Mundane Moments

Not really, when as I keep telling you I'm trying to have a discussion of Jim being the equivalent of one of those Brits who retires to Spain and then complains about people speaking Spanish and the lack of PG Tips. I agree with him and you about the principle of changing city development policies but that's not the point here, and your determination to once more ride the same hobby horse about how Taiwo's groin injury is in fact the latest move in a Machiavellian plot to keep us all downtrodden and you're the only one smart enough to see it isn't going to derail me from mocking Jim.

FFS, the swing dancing fop has moved to Yorkshire and immediately sought out another Londoner to whom he can cycle in order to purchase artisan sourdough bread and oat milk, because he doesn't understand what people are saying in Cooplands. If you think that this is somehow less important than the capitalist destruction of society then you're a lost cause.

I'm not angry either - taking the p1ss. (although the Peak District pedallers three abreast on a summer weekend afternoon do fcukin wind me up)
For me, the biggest barrier to more cyclists in Sheffield (after the hills) is the fact bikes aren't allowed on the trams and something I have campaigned about.
For example, I live eight miles out, 15 minutes walk from a tram stop, If i could have ridden (uphill) to the tramstop, tram it into town and then ride the remaining 10 to the office, I would have done. But Stagecoach won't allow bikes on trams because they might be dirty...
I'm hoping when the trams come under public ownership next year, this might be something they look at.

This is a pretty easy problem to fix, and one which Ottawa - one of the most car-centric cities I know - fixed a long time ago.

They run over cyclists and collect their bikes as trophies?

Ottawa gone all Mad Max. I approve .

The whole e-bikes and e-scooters being banned on trams/trains/office car parks/block of flats car parks etc thing is pretty irritating. The rationale being that 1-2 have caught fire. Well, shit happens. TVs catch fire very occasionally too. Laptop batteries explode. Pumping easily ignited gas into properties is totally accepted etc.

I think over time the rules will eventually relax. The best thing the Gov could do is regulate the industry better and actually put out some guidelines, particularly about e-scooters. They announced a 'trial' for them in 2020. In the King's Speech this year they extended the trial for another 3 years as they reckon they're too busy to actually do anything useful about it. Small boats and benefit scroungers need stopping. Or something. If they actually licensed them, I think their use would increase dramatically. I'd probably buy one. But as it is, personal scooters are illegal to ride on the public highway - only ones that you hire can be used (nope, me neither). Despite this 1000s are used in London every day. The police just seem to look the other way. I use one every time I go to a Forest game - come out the station and jump on an e-scooter to Trent Bridge.

E-scooters are shit on the road and shit on the pavement, but would be ok in a bike lane.

One thing about the piss-taking is that the arguments chosen are the same as the ones from Irate of Thorndon. You can say it's sarcasm but I've heard it straight. Many of the opponents aren't thinking critically and just hate cyclists.

They let bikes on trains around here, but not trams. I don’t know if there are peak time restrictions to them being on trains.. I know that they would be exceedingly unwelcome (by me) on trams at pretty much any hour of the useful day.. they’d be a huge inconvenience to everyone else trying to get on and off.. it’s bad enough navigating people and their bags.

Bikes on public transport is a great thing right up until the point where it causes problems for the people travelling without bikes.. which, of course, is the vast majority.

Public transport with capacity for bikes would be nice but, down here, at least, prohibitively expensive. I expect even the most rabid latte-sniffing swinger in lycra would prefer to see investment in the infrastructure cyclists need when they’re travelling under their own power… particularly in inner-metropolitan areas where capacities are constrained.

I have been working insane hours and since it was Thanksgiving here in the U.S. I figured that I could take a few days off as i am pretty sure I can pay my Business Credit Card by the December 3rd deadline. I have been grilling (correction Wifey is grilling as she bought a charcoal grill) and I have been raking. I raked for five hours over two days (We have a big garden) and also live on a corner and are responsible for the front and side grass areas. I found it rather relaxing listening to a cornucopia of different tunes in my headphones whilst staring down people who thought about letting their dogs poo on my garden. (They didn't).

So satisfied with having the sexiest garden/house area, (everyone else uses latino landscapers), I retired inside to watch the football. All of a sudden a giant cavalcade of SUV's block up the whole corner and one way street as a wake suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Okay fine, block the roads but don't run over my pile of leaves curated from the grass and garden. (yes you can deposit all the leaves, (we have three trees around our abode) onto the road and recycling trucks/lorries come and suck them up if neatly piled. These mourning fuckers just park on the piles and then run as fast as they can when they leave through them sending them cascading into the air. I am calm. I am Calm. I am not the white angry honky in the neighbourhood to make a fuss. (Black funeral) I Probably would have been in a slightly better mood if Forest hadn't cocked up but people.... Anyway, more fresh air tomorrow for another work out. I am an advanced human being. I will not let people annoy me...

Chicago: Calmness personified.

I would love to know what goes into Facebook's algorithms to come up with the bright idea that it should suggest this to me.

Probably something to do with the ‘how can I turn this guy into a dribbling nazi-sympathiser within three links’ feature. Bikers vs Hippies feels like a solid first step.

If you zoom in enough, can you see Dubya getting noshed off on the IoW ferry in the background?

Did Ingo get an happy ending in the crowd there at one point? Facebook obviously has a few decades worth of TB cookies across defunct sites at its disposal.

With no prob-leeems? Are you Kate Bush?

Just handed in my notice at work, start a new job in Jan.

I’ve been working here for 15 years, a 1/3rd of my life.