Seemingly trivial things that annoy you

pinno

It begs a number of questions.
Do you slap some SPF on your danglies just in case you over do it?
Shall I go for a bonze tanning lotion?
Do I need to put sun block on the bits I don't want to tan?
What poses have I to adopt in order to get an even, all over tan?

Pross

People cutting corners at junctions. When I'm waiting to turn right at the junction near my house I position myself at the centreline as you should but I've had numerous near misses with cars turning right into the side road (both in my car and on my bike). Invariably the other driver glares at me as though I'm doing something wrong.

veronese68

Completely agree with Pross there. One particular junction near us has traffic islands in the middle of the side road and a remarkable number of people turn into the road on the wrong side of the isl rather than go round it. I bet they'd be the first to complain if their laziness caused an accident.

TheBigBean

Pross said:

People cutting corners at junctions. When I'm waiting to turn right at the junction near my house I position myself at the centreline as you should but I've had numerous near misses with cars turning right into the side road (both in my car and on my bike). Invariably the other driver glares at me as though I'm doing something wrong.

Don't they choose to give way so that they have the space? I've had quite a few drivers do that which I find useful.

Pross

TheBigBean said:

Pross said:

People cutting corners at junctions. When I'm waiting to turn right at the junction near my house I position myself at the centreline as you should but I've had numerous near misses with cars turning right into the side road (both in my car and on my bike). Invariably the other driver glares at me as though I'm doing something wrong.

Don't they choose to give way so that they have the space? I've had quite a few drivers do that which I find useful.

Nope, sometimes people going straight ahead will give way. Most of those who are turning right in want to take a racing line, it's a fairly tight turn that you have to slow down properly for but most people are only bothered about their own convenience.

TheBigBean

People clearing out their drafts.

rick_chasey

People reading geopolitics into Eurovision, not least with the new scoring system.

focuszing723

TheBigBean said:

People clearing out their drafts.

Sorry. Everybody is welcomed to flag them.

focuszing723

Clearing the daft draft.

That's it, you're welcomed to flag any of these posts.

Pross

TheBigBean said:

People clearing out their drafts.

Shouldn't it be the stupid draft issue that is the subject of your ire? That said, it's quite funny seeing bits of someone's draft in a different message and trying to work out what it originally related to.

pinno

Pross said:

Invariably the other driver glares at me as though I'm doing something wrong.

This ^ is common place and I do not understand it.
I anticipated this car turning right whilst I was at a T junction only last Friday and I was at least 8 feet from the double broken line. There was something about the attitude, speed and position of the car that made me stop short of the junction and that gut feeling was correct. She still only just got past me and gave me one helluva screwy look as she went by.
She looked like she was struggling to rotate the steering wheel - both arms failing to rotate more then 100 degrees

Just lazy people with this enormous sense of entitlement.
Perhaps they are so determined and hell bent on whatever white knuckle mission they are on - be it shopping, picking the kids up, getting to work, ordering the next take away, pre-occupied by whatever acquisition in the myriad of material temptation in their purchased, insured, taxed, fuelled and serviced vehicle where any obstacle or minor delay is an irksome inconvenience.
I hope they don't suddenly realise whilst gasping their last breath that they spent their lives existing rather than living.

I should be the one giving them the screwy look.

mully79

The corner cutting drivers are the same ones who take the racing line through a double or even triple lane roundabout.

pangolin

I do give them a screwy look, particularly if I'm cycling. There is a turn at the end of our road that seems to really attract it.

Being even remotely rebuked by a cyclist seems to absolutely enrage some of them.

TheBigBean

These comments are making London drivers look very well mannered. (Or me deluded).

TheBigBean

Pross said:

TheBigBean said:

People clearing out their drafts.

Shouldn't it be the stupid draft issue that is the subject of your ire? That said, it's quite funny seeing bits of someone's draft in a different message and trying to work out what it originally related to.

That's annoying too.

Two annoyances don't make it right, they just create double the annoyance.

focuszing723

TheBigBean said:

People clearing out their drafts.

Hey Shortfall, start posting some stuff again. There is no point just reading other peoples twaddle.

Help the balance of opinion.

pinno

pangolin said:

I do give them a screwy look, particularly if I'm cycling. There is a turn at the end of our road that seems to really attract it.

Being even remotely rebuked by a cyclist seems to absolutely enrage some of them.

Years ago I picked fights with drivers when on two wheels, i'm now more careful that I don't induce road rage whilst cycling.
I could go out here in the sticks and some enraged tw@t could run me down and I may not be found for hours nor there be any witnesses.
Every other c*nt wants to race me in my Porker and they tailgate or follow when I overtake just to show me how they can keep up. Tw@ts the lot of them.

I had one guy in his Pug and I hit a set of swooping S's, floored it around the S's, left him for dead and then he caught up with me on a straight where I elected to behave myself and drive on the speed limit. He was so close, I couldn't see his headlights so I slowed down and down until I was doing about 30 mph where he then passed me gesticulating something about masturbation and then drove off into the distance.
What made me smile is that at each gear change there was an enormous cloud of blue and black smoke coming from the exhaust
This, I posted some time ago:

pinno said:

Pulled up at local beach to go to said dunes with the toots.
Parked next to a scruffy black Cayman with what I think was an aftermarket bolt on rear spoiler.
I though I might get some chat out of the owner if I could see him.
There was a 'Press' card in the front window.
He was lying on the grass between a wind breaker and his car.

Me: "Hello! I see you have bolted a spoiler on, I have a built in one"
Him: "I'm trying to relax, get out of my face"
Me: 'It's a nice day and I was just saying hello"
Him: "It would have been a nice day if I hadn't met you".
He proceeded to eff and blind at me and I walked away.

This was all in front of my 7 year old. She was astonished and kept asking me why he was swearing and being so unfriendly.
Later, I decided to reverse on my way out in a fashion that put my exhaust in his face - literally and then popped it in Neutral and revved the engine.
He sat up red as a beetroot, sporting one helluva facial expression. I saw this in my rear view mirror as I drove away.
Shorty was howling with laughter.

...and then later:

pinno said:

Well, well, well, well, well.

Karma?

You couldn't write the script.
Took the toots and the OH 30 miles up the road to the park, beach, had an ice cream.
On the way back twit face ^ was ahead of me. I passed him but didn't get far as there were road works.
Sat behind a Honda and a Volvo after that. they weren't hanging around so I elected to stay behind them - not much in the way of overtaking opportunities anyway (especially with family in the car, if you know what I mean).

I followed for the next 10 miles and overtook the Honda on a straight. A car passed me on the right and then twit face decided to overtake the car I had just overtaken 'ooh look, he [meaning the above] is really travelling', I said to Mrs P. I don't know what it was, perhaps a swipe, perhaps a bit of Willy waving but I was doing 80 clicks and he looked like he was way over the ton mark.
Just as soon as he almost goes into my back bumper before moving to the right hand side of the road and boom - huge plume of grey smoke out of the back of his car. Now he's a distant dot in the rear view mirror but limping along. Bad place to stop I guess. I pulled in to the link road that links the A75 with the A77 so as to get behind him. I followed him (4 cars back) doing 25mph all the way into town and all the way, blue smoke pouring out of the exhaust until eventually, he pulled over.

Went out with Shorty after dinner on a recce to all the local garages to try and find the thing but no avail. I'll get the gen off the recovery lads tomorrow.

Pross

Council's trying to claim that cutting back on mowing highway verges and public open space grassland is some big ecological project rather than a cost cutting measure that has some environmental benefits. Sure, do it to save money but don't stick signs up to justify it.

pinno

Pross said:

Council's trying to claim that cutting back on mowing highway verges and public open space grassland is some big ecological project rather than a cost cutting measure that has some environmental benefits. Sure, do it to save money but don't stick signs up to justify it.

I noticed that all over Northumberland.

rjsterry

Pross said:

Council's trying to claim that cutting back on mowing highway verges and public open space grassland is some big ecological project rather than a cost cutting measure that has some environmental benefits. Sure, do it to save money but don't stick signs up to justify it.

They had obviously done the hedges and verges in Worcestershire the other week. When I say done, I mean shredded and dumped in the road.

masjer

Pross said:

Council's trying to claim that cutting back on mowing highway verges and public open space grassland is some big ecological project rather than a cost cutting measure that has some environmental benefits. Sure, do it to save money but don't stick signs up to justify it.

Maybe sticking up signs is OTT, but it is a good idea not to flail banks, hedgerows and verges multiple times a year. It gives a chance for plants to flower and leaves berries on trees for birds.
Like rjsterry said, the farmers around here smash the banks and trees with flails, shattering branches and leaving the whole mess in the road. Great cycling with hawthorn cuttings across the roads.

mully79

Bin men taking the piss again.
Didn’t take green waste that was 99% grass cuttings (probably because there was a stick in it bigger than 5cm.) I wish I knew.
Anyhow took stick out and they didn’t take it again, probably because it’s too heavy as it’s piss wet through because they didn’t take it last time. No idea what they expect me to do with it now.

briantrumpet

masjer said:

Pross said:

Council's trying to claim that cutting back on mowing highway verges and public open space grassland is some big ecological project rather than a cost cutting measure that has some environmental benefits. Sure, do it to save money but don't stick signs up to justify it.

Maybe sticking up signs is OTT, but it is a good idea not to flail banks, hedgerows and verges multiple times a year. It gives a chance for plants to flower and leaves berries on trees for birds.
Like rjsterry said, the farmers around here smash the banks and trees with flails, shattering branches and leaving the whole mess in the road. Great cycling with hawthorn cuttings across the roads.

A challenge is that councils enforce hedge cutting - they are quite quick to send out "Thou shalt" notices, with the threat that if the farmer doesn't do road hedges, for public safety, the council will cut the hedge themselves, and charge full (inflated) rates. Certainly in Devon untrimmed hedges on rural lanes can halve the width of the road.

masjer

They are supposed to rotate cutting by only doing the roadside, field side or top per year on hedges. They do them about 3 times a year on all sides and out of season.

Pross

masjer said:

Pross said:

Council's trying to claim that cutting back on mowing highway verges and public open space grassland is some big ecological project rather than a cost cutting measure that has some environmental benefits. Sure, do it to save money but don't stick signs up to justify it.

Maybe sticking up signs is OTT, but it is a good idea not to flail banks, hedgerows and verges multiple times a year. It gives a chance for plants to flower and leaves berries on trees for birds.
Like rjsterry said, the farmers around here smash the banks and trees with flails, shattering branches and leaving the whole mess in the road. Great cycling with hawthorn cuttings across the roads.

I'm not opposed to leaving it grow, more the way they try to pass off a cost saving measure as some altruistic act to help the environment.

There's an annoying irony that in my line of work we may get forced to rip out a few hundred metres of ancient hedgerow to provide visibility splays and ensure safe and suitable access for a planning application whilst down the road the same Council isn't cutting the verges in the visibility splay of an existing junction "for the benefit of nature".

Pross

mully79 said:

Bin men taking the piss again.
Didn’t take green waste that was 99% grass cuttings (probably because there was a stick in it bigger than 5cm.) I wish I knew.
Anyhow took stick out and they didn’t take it again, probably because it’s too heavy as it’s piss wet through because they didn’t take it last time. No idea what they expect me to do with it now.

Had similar with my cardboard recycling last year. Not sure why they didn't take it the first week, possibly decided there was too much of it even though the more they take the more it helps their recycling percentages. I broke it all down for the next week and they didn't take it again, probably as it had rained and got soggy. In the end I dumped it in the non-recyclable bin and it got taken away, not sure how that helps anyone.

I did email after the first week with a photo but didn't even get an acknowledgement let alone an answer of why it hadn't been emptied.

masjer

60% decline in insect numbers since 2004. A worrying figure.

briantrumpet

masjer said:

They are supposed to rotate cutting by only doing the roadside, field side or top per year on hedges. They do them about 3 times a year on all sides and out of season.

Mostly once a year in Devon, not least as Devon has 8000 miles of road, much of it hedged, so it's a major and costly operation just to do it once.

masjer

Ideally, once every three years, as here.
https://devonhedges.org/management-advice/trimming-cutting/

pinno

Up here the farmers cut hedges in season - any month with an R in it (and they are pretty good at keeping to the rules).
I guess for those in agriculture, that's easy to understand.
Neat, well cut hedges are much better habitat for birdlife than long and spindly.

When I took over this property, the hedges were over grown.
I cut them by hand (loppers) as the petrol hedge strimmer struggled to cut 1" plus growth. Only took 3 weeks!
It's a hedge that surrounds 1/3rd of an acre and I counted only 7 nests.
I think they are innumerable now that I am on top of it.