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

That annoying moment in between sleeping and waking where you realize that the dream is total crap.

I usualy find myself thinking, "Whew. That's a relief. It was ony a dream."

I hate coming out of pleasant dream to face reality…

Today's PH is limescale & rusty draining rack.

PH The over-abundance of baseball caps for sale in Britain. Baseball isn't important to us, so why is it so hard to buy any other sort of cap? I don't want to dress anything like a baseball player, so sell me a different style please.

That style is very good for shading the eyes - but I agree, not much choice for the average person.

And another couple:
- people who don't park within the white lines.
- parking spaces that are too small to park in AND be able to get out of your car.

This one's really petty: I hate the way I can have a 35 minute, or a 2 hour 15 minute dishwasher cycle, but nothing inbetween. I could fiddle the settings on my last one, but not this one

Returning to the parking in beauty spots thing; I used to live in a fairly pretty village with a rather easy on the eye loch and surroundings with its obligatory car park. And yes, rows and rows of parked cars could often be seen, with folk sitting eating, dumbly staring out at the water. Now that we live in an era of huge flat panel and curved TV's, would it not just be easier for these folk to watch scenic clips at home on TV?

I struggle to see the point of driving somewhere nice, then just sitting there in the car, regardless of weather. It just does not compute. Cars are for transport. They are not the destination!

I sometimes drive to places, park up, eat my lunch (or possibly breakfast, or possibly just a snack) and have a drink - especially if there is a toilet in the car park so I can use that afterwards - then go on a hike. Saves schlepping food around in a backpack.

Related PH – motorway service stations. We often visit my wife's family who live in Yorkshire, which involves driving up the whole country, and we invariably stop at motorway service stations, which rarely seem to be designed for children. We generally stop at Churwell Valley as that has an outdoor play area as well as a quiet riverside walk.

Unfortunately I don't drive, but my wife does. I've tried persuading her that it would be much nicer for us to stop elsewhere, and not at the same service stations all the time. After all, there are plenty of nice places within 10 miles of the M1, so why not come off at a junction and visit somewhere we've never been to before and have lunch there, rather than the same bland service station? So at one point we did stop off at Twycross Zoo, Ashby-de-la-Zouch Castle and Kirby Muxloe Castle when travelling up the country. There we got to let the kids have a real run round and explore somewhere new, and we can look back and say 'Wasn't it fun the day we went to Twycross Zoo' rather than 'Wasn't it fun the day we stopped at Watford Gap?'. Yet alas she's now decided that driving is tiring enough as it is and she doesn't want to do any more short diversions, so it is back to sticking on the M1 and having lunch at service stations, not picnics in country parks or castles.

<BB<

PH - people who don't drive who get frustrated with the drivers' decisions.

Sorry, BB, but I think your PH is rather selfish and I am speaking as someone who doesn't drive and whose wife does. It's ALWAYS up to the driver how and when they stop and if they are already tired and just want a quick break they're not going to want the additional hassle of twiddly A and B roads or town centres or queuing to get in places and then having to have enforced FUN. It's a long journey as it is, there's no point in making it moreso, sometimes life actually IS about the destination.

<BB<
I agree with your wife.
I hate driving long distances and adding stops and diversions just prolongs the pain.

Stops are just P out, T In and back on the road.

[BB]

That's why it's in the Petty Hates thread

The Petty Hate is more aimed at the fact that service stations aren't very child friendly. Children generally do not want to be strapped inside a car for six hours and if they get a chance to get out, they want to run around and play, which is fair enough. Yet only one service station on the journey to the inlaws offers a safe environment for them to do so.

With the amount of money service stations must make, surely they can afford to fence an area off and fill it with slides, swings etc? If the kids enjoy the journey, we all enjoy the journey and they are in a much better mood when we arrive. If they're unhappy no-one is going to enjoy the journey. I don't think it is selfish to express a preference to stop somewhere where the children can run round and enjoy themselves. If service stations offered that, it would be a win/win. I think they should. Alas they don't, so personally I'd prefer to take my custom elsewhere.

But no, we've not had any arguments about it, I just think the whole point of the Mainland is that you have the freedom to go anywhere and see anything, so it seems very strange that people don't.

<BB<

most service stations we ever stopped at were excellent and had outdoor and indoor play areas - maybe that was just over here in Germany?

On really long trips we often stopped off at an IKEA if the weather wasn't good - because we could get cheap food and there was always somewhere for them to play (plus when they were really small the changing and baby food facilities were free)

Talking of tiredness and driving, I get tired when driving (didn't see that coming, did you?). Does anyone have tips on how to avoid it? I already try a whole host of things, including stretching at the wheel, deliberately trying to relax, staying hydrated, and taking breaks; anything else?

Generally most services we've stopped at have a coin-operated ride for toddlers, maybe a microwave and/or bottle warmer, and that's about it. We usually spend a long time walking backwards and forwards over the bridges that connect the northbound and southbound services, which they find quite exciting as they look at the traffic below.

The child-friendly facilities in Ikea's we've been to have been excellent, although the only ones on the route I know of are in Leeds (which is where we're going) and Southampton (which is pretty much where we're going from), so neither of which are particularly helpful.

<BB<

There's one around Birmingham (J9 of the M6) but that's probably a detour for you.

Deb

There was a thread a while back about tiredness while driving - or was it you that started it, quotes? Most people just said "don't", which, from an objective point of view, makes sense.

Perhaps Coelecanth can find it before I do....

>>- or was it you that started it, quotes?

More than likely, but while the subject was on the table I thought I'd ask (again).