I just realised today that it’s been over one year since the Treebadger took to the world wide web and hooked himself in to this whole web 2.0 culture thingy. It’s been a pretty steep learning curve over the last year, but everything seems to be slotting slowly into place. During my journey I’ve discovered the joys of CSS, HTML, Java and all sorts of other weird and wonderful things. I’ve blogged, I’ve tweeted, I’ve posted, searched and trawled. Been the victim of a vicious sever hack and been abused by a selection of Rick Parfitt loving imbeciles.
Hiring a vehicle can often be a tricky process. There are a lot of firms out there offering deals left, right and centre, but often choosing a company and a vehicle can be the hardest decision. There are several factors that need to be considered when you decide to hire a van.
First of all, do you really need to hire a van? It’s certainly going to be a lot cheaper than picking up the Autotrader and looking at the vans for sale, but do you really need to rent one and if so, what kind of van should you hire? The majority of people arrange van hire when it comes to moving day. If you’re moving a whole house then picking up some sort of massive transit is going to be much more efficient than hiring some little caddy. If you’ve got a couple of large pieces of furniture and hordes of other stuff then a decent sized van will more than likely save you bags of time, it will reduce the amount of runs you have to undertake and hopefully it will significantly lower the stress of moving day.
If you’re not moving too far or if you’re moving from one shared house to another then a big’ol transit probably won’t be necessary. Instead, you may want to look into hiring a caddy, that or you can bribe one of your friends with 20 quid and a six-pack to lend you their services and their pickup/van/estate for the day.
Once you’ve decided what type of van you need to hire the next step is to find the cheapest, nearest and most reputable van hire depot. A quick local Google search should provide you with lots of options. Take an afternoon to properly shop around and compare prices of vans. You may also want to do a bit of consumer research about the companies to see what people are saying about them and to see what kind of experiences they have had.
Once you’ve decided on one particular van hire company you will need to give them a call and arrange to pick up the van on your date of choice. When you get to the depot make sure that you carefully read through all the relevant material, insurance documents and contracts. Before signing on the dotted line have one of the attendants come out and walk around the van with you checking for any scrapes, bumps, marks or any other signs of wear and tear which might not have been noticed and recorded. Once you are both satisfied you’re free to sign up and drive the van away.
In some instances you may want to coat the inside of the van with polythene or sheets to prevent the inside of the van from unnecessary damage or dirt which could lead to a surcharge for cleaning by the rental agents. When moving furniture ensure that each piece is adequately protected; there’s nothing like putting a whopping great gouge down your antique Queen Anne table.
Once again it is getting to that time of year again, every year in April thousands of people literally hit the streets of London to slog their way through a grueling 26 miles and 385 yards all in the name of charity and self-achievement. According to the race organisers, the London Marathon is now the largest annual fund raising event in the world. Last year 35,000 people participated in the race and since 1981, the year of the marathons foundation, an estimated £450m has been raised for charity.
Every year numerous charities run (haha no pun intended) dedicated London Marathon teams. This year Oxfam have teamed up with race sponsors Virgin to help raise even more money for charity, both home and abroad. All round Mr nice-guy Richard Branson, as well as sponsoring the marathon, has also set up a new Virgin money giving website to help charities further benefit from all their donations. The new scheme works in conjunction with HMG’s Giftaid, but it also has the added benefit of removing certain subscription charges due to the company being run as a not-for-profit organisation.
Of course running the London marathon isn’t just about doing it for charity. Running has long been acknowledged as one of the greatest cardio-vascular activities known to man, the benefits from regular exercise of this type is medically quite staggering. Running not only helps you lose weight, but it also helps to lower blood pressure, lowers the risk of cancer, can relieve types of depression, as well as providing people with a natural dose of endorphins making you feel great! The sense of achievement brought about by completing such a task isn’t half bad either.
The London Marathon 2010 kicks off soon, only 72 days remaining – so get involved!.
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