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

Yeah, I'm with you on that one - a definite petty hate...

Even though I'm up north, the social event I was planning to attend this weekend was also cancelled, because the venue has been commandeered to live-stream the wedding on a big screen

My feeling on royal weddings are well known back to 1977
I would be causing trouble with my "Sod the Royal Wedding T Shirt" if I could still fit in it....

Bluebottle,

I don't have to be even slightly inconvenienced to share the same fed-upness over this latest bun fight.

I can't understand the continual interest in the Hewitt boy marrying an American actress. And as for people (not camping but) queuing up for days sitting in a camping chair? Get a life people!

PP.

Store locators that don't allow you to filter based on shop features. I don't care that my closest branch of M&S is 4 miles away - it's in a local BP garage. I want the closest branch that sells clothes, not food, but the store locator on the website doesn't have a filter facility.

The media shop that cannot fix my brand new PC but nevertheless sticks to the policy of at least 3 repair attemps (each taking up to 2,5 weeks) before even considering refund or replacement. In the meantime, my PC spec has sold out, so replacement seems out of the question.

Hmmm.... probably not petty hate but reaching major hate.

Also poor information on what they actually do in their attemps and insufficient testing of their "solutions"

I may have mentioned this one before, maybe not...


But on my drive to work this morning, before dawn, around 1 out of every 5 vehicles I saw heading in the opposite direction (and I assume in my direction as well) were running with their fog lights on. This is on busy, multi-lane roads WITH NO FOG!

Of course, several of them were aimed too high.


I was taught to only use fog lights when there is little or no oncoming traffic, for obvious reasons.



Maybe the rules have changed. I recently learned my state now allows people to cross lanes when making a turn. I was taught to stay in the nearest lane. I actually lost a point on my drivers test for making a wide turn, really cementing that lesson in my mind. I was so certain about this when arguing the point at the bar, that I looked it up online. I was shocked to learn of this change. Maybe they've also dropped the sensible rule for fog lights. Or maybe they're just not bothering to enforce it. Like the rules against overly dark window tint. That gets on my nerves because it makes it harder for me to see which eejits are driving while on their mobile devices. (I like to honk my horn when they pass in cross traffic to let whoever is on the other end of the line know they're talking to an irresponsible driver. )

In the UK we're only allowed to use fog lights (front or rear) when it's foggy (duh!) and visibility is less than 100m (328 feet). Using them just because it's dark or raining hard isn't allowed, so dazzling other drivers shouldn't be an issue. Having said that, badly adjusted headlights or over-bright driving lights are probably a problem everywhere. Wide turns across traffic are also not allowed over here.

Seriously, the driving rules and drivers education in the States is pitiful. I watched that reality show on BBCAmerica (back when they still showed British Telly) _Drivers School_ and that showed me what it could be like.

One major difference was that here, if you fail the drivers test you just come back on another day and try again. No requirement for further lessons, just keep trying until you DON'T hit the barrier while parallel parking.

You don't have to have further lessons after failing the practical driving test in the UK. It is recommended, though, and you might as well have a few more lessons because you have to wait a month before a retest.

Hmmm... I got the impression that you had to retake your drivers education classes if you failed the driving test. There was a little old lady featured on the show that had taken the class, failed the test, retaken the class and the test something like 40 times. That's why I thought it was required.

From Wikipedia:

>>>>>
Welsh cleaner Maureen Rees became a household name in Britain after spending hundreds of pounds on lessons and failing the practical test several times.[1] She failed to pass the test another two times during the series as well as the much easier written exam known in the UK as the theory test.[2]

Maureen's memorable moments include moving into the overtaking lane of a dual carriageway in the path of an overtaking car, and accidentally running over husband Dave's foot.

She eventually passed in the last episode in an automatic, though after the series finished she passed a manual test. Maureen became quite a celebrity and even released a single: her cover of Madness' "Driving in My Car" reached #50 in the UK Singles Chart,[3] and fronted a government awareness campaign to increase road awareness.
<<<<<

I assumed it was mandatory.

Haven't we all been content lately?
Today's PH - reflections from gadget screens. On the train today, I kept getting flashing of sunlight from someone across the aisle.

I've probably mentioned this one before.

Liquid crystal displays that turn black and unreadable when exposed to sunlight.

Seems to me if they're going to respond that way they ought at least take a charge from the sun.

This morning on the way in to work I was cycling along the cycle path that runs next to an adjacent pavement for pedestrians, when there was a man walking his in front. He was on the pavement, his was on the far side of the cycle path with an expandable lead from him to the so my way and the whole path was blocked. He then pulled his back onto the pavement where it belonged, and I nodded to say , being polite even though the lead shouldn't block the whole way to begin with. (Of course, I heartily welcome dogs riding bikes, scooters and skateboards on cycle paths).

Despite nodding, the man shouted at me once I'd passed, 'Oi! You could say thank you!'

I had done the polite thing by nodding a thanks, even though he had caused the blockage in the first place. Besides which I was a little out of breath and any attempt to say 'thank you' would have come out as panting, so unless he particularly wanted to hear some heavy breathing, a nod would surely suffice.

<BB<

Other people on bicycles who look round when you ring your bell (before trying to pass them) and at the same time steer in your path because they move their shoulders as well.

For that reason I tend not to ring my bell anymore, in order to have these unstable people behind me when they decide to destabilise themselves.

I ring my bell well in advance of passing others.

PP: People who wait until they are right behind you to ring their bicycle bell. It's startling! Seriously, you're more likely to cause a crash if you wait until the last second (or less) to indicate your presence.



LCD screens in daylight... Yeah, there's no excuse for that anymore. B&W LCD screens can be quite legible in the brightest of daylight. My motorcycle has an LCD instrument display. Until recently it's been quite legible in most conditions except those particular times of day when the sun reflects directly off the acrylic cover into my eyes. But lately it's developed a central oval of obscurity™. I don't know what happened but the center of the display has faded to the point it's illegible. Fortunately, the center is where the speed is indicated in large digits and I also have a GPS (color) that I consider more accurate anyway.

But both displays can be rendered useless if I clip on my sunshades. They're polarized.

It's a thin line between being too close and not being heard at all. In my case the speed difference usually is quite big (I ride a recumbent bike at 25-30 kph (if traffic allows))

With all the electric bikes the difference gets smaller.

Other PH: People who can't cope with the speed of their electric bikes.

I inadvertently discovered recently that the screen on my digital camera is polarized! I was wearing sunglasses and thought the screen had broken, as it went black when I turned the camera on its side

My computer screen is polarised the other way, so I can't see the display when wearing shades, but I haven't tried turning that on its side

Weather can also affect a lot of bike bells – especially the cheap ones they put on bikes because it is a legal requirement for all bikes sold to have a bell. On a nice warm sunny day they sound thus:
Ddddddddddiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggggggggg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But as soon as it rains or there's a bit of humidity in the atmosphere, they transform into:
Df.

<BB<

Polarisation is the working principle of LCD. So wearing polarising sunglasses turns them black for the observer (except when perfectly aligned, but that is probably not very useful on a motorcycle)

I'm wondering about the bad spot on your speedometer. Maybe the liquid crystals have moved around or aging introduced polarising properties in the plastic "glass" protecting the screen.