I developed the habit of bagging the empeg before getting out of the Mini, opening the door and swinging it onto the roof of the car, then climbing out (you know how it is with Minis ). A few weeks back, I parked it in the middle of Dorking, climbed out with a load of other stuff and walked away. We were sat eating lunch in a cafe about two hours later when I was struck by the thought that there was something missing....

This rapidly turned into sheer panic as I realised Emma wasn't on the table. We then spent the next hour going round all the shops we had been into, asking if it had been handed in. No joy. I was utterly livid with myself. Really downhearted, I walked back to the Mini so we could drive up to the Police station to report it as lost. No address on the case, no power supply in the bag, no name in the bag. Damn, damn, damn

When we got to the car I nearly wet my pants in relief - it was lying on the roof of the car, in full view (little black bag, white roof!). It had been there for something like 4 hours in the sunshine.

Address labels are probably a good idea, and I have just invested in a pair of handcuffs and some stem cell injections.....

One of the few remaining Mk1 owners... #00015