megabucks litigation in a place that is otherwise a faraway backwater where the Government is, erm.... not very efficient, and nothing works. I am posting this using a copy of the internet dated 1837, powered by a couple of rather shagged out donkeys.
Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 13th October 21:52
That is pretty much it. Things have moved a long way since "The Firm", and nowadays there is a lot more regulation and transparency, but we still encourage new hires to watch "McMafia", and "Succession". Our compliance and AML teams are kept very busy, and they audit us constantly. We are dealing with early stage Capitalism. The companies and trusts and funds are mostly owned not by institutions dating back a century or more but by people who have become very, very, very rich in the last twenty to thirty years, sometimes by fair means, sometimes by foul. Some of those people are now dying, because old, and their enormously rich children are squabbling about the money.
The litigation here is high stakes, aggressive, attritional, and very, very expensive. The litigation often spans several jurisdictions simultaneously. I am about to go to court this morning on a case that has stuff going on in courts in Cyprus, Singapore, Belize, the BVI, and Russia. The translators tend to be Russian or Chinese.
I just gave the Nissan a 5AM hoon along the empty coastal road. Japanese car, Italian tune up.
I just gave the Nissan a 5AM hoon along the empty coastal road. Japanese car, Italian tune up.
My colleague has a JDM Pajero that chunters on in Japanese all the time. Someone has used its incredibly complex ICE system to record some Tokyo Bay FM stations from circa 2012 and store this in the system. The DJs all sound like Hello Kitty super-fangirls, except for one growly bloke who plays the Beatles. The ads and jingles are in Enganese or maybe Japlish.
Both the Pajero and the Skyline have Satnav displays of Hokkaido. Hitchhikers get confused. "That island does not look like Tortola", they say.
They also ask "why are you sitting on the wrong side?", until I explain that if you drive on the left you should sit on the right. The local habit of driving LHD is bonkers. The rest of the ex-British East Caribbean islands drive on the left and have RHD motors. Over to the west, the Bahamas and the Caymans drive left using LHD, but they at least have the excuse of being close to the USA.
Hitchhiker rules: Little old lady with her shopping, give her a lift. Scruffy fat bloke who you know will bum ten dollars off you when he gets out, give him a lift. Nine foot tall rastaman with a machete, give him a lift. Sarcastic sixth formers with huge Afros, give them a lift. Spanish girls from DR in spray-on microdresses, let them walk. Because reasons.
Both the Pajero and the Skyline have Satnav displays of Hokkaido. Hitchhikers get confused. "That island does not look like Tortola", they say.
They also ask "why are you sitting on the wrong side?", until I explain that if you drive on the left you should sit on the right. The local habit of driving LHD is bonkers. The rest of the ex-British East Caribbean islands drive on the left and have RHD motors. Over to the west, the Bahamas and the Caymans drive left using LHD, but they at least have the excuse of being close to the USA.
Hitchhiker rules: Little old lady with her shopping, give her a lift. Scruffy fat bloke who you know will bum ten dollars off you when he gets out, give him a lift. Nine foot tall rastaman with a machete, give him a lift. Sarcastic sixth formers with huge Afros, give them a lift. Spanish girls from DR in spray-on microdresses, let them walk. Because reasons.
Complicated is indeed the word. The subject of conflict of laws is vast, and difficult to summarise. It is one of the most advanced subjects at any law school. It affects commercial law, family law, and criminal law the most.
Courts across the common law World (basically the Anglosphere) tend (usually, not always) to assist and recognise one another, and the common law Worldwide is usually (not always) similar on key issues. Thus the dead Empire lives on through its legal systems. English-based commercial dispute resolution is a major export product, and even places with no common law tradition such as Dubai, Qatar, and Kazakhstan have set up English style commercial courts (I said English, not British, on purpose, as there is no such thing as British law).
The most tricky common law interactions come when dealing with American State courts in non metro-coastal states. New York, New England, and California Courts are fine, and US Federal courts are fine. Texas and Alabama courts, not so much. We deal a bit with Delaware, a tiny landlocked US State that is maybe the biggest and one of the least transparent offshore financial centres. OK, you guessed it, Federal and Red State courts good, Blue State courts bad. Federal first instance and appeal courts may get worse because a certain person is stuffing their benches with young and very bad Judges who will be there for decades to come. Those emails have cost the World a great deal.
Things can get even more tricky when interacting with Civil Law systems (based on Roman Law and/or the Code Napoleon - two more dead Empires that live on in the law). Mauritius is a whacky case: a Code Napoleon state that has the common law Privy Council (the UK Supreme Court wearing a different hat) as its final court of Appeal (because of history - Mauritius was conquered by the French and then the Brits. Lord Sumption (not quite retired yet) loves getting stuck into a bit of Code Napoleon).
Common law courts try to practise what they call comity, and try to avoid inconsistency of outcomes, but of course it happens sometimes. A big part of the international dispute scene is what is called Forum shopping, when parties try to position themselves to fight in the court that they consider most advantageous to them. I spend a good part of my time trying to argue myself out of a job by contending that the court where I am based is not the appropriate court for the dispute. I win some, I lose some.
Tomorrow I am back in court to report to the local commercial Judge on what the court in Singapore did today. I got up at 4am local time today because I had to talk to the clients in Moscow (4am here is noon in Moscow, and 4pm in Singapore) and the clients will be busy later. The poor junior Associate at the Moscow office of the Magic Circle law firm that is instructing me often sends me emails when it is 5am in Moscow and I have already closed the office and gone for a cocktail. I would not wish the life of a junior lawyer in one of those firms on anyone!
Back to the car: it is having two weeks off, as a friend who is off island has lent me a battered RHD LWB Pajero (the one I mentioned above was SWB) to smoke around in. Much better suited to the roads here, and a good bit of kit. I am still looking out for a battered RHD SWB Defender to buy. My classic Landy will stay in the UK - it is too good an example of a Series III to come here and get trashed.
Courts across the common law World (basically the Anglosphere) tend (usually, not always) to assist and recognise one another, and the common law Worldwide is usually (not always) similar on key issues. Thus the dead Empire lives on through its legal systems. English-based commercial dispute resolution is a major export product, and even places with no common law tradition such as Dubai, Qatar, and Kazakhstan have set up English style commercial courts (I said English, not British, on purpose, as there is no such thing as British law).
The most tricky common law interactions come when dealing with American State courts in non metro-coastal states. New York, New England, and California Courts are fine, and US Federal courts are fine. Texas and Alabama courts, not so much. We deal a bit with Delaware, a tiny landlocked US State that is maybe the biggest and one of the least transparent offshore financial centres. OK, you guessed it, Federal and Red State courts good, Blue State courts bad. Federal first instance and appeal courts may get worse because a certain person is stuffing their benches with young and very bad Judges who will be there for decades to come. Those emails have cost the World a great deal.
Things can get even more tricky when interacting with Civil Law systems (based on Roman Law and/or the Code Napoleon - two more dead Empires that live on in the law). Mauritius is a whacky case: a Code Napoleon state that has the common law Privy Council (the UK Supreme Court wearing a different hat) as its final court of Appeal (because of history - Mauritius was conquered by the French and then the Brits. Lord Sumption (not quite retired yet) loves getting stuck into a bit of Code Napoleon).
Common law courts try to practise what they call comity, and try to avoid inconsistency of outcomes, but of course it happens sometimes. A big part of the international dispute scene is what is called Forum shopping, when parties try to position themselves to fight in the court that they consider most advantageous to them. I spend a good part of my time trying to argue myself out of a job by contending that the court where I am based is not the appropriate court for the dispute. I win some, I lose some.
Tomorrow I am back in court to report to the local commercial Judge on what the court in Singapore did today. I got up at 4am local time today because I had to talk to the clients in Moscow (4am here is noon in Moscow, and 4pm in Singapore) and the clients will be busy later. The poor junior Associate at the Moscow office of the Magic Circle law firm that is instructing me often sends me emails when it is 5am in Moscow and I have already closed the office and gone for a cocktail. I would not wish the life of a junior lawyer in one of those firms on anyone!
Back to the car: it is having two weeks off, as a friend who is off island has lent me a battered RHD LWB Pajero (the one I mentioned above was SWB) to smoke around in. Much better suited to the roads here, and a good bit of kit. I am still looking out for a battered RHD SWB Defender to buy. My classic Landy will stay in the UK - it is too good an example of a Series III to come here and get trashed.
Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 21st October 12:47
The BVI are much more transparent and compliant with international standards than they were twenty years ago, but I would be lying if I said that dodgy dealings do not still go on. Some businesses use offshore companies for legit reasons. Some use them for dodgy reasons. You can argue all night whether offshores are a net gain to the Global economy, or a net drain on it.
My prediction is that the BVI might die out as an offshore in the next five to ten years. Reasons: The Government is inward looking and arguably xenophobic. It is also skint. It cannot decide if it wants offshore financial services, or tourism, or both. The EU and the US are piling on the pressure on matters such as economic substance and treaty-based tax investigations. The UK may, if it ever stops setting fire to itself, get back on to the beneficial ownership register thing.
Really dirty money will go to the Marshall Islands or the Seychelles, or wherever. Nevis, Barbados, and many other places that are better governed, or at least better resourced than the BVI (or are in the EU: eg Cyprus and Malta) are trying to steal the BVI's thunder. Pretty St Lucia wants to grab the ECSC Commercial Court, and has or could get the facilities to do so. Our Commercial Courthouse is inadequate, and the overworked Court lacks sufficient judges, staff, and even car parking. The new e-filing system is clunky, and has not replaced the paper system as it was supposed to.
Other places also kick the BVI's butt on tourism. Many (US) tourists come here ... once. The ones who come often own or rent posh villas or rent high-end yachts and do not notice the grot. FFS, the Government allows Disney cruisers to empty their waste in the harbour, and also wants to allow captive dolphins (in 2019, FFS). The facts that Tortola is a bit of a kip, and has no direct flights to London and New York, do not help, as ex pat staff retention is an issue, and also many talented locals flee to the UK or US.
Upsides: lots of JDMs here now - they have become a thing since Irma.
My prediction is that the BVI might die out as an offshore in the next five to ten years. Reasons: The Government is inward looking and arguably xenophobic. It is also skint. It cannot decide if it wants offshore financial services, or tourism, or both. The EU and the US are piling on the pressure on matters such as economic substance and treaty-based tax investigations. The UK may, if it ever stops setting fire to itself, get back on to the beneficial ownership register thing.
Really dirty money will go to the Marshall Islands or the Seychelles, or wherever. Nevis, Barbados, and many other places that are better governed, or at least better resourced than the BVI (or are in the EU: eg Cyprus and Malta) are trying to steal the BVI's thunder. Pretty St Lucia wants to grab the ECSC Commercial Court, and has or could get the facilities to do so. Our Commercial Courthouse is inadequate, and the overworked Court lacks sufficient judges, staff, and even car parking. The new e-filing system is clunky, and has not replaced the paper system as it was supposed to.
Other places also kick the BVI's butt on tourism. Many (US) tourists come here ... once. The ones who come often own or rent posh villas or rent high-end yachts and do not notice the grot. FFS, the Government allows Disney cruisers to empty their waste in the harbour, and also wants to allow captive dolphins (in 2019, FFS). The facts that Tortola is a bit of a kip, and has no direct flights to London and New York, do not help, as ex pat staff retention is an issue, and also many talented locals flee to the UK or US.
Upsides: lots of JDMs here now - they have become a thing since Irma.
I concur. JDM rocks. Kawaii good!
I am hoping that I might have to go to Tokyo on business, to meet with a certain non-Japanese person who has a certain beef with a certain very well known Japanese motor manufacturer that produces some interesting sporty cars that have AWD and four doors, and also (for the time being at least, pending certain events that may or may not occur) employs a bunch of Makems.
I am hoping that I might have to go to Tokyo on business, to meet with a certain non-Japanese person who has a certain beef with a certain very well known Japanese motor manufacturer that produces some interesting sporty cars that have AWD and four doors, and also (for the time being at least, pending certain events that may or may not occur) employs a bunch of Makems.
Tommo, do you have an AE86? Does it have a thread? Pics pleeeeeeeeeze.
OMG DRFT WPN!!!!!!!#
PS: I have a Mark 1 MR2, but it is UK market. It is ace, but a tad rusty.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=17...
OMG DRFT WPN!!!!!!!#
PS: I have a Mark 1 MR2, but it is UK market. It is ace, but a tad rusty.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=17...
Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 21st October 15:51
Hey, JDM fans, is it normcore for these heaps to have rubbish headlamps? All three of the JDMs that I have driven recently have dipped beams that are meh, and full beams that are barely brighter than the dips.
Yesterday, after a week of driving the Pajero enormotruck, I was back in the Skyline. It felt super light and agile after the truck. I may (allegedly) have engaged in what the General Gassing types refer to as making progress.
Yesterday, after a week of driving the Pajero enormotruck, I was back in the Skyline. It felt super light and agile after the truck. I may (allegedly) have engaged in what the General Gassing types refer to as making progress.
Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 30th October 10:30
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