My Sweetie at the rail station

This was taken in Sherringham:

very 1920s methinks.

And these are muscules in the wild:

Please obey the rules!

Why the hell can't people obey the rules?

I am referring to the most annoying of practices whereby people think it is acceptable to cycle on a footpath. This is not acceptable. In fact it is against the law (from the highway code):

You MUST NOT cycle on a pavement. Do not leave your cycle where it would endanger or obstruct road users or pedestrians, for example, lying on the pavement. Use cycle parking facilities where provided. Laws HA 1835 sect 72 & R(S)A sect 129
and also regarding traffic lights: Quote:50: You MUST obey all traffic signs and traffic light signals. Laws RTA 1988 sect 36, TSRGD reg 10(1)

More:

64: Do not ride across a pelican, puffin or zebra crossing. Dismount and wheel your cycle across.

and:
55: You MUST NOT cross the stop line when the traffic lights are red. Some junctions have an advanced stop line to enable you to position yourself ahead of other traffic (see Rule 154). Laws RTA 1988 sect 36, TSRGD reg 10, reg 36(1)

Why then do so many people think that they can get away with it? Surely these laws should be enforced? Especially when our already overcrowded roads have been further reduced with the introduction of cycle lanes for the benefit of cyclists! And this was in addition to cyclists being permitted to use bus lanes.

What also REALLY irks me is the look you get from a cyclist when you do not get out of their way. Who do they think they are? You get out of my way! NOW!

And what do you think you are cycling on? In the states they call it a sidewalk, here we call it a pavement or a footpath. Now forgive me for being pedantic but: sidewalk and: FOOTpath. AHEM! I think the clue is in the word. There are cycle paths and cycle lanes but on my way to work I walk not on a foot/cycle path but a bleedin FOOTPATH!

Don't get me wrong, I am not against cyclists, far from it, I am myself a cyclist, but when using my bike I try to obey the rules. I do not use the footpath, I wait patiently for the lights to change in the area at the front of the queue that the council has kindly provided for me at great expense.

Rant over

(You guessed it, I was nearly run over by a cyclist on a PEDESTRIAN crossing this morning and got shouted at for not moving out of the way, I should have had a stick handy so I could have rammed it in her spokes, that would have been a laugh)

Well, it snowed, and for reasons that are beyond me the council decided NOT to start gritting the roads untila AFTER the snow had settled. As you can imagine, chaos ensued. Also, B was not able to catch his flight today due to runway closures at Cardiff as well as other airports.



This morning at 3:30, it was just starting to snow but not settling. By 4:30, it was sticking and then at 7:30 this morning this was the scene on my street:

You have to be wary when walking to work as drivers do not care about sending waves of slush in your direction, and some of the worst culprits are the bus drivers.

Phew, windy day

A very windy day today. Have a look at what I spotted on the way to work:

As you can see, it is windy here today!

And as you can guess the bins are filled with the skeletal remains of brolleys. Did people not read my earlier post regarding the fact that no matter how hard you try, the brolly always loses the battle in windy weather.

Flying Rats

I hate pigeons and have done for a number of years now. I often refer to them as flying rats. That is no longer the case because today I realised that they perform a valuable role in our modern environment. The role they play is garbage collectors. They browse the streets eating all the crap and puke that litters the wonderful city streets of Cardiff that the COUNCIL ARE TOO BLOODY LAZY TO CLEAN UP!!!!!!!!!!!! Grrrrrr!

Also, umbrellas. Why do people insist on using them? Fine they keep your head dry in the rain but due to the wonderful climate that we live in, at this time of year when it is raining it is almost invariably windy. As a result I have nearly lost an eye four times in the last week while passing people in the street wrestling with a brolly in high winds. I used to play golf on a regular basis in all sorts of weathers. I was not a 'fair-weather' golfer and I was always prepared for the weather. My motto was this 'There is no such thing as bad weather, just THE WRONG F***ING CLOTHES!'. Also, there is an umbrella graveyard round the corner from work where people have abandoned the skeletal remains of what once protected their dainty heads. Somebody should inform the council that pigeons do not eat umbrellas and somebody should sort the mess out.

Where is the meat

A suprise today!

After eating a packet of Real Crisps, which happen to be my current favourite, I was suprised to see the reverse of the packet.

The flavour in question was Roast Ox, (why they don't just call it Roast Beef is beyond me). As the crisps are 'hand made' and really do taste nice, I would not have been suprised to see some sort of meat extract as part of the recipe. But no, to my amazement (well you kind of expect it really don't you), this product was suitable for vegetarians!

Cards

Christmas cards and birthday cards. Nice though they are I can't help feel that they have become and excuse and an easy way of sending a greeting. Not only that, the only people who benefit are the people who produce these cards.

These days it seems the better you know a person or the more you want to make sure the greeting is meant and felt, the more you have to spend. This seems to fit in with the modern culture of capitalism because the more a person means to you, the more you spend on them. Yes, they get the greeting card but the card makers are laughing all the way to the bank. I think that some of your time invested in conveying the greeting is much more appropriate. For example: spending time with the person and telling them face to face, investing your time in making a phone call, writing a text message even or if you want to be really old fashioned, write them a letter. This would convey to the recipient that you really did care enough to do something and invested the time to do it. And remember, an hour of your time (depending on your job) could be worth five pounds or a hundred pounds but is still an hour none the less. It is the same portion of the working week for everybody.

I am not angry with card manufactures, I just feel let down by humanity by the way these greeting cards have become an easy way out. A person does not always have the time yet still wants to convey a message so a greeting card is a convenient way of doing this. It just disappoints me that this has become the norm and to not send a card gives the impression that you have forgotten. My personal opinion is that I prefer to convey my messages of greeting either in person or using the phone. It further annoys me when people say 'Where's my card?' What bloody card? The card is an alternative way of saying happy birthday you moron, I am saying it to you in person! If you want something to remember the fact that I wished you happy birthday, leave your brain in gear and use your memory!

Rant rant rant. I have been collecting soap boxes for quite some time now and I think it is about time that I got up on a few of them so that I can get down again and recycle them.Talking of recycling - why is it getting harder and harder to get your recycling done? In an age of identity theft, shredding documentation with your name and address on them is a must, yet I was horrified to learn that you can no longer recyle shredded paper - 'it clogs up the machines', I have been told (boo hiss).

We are receiving more and more documentation addressed to ourselves with our names and addresses on them due to financial companies deluding themselves into thinking that we are interested how low their interest rates are. If we are interested in finding the best deal, we can look online! Stop sending this drivel through to us, not only is it becoming a pain to have to shred, but we cannot be responsible people and recycle the shredding anymore.

There was a campaign not so long ago that encouraged people to return mail sent to us from these mail shot companies in the freepost envelope provided. Do not sned them anything with any of your details on it, justsend back the envelope with something int it, maybe something from another rival company. Somebody is being paid to open this return post and sort it. So this would cost the company sending you the junk mail not only the postage but the money to employ someone to open the stuff.