Tag: stupid

#365daysofbiking I’ll have a P please Bob

November 5th – OK, which of you insanitary people have been having a P in the canal, then?

That’s a filthy habit right there.

Or a b, q or d.

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October 18th – A week or so, I posted a video ‘Welcome to the suck’ pointing out the dark winter commutes were upon us, and every year I note that when the dark nights come, the traffic behaves oddly until around Christmas, when drivers finally get used to the dark.

Tonight was a grim commute. All the way in not quite rain, a penetrating mist-drizzle soaked me; it was cold, and the traffic was awful. But seeing this was astounding. Sorry it’s so blurry with rain on the camera lens but I’ll explain.

I’m stopped at the cross roads of the Pleck Road (Ring Road) with Bridgman Street in Walsall, near the Manor Hospital. I’m at the front of my queue heading northbound straight on. The lights are red. 

Heading south in the opposite direction, pushing through the traffic which is moving aside are two fire appliances on blues and twos. I can smell smoke. Their shout is local.

The engines get to the the lights opposite me, attempting to turn down Bridgman Street to my right, their left – but are blocked by two cars, just resolutely unmoving. Eventually a small movement is made, one appliance takes the outside line, the other the inside line.

It’s not rocket science, and it’s in the Highway Code. Get out of the way of emergency vehicles when safe to do so. After all it might be your family, house or business these people are rushing to the aid of.

There’s a word for these obstructive people: arseholes. But totally symptomatic of the madness of the first dark evenings of winter.

(Source: https://player.vimeo.com/)

January 23rd – Heading into Birmingham on a dull, misty and early morning, I hit a queue of traffic along Blake Street which was unusual, Rounding the bend, I saw an articulated lorry with the top of it’s trailer crudely torn off – the effect of driving it under the low bridge now behind it.

The vehicle but have been going at a fair speed as the entire of the trailer’s roof was destroyed, and the HGV near clear of the railway over bridge.

There really is no excuse for this, and it’s fortunate nobody was injured. Any driver has to know the height of their rig and where the acceptable routes are. Trying to think of anything to mitigate this guy’s position I came up blank.

Perhaps the bridge should have been wearing more hi-vis…

This king of the road’s idiocy mate for a touch and go, very uncomfortable commute for me and anyone else who was on the Cross City Line. What’s so maddening is this is a fairly regular occurrence here.

How hard is it to read a warning sign?

December 5th – I had to go to Telford, and on the way I bought a ticket from the Arriva Trains Wales conductor, as I usually do.

It appears the staff have been issued new ticket machines. Instead of printing a return on two standard, credit-card sized stuff card tickets, I was awarded this scroll: a twenty inch by three inch piece of thermal paper bog roll. This is the new standard for tickets issued on trains.

So, just as Network Rail adopt automatic barriers at stations, train operators start issuing huge, impractical tickets that won’t operate them.

Well done to everyone concerned. I’m really impressed.

Not.

May 29th – The south end of Green Lane in Shelfield has been resurfaced by contractors working for Walsall Council. The technique – known as ‘Micro Asphalt’ invokes spreading a layer of aggregate and polymer over the pre-existing road surface after slurry sealing. Generally an adequate solution, it’s better than a tar and chip. One of the disadvantages of the process is that it results in the necessity to rework the interfaces with ironworks – manholes, drains and so forth. Sadly, here in Shelfield, they’re halfway through this process. Some genius has excavated a bunch of ironworks to a depth of 25-40mm, and just left them for days on end. No warning signs, no temporary fill, just a man-made trap ready to take the wheels from under a cyclist or motorcyclist.

I don’t know which intellectual giant is responsible for this, but it’s bloody atrocious. We’ve gone from rectifying potholes to creating them. Idiots. 

November 1st – This was annoying. Spinning down the Arrow Valley cycleway in Redditch, some travelling showman had left his artic completely blocking the track at a crossing point, leaving about 20 inches between the wagon and the hedge to squeeze through. There’s no excuse for this, it’s just bloody inconsiderate. No idea what the muppet was doing here, anyway. Perhaps the funfair is coming to the arrow valley park?