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

Here in the USA, MacDonald's hamburger franchises often have a children's play area, the food is very highly stadardized, reliable and economical.

Also, at least in California, there are frequently automotive rest areas along major freeways and highways, marked as such at the exits serving them, with a limited park, picnic area and dog walking area, toilet facilities and, usually, vending machines.

The Service stations I've been to tend to have a vast array of cafes and restaurants, stationers and supermarkets and of course petrol station but no child play areas – I don't know whether there's still a perception that stopping at service station is something only lorry drivers do?

Fast food restaurants in them don't have play areas, though – besides which we've never taken my kids to a fast food restaurant and wouldn't want to start now. Oh well...

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RE: Tired while driving...

Answer: Caffeine and radio/music. But, again, you really shouldn't do that at all.

Myself, if I find myself yawning or nodding off, I just pull off the road and take a nap.

Getting there alive is more important than getting there on time.

I should have said that I don't get sleepy tired, I get achy tired. After a grueling trip, I'm wide awake but need paracetamol.

I drove 9 hours yesterday. About 2 hours from home, somewhere in the Lake District, I pulled over and had a 10 minute nap which left me feeling right as rain. Works every time.

For achy tired I'd have thought the best idea would be to stop and get out for a while. Walk a bit, stretch, generally get moving. Have a drink, take your tablets if you need to, give yourself a break from being stuck in the same position.

I encountered a really petty petty hate earlier. It was so petty that I can't remember what it was now.

PP.

Which, in itself, is a Petty Hate.

I preferred the old truck stops we had before the motorways, they were more friendly, cheaper and made you feel welcome.

My favourite one, on the A1 had a coal fire, which was cosy, and you got your tea in big mugs, and the food was great!

A lot better then the so called services we have today, that's why I always try and miss them.

I preferred the old truck stops we had before the motorways, they were more friendly, cheaper and made you feel welcome.

My favourite one, on the A1 had a coal fire, which was cosy, and you got your tea in big mugs, and the food was great!

A lot better then the so called services we have today, that's why I always try and miss them.
Smudger.

Surely the most disgusting TV advert if all time is that one where a group of people around a table floss their teeth and believe it or not, their gums bleed a bit. This apparently is a sure sign of gum disease and that their teeth are going to fall out their heads any minute! You know I can't even remember what they're advertising, some toothpaste or other I think. At the risk of making people ill, I've been using dental floss for 30 years or more, only I've moved on to 'harps', cos they're a bit more convenient, and my gums have always bled a tiny bit every time. Just this scaremongering nonsense by companies to sell their quite unnecessary products makes me really angry, be it indigestion, anti-ageing, split nails, 'embarrassing itching', I love that one, whatever, they don't half annoy me. I'm so blooming angry I'm off to take a couple of Kalms tablets, I find they help me de-stress.

There are still a few of those old-style service stations around. There's this one - http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/truckers-have-a-special-affection-for-stracathro-services-perhaps-it-should-become-a-world-heritage-site-1-2320134

A word of warning - the service is indifferent and the food is universally awful. The seats are the tiny knee-knocker flip-up types fixed too close to the table to discourage people from lingering too long. I suspect it's because the sight of diners throwing up 6 minutes after eating may put others off (then again, seeing as how most of the truckers come in surrounded by a haze of tobacco reek and flies, they might not notice).

The black pudding rolls are passable.

"I should have said that I don't get sleepy tired, I get achy tired. After a grueling trip, I'm wide awake but need paracetamol."


Oh. Yeah, what Cheerful Dragon said.

Hey quotes. It may have been me who started the tiredness thread a year or so back. To very briefly recap, ignoring the 'don't do it' advice, (because i work nightshift 35 miles from home, I have to), I find that the usual suspects of coffee (just makes me need to pee when stuck in traffic), loud music (makes me even more sleepy!) and getting out for a walk (works for a few minutes but impractical to stop as often as would be required), just don't work.

What I have found works, is, of all things, chewing gum. I read an article in new scientist about research into this very subject, and those who chewed on something remained the most alert. I now keep a tub of chewing gum sweets in the car (sugar free) and start chewing whenever I feel sleepy. Instantly banishes the sleepiness most of the time!

Not sure I understand the mechanism, but something to do with mastication (stop sniggering at the back) seems to release wakeful hormones.

Chewing gum is an interesting idea, since I usually find I have an urge to chew after the journeys, as if that will relieve the tension. Thanks.

Hubby found chewing gum helped keep him awake when he was working nights. You have to be careful which gum you use, though. Gum like Orbit doesn't keep well in a hot car. Coated gum like Extra is better. I'm speaking from experience on this one.

Magazines that have 'special edition 12 different covers to collect' Why? Does anyone ever collect 12 copies of the same magazine to collect all the covers? Surely all that results is that it forces people to think 'Have I read this magazine?', open it and read a page or two inside to find out (and people reading magazines in newsagents was someone else's Petty Hate a little while ago) because it is impossible to tell by the good old way of looking at the cover.

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Talking of magazines, my petty hate for today is the BBC magazine story about working for McDonalds. It is presently featured on the BBC's front page, and amounts pretty much to free advertising.

The article is entitled 'Whats It Really Like To Work At McDonalds?', and in typical BBC fashion the obvious answer to the question is not what you might expect.

As if to reinforce the positive message about McDonalds there is a link at the end of the article to an old BBC page entitled 'Everything I needed to know I learned in McDonalds'

I would think most other media organisations would have recieved huge sums from McDonalds for this kind of coverage. The BBC has not only provided it for free, but has also 'endorsed' it with its own prestigious reputation.

One of my few regrets in life is having once worked in a Fast Food Restaurant part time to try and earn some money when at Uni. Consequently I now avoid them like the plague (hence my slightly vehement post above).

I did write:
A593705 Having a Part-time Job in a Fast Food Restaurant

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