Joined
·
1,748 Posts
Too early I'm afraid, Trisha, you will have to wait until January.
GOGS...Grumpy Old Gits Society..
1641 - 1660 of 8074 Posts
Joined
·
1,748 Posts
It's all right for some! Here in England it's about 10 and there's plenty of cloud in the sky .... and it's dropping water!
.... and it's dropping water! 
Joined
·
1,069 Posts
Back to driver ergonomics. Why do they make the brake pedal on automatics double wide? Since my teen years I have been putting passengers through the windshield the first time in one after a while as my left foot reflexly slams the “clutch pedal” come time to shift up. As I am simultaneously grabbing for their knee with my shift hand they’re often quite taken aback!
Joined
·
1,883 Posts
There are a few terms i use for some drivers i have met over the years , most i cannot use here because they will be
![censored.gif]()
, but a tamer one is prat, met a prat driver in the car park at a well known local supermarket as i was trying to find a space , i drive a old Fiesta mainly because it's easy to park anywhere , spied a space and turned towards it , as i did the following happened.
A BMW 5 series nearly chopped my nose of to get in that parking space , now i don't do road rage just sat there and watched this prat drive into the space which i knew looking at it was not really big enough for that car, but prat didn't so he got in then could not get out of his car either side , so what does prat do starts playing the game of shunt he tried to get close to the car on his left , could not get out then to the right could not get out , went forward could not get out .
By this time there were a few bermused shoppers watching this prat , so in fury he reversed with tyre's smoking into a trolly with shopping in , obviously knocking it over then pulled forward and hit the car in the bay to his right.
Things then got interesting as prat decided to get out of his car , not to help the lady whose shopping was over the tarmac but to start waving his arms about and started shouting , at this point i had a decision to make do i get out of my car and go and assist luckily i did not have to as other people had by now gathered including the chap who,s car prat had hit .
Behind me there were other cars waiting to get past , and low and behold up came two security men , one was built like the preverbial S house door , now prat started having a go at them at the same time as the lady whose shopping was all over the deck was having a go at him as well as the chap who,s car prat had hit , and it got even better prat took a swing at the S house door , who did not respond as all of a sudden you could hear the siren coming and into the car park the wrong way came the blue's and two,s in fact 2 cars .
Now there was a heated discussion it seemed between everybody as prat was now arging with the police , not a wise move , by this time the cars had reversed behind me and i thought bugger this time to get out of here , as i reversed my last thoughts as i looked at the mele was blimey i only came out to get bread and milk and why did i have to arrive at the same time as king prat.
A BMW 5 series nearly chopped my nose of to get in that parking space , now i don't do road rage just sat there and watched this prat drive into the space which i knew looking at it was not really big enough for that car, but prat didn't so he got in then could not get out of his car either side , so what does prat do starts playing the game of shunt he tried to get close to the car on his left , could not get out then to the right could not get out , went forward could not get out .
By this time there were a few bermused shoppers watching this prat , so in fury he reversed with tyre's smoking into a trolly with shopping in , obviously knocking it over then pulled forward and hit the car in the bay to his right.
Things then got interesting as prat decided to get out of his car , not to help the lady whose shopping was over the tarmac but to start waving his arms about and started shouting , at this point i had a decision to make do i get out of my car and go and assist luckily i did not have to as other people had by now gathered including the chap who,s car prat had hit .
Behind me there were other cars waiting to get past , and low and behold up came two security men , one was built like the preverbial S house door , now prat started having a go at them at the same time as the lady whose shopping was all over the deck was having a go at him as well as the chap who,s car prat had hit , and it got even better prat took a swing at the S house door , who did not respond as all of a sudden you could hear the siren coming and into the car park the wrong way came the blue's and two,s in fact 2 cars .
Now there was a heated discussion it seemed between everybody as prat was now arging with the police , not a wise move , by this time the cars had reversed behind me and i thought bugger this time to get out of here , as i reversed my last thoughts as i looked at the mele was blimey i only came out to get bread and milk and why did i have to arrive at the same time as king prat.
Joined
·
2,869 Posts
You're getting close to the 'left foot brake or right foot brake with an auto'? argument here, and that one can run and run!
Joined
·
3,417 Posts
One of my college days transports was a 1951 Chrysler Imperial convertible - the first of the "Hemi" V-8s. It was a formidable piece of machinery:
![gallery_99_85_34723.jpeg]()
~ 20' long and 5500 lbs. (note, for purposes of the following, the size of the front bumper)
One day I observed the following:
The car was parked on the street in front of our house. A gentleman decided to parallel park in the space in front of it. After several failed attempts, it was clear that the space was to small. Undeterred, the driver decided to enlarge the space by backing slowly into contact with my car and pushing it back a bit! Not surprisingly, give the size of the Chrysler, this did not work. Frustrated, he pulled forward and reversed quickly, evidently intent on "bumping" a bit more space. At this point I was rousing myself from the front stairs on which I had been sitting and observing. The error of his ways was soon apparent. His rear bumper slid under the Chrysler's front armor and locked the two cars together. He got out of his car, looked, and ignoring my call to wait, got back into his car and applied full throttle in an attempt to disengage and depart. The sound of spinning tires was briefly drowned out by the sound of tortured metal, his car lurched forward and, with a loud report, his now detached rear bumper fell to the ground!
I inspected my car and, seeing no evidence of any damage, watched without comment as he once more exited his vehicle and screaming at me to look at what I had done to his car, retrieved his bumper, threw it into the rear seat and drove away.
EM
~ 20' long and 5500 lbs. (note, for purposes of the following, the size of the front bumper)
One day I observed the following:
The car was parked on the street in front of our house. A gentleman decided to parallel park in the space in front of it. After several failed attempts, it was clear that the space was to small. Undeterred, the driver decided to enlarge the space by backing slowly into contact with my car and pushing it back a bit! Not surprisingly, give the size of the Chrysler, this did not work. Frustrated, he pulled forward and reversed quickly, evidently intent on "bumping" a bit more space. At this point I was rousing myself from the front stairs on which I had been sitting and observing. The error of his ways was soon apparent. His rear bumper slid under the Chrysler's front armor and locked the two cars together. He got out of his car, looked, and ignoring my call to wait, got back into his car and applied full throttle in an attempt to disengage and depart. The sound of spinning tires was briefly drowned out by the sound of tortured metal, his car lurched forward and, with a loud report, his now detached rear bumper fell to the ground!
I inspected my car and, seeing no evidence of any damage, watched without comment as he once more exited his vehicle and screaming at me to look at what I had done to his car, retrieved his bumper, threw it into the rear seat and drove away.
EM
Joined
·
4,984 Posts
No easter eggs will be somewhere 26th or 27th December, Cream eggs always delivered before Xmas.
3 days a week I leave work about 11.10 to 11.20PM and have a journey of about 11 minutes, 12 with bad traffic lights. On a Saturday night this increase by 25% to about 14-15 minutes as no one wants to do more than 27mph, it's all a 30 limit. There are 3 speed cameras along the route and you can be sure we go through them all at about 20mph. Are they all afraid of being stopped by the police?? I just set my speed limiter and drive to this when I can, can't remember the last time I slowed for a speed camera unless forced to.
3 days a week I leave work about 11.10 to 11.20PM and have a journey of about 11 minutes, 12 with bad traffic lights. On a Saturday night this increase by 25% to about 14-15 minutes as no one wants to do more than 27mph, it's all a 30 limit. There are 3 speed cameras along the route and you can be sure we go through them all at about 20mph. Are they all afraid of being stopped by the police?? I just set my speed limiter and drive to this when I can, can't remember the last time I slowed for a speed camera unless forced to.
A couple of days after posting ^^^ that, I read of a "reality" TV person (sorry, but I refuse to refer to them as "stars" or "celebrities") being interviewed on Good Morning Britain and claiming that major wars shouldn't be included in history lessons in schools because it can leave children traumatised and lead to them developing mental health issues.
Joined
·
5,593 Posts
I also go the long way round in my Mkl MX5 and have the top down in the winter whatever the temperature.
David
Joined
·
3,417 Posts
Joined
·
586 Posts
Childhood trauma's? In the "good old" days when I was nasty or didn't obey to my parents they would correct that with a bit of spanking. Nothing wrong with me nowadays so I didn't traumatize me
Now by law, at least in the Netherlands, it is forbidden to spank a child. So the little buggers are completely unhandable, flew 12 hours to Singapore with a couple of those in the plane. I think half of the people in the plane were relieved when then finally got tired and felt to sleep. The parents could do nothing about it and you could see from their faces they were so ashamed they were not able to stop this.
In Singapore I saw the only solution was to hand them a phone or tablet. Really? 2 to 3 year old kids in a pram with a device in their hands? Wonder what kind of people these kids will grow up to?
Now by law, at least in the Netherlands, it is forbidden to spank a child. So the little buggers are completely unhandable, flew 12 hours to Singapore with a couple of those in the plane. I think half of the people in the plane were relieved when then finally got tired and felt to sleep. The parents could do nothing about it and you could see from their faces they were so ashamed they were not able to stop this.
In Singapore I saw the only solution was to hand them a phone or tablet. Really? 2 to 3 year old kids in a pram with a device in their hands? Wonder what kind of people these kids will grow up to?
Joined
·
1,069 Posts
Kit, I had the same thought today and will say no more.
Joined
·
2,869 Posts
It came up in a model boat forum of which I'm a member and it almost reached swapping blows levels! Crazy.
Joined
·
4,984 Posts
In a recent BBC program on young children they found that to ones who used tablets / phones from a very young age (think the oldest was about 3yrs) developed brain functions such as motor skills a lot earlier and faster than those that just had traditional toys. This did not appear to be the results they expected.
Joined
·
6,443 Posts
I'm sick of hearing people who can't pronounce a simple word like Brexit as Breggzit.
Joined
·
2,825 Posts
or my pet favourite - anemone.
For all TV nature programme presenters (with few exceptions) the "m" is in the Middle..
For all TV nature programme presenters (with few exceptions) the "m" is in the Middle..
School Crossing Patrols........
When I learned to drive (in the mid-'70s) I was told that the Lollipop Person should keep the children at the crossing point until there's a small group gathered, then have them all cross at the same time. Also, the crossing patrol was in place for children, not adults.
Since I've begun regularly driving at school times, I've noticed two things:-
1) One parent with child will trigger the Lollipop Person stopping the traffic for them both to cross. Then as soon as LP is back on the pavement, another parent with child (or children) is approaching and the whole cycle starts again after just a couple of vehicles have been allowed past.
2) (and this one really boils my water....) After school has started, LP is still there and stopping traffic to let parents cross back after depositing their lovelies at school. The same rule as above applies - a couple of vehicles pass, LP stops traffic for 1 - or at best 2 - parent(s) to cross.
![grump.gif]()
When I learned to drive (in the mid-'70s) I was told that the Lollipop Person should keep the children at the crossing point until there's a small group gathered, then have them all cross at the same time. Also, the crossing patrol was in place for children, not adults.
Since I've begun regularly driving at school times, I've noticed two things:-
1) One parent with child will trigger the Lollipop Person stopping the traffic for them both to cross. Then as soon as LP is back on the pavement, another parent with child (or children) is approaching and the whole cycle starts again after just a couple of vehicles have been allowed past.
2) (and this one really boils my water....) After school has started, LP is still there and stopping traffic to let parents cross back after depositing their lovelies at school. The same rule as above applies - a couple of vehicles pass, LP stops traffic for 1 - or at best 2 - parent(s) to cross.
Joined
·
5,197 Posts
Electric (standup to ride) scooters are newish in my town. I met one coming towards me at speed on a pathway through a reserve area.
Who has right of way?
I was not going to yield as that pathway had been there for 20 years or more and these electric scooters are a new addition to pathway traffic.
The young man didnt want to get off the path either....and I didn't make space. He came to a standstill and reluctantly replied to my grumpy "good morning"
Who has right of way?
I was not going to yield as that pathway had been there for 20 years or more and these electric scooters are a new addition to pathway traffic.
The young man didnt want to get off the path either....and I didn't make space. He came to a standstill and reluctantly replied to my grumpy "good morning"
1641 - 1660 of 8074 Posts
