February 2024

HELLO LOVELY PEOPLE. O BOY DO I HAVE A LOT TO SHARE……

It's been ages since I've typed, well actually, if I'm honest, I have typed loads but just not been able to publish it for personal reasons.. There has been an overwhelming amount of things going on, not least a lot of repairs to our crumbly but loved old house, family diagnosis and illnesses and a general wobble crisis of confidence/blonde moment on my part.

I'm Jumping forward to now, as that seems a way of explaining in part, and because we have some incredible changes and projects going forward this year, It feels like my personal crusade to show ladies/newbies and less able persons that they too can join and embrace not only home vehicle maintenance but also, this industry (that a lot of people tell me they felt was insurmountable) is ripening slowly to fruition. It's fair to say I am feeling a bit billy big balls about the whole thing.

As for today, I'm editing this 4am scribble in the passenger seat of the old Landy as we travel down to Dover to see Ian's family. A rare moment of peace as hes concentrating on the horrific weather rather than singing inappropriate words ( usually containing the words willy bum or ass) over previously clean and unspoiled songs, It's a daily delight for me.

I am totally wiped out but.....had an awesome week.

Tuesday I travelled to Warwick Caffeine and machine (The Hill) to meet my fellow blonde partner in crime the lovely Sarah Crabtree who put up with me snoring and talking her ear off till stupid o clock!

Popped out that eve for a nice bit of curry in Warwickshire with Andy and Kelly Neal of Automotion ( and the british motor show. with Andy being the boss and ceo and Kelly, his right hand lady that makes his zany but wonderful visions come true with almost implausible accuracy…she is an amazing lady that I am constantly in awe of! (many thanks to Andy Entwistle for treating us by the way)

Not too many drinks as we had a very important meeting the next day. Have to say it was a lovely curry house and we did have a much needed giggle catching up.

I have to say, Sarah is a lovely lady (I can see you rolling your eyes as you read this Crabbers!) and hilariously honest, which I love about her ( and indeed anyone that is natural and unafraid to be themselves) I feel very lucky to have found such incredible friends and colleagues through this automobile adventure bubble we’ve all found ourselves in.

We took an Uber out to dinner which was uneventful but on the way back it was hilarious... We had the best driver ever. He was flying his unremarkable and definitely not flood friendly car through huge dauntingly wide puddles on country roads, blind bends, pitch black, in torrential rain, drifting all over the road and kept asking which way we should go despite the sat nav being up on his phone. Sarah was on fine form agreeing with whatever direction he said and it was all i could do not pee myself laughing. We arrived miraculously unharmed with our friendly kamikaze cab driver and he gave a big toothy grin before asking if he could come in the hotel with us…. I had never actually been in a uber before as we do not have them in my neck of the woods. It was a very different experience to our local black cabs and very funny indeedy!!

So we are now at #caffeineandmachine the Hill for the night. and i admit to being a CandF virgin despite being car mad… It’s so cool! I'm bloody blown away. I love what they're doing. I've yet to do my review online as I'm still shattered after 2 busy days then a long week and a half at the workshop making dashboards, door cards, centre consoles, gel coating, general grp stuff and, myself and Ian have been working on a customer car with a few more modern features than usual so lots of fannying about with seat bases getting a z3 ( in a bodykit, of course) seat base to marry to much older and more befitting seats ( I literally can't stand up each eve and will need a week to recover but, it's been good!)

So... I digress as always.... back to #caffeineandmachine the bowl ( Warwick area) in a Blondie nutshell...

if i was doing a short review, it would go something like this…

Awesome well appointed site with a really nice welcoming not over stuffy feel.

great staff, nice clean large rooms clearly designed to allow fellow car nuts to share without too much embarrassment ( large bathroom, loud enough extractor fan so you can't hear each other peeing and..🤣) after a cracking night out with their cars and a few bevvies in their very well appointed bar (restaurant looks awesome too but myself and Sarah just had a couple of Jameson's and orange juice) cracking decor, lovely Original touches left in the building, plenty of cool merch (I'm buying a Don't be a Dick jumper next time!) And just a really nice feel.

caffeine and machine are poetically RATHER THAN POLITICALLY correct, too many dick’s on forums #benice

On top of all that they have lovely grounds with a triple pointed tepee .we had a little sneak into to see club style Chesterfield button back winged chairs, a log burner, a decent bar, awesome just there lighting and tonnes of space for mingling ( really impressed, wanted to live there as the décor reminded me of home!) Just all in all a wonderful place and MUCH cheaper than the local hotels which is crazy as the character of the place and the staff are so warm and awesome! ( I loved it, if you hadn't guessed 🤣🤣)

Then.... Wednesday at #Bridgestone Warwick for a metting with the awesome Kelly and Andy from the #Britishmotorshow and a room full of awesome ladies... a thing I thought would terrify me after bad experiences in office environments many years ago. but turned out very well….

Ref that not fitting in thing….. I keep a lot to myself but I am aware that a lot of people struggle, everyone has a back story and, I have recently been told that sharing can really help others so…..

Digressing (again) but....in all fairness I get it now. I did not fit in with women, I was not flowery, hated bitchiness and unkidness, which seemed rife in the 90’s in telecoms ( my trade of choice) I was terrified of people and wanted to please, to make everyone get on (very hard in a slightly toxic and very competitive office environment that was normal at that time) to others i guess I was weird.

I look back now and at 18 I bought a house, by myself, having not come from a wealthy background at all - despite the horse ( on loan or adopted and kept at a friend's farm) and the daft voice that made me sound like I did not live in an old council house ...very lovely house though I have to say, kudos to my amazing mum Dorothy Smarty pants and late father Brian for their love of restoring antiques... It was our own little "manor" a veritable Tardis of gems, treasure and old rosewood and mahogany furniture that looked incredible ( but was often held together at the back 🤣 just like my own home now.. total illusion!)

I guess back then women scared me. I felt very different with a very male outlook. I was practical and had spent my childhood being forced into school Mensa tests, told i could go to private school for free (and flat out refusing as i already felt out of place at catholic school) taking lots of crap but always going back for more and generally having lovely actions taken upon my unususpecting and overly trusting little soul such as my head being flushed down the toilet. Which was nice and inclusive. My hair was already pee pee yellow, not sure what they were trying to achieve :@) not the whole head i should add but you get the idea!!

At my now great age of 46 i can see their twisted and bizarrely sad point as from the outside, I could learn anything but, was never an expert in anything. I never felt part of the world outside my head and worked so so hard to prove I was worthy. Bullies LOVED me... But not in a healthy way. A particular fun memory was having my hair set fire to in science and the teacher really not giving a shit. Long blonde hair to my bum that night was shaved off. My poor mum, she thought i had gone mad. All of these things happen to so many children every year and they tend to either go quiet and withdrawn or play up. Thankfully these days there are bullying policies in place although my own children still had issues as they were kind and smart (god forbid!)

It does not bother me whatsoever now, as life has its differing challenges and memories fade as others take over but it does perhaps explain a lot of why i am they way I am now, how I got here and why i feel more comfy in male company, as general rule, and am one of the lads.

As a younger adult, or at least till the last few years, I wanted to help.... EVERYONE... despite it causing sometimes quite dangerous pitfalls for my own health safety and wellbeing. I think I just wanted to belong and after the last few years, on the cars, covered in sh1t from yellow head ( cheers for that god... had you made me brunette it may have been a LITTLE easier 🤣) to huge toes.... I finally found my people.

I look back now and at 18 I excelled, but I thought I was useless. I did not pick my fights or my friends, they picked me, and oftentimes they were vile.
I earned very well, had an amazing social life and met some incredible people that went onto be household names. I had no interest in recognition but wanted to help. That bit hasn't changed I just know who deserves my time now and, have worked out , somewhat, how i fit into the world.

I clicked with much older persons, had many a wonderful bright shining friend from the club world, many of which would now be labelled LGBTQ++++ but back then we're just fabulous, beautiful and filled me with wonder and awe as they could do what i could not.

They were themselves. What a wonderful thing to be!

On old photos, up till age 33 ish ( when I started to get much more unwell) i looked about 13 with a bright yellow light of hair on my head, eyes too big for my tiny face and came across very happy and very very confident. A mask I guess. A chance to be different by NOT being different. A fitting in mask. Halloween every day!

So I kind of get it now, the assumption I wasn't employed for my ability.... the assumption i was the barbie doll ( though in my eyes i really didn't and still can't see that) contributed to me never belonging. The incurable and incredible energy and subsequent falls of physical exhaustion probably, in hindsight, didn't help.

Hero to zero.. a dormouse that could sleep standing up. The one that fell asleep in their dinner... i later found this to be my heart issues and later still, ADD or whatever it is being called right now. Not that i need a label. I just know and accept that I am different now and that is just fine.

I couldn't physically be rude to anyone, i was probably really bloody annoying as i was so "nice" but, i think perhaps i was justifying my existence as i didn't understand that myself.

There are other reasons, not least some pretty bad bullying from school and throughout a 17 yr relationship that i won't go into ( unless anyone needs advice and help privately in which case please call or msg me as i will do everything i can to keep you safe) but, despite all that, it doesn't make it right to belittle another female, or male for that matter, to set out to destroy a career, for them to lose their home and confidence because one or two females felt a little insecure... I may have been annoyingly nice but, that's often a mask for someone that doesn't even know they are struggling. Wisdom of ages retrospectively would have been nice but, life's a journey so.… here I am battling uphill, starting to feel comfy around other females finally and doing what I LOVE without caring what anyone thinks ( for the most part) and i get to wear a really ladylike outfit for the fibreglassing and bodywork….as you can see below…catwalk worthy stuff!

I get that that may all seem a little disjointed, but, as an outpouring, it is what it is. If it helps anyone to see a soul laid a little barer, then all is well in my world.

So moving on, before i bore you stiff, what does this have to do with the motor industry i hear you say???

Well here's the thing.... This week I saw the flipside. Female camaraderie. In the industry of all places. No differentition between, Ages, Backgrounds, Races, EVEN.. ICE and Electric. We all had one common goal which was fluffy but also most welcome in a Girly mechanic sort of way. We are all #Drivenwomen as you will find out this year.

I wasn't judged. I wasn't laughed at ( in a bad way) no vicious little jibes, just a bunch of varied and thoughtful women that care deeply about others and a meeting that I was terrified about which turned out to be an hilarious guards down, "titsntyres" "lubeandrubberladies" no holds barred but also very productive and informative meeting....

This week I changed my view. I lost some demons and, I feel very aware that good things are coming. For everyone in that room and for women generally.

We don't need to burn our bra. We don't need to exclude the men. In Fact we need them and they most definitely need us!!

We all need to work together. Equality isn't just about levelling up, it's about understanding , sitting back thinking, seeing everyone's skills as valid and equal and I for one thank every single woman in that room for that. (plus the two blokes Andy and Ricky who hopefully we didn't embarrass too much) Sarah's Tshirt double QR code placement idea was perfect and hilarious but Ricky went very red!

From this meeting, there will be some awesome news and lots of fun to come this year but all will be revealed in good time

Im going to leave this here as it's exhausting talking about myself and a past that is no longer as relevant as it once seemed ( thank you to the people around that tolerate me for that) but hopefully, its touched on how people don't have to be vanilla or the same as everyone else to be part of a wider movement and make a difference in this little world.

I must add, people travelled a long way. Between the ladies there were a few thousand miles travelled and it meant a lot to see such full attendance as we thrashed out a Sausage minimising plan ( thank you George Thurman, that was hilarious!)

Thank you all of those there for giving your time up to be part of what's to come. .. In particular... Isabelle Martina Ortiz and Ricky Knowles who travelled from near to Liverpool ( my Fave city as most of my huge family are there!) are the most lovely people with the kindest hearts and have become great friends ( that means they put up with me so well!)

Debbie Watts.. Who is much more than just Leon from Autoisms mum! Having brought the incredible Zone ND to the last British Motor Show, the first in Europe and an incredible calm zone that will be repeated this year in conjunction with Nook Pods and is a lovely lady who works so hard as an interior designer too.

And of course, our Sarah who had a bloody awful journey of 5 hours in the piddling rain on the Tuesday from the tip of Yorkshire to the midlands and put up with my smelly feet, incessant talking and snoring! We had such a good laugh. She’s a treasure and I am lucky to have such incredible (and tolerant) friends. To all the other lovely ladies I had the pleasure to meet... THANK YOU! You're all HERO'S in my oversaturated and often overstimulated spongey head mass.

I am feeling enveloped in positivity ( jeez, I sound like a girl) Really excited about this coming year 🙂 and…. BIG NEWS COMING SOON!! ref that.

In the meantime, please can you help me get this moving by adding us on Insta, Tik Tok, facebook (my own account Belinda Belle Wednesday) you tube etc...If you need the links just ask!

I have also just started some basic video's on Tik Tok and You Tube that I am hoping will help ladies and newbies to see there are plenty of small jobs you can do yourself. They're intentionally very basic at the moment as I don't want to scare people off, not least myself as camera's TERRIFY me, but I am getting there, slowly.

We will be adding some of our brand of terrible British humour also, in the hope it not only steadies my camera nerves but also, brings people in that then go on to enjoy the vehicle content.

Lastly.... and very importantly There's a new facebook group! Driven women.

Andy created this, and I am admin. It is not only for women, but also for chaps and any other genders that are supportive of women in the industry. In a few days we have ammassed over 300 wonderful people including some absolute legends with incredible stories to tell and mind blowing knowledge to impart. I fell very very proud!

Thank you for reading my garbage people, I'm still blown away by all the positivity and the fact people are actually sticking by me,

As always, keep smiling, be kind, or don't be a Dick as Caffeine and Machine so eloquently put it and in the words of Sam Hard who is one of my fave humans as he always spreads positivity "Keep being awesome"

next blog, I promise plenty of tech stuff, news from the workshop and some animal stuff of course! but thank you, needed to get this out to move on. If i can do it, you can too and we will all be here to support you, through this summer and beyond.

Much love,

Blondie/Bellend/Actual Hooman Female ( who'd a thunk it!)

Blondeslikespannerstoo.... Blondie's Blog

Blondie's Blog 6 or.... Hiding in plain sight isn't always a bad thing.

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