Life has some tough lessons and experiences. No-one knows when they start out in life how tough it can become. I've learnt that whatever happens, we can go on loving and that love never dies.
Well, enough of that! OH's car died on us yesterday after spending hundreds to try to save it. This means I'll have to part ex mine for one big enough to tow the caravan. Not a rant - more a groan!
My OH has just got home spent the last couple of miles of his journey chugging up hill in 2nd gear, puffing out diesel fumes behind cyclists who like to be thought on as " green'
When he got irate and blew his horn at them, they hardly wanted to move over to let him pass..so who is destroying the planet here then
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
Hi Lyn. Has your OH calmed down yet? This whole question of cyclists on the roads is a difficult one. They have a right to be there, but they are a nuisance to car drivers and they are themselves vulnerable to injury. They should cycle in single file, but quite often cycle side-by-side, making any obstruction worse. Car drivers may fail to see them - or rather, fail to register that they are there, because they are concentrating on other cars. Sometimes they get competitive and try to control whether a car can pass them. They complain that cars pass too close and almost push them into the hedge. Driving behind them drives me crazy. Trying to pass them can be dangerous, especially on winding Welsh roads. Wish I knew the answer!
Car drivers are dangerous for cyclists too. My daughter (when she was a student) was riding her bike past a row of parked cars when suddenly some idiot opened his car door right into her. She fell off the bike of course and was covered in bruises.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
Cyclists in this area have several good cycle lanes, but on an average day probably about a third don't use them - usually the 'proper' cyclists wearing all the latest racing gear. I've also noticed that some drivers seem unable to pass a cyclist without leaving an inordinate amount of space between themselves - not so much being over cautious , but more a case of lots of car drivers nowadays seem uncertain about the width of their vehicles.
For those of you who have not been in Central London during working hours,especially the rush hour, cyclists have to be seen to be believed - on the pavements intimidating pedestrians, cycling wrong way down one-way streets, through red lights, cursing at pedestrians - some even carry sticks which they hammer on the roofs of cars they consider have cut them up!
I enjoy cycling, and am a great fan of Tour de France etc., but some cyclists are a disgrace - the best behaved are kids, from a young age up to late teens; they all seem to understand patience and restraint is better than confrontation.
Final moan, it might help if cyclists had to pay a small annual charge as Road Tax, and had a licence which could be taken away as with car drivers - however I suppose the cost of that would be too high to justify the hoped-for aims of more considered road use.
Morning all. Pentillie, your post could be an article/comments straight out of a Zürich newspaper! Although I must say, people who cycle in a city the size of London must have more guts than brains! Boris excepted, of course!
My daughter in law was knocked off her bike when she was a student, too. I did not intend to attack cyclists. I agree with the 'more guts than brains' comment, and not only about London. I was at traffic lights in a relatively quiet country area, with a car in the other lane beside me and a cyclist in my lane who pulled up beside me. When the lights changed, the other car pulled out, the cyclist cut across my bonnet and, had I not been alert, I would have run him over. I sounded my horn - I leave you to imagine the condescending gesture I got in return. He was in full cycling gear and looked fit, an experienced cyclist. But he's have been the one injured, perhaps dead, and I'd be the one trying to live with the fact that I had hit someone.
That's a really good point about a road tax for cyclists. The real answer is dedicated cycling lanes everywhere, and not ones shared with pedestrians - and that is going to cost money.
Final moan, it might help if cyclists had to pay a small annual charge as Road Tax, and had a licence which could be taken away as with car drivers - however I suppose the cost of that would be too high to justify the hoped-for aims of more considered road use.
Hear hear Pentillie...it's long been a bone of contention for me, and as someone who has driven on narrow roads a lot, cyclists don't realise how inconsiderate it is to spread across roads preventing drivers overtaking safely.They ride up pavements and through traffic lights etc and then complain when drivers 'don't see them'. I do have sympathy sometimes though, as we have cycle lanes on the main road but people park on them all the time -apparently that's not illegal (?)- so cyclists have to go in the road. What a waste of money putting them in. The worst ones here are motorbikes. The road beside Loch Lomond is notorious for bikers doing insane things. Heart in mouth stuff and putting other people at risk
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Back to the subject of NHS, a 50 year old friend of mine who fell about a year and a half ago and went to the hospital in immense pain, they said she was just bruised and referred her back to her doctor. She kept telling her doctor that something was not right & her doctor told her that it may help if she lost some weight. She started using the gym and her partner was taking her out for long walks etc and pushing her to do more (no pain no gain mentality). She finally was rushed into hospital with a minor heart attack and insisted that there was something wrong (this was about a year after her fall) She was scanned & xrayed and was told that she had actually broken her back a year earlier.
Ddave it just shows the postcode lottery though doesn't it? Some people get missed completely and others get the right diagnosis. My friend's son is undergoing chemo right now. He's only early 30s but he discovered a lump around a month ago and the wheels were in motion right away. Prognosis excellent. But to be fair to all the docs/nurses/surgeons et al ..we're all human and not infallible. It's a bit scary but I suppose we all feel they always know best and never make a mistake.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Posts
Life has some tough lessons and experiences. No-one knows when they start out in life how tough it can become. I've learnt that whatever happens, we can go on loving and that love never dies.
Well, enough of that! OH's car died on us yesterday after spending hundreds to try to save it. This means I'll have to part ex mine for one big enough to tow the caravan. Not a rant - more a groan!
When he got irate and blew his horn at them, they hardly wanted to move over to let him pass..so who is destroying the planet here then
Hi Lyn. Has your OH calmed down yet? This whole question of cyclists on the roads is a difficult one. They have a right to be there, but they are a nuisance to car drivers and they are themselves vulnerable to injury. They should cycle in single file, but quite often cycle side-by-side, making any obstruction worse. Car drivers may fail to see them - or rather, fail to register that they are there, because they are concentrating on other cars. Sometimes they get competitive and try to control whether a car can pass them. They complain that cars pass too close and almost push them into the hedge. Driving behind them drives me crazy. Trying to pass them can be dangerous, especially on winding Welsh roads. Wish I knew the answer!
Car drivers are dangerous for cyclists too. My daughter (when she was a student) was riding her bike past a row of parked cars when suddenly some idiot opened his car door right into her. She fell off the bike of course and was covered in bruises.
For those of you who have not been in Central London during working hours,especially the rush hour, cyclists have to be seen to be believed - on the pavements intimidating pedestrians, cycling wrong way down one-way streets, through red lights, cursing at pedestrians - some even carry sticks which they hammer on the roofs of cars they consider have cut them up!
I enjoy cycling, and am a great fan of Tour de France etc., but some cyclists are a disgrace - the best behaved are kids, from a young age up to late teens; they all seem to understand patience and restraint is better than confrontation.
Final moan, it might help if cyclists had to pay a small annual charge as Road Tax, and had a licence which could be taken away as with car drivers - however I suppose the cost of that would be too high to justify the hoped-for aims of more considered road use.
Morning all. Pentillie, your post could be an article/comments straight out of a Zürich newspaper! Although I must say, people who cycle in a city the size of London must have more guts than brains! Boris excepted, of course!
My daughter in law was knocked off her bike when she was a student, too. I did not intend to attack cyclists. I agree with the 'more guts than brains' comment, and not only about London. I was at traffic lights in a relatively quiet country area, with a car in the other lane beside me and a cyclist in my lane who pulled up beside me. When the lights changed, the other car pulled out, the cyclist cut across my bonnet and, had I not been alert, I would have run him over. I sounded my horn - I leave you to imagine the condescending gesture I got in return. He was in full cycling gear and looked fit, an experienced cyclist. But he's have been the one injured, perhaps dead, and I'd be the one trying to live with the fact that I had hit someone.
That's a really good point about a road tax for cyclists. The real answer is dedicated cycling lanes everywhere, and not ones shared with pedestrians - and that is going to cost money.
Hear hear Pentillie...it's long been a bone of contention for me, and as someone who has driven on narrow roads a lot, cyclists don't realise how inconsiderate it is to spread across roads preventing drivers overtaking safely.They ride up pavements and through traffic lights etc and then complain when drivers 'don't see them'. I do have sympathy sometimes though, as we have cycle lanes on the main road but people park on them all the time -apparently that's not illegal (?)- so cyclists have to go in the road. What a waste of money putting them in. The worst ones here are motorbikes. The road beside Loch Lomond is notorious for bikers doing insane things. Heart in mouth stuff and putting other people at risk
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Back to the subject of NHS, a 50 year old friend of mine who fell about a year and a half ago and went to the hospital in immense pain, they said she was just bruised and referred her back to her doctor. She kept telling her doctor that something was not right & her doctor told her that it may help if she lost some weight. She started using the gym and her partner was taking her out for long walks etc and pushing her to do more (no pain no gain mentality). She finally was rushed into hospital with a minor heart attack and insisted that there was something wrong (this was about a year after her fall) She was scanned & xrayed and was told that she had actually broken her back a year earlier.
Ddave it just shows the postcode lottery though doesn't it? Some people get missed completely and others get the right diagnosis. My friend's son is undergoing chemo right now. He's only early 30s but he discovered a lump around a month ago and the wheels were in motion right away. Prognosis excellent. But to be fair to all the docs/nurses/surgeons et al ..we're all human and not infallible. It's a bit scary but I suppose we all feel they always know best and never make a mistake.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...