Hyundai Inster at 1000 miles

We have just passed the 1000-mile mark, so here are my thoughts on the Inster.

Buying a car in February is not usually a good idea, but for us, in a year with little ice and snow, it has worked out quite well.

Looks	"It looks like a toy", my son said when he first saw it in a car park.  It is a small car.  Other than that its quirky and you either like it or not.  I don't particularly, but it's easy to spot in a car park, and there aren't that many of them.
Capacity	One of the requirements was that it would carry all our tools to the allotment.  Spade, fork, hoe, strimmer - etc.  It is more than capable of that.  The door pockets, though, are too slim to carry a standard de-icing, tool and there is almost no storage space around the front. It is a 4 seater, there is no way you could get 5 in it.
Ride	The car generally is comfortable, and deals with the bumps well for its size.  It is generally stable and corners well.  It doesn't like speed bumps though.
Range	There are options for a longer range - 229 miles.  We judged the cost to be too much for a relatively little gain.  Our range is approximately 200 miles when the car is fully charged.  That's from 100% to 0%.  You'll never get to zero so in reality the range is about 180 miles
Running cost	We are currently running at 4.3 miles/kWh, which is pretty good.  We normally run in ECO mode (there are 4 modes: Normal, Sport, Snow, ECO) except when we forget, as it always defaults to Normal.  ECO mode cannot be pre-set.  This is a failure of the design.
Charging	So far we have only charged at home.  Our old pod-point does the job very nicely - it charges at up to 7kW - the maximum for a home charger.  A charge from 25%-80% takes about 5 hours.  The pod-point was installed before all the 'smart' chargers were available, so having a charging timer on the car is very important.  The instructions we were originally given by the sales team were incorrect.  No surprise there, their promises of after sales support are entirely hollow, but that is sadly normal. However, they are not entirely to blame for it taking me 800+ miles to work it out.  The menus on the car are dumb.  There are two EV icons.  One sets the max charging percentage (normally 80%).  The other allows a timer to be set.  It is unnecessarily complicated, requiring a departure time so be set, a cheap rate time to be set and an option to only charge in cheap rate.  We have none of that, and even if we did, we wouldn't necessarily want the car to be in charge.  I like to charge when my house battery is reasonably full, and it's a sunny day.  That's the cheapest way for me.  There is also an option to reduce the charge rate - which would mean we could get more from the sun, I haven't tried this yet.
Driver Aids	There is a vast array of mainly poor driver aids. Speed limit warning (road sign recognition) The car scans for road signs and sets the speed limits accordingly, If I breach the speed limit there is a beeping until I return to the correct speed.  So far it has been wrong many times.  Sometimes, it reads '30' as '80', which is above the maximum speed limit in the UK.  Other times it picks up the speed limit signs on the slip road that I have not taken at a junction, then beeps for ages. It will also recognise warning signs - school, bend, etc.  However, it completely fails to recognise traffic lights.  Lane Tracking The lane tracking can be advisory, or active, when it will turn the wheel.  This works well enough on a dual carriage road with good markings. However, the car performs 'course corrections' every couple of seconds; I find the wheel moving that frequently to be very disconcerting.  It is most annoying on a narrow single track road, when it is trying to keep the car in the centre of the lane, despite my need to stay close to the left curb to avoid the oncoming articulated lorry, or move away from the side of the road to avoid the pot-hole pit that would damage the car. It gets very confused when a lane splits into two. It will follow one of them, and needs to be firmly overridden. Distance Management The car will allow the use of its forward radar to track the car in front.  It will stop when the car in front stops.  To get it to start again you must press a button.  It will accelerate and decelerate, keeping the distance reasonably stable, but not exceeding your set speed limit.  If the car in front changes lane, turns off the road, or turns onto a roundabout, the car will react to the empty space in front of it, and accelerate quite fast. On a 50mph road, the car in front slowed to approximately 20 MPH and turned left.  The Inster slowed to maybe 5MPH, and took 4-5 seconds to decide it was safe to accelerate.  On two occasions it has simply forgotten to slow down, and I have had to perform an emergency stop. Cyclists and motor cyclists are not recognised. Once a low trailer was not recognised. Collision Avoidance When the car thinks that it is about to collide with something, the right-hand dial (that measures power use or recovery)  flashes red with 'collision' or some such message in it.  Mostly this is not an issue, there will be no collision.  Once or twice, when there may have been a collision, the alert has not occurred. Driver Attention - you are being watched There are two 'driver attention' warnings. One says keep your hands on the wheel.  Mostly that is a good warning, but it occurs occasionally when it shouldn't.  Mostly, I don't always hold the steering wheel like I'm hanging on for dear life. The other is the 'eyes on the road warning', which occurs mainly on a bright sunny day, when my head is held in such away that I can see the road through the glare. There is one other that I have only seen once - the 'take a break' warning. I have no idea what triggers this, I assume it 'thinks' I'm going to sleep.
Security	For a car to be secure, it must be reasonably difficult to steal, but allow easy access to its owner.  Superficially this is true, but there are a few missing tricks on the ease of use front.  The most notable is that it is possible to lock the key inside the car!  This is a "back to the 1970's" security failure, but now we know, we will adjust our behaviour accordingly.  The other security feature I don't like is the need to unlock the car to access the charging port.  There are times when this could be unhelpful.  The odd thing is that it automatically locks the car when the cable is unplugged, not when the charging port door is closed. I don't know how easy it is to steal, but as It's not exactly a desirable motor, I doubt I will ever find out. The rear door is on a separate locking/unlocking mechanism and isn't part of the main car.

Breakdown Cover

I went looking for breakdown cover, (https://breakdown.covermy.co.uk/) I found a nice cheep policy which is listed as defacto 5*. However, the terms and conditions prove that it is not really breakdown covers it only covers 363 days of the year.  I was also rather concerned about the use of language.

 

 Here are the Ts&Cs:

 

 

• The vehicle(s) meets the criteria set out in the policy wording.

• The vehicle(s) are in a good state of electrical and mechanical repair at the point of purchasing a policy.

• The Insured Vehicle must have been maintained and serviced in line with the manufacturer’s guidelines and have a current MOT certificate (where applicable), valid insurance and road tax.

• You understand that You are unable to make a claims for assistance under any policy for the first 46 hours from the start date of the policy as you have selected.

• When European cover has been purchased, You must notify us a minimum of 48 hours in advance of any trips to the EU and declare the travel dates and destination(s) of Your trip.

• When You have selected to include an excess You will be required to pay this before any service is provided.

 

Field of Blue 2026 (2 - Norsey Woods)

On Sunday afternoon, we visited Norsey Woods. The advantage of Norsey over Hockley is mainly that I know it, and where the bluebells will be.   They did not disappoint. We expected the wood to be heaving with people, as the car park was full, so we went to another entrance and parked in the road. Once in the wood, it did not seem that busy. Perhaps that's because I follow paths that are not way marked.

The carpet of blue is interrupted by logs or fallen trees at times, but it continues into the distance, giving the wood a blue-purple floor.

I try very hard not to step on any of the bluebells.  It's not always possible because sometimes they have tried to invade the path.  Here we can see a path that has been made by a number of people walking on them for a considerable time - so sad that the carpet is ruined.

Celandine and wood anemone are still flowering, the anemones in particular add a sprinkle of white to the blue carpet.

It was a warm day, so the wood ants are busy building their nests ready for the summer breeding programme.  They don't care about the bluebells or the visitors, unless you're dumb enough to get involved in the nest construction.

Field of Blue 2026 (1 - Hockley Woods)

We had never been to Hockley Woods.  It's a popular place, perhaps especially in school holidays, we know this because the car park is full, and we had to park in a local road.  All the roads we drove through had parking restrictions at different times, we found one where the restriction was earlier in the day.

Then into the woods, we decided to follow the path that goes around the edge.  There were few, if any bluebells.  Plenty of wood anemones, and some celandine.  It's a very open wood, but the fields of blue seemed to be missing.  There was however a path off the main path where the bluebells are incredible.

Anemones

Celandine

The path took us across a broken down fence to part of the wood where there was a great field of blue, a proper carpet - but not one I would like to walk on.  Stunning views all around.  The path looped back to the main path, so we returned to entrance, and then the car.

It was now approaching 13:30, so time for lunch.  The Bull is just down the road.  It was heaving.  We got a table and ordered our food.  The wait was not too long.  The food was poorly served.  My chicken was 'out-of-the-fridge' cold, they took it away and (re-?)heated it.  Then parts were red hot and other parts just hot enough.  We probably won't go there again.

 

Road Angel Halo Pro - Setup and Initial Use

Road Angel Halo Pro

I bought Road Angel Halo Pro for our new car.  This is the picture you will most often see.  It is misleading.  The camera had a bigger footprint than suggested by this image.

The camera comes in a nice cuboid box, with a 32 Gb SD and micro SD on the outside under the cellophane.

Installing it was 'fun', the sort of fun you don't want to have.  So, don't follow the instructions, because if you can't make it connect it will be stuck to your windscreen.  I did the setup with the camera on the passenger seat.

The camera provides a Wi-Fi SSID to connect to.  It's the only way to communicate with it.  To get the app I downloaded from the Play Store to connect I had to turn off my VPN (normal), and delete the VPN profile.  Not great.  Then comes the re-naming, so that it doesn't present default values to anyone standing outside my car.

1) rename the Wi-Fi and set a password.  Now essentially start set-up again.  Delete everything from the app.

2) rename the device and set a password.  Now essentially start set-up again.  Delete everything from the app.

One other thing that tripped me up.  It knows my time zone - London, but it chooses to display the date in m/d/yyyy (American) format. 

Now, and only now, stick it to the windscreen and put the cabling behind the various bits of interior decor (where you can).

Now to get the videos off I have to delete the VPN profile, stop my home Wi-Fi from autoconnecting , connect to its Wi-Fi and run the app.  Too much like hard work - there has to be a better way.

So that I know what's happening, when It's powered up, it tells me it is working in an English language voice, and it tells me it's got GPS the same way.  Just occasionally it shouts something in a language I don't understand. 

It will also report collisions with your car in a car park, when you're not there, but to make that bit work, you need to buy an extra connection kit - bit of a cheek, to advertise a feature like that, that I can't use out of the box. 

Which has this as a 'best buy'.  Well I haven't seen any of the others, but on what I have seen so far I wouldn't recommend it - but I'm stuck with it (literally).

 

 

The World is Changed

Preached at Christ Church, Billericay on 1 March 2026 at 10:00

Recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nupbxKd6dbo from 33:50 to 48:08

Prayer Father God, speak into our shifting world. Open our hearts, steady our steps, and make us ready for the change Your Spirit brings. Amen. Introduction: The Shifting Soil "The world is changed," the ancient Treebeard says in Tolkien’s The Return of the King. "I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air." If you believe all the hype around the Gorton and Denton by-election, you may think I’m referring to that, after all there is a sort of plumbing connection. Things may have changed, but by-elections throw up strange results, so we have to wait and see. For the person of faith, those words carry a different weight. When God enters a life, the world doesn't just "shift"—it is fundamentally rearranged. The coordinates are reset. Today, we look at two biblical figures—Abram and Nicodemus—who saw their lives dramatically changed. One walked into the desert, and the other walked into the night, but both found that once God speaks, staying the same is the only impossible option. Others have experienced similar things over the centuries, so we will look at three of those stories, and then ask how God may be speaking to us.

Abram: The Courage of the Departure In Genesis 12, we meet Abram. We know little about him at that stage. We can work out that he is a Bronze Age herdsman, and we are told that he is seventy-five years old, (that’s even older than me!). He’s settled and established in Haran. There’s nothing special about Abram, he will make some bad mistakes later in his life. Then comes the voice: “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.” The Radical "Went" The most staggering line in this text is verse 4: "So Abram went, as the Lord had told him." Just like that! In our modern world, we want a five-year plan, GPS coordinates, and a guaranteed pension. All Abram had was a command and a promise of blessing. Perhaps that’s what motivates him to leave. The Nature of the Blessing God promises to make him a "great nation," but notice the why. God says, "You will be a blessing... and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." Abram’s change is geographical and will be generational. He had to move his body because God was moving the history of the world. Without Abram’s obedience, there are no Jews, so there can be no Christians, and no Muslims. With his move the world is changed.

Nicodemus: The Crisis of the Night Fast-forward to John 3. We meet Nicodemus, a man who has everything Abram’s descendants were promised: they are living in the land , they have status, knowledge, and religious authority. He’s heard things, seen things, that have challenged his understanding of God. So, he comes to Jesus under the cover of darkness. He knows the world is changing again, and he wants to be following God’s lead. But, he’s also afraid of those who are protecting the status quo. Born From Above Jesus meets Nicodemus’s polite flattery with a blunt response: “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” The Limit of Heritage For Nicodemus, or for any Pharisee, being a child of Abram was the ultimate "golden ticket." But Jesus explains that the blessing of Abram—the physical lineage—is not enough. To see the Kingdom, you need a spiritual change. The kingdom of God is not a country; to live there, you need a new nature. Snakes on Poles Jesus reminds him of the bronze serpent in the wilderness. When the people were dying of snakebites, they needed to look up at the snake on the pole, then they would live. It’s a forerunner of looking up at the crucified Jesus on the cross and accepting that His death has paid for our lives. Jesus tells this scholar: "Your degrees won't save you. Only looking to the One who will be lifted up—the Son of Man—can heal you." For Nicodemus, the world changed when he realized God doesn't want our "best efforts" or our "religious traditions." He wants our death and our rebirth. Result for Nicodemas We know that the conversation with Jesus changed Nicodemus’s world. After the crucifixion, Nicodemus provided about 75 pounds of myrrh and aloes to prepare Jesus’s body for burial.

Three Moments of Modern Rebirth God does not stop speaking. He continues to disrupt comfortable lives. Let’s look at how that "The world is Changed" moment looked for three people in the last couple of centuries. 1. Hudson Taylor: The Finished Work In 1849, teenage Hudson Taylor was bored in his father’s library. He picked up a gospel tract (a pamphlet), thinking he’d read the story at the start and skip the "sermon" at the end. But he was struck by one phrase: "The finished work of Christ." The Result He realized that if the work was finished, there was nothing left for him to do but accept it. That was the moment his World was changed. That realization eventually drove him to China. He didn't just go as a colonial missionary; his approach was revolutionary. He changed his clothes, his hairstyle, to look like a local, and lived as a Chinese man to reach the interior. Because of a pamphlet, the China Inland Mission was born.

2. Mother Teresa: The Thirst In 1946, Sister Teresa was already a nun, teaching comfortably in a school in Calcutta. On a train journey to Darjeeling, she heard a voice within her heart. It wasn't a call to become a nun—she already was one. It was a "call within a call." The word she heard was: "I thirst." The Result She realized Jesus was thirsty for the love of the poorest of the poor. She left the walls of the convent, traded her habit for a simple blue-bordered sari, and walked into the slums to care for the dying. Everything about her life, and the world's view of mercy, was changed on that train ride.

3. Brother Andrew: The Step of Yes In the 1950s, a young Dutchman named Andrew was recovering from a war wound. He picked up a Bible and began to read it like a man dying of thirst. In 1952, God spoke a simple invitation to his heart: "Yes." Andrew responded by saying, "Lord, as I take my first step forward, will you consider this a step towards complete obedience to you? I’ll call it the step of yes." The Result God then gave him a specific word from Revelation: "Awake, and strengthen what remains." (Rev 3:”) Then "God's Smuggler" began driving a Volkswagen Beetle full of Bibles behind the Iron Curtain. He changed the face of the persecuted church because he was willing to say "Yes" to a God who makes seeing eyes blind at border crossings.

4. Me Not all experiences that the Bible reports are for everyone, but this is one I can identify with. I didn’t warn you about this at the start, because I didn’t want you to leave. For me God’s word came through a “Gifts” survey, that Peter Sandberg ran. It was intended to help us, and the church, identify our gifts. The Result For me that came out as teaching. It set me on a path that led me to lead Explorers, then Pathfinders, and finally to offer myself to be trained as a Reader. Speaking to Us Today If the world is changed, and if God is still speaking, what does that mean for each of us? As an Individual You may be here today like Nicodemus—respected, "fine," but carrying a restless heart. Perhaps you’ve been relying on your "good person" resume. Jesus is whispering the same thing to you: It is not enough to be improved; you must be made new. What is the "pamphlet" or the "train ride" moment God is offering you today? Our world is changed when we stop asking God to bless our plans and start asking God to give us His life. Final Prayer Lord God, You who called Abram out of Haran and Nicodemus out of the dark, call us now. We confess that we often fear change more than we love You. Shake the foundations of our self-sufficiency. Give us the courage to go where You lead, the humility to be born anew by Your Spirit, and the heart to be a blessing to a world that so desperately needs Your light. May we leave this place knowing that because of Christ, the world—the whole world—is changed.

 References

https://desperatepreacher.com/texts/gen12_1/gen12_1.htm

https://www.preaching.lexiwiki.com/2025/03/sermon-on-nicodemus-let-us-seek-truth.html

https://www.quotes.net/mquote/120314

https://clip.cafe/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-fellowship-of-the-ring-2001/the-world-changed/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson_Taylor

Commentry - expositor's bible Commentry vol 2 (Genesis)

Commentry - expositor's bible Commentry vol 9 (John)

 

Love on a Mountain Top (2)

The sermon was preached at St. Mary the Virgin, Little Burstead  on 15 February 2026 at 10:30.

It is referenced on their Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=857263363934973 

and Instagram here:  https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVB-u0qikOY/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== 

Abstract:  This sermon was made from a copilot re-write of https://3cephas-notes.blogspot.com/2023/02/mountain-top-experiences.html, which I asked it to make more 'punchy'.  The result, after some further edits is below.

Mount Hermon

Prayer

Lord God, meet us on the mountain of Your presence. Open our eyes to Your glory, steady our hearts with Your love, and prepare us to follow you in the journey ahead. Amen.

Introduction

As we approach Lent, we’re thinking about mountain‑top experiences—those moments when God breaks through with clarity, power, or love. The phrase is usually a metaphor, but in both our readings today, it’s also literal. God meets His people on mountains, and what happens there changes everything.

What a Mountain‑Top Experience Gives You

When we speak of a mountain‑top experience, we mean a moment of revelation—something that opens our eyes, strengthens our faith, or redirects our life. It might have been joyful, terrifying, or overwhelming, but it was unforgettable. For some, it was the moment of conversion. For others, it’s the memory that still carries them through dark valleys.

A Scary Mountain: Abraham and Isaac

Before we look at Peter, James, and John, remember that fear on the mountain is nothing new. In Genesis 22, Abraham faces the most disturbing command imaginable:

“Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love… and sacrifice him.”

Isaac was the child of promise—the one through whom God said He would build a nation. So what is God doing? He is revealing something Abraham needs to know: Does Abraham now trust God’s love more than his own plans? Because Abraham has tried to implement God’s prophecy in his own way. He had a son – Ishmael, by Sarah, the servant girl.

And at the last moment, on the mountain, God provides a ram. Isaac lives. God keeps His promise. Abraham learns that God’s love is not fragile, not fickle, not dependent on human understanding or effort. That mountain-top experience marked him forever.

Have You Had One?

If you’ve had a mountain‑top moment, revisit it. Let it speak again. Ask what God taught you then—and whether you’re still living from that truth now.

What You Need for a Mountain‑Top Moment

These moments often come when distractions fall away. Mountains—literal or metaphorical—strip life back to God and you. No noise. No crowds. Just space to listen. That’s why people still climb hills, walk in woods, or sit by the sea. We long for the clarity that comes when everything else is quiet.

Moses on the Mountain (Exodus 24)

Moses and Joshua climb Sinai to receive the commandments. They wait six days before God calls Moses higher, then he remains there for forty days.

Forty

Forty is the number of testing in the Bible. Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness tested and prepared Him. Moses’ forty days tested Israel. Could they remain faithful while their leader was gone? The answer, as chapter 32 shows, is that they spectacularly failed. Before Moses returns, they are worshipping a golden calf.

Mysterious God

God appears mysterious, distant, even frightening. Only Moses may approach. The cloud of fire rests on the mountain—the same presence that guided them, fed them, protected them. Mount Sinai is not a volcano, this isn’t the story of superstitious people worshipping what they don’t understand. God is forming a people, teaching them how to live, and giving laws remarkable for their justice, compassion and concern for the poor and the foreigner . This is love in a form we often forget: love that shapes, disciplines, and teaches.

The Transfiguration

Now we turn to another mountain. The location isn’t the point—Tabor, suggested by Origen and the closest, or possibly Hermon. Or Sinai, as some try to make it. What matters is not which one, but what happened there.

Six days after Jesus began speaking openly about His death and resurrection, He takes Peter, James, and John up a high mountain. Perhaps they needed a different perspective. Perhaps they needed to see more than they could understand.

Glory Revealed

On Sinai, God’s glory was a consuming fire. Moses didn’t see it directly; the people did. But on this mountain, the glory shines from Jesus Himself:

“His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light.”

This is not a separate pillar of fire. This is God’s glory dwelling in a person—someone they have walked with, eaten with, laughed with. Moses and Elijah appear, representing the Law and the Prophets. Everything God has done is converging here.

Peter’s Fear

Peter blurts out a plan to build shelters—tabernacles—perhaps trying to freeze the moment, perhaps simply terrified. Mark tells us he didn’t know what to say. Before he can finish, a bright cloud envelops them, and the voice speaks:

“This is my Son, whom I love; with him, I am well pleased. Listen to him!”

They heard those words at Jesus’ baptism, but this time the command is added: Listen to Him.

And this time, they fall on their faces in fear. They are closer to God than they have ever been.

Jesus Supersedes Moses

Then Jesus touches them. “Get up,” He says. “Don’t be afraid.”

The cloud lifts. Moses and Elijah are gone. Only Jesus remains.

We cannot stay on the mountain. The point is not the experience itself but what it prepares us for. As they descend, Jesus tells them to keep silent until after His resurrection. The moment was for them—to strengthen them when everything later seemed lost.

They would remember the glory when they saw the cross. They would remember the voice when they heard the crowds. They would remember the mountain when they walked through the valley.

And they would know:

Jesus is the fulfilment of the Law and the Prophets.

Jesus is the beloved Son.

Jesus is the one who reveals God’s love most clearly—on the mountain and on the cross.

The Challenge for Us

Mountain‑top moments are gifts, but they are not the goal. The goal is what happens after:

- Will we listen to Him?

- Will we trust His love when the cloud lifts?

- Will we follow Him into Lent—not chasing spiritual highs, but letting God test, shape, and strengthen us?

God’s love revealed on the mountain, is proved in the valley. Lent invites us to walk with Jesus there.

Amen.

References