h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I think that all vehicles are supposed to indicate when they pull away, and only buses actually do

It is helpful when you're cycling though, to know they're about to not see you and start pulling away, leaving you stuck out in the middle lane.

buses indicate right (left here in Germany) to indicate to drivers behind that they are moving from the bus stop back into the flow of traffic.

Here it is not allowed to overtake a bus that is indicating thusly - and in general people don't. Buses have to keep to a timetable. It takes fractions of seconds to let one out and doesn't hurt anyone - but if every car driver keeps them blocked in the stop because those seconds are so important to them and they are more important than a bus full of people then eventually all traffic will grind to a halt.

PH of the day for me is car drivers who only think about themselves.

and now I've remembered the PH i actually wanted to write about:

finished my Star Trek book yesterday (about the TV series & films) and started a new one on my kindle. A sword&sourcery type thing. So because it's all "middle ages" the writer finds it necessary to keep writing Inna Middle Age Stylee (TM) such as

'twas



so I have no idea if the story isn't any good because I'm not going to read it.

I have to admit, I generally hate it when writers tend to do that too.

They may be writing about a certain time period, or a certain style, but I don't live in it, and I don't read in it.

In fact, I've only ever seen it done well once. Stephen King's Dolores Claiborne.

The point I was making Sho was that it is not possible to tell whether or not the bus intends to pull out into a different lane or just to start moving again in the same one. The flashing indicator does not differentiate.
In the UK not all busstops are recessed away from the street; many roads incorporate the bus stop into the same left lane everyone uses, so traffic behind has to stop or suddenly pull out into the right lane when a bus stops. I do not recall anywhere implying that it is a good idea to stubbornly refuse to let a bus out

"Buses have to keep to a timetable." Lucky Germany; bus timetables in the UK are more of an impossible aspiration which only really serve the purpose of indicating a general intended frequency of service. Even the first bus of the day does not necessarily leave on time putting pay to the 'traffic' excuse the operators usually give.

In Germany, they stop at all the bus stops even if there's nobody waiting at them. Here, you have to hail them down - usually by walking out in front of them until they stop.

Except in Edinburgh where buses also tend to stop at every stop; only city in the UK i've noticed this annoyance. That said they wont tend to stop if there's nobody there, but as nobody in the city indicates to the driver whether they want to board that service or not- they just stand there like lemons- the driver does tend to have to be telepathic and stop anyway just in case someone wants on. In other cities the simple act of putting one's hand out works well. No hands, no stoppy!

Perhaps we need an entire petty-bus-hates thread

before I came to live in england from scotland I was used to buses stopping just because I was waiting at the stop, no flagging down needed...

But Anthea... most bus stops support several services. So why should all the passengers on every route be slowed down in the off-chance that the person at the stop wants the one they are on? It's far more efficient and logical to just flag down the bus you want. Fair enough if only one service stops at the stop; if you're standing there you obviously want that bus, but most city stops can serve anything up to 10 different routes.

you step towards the road if you want the bus,
you dont need to step towards the road and wave your arm... then run down the road because the driver wants to make up his lost time and cant be bothered stopping

Hmm, we'll have to disagree on this; from a driver's point of view that seems like a very ambiguous way to signal intention. How far do you walk forward? What if the driver isn't looking at the time you step forward? Do you hang off the edge of the pavement or is it OK to be back a bit? What about the other people in the queue; do they have to orchestrate some kind of sequence where some stand further forward than others depending on who wants the bus? What happens when there are a few buses in a row?

Back to telepathy being required from the driver.

Stick your paw out. It's unambiguous and a time honoured tradition that just works.

I'm glad I live in a city where buses only travel one route and stop at any stop where someone is standing.

PH (and this may veer somewhat into TMI territory, but so be it) for today:

While listening to a record after a hard day's work, and a favorite song comes on, you begin pogoing along, only to realize too late that you're not wearing a bra, your boobs aren't 21 anymore, either, and you may just have dislocated your lower jawbone.

At least not on the bus, I hope.

Not this time - I haven't removed my bra on the bus in years.

There is a youtube video somewhere of a woman dancing at a bus stop.

I am not sure whether her state of dressedness is revealed though.

PP.

Not a petty hate, as such, it's just something that happened today that completely scuppered any chance of getting work done on my assignment - getting a phone call with such bad news that it affected my ability to think straight. The news was that mum is seriously ill - her kidneys have packed up. The doctors are talking about dialysis, but mum's 85 years old and I don't know how well she'll cope. Nobody's mentioned a transplant and she told me she wouldn't want one if it was offered. When she phoned me this morning, mum told me not to cry but I've been crying off-and-on ever since I put the phone down. She hasn't said she's dying, but kidney failure at her age isn't good news by any stretch of the imagination. She told me that she's paid for her funeral, she wants to clear the house of surplus stuff and offered me some dragons that she'd bought herself. That's enough to tell me that she isn't reckoning her life expectancy in years.

Hubby and I are going on holiday in about a week. I was really looking forward to it (still am, in a way, and we are *not* cancelling) but I know I'll be thinking of mum a lot while we're away.

I've told my OU tutor that I'll be submitting my assignment on time, but warned her that the quality might not be very good. I'm off to cry some more.

That's certainly not a petty hate. My mum was diagnosed with breast cancer a couple of years ago and the bottom fell out of my world. Different situation, but I know the feeling of being confronted with your mother's mortality.

Deb

I lost my brother last month to cancer, and to be honest, even though we weren't exactly close I still well up when I think about him. Which I do more now than I did before he was diagnosed.

I really didn't think it would affect me much, but now I'm realising exactly how much he influenced my life in so many small ways. For example I've currently got Pink Floyd on my headphones, and I remember him introducing me to them.

It's the little things, not the big things. And they keep cropping up, and they keep knocking the world out from under your feet.

But, even as miserableas this sounds, knowing that I'm constantly reminded that he's gone, I'm also constantly reminded of how wonderful a person he was, and what a huge influence he had on me. Something I didn't realise before.

That's not a petty hate, mate, it's being a human being. It's a hard thing sometimes. And I know completely what you mean about little things tripping you up like that. It comes from nowhere sometimes, even years later. It's tough. But it does get easier to take.