L-Plate
Posted: Mon 12 February, 2007 Filed under: 1BEM, Cynicism, Sweary Leave a comment »Related to the post on Saturday about that box junction in Cambridge:
Today, I saw a learner-driver, in the instructor’s car, do exactly the same thing. Just stopped, in the path of an oncoming bus.
That might be a long-term fix to the problem : either
- let all the shit instructors get killed by their pupils
or - teach the pupils properly in the first fucking place
I think that’d do it. Eventually.
Recovery
Posted: Mon 12 February, 2007 Filed under: Domestic, Getting Organised, House Purchase Leave a comment »OK, most of the panic and potential stress has been alleviated – and thank chuff for that.
I’m sure I’ll explain more about the causative events at some point, but for now well, I’m just happy that things appear to have been sorted out without too much in the way of hassle, bureaucracy, or fighting.
Chaos
Posted: Mon 12 February, 2007 Filed under: Cynicism, Domestic Leave a comment »Due to a variety of events over the weekend, today is likely to be quiet here while I sort out lots of domestic crap, and deal with solicitors, estate agents and the like.
Depending on how all that goes, I may or may not be posting here – only time will tell.
Or, of course, I could just end up having a huge rant…
Ouch
Posted: Sun 11 February, 2007 Filed under: Domestic Leave a comment »Note to self : it is unwise to pick up a knife whose handle has (unknown to me) been in the flame on the gas hob. Particularly when that handle is plastic. OK, metal wouldn’t be much fun either, but plastic is fairly high on the “not good” scale.
Mainly because, once it’s hot, it’s also sticky. So the bloody thing sticks to the area of hand it’s burning, which rather prolongs the fun.
All in all, Ouch.
It’s not a serious burn, or anything, but bloody hell, ouch.
Missed Opportunities
Posted: Sun 11 February, 2007 Filed under: Getting Organised, Own Business, Photography 3 Comments »Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve missed the chance of taking some photos that would’ve been beautiful. Needless to say, this is invariably bloody annoying.
To me, there are two main problems – first is that I’m sat on the train, and the windows are invariably disgusting, which would probably add some gunk and nastiness to the final image. But the second problem is simply that the SLR isn’t the right tool for the job. As with Problem One, I’m sat on a train, and I don’t want to be sat there advertising the fact I’ve got £1,500 of gear with me – along with the corollary of ‘if he’s got that camera there, what else is in the bag?’.
I love the SLR, it’s a fantastic bit of kit, and I wouldn’t change it for anything. But I’m coming to the conclusion that I do need to have a small extra camera, one that I can carry everywhere, with a decent resolution, excellent zoom, but small and compact enough that it never leaves my bag/pocket – oh, and doesn’t look like I’m some well-off bastard.
It’s a pain in the arse – and I’d like to start earning some money from the photos in order to balance out some of the costs…
Unlit
Posted: Sat 10 February, 2007 Filed under: Driving, Thoughts, Travel, Weirdness 1 Comment »Driving in to work yesterday, I was absolutely amazed by the number of idiots out there who hadn’t even turned on their headlights.
OK, this was primarily close to Cambridge, so it was around 8:30 or so in the morning. But all the same, it was pretty foggy yesterday morning, and the visibility was pretty shit. So it’s still surprising (for me, anyway) when I see other drivers – and particularly those in light-coloured cars that blend into the fog even more) without lights or foglights on. I know that I’ve written about this before – and quite recently but it still shocks/surprises/scares me when I see it happening.
Of course, the even scarier thing in Cambridge is the cyclists. Yesterday morning, not one of them had any lights on at all. Again, still cold, grey, misty/foggy, yet they all seem to believe that they’re either indestructible, or that the dozy little twadgers have some god-given right of way so that they won’t suffer any collisions or accidents.
Yes, yet again, I find myself worried by other road users. I suspect that this may become a standard mantra.
Box Junction
Posted: Sat 10 February, 2007 Filed under: 1BEM, Cynicism, Thoughts, Weirdness 6 Comments »Just down the road from where I work, there’s a big four-way crossroads, which is invariably snarled up and jammed. There are actually two reasons for this :
- It’s been designed by an utter tosser
- People are tossers
Reason One is fairly standard – after all, it’s just a four-way crossroads with a nightmare of traffic lights.
Reason Two, though, is different, although it’s related to Reason One. Because the traffic lights screw things up, the planners/designers decided to make it ‘safer’, and covered the entire junction with yellow cross-hatch markings. It’s a box junction.
Box junctions aren’t difficult to deal with – well, unless you’re a BMW driver – and the simple rule is At signalled roundabouts you MUST NOT enter the box unless you can cross over it completely without stopping.. Not rocket science, is it?
But the reason this junction is a nightmare is because everyone ignores that concept completely, and instead buckets into the junction, try to turn, and then realise they can’t get out of the junction. And oooh, look – suddenly they’re blocking the next flow of traffic, which invariably includes a sodding big bus. Oops.
I have no idea how this can be fixed, and nor do I have any idea how you can get drivers to look ahead and figure out that there’s nowhere for them to go. Personally, I can’t see a problem with a car that detects the road markings, and if you stop on a box junction, it gives you a small electric shock. That’d soon stop it. Just call me Mr Pavlov…
Mind you, if I could come up with the answers to either of those things, I’d be a very wealthy man.