Archive

Ten Years with a Range Rover
Maintenance Records and Costs

There are said to be only two kinds of Range Rover: those on their way into the workshop, and those on their way out. Here are the maintenance records and costs for mine.

My Range Rover is a fourth-generation L405 with the 4.4-litre SDV8 diesel, delivered in Corris Grey in 2016. Alongside it is a Mercedes-AMG G 63, of which there are also said to be only two kinds: those heading to the petrol station, and those leaving it. These two V8s are keeping me company as the age of internal combustion draws towards its close. I sometimes imagine making room at home to work on my own cars. For now, I have ten years of records to look back on.

Plan: A Graduation Notice,
Sixteen Years On

My child sponsorship through Plan Korea has come to an end. I began in 2010, so it has been close to sixteen years.

The first letter contained the outline of a little hand. I thought it would be nice to trace my own hand over it and send it back, but between work and everyday life, it remained something I would do someday. A progress report arrived each year. The baby in the Dominican Republic went through primary and secondary school and had become a young adult.

Life Member
Occasional Mensan

After years of renewing my membership whenever it crossed my mind, I finally became a life member, a day before Mensa Korea paused new life membership applications.

At the orientation after my Mensa test, I was advised that the sooner I bought life membership, the better the value. The advice replayed itself in my head as I renewed my membership once every 5-6 years. Somehow I waited nearly 24 years to take it. A life membership I had never particularly needed suddenly looked rather valuable once new applications were about to close. The magic of a limited edition?