Jump to content

The grumpy thread


Recommended Posts

Posted
On 30/09/2024 at 06:30, somewhatfoolish said:

How so? The logical locations are co-located with universities that produce research scientists or near centres of population where those scientists might like to live.

Or, y’know, near the phenomena they wish to study.

I suspect we’re more in agreement than you think.

Posted
1 hour ago, High Jetter said:

Not so easy for pedestrians to hear EVs though, especially in noisy towns

But EVs aren't that much quieter than a modern petrol engine in reality. All this talk of them being silent is bollocks, at least from the outside.

Posted

Very rarely; there are no universities at the top of Mauna Kea or at ORM on La Palma, the observatories are operated by detached teams of astronomers or in some instances technology now allows them to be operated remotely by the universities. 

Posted

I can never go to the cinema again.

Bit back went to the matrix 25th >>> Ray's Mrs. dies unexpectedly while I'm in the cinema with phone off.

Today, Interstellar on 70mm >>> Come back to Ma having a total breakdown. All she keeps saying is "I can't make kettle work". She either thinks it's cos she can't see to use it, or has dementia n forgot how. Reality is the bastard thing has chosen just now to shuffle off to silicon heaven.

Cinema kills!

Posted

I'd say that's grounds to buy a cinema membership and go once a week.

  • Haha 1
Posted
26 minutes ago, somewhatfoolish said:

Very rarely; there are no universities at the top of Mauna Kea or at ORM on La Palma, the observatories are operated by detached teams of astronomers or in some instances technology now allows them to be operated remotely by the universities. 

The methods of observing chiroptera and celestial bodies of course having many similarities.

Posted

I'm by no means an expert on vivisection but I'm going to go out on a limb and claim that no-one does it in caves or indeed any other natural homes for bats.

Posted
4 hours ago, sheffcortinacentre said:

I'm sick of the speed kills obsession, wreckless driving is far worse epidemic.

As for the pedestrian, I was told the motorist has to rely on sight to avoid an accident were as pedestrians, cyclist etc can both see & hear traffic so has more chance of avoiding accidents.

I was in the USA in Oregon about 20 years ago and they had “common sense” speed limits. Middle of the night , deserted freeway in good weather, 90mph , no problem. 
30 past a school or too fast for bad weather even if below posted limit, you’d get a ticket. Don’t know if they still have this or not. Probably green Libby has got it changed.

There’s a radio ad on at the moment, with a driver in remorse for (presumably having a crash) because he did 68mph instead of 60. It’s bad driving (which may or may not including speeding), that causes accidents, not purely speed.

But bad driving (reckless/ dangerous / driving without care etc) is subjective and needs to be proven . Plod doesn’t like this , it’s hard work. Over the speed limit, easy to prove, don’t even need a person to be involved. Case solved for plod, clear up rate improved, box ticked by chief constable.

 

  • Agree 2
Posted
3 hours ago, High Jetter said:

Not so easy for pedestrians to hear EVs though, especially in noisy towns

Another problem with them.

Posted

EVs make towns quieter.

Posted
4 hours ago, High Jetter said:

Not so easy for pedestrians to hear EVs though, especially in noisy towns

I’m sure the manufacturers could easily engineer something with a proximity detector that activates a pre-recorded loud speaker announcement along the lines of “oi! Moron on the phone, get out of the f@cking way!”

Posted
4 hours ago, Metal Guru said:

I’m sure the manufacturers could easily engineer something with a proximity detector that activates a pre-recorded loud speaker announcement along the lines of “oi! Moron on the phone, get out of the f@cking way!”

I've been cycling a lot on shared paths. Having a bell seems to work. 

Posted
7 hours ago, somewhatfoolish said:

EVs make towns quieter.

I've learnt to listen out for the crunch of the tyres over the road nowadays, especially when going slow. 

I've been teaching the kids to judge the speed of cars now, especially Eva. Helps a bit when she crosses the bigger roads to school that have faster speeds. It is working I think as she's started grumbling about the drivers who do 50/60 in the 40 she crosses occasionally

And slowly instilling the same mantra I try and use, which is it hurts to get hit by a vehicle no matter who'se fault it was, don't do it 👌

  • Like 4
Posted

They should quietly play 'green sleeves', but as ice cream van chimes.

Posted
1 hour ago, beko1987 said:

I've learnt to listen out for the crunch of the tyres over the road nowadays, especially when going slow. 

I've been teaching the kids to judge the speed of cars now, especially Eva. Helps a bit when she crosses the bigger roads to school that have faster speeds. It is working I think as she's started grumbling about the driver who do 50/60 in the 40 she crosses occasionally

And slowly instilling the same mantra I try and use, which is it hurts to get hit by a vehicle no matter who'se fault it was, don't do it 👌

Teaching my granny to suck eggs possibly, but when you teach kids to use Zebra and Pedestrian crossings, make sure they understand that the cars need to be stopped before they start crossing, and that a green man means proceed with caution and only then IF the cars have actually stopped. 

Posted
45 minutes ago, New POD said:

Teaching my granny to suck eggs possibly, but when you teach kids to use Zebra and Pedestrian crossings, make sure they understand that the cars need to be stopped before they start crossing, and that a green man means proceed with caution and only then IF the cars have actually stopped. 

Oh yes. And not to stop right at the very edge of the road edge, stand back a bit and start looking. Nor to mill around, especially at zebra crossings. 

 

  • Like 1
  • Agree 1
Posted
2 hours ago, somewhatfoolish said:

They should quietly play 'green sleeves', but as ice cream van chimes.

They just need a couple of crates of empty milk bottles strapped to them, they would sound like the real deal and quite retro/nostalgic! 😁 

  • Haha 2
Posted
11 hours ago, Yoss said:

But EVs aren't that much quieter than a modern petrol engine in reality. All this talk of them being silent is bollocks, at least from the outside.

When cruising along, yes.  But starting from standstill some EVs are remarkably quiet, wheras a petrol engine will always be revving a little bit to get started. 

Posted
3 hours ago, beko1987 said:

I've been teaching the kids to judge the speed of cars now, especially Eva.

Pre-teenage children cannot judge speed as well as adults.  It doesn't matter how much they concentrate, their perception just isn't the same.

Posted

30 and above tyre noise is predominant just like with most ICE cars, below that they are quieter. No consensus has emerged about how to deal with this, carmakers are all winging it with various noises but perhaps TRRL etc should work on a standard.

Posted
1 minute ago, somewhatfoolish said:

30 and about tyre noise is predominant just like with most ICE cars, below that they are quieter. No consensus has emerged about how to deal with this, carmakers are all winging it with various noises but perhaps TRRL etc should work on a standard.

Seeing how most exhaust notes on ICEs are fake today, why not have a small library of engine sounds to choose from on your EV.

American V8, Ferrari or Aston V12, Lambo V10, Porsche flat 6, Subaru flat 4, Detroit 2 stroke diesel, Yamaha FS1E with copper pipe insert, B52, Concorde, Saturn V.

 

Posted

Or just build the CV joints with a bit of backlash so they rattle and whine a bit. 

  • Haha 2
Posted
50 minutes ago, adw1977 said:

Pre-teenage children cannot judge speed as well as adults.  It doesn't matter how much they concentrate, their perception just isn't the same.

Wouldn't surprise me, they are clumsy idiots at the best of times! Doesn't hurt to get them used to it. I can still picture my grandad making me look left right then left again before crossing the fairly busy road outside their house a couple of decades later 😂

I've started making Charlie check and decide himself if I'm with him and I'll backup check. Doesn't help with bushes and hedges that overgrown the pavements so much you don't have any visibility of anything regardless of how old you are. 

Same with one way streets. Having seen it in Marlow myself I always glance both ways out of habit! 

  • Like 2
Posted

Being drunk at the Arc de Triumphe (sp?)a few years ago very nearly made a couple of us into statistics, we were carefully looking the wrong way....🤦

  • Haha 2
Posted

Just moved into a council flat, it’s pretty half decent I must admit

but fucking hell, it’s got a combi boiler and I’ve never used one before

people actually like them? It seems a right turd, 2 minutes for lukewarm water and firing up constantly when running a tap

not impressed at all

  • Haha 1
Posted
9 minutes ago, maxxo said:

Just moved into a council flat, it’s pretty half decent I must admit

but fucking hell, it’s got a combi boiler and I’ve never used one before

people actually like them? It seems a right turd, 2 minutes for lukewarm water and firing up constantly when running a tap

not impressed at all

There's an eco setting on ours. If you turn it off it keeps a small amount of water ready, and burner warmish so that the wait for warm water is related to the length of pipe containing cold water after the boiler. In the case of our kitchen the pipe seems to go up to the second floor,  twice around the upstairs of the house via the bathroom, before coming across from the middle of the ceiling above, down the to the floor, behind the units and up to the tap. Takes ages. Lucky we are not on a water meter.  

  • Like 2
Posted

Sounds faulty.  They are usually pretty good, especially the newer ones.  The delay for hot water is a bit of a peev though.

Ours is only a few steps from the bathroom but the pipes go up into the attic then across to the far end of the bathroom and on down into the kitchen.  Takes a while.

On the other hand, the downstairs toilet is just below the boiler and hot water takes only seconds.  Hardly ever used of course.

  • Like 1
  • Agree 1
Posted

Combi boilers should be alright, slight delay for hot water coming out of the tap but shouldn't take two minutes!

If either the gas or electric goes off, you instantly have no hot water but the advantage of not having a hot water tank is not paying to heat a load of water that mostly just sits there gradually getting cold.

Definitely worth looking at the settings.  A previous resident might have set them to maximum penny pinching mode!

Posted
11 hours ago, Metal Guru said:

I’m sure the manufacturers could easily engineer something with a proximity detector that activates a pre-recorded loud speaker announcement along the lines of “oi! Moron on the phone, get out of the f@cking way!”

stsmall507x507-pad600x600f8f8f8.jpg.98ffc6b390a0f3cfc4b2ef4f42d6ff80.jpg

  • Haha 7

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...