Buffalo & Doozerie - The mild musings of two grumpy old men!

doozerie wrote: »

What is even more mad though is the cost of servicing a car. The car is in good condition generally, but I could buy a half decent bike for what it's going to cost me to have some seemingly minor little issues resolved (A crack in an indicator casing? I don't care. It'll fail the NCT? What?)

I normally don't bother getting it serviced for the NCT and I would take with a pinch of salt anything a service centre says to me. Run it through NCT, and if it fails, they will tell you why, and you can get it fixed then.

I had a tiny hole in front light one time, not even the size of a pen, but it had a crack around it and also had condensation on the inside, which was the real issue. Guy in NCT (fair play to him) told me to fill it with silicon and it would be fine. So I filled with Silicon, smothed it off with a bit of fine sandpaper, and ran the extension lead out of the house with the missuses hair dryer (I don't need one:)) and pointed that at the light for 10 or 15 minutes till the condensation cleared.

Neighbours sent for the men in white coats to bring me to Dundrum when they thought I was after giving my car a haircut! A bit of embarrasement saved me a few hundred sheets and there wasn't even a charge when I went back to NCT as it was only cosmetic.

What is it with Irish bus lanes, they just seem not to work at all in the rain. On a dry day you encounter mostly buses and taxis in them. On a wet day every other motorist, and usually the cranky ones, seems to be in them.

Given our climate we really should invest in weather-resistant bus lanes. …and given our culture, we should probably invest in the gob****e-motorist -resistant variety.

buffalo wrote: »

"The X case was a very complicated judgement"

Only if you're a simpleton.

This talk of simpletons reminds me of a conversation I had on Saturday. There was a community "fair", basically a jumble sale, on at the back of Marley Park. I decided to go there with my daughter. Parking options are limited around there so I bundled her into her buggy and walked the 30-odd minutes to get there, it was a nice day for a walk. Our route brought us along a twisty country-ish road, just wide enough for 2 cars, and with a pavement on one side only.

It wasn't long before we encountered the first car parked on the pavement (sure, why would they park it on the road, that would just get in the way like), this one parked outside one of the few houses on that stretch of road. I barely managed to squeeze past, almost taking a mudflap with me as it snagged on a wheel of the buggy. That was followed by a cluster of cars parked on the pavement which required me to walk on the road, towards a blind bend. I was pissed by then and fantasising about various means of converting such cars to something resembling pancakes.

We passed a massive house which has dogs that, despite having an area of land the size of a small country to run around in, like to hang around by the railings and bark and snarl at people walking by. My daughter hates it, personally I don't mind the dogs themselves but have strong feelings about people who keep dogs that they allow to go mental - such people don't deserve dogs. Anyway, up jumps a dog and scares my daughter, again. I ran to get past the house but amongst a line of cars parked half on the pavement I encounter an SUV that is parked further in than the others. I have to stop and try to squeeze past it, the alternative being to go back to the start of the line of cars and walk on the road again, for about 20m, towards any oncoming traffic on yet another blind bend. There is barely room to get past, and the dog makes the most of our slow progress to get in another few aggressive yelps. Now I'm well and truly pissed off. I think it was probably obvious from a distance, my body language had switched to murder-death-kill mode.

Just as we got past the SUV its lights flashed. Someone had remotely unlocked it. Right then, I thought. Two well-dressed women and some young kids crossed the road from the community centre and walked towards us - some stereotypes just fit. Yes, it was their SUV. I pointed out the fact that they were amongst a bunch of cars that were blocking the pavement. "Yes", they said, "and some people are terrible, they simply leave no room". "No", I said, "*your* SUV is leaving no room and I was almost obliged to walk on the road with my daughter, towards a blind bend". The driver looked incredulous that I should suggest she was one of the "terrible" ones. She seemed to waver between being offended and being quiet, eventually settling for "smug bitch" which she probably thought was a happy medium. "But parking is so tricky around here", she said. I told her I didn't care, and that she could just walk. I might as well have pissed in her latte, the suggestion that she not drive her status symbol was ridiculous. I made another effort to inform her that she was, in fact, an ignorant arsehole. Both women adopted an amused, slightly condescending, look. When I told her I'd accept an apology but that it was clear she wasn't going to offer one, she walked off, still smiling.

I'm not really sure what I expected, probably some kind of acknowledgement that it's not really acceptable to park wherever you like just to save yourself some effort regardless of the difficulties and dangers your actions pose for others. What I got was very much an attitude that it really is acceptable and I have no doubt that the same person will do the very same again without a second thought. Horrible women.

@Lusk Doyle, She had the brass neck of Perrin but the general disposition of this wan:

doozerie wrote: »

I'm not really sure what I expected, probably some kind of acknowledgement that it's not really acceptable to park wherever you like just to save yourself some effort regardless of the difficulties and dangers your actions pose for others. What I got was very much an attitude that it really is acceptable and I have no doubt that the same person will do the very same again without a second thought. Horrible women.

Nobody ever throws their hands up and admits they're in the wrong at the time. Best you can hope for in these situations is that they'll go home, think about it, and realise they were a dick about it later on.

Love that road, btw. On my commute most days, a bit out of the way but worth it. The whole stretch from the Tuning Fork up to Kilmashogue is like a long country road, but in the city. Annoyed me hugely that they've started the inevitable speedbump installation and a poxy set of traffic lights at Sarah Curran Ave. (Then again, the extra pavement is probably good for walkers with buggies... )

Was in the car last night, stopped at a red light at a busy T-junction. My light changed to green and I was about to drive off when I realised that a guy on a bicycle was cycling though his red light, across the top of the T, and turning right across my path. Mid junction he took one hand off his bars to bless himself (there is a church on the corner), which seemed so ridiculously apt.

Cycling in this morning, past the park at Harold's Cross, and behind a bus. The bus went through a junction on a green light only for a guy on a bicycle to come from the road to the left, breaking his red light, and aiming (very slowly) for the exact same area of the road as the bus. Not even a glance from him, his body language screamed "There is no bus. There is NO BUS!" even as he cut in front of the faster moving bus with a handful inches to spare. The bus driver was on his brake for the next 50 metres, stuck behind yer man. I subsequently got stuck behind the same guy, in the cycle lane with stopped traffic to our right. A hundred metres further on he made a pig's ear of squeezing past a stopped car which was encroaching a little on the cycle lane. He stopped and glared at the driver. His face expressed not a hint of irony.

Several minutes later, on Clanbrassil Street, I was behind a girl on a bicycle when the traffic light 50m ahead went red. Undeterred she grabbed her handlebars and accelerated towards the junction. She sailed through the solidly red light as a car coming the other way slowly (and on a green light as far as I know) did a U-turn to our side of the road. She weaved around it, and slapped the boot with her hand as she went past. I still can't figure out exactly what she was trying to convey with that other than "watch out, I'm a bit of feckin' lunatic, best to clear the area".

Later, along the quays, as I approached a pedestrian crossing the traffic light changed red, and a bunch of pedestrians were already half way across the road. I stopped. A few car lengths back I heard a car accelerate and a taxi zipped past me, and then through the crossing past the moving pedestrians (who now had a green light for crossing). The taxi tagged onto the back of a line of stopped cars 100m ahead and after getting my own green light I rolled up behind the stopped taxi while his light was still red. A little later and he was again stuck in traffic while I was up the road, but he probably felt a lot faster.

Due to work commitments, I've no cycling related rage today, but being trapped in the house on the computer brings its own issues. Specifically in this instance, the house has been bloody freezing all day. Obviously, it's cold outside, but it's been particularly chilly indoors. My solution was to lock myself in the living room with the fire, but I just noticed on my way to bed that my ex-housemate, who moved out on Wednesday or Thursday left her ****ing window open.

Tomorrow will be warmer, I hope.

Nothing to do with Babies or stickers; I'd say it was because the driver didn't give a sh1te.

Sorry Buffalo and Doozerie, but I have nowhere else to post this one, so have to Hi-Jack your thread for now!

Coming through the Phoenix Park this morning (nice and toasty in my car) at about 9.30 down Chesterfield avenue about halfway between Mountjoy roundabout and Phoenix roundabout the traffice bunched up for a bit and went real slow. Then I got to the problem. Some bloke on his bike...... Now I would cycle down the adjoining cycle lane 99 times out of 100, so will forgive the lad for feeling the need not to use it. But what I really can't understand is why he could not cycle down the absolutely empty hard shoulder which did not have a single parked vehicle (and I doubel checked) in it. No, he was a minimum of 2 feet inside the driving side of the yellow line.

Reminds me of another incident about a month ago coming home one afternoon on the S bends on the Upper Glen road. 1 car in front of me but stuck behind a cyclist, waited till he got around the bend and onto a straight section with a clear road before overtaking her, giving at least 6ft or so clearance. As he passed, she threw here hands up in the air in a "WTF are you up to" kind of a gesture. I really don't understand what her problem was, he was miles away from her and was considerate to sit back behind till the road was safe to pass.

Rant over.

stevieob wrote: »

But what I really can't understand is why he could not cycle down the absolutely empty hard shoulder which did not have a single parked vehicle (and I doubel checked) in it. No, he was a minimum of 2 feet inside the driving side of the yellow line.

Maybe the road was treated for ice but the hard shoulder wasn't, IIRC, the hard shoulder has a camber most of the way

Lumen wrote: »

Perhaps he was trying to avoid coming off his bike on the frost/ice which would have been cleared by the cars in the main lane but not on the shoulder or the cycle path/lane/track/whatever.

GlennaMaddy wrote: »

Maybe the road was treated for ice but the hard shoulder wasn't, IIRC, the hard shoulder has a camber most of the way

I'd actually thought about that at the time. I know it is hard to tell from insdide a car, but the road looked pretty much the same as the hard shoulder. The bike path did look on hte frosty side though. Plenty of others cycling down the bike lane and hard shoulder didn't feel the need to be miles out in the middle of the road.

Interesting ride in today. It's amazing how much fits into 10 minutes.

First non-incident at a mini-roundabout not far from my house, where I followed a car around the roundabout (both of us going straight), and a guy on the left decided I didn't really have right of way. But then stopped halfway on. You know how it is though, at that point you've already slammed on the brakes because you didn't know whether he was going to stop, so you've lost all your momentum and you're pissed off.
I did my usual, "it's a ****ing roundabout!", at him, and he gave me a look as if to say, "hey, I stopped. What more do you want of me?"

Then I got stuck behind a cyclist who stopped at all the lights!! :eek: I wonder if they're on here actually. Does your commute take you through these two corners? http://goo.gl/maps/67Ot1 And do you have a blue bike, racks back and front? Wearing a Rapha winter hat this morning? If this is you, I think you're hot.

Then at the Summerhill crossroads, I passed a guy with a kid in a trailer (a child, not a goat), which is relatively rare for me. Great to see.

Lastly, 100m from the office, waiting to turn right at a crossroads. Just missed the green, so am standing at the right-most point of the lane (because I love being right) at the head of the traffic. Lights go green for the cross traffic, of which there is not much. At this point the driver behind me, in a taxi (quelle surprise!), decides the red light doesn't really apply to him, and drives through the red, turns left, and drives off. wtf?

Get a thread you two!

Yikes! I had a near-miss that wasn't really near at all, but still... rolling down Portland Row, not going at a tremendous speed due to the fact that I'm coming up the inside of a lot of car traffic, and you can never tell if someone will suddenly get bored and cut across you. But I have just come down a hill, so probably 20-22kmph.

Anyway, about two cars in front, a kid - maybe six years old? - comes running out from between the cars, obviously having just sprinted across the road. He's barely above the height of the bonnet, has a hood up, and doesn't stop 'til he reaches the pavement. If I'd been five seconds earlier, there is no way I could've done anything but hit him, or be hit by him.

Anyway, I blame the parents, it's a bleedin' disgrace Joe, they should all be shot, etc., etc.

Out to the Orwell fun day today, hell of a headwind on the way out. Won nothing except a raffle prize, but was good craic, my trackstanding skills were put to good use at last.

Tailwind along the N7 on the way home, motoring along at 50kmph+ for long stretches of it. Beautiful. Taxi driver pulls out from a garage in front of me in Inchicore, have to haul on the brakes and end up undertaking him. Shoot him my best filthy.

Swing through town to say hello to a friend (clad in lycra, so I didn't hang around). Heading home along Dorset Street, pedalling along behind two buses, bit of braking room in front. Car moves from behind me into the outside lane... no, wait, he's overtaking? But there's not really any room to- oh ****, here he comes. Third time in 16 years of cycling I've felt the need to slap a car.

He pulled off a little bit then, which gave me time to ease on the brakes, so I was behind him, and then he went through the just-gone-red light, so I didn't get a chance to have words. Gardaí are on the case.

Oddly though, last week when reporting a RLJ, TrafficWatch criticised me for not ringing straight away (I called about an hour after the event), and said they could've sent a squad car after the guy. This time I rang straight away, and there was no such offer. Red lights more important than cyclists?

Then when I got home I discovered my Garmin hadn't recorded my magnificent N7 performance. Oh injustice of injustices! Insult to injury, yada yada yada.

Happy Christmas everyone! o/