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General Musings

Whilst driving home from a job in Essex today, I passed a large number of caravans on the M25 and it got me wondering.

Why do some caravans have such inappropriate names?

On the way home today I saw the following.

Is it to make them sound more exciting than they actually are, because they are certainly not a 17th century pirate or “moving or capable of moving at high speed” although cars towing trailers and caravans were overtaking me on the motorway when I was doing about 70mph, which considering the last time I checked the top speed limit for a car towing a caravan or trailer was 60mph (even on dual carriageways and motorways), which was bloody annoying, especially as a couple of them were beginning to sway although the drivers seemed blissfully unaware of this.

Don’t get me wrong, I used to go caravanning with my folks when I was between 5 and 14, and enjoyed it immensely, but as I’ve got older I’ve obviously turned into a bit of a curmudgeon, especially when I’m stuck behind one on a single carriageway road or when they pass me doing more than 70.

Sorry for the rant, but I’ve had a bad day :o(.

End of Rant.

 

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……..and the Big Brother Sh**e Begins

Never have the lyrics “I’ve got thirteen channels of shit on the TV to choose from” from Pink Floyd’s “Nobody Home” rung more true.

There is so much crap on TV that I only seem to watch about three channels and am seriously thinking about giving up on it altogether.

I can’t believe that so many people have such empty lives that they have to resort to watching Big Brother.

Rant Mode off.

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Stupid Road Signage

I have just seen the ultimate in stupid road signage.

Sign at a roundabout reads “Give Way to Traffic from the Right”

Whilst this is a correct instruction, it makes me wonder just what sort of idiots are being let loose on the roads today.

This is about the first thing I was taught about a roundabout when learning to drive.

So the question remains, what sort of idiots are being let loose on the roads that need to be reminded who to give way to at a roundabout.

Am I the only one to find that VERY scary!

Unfortunately I couldn’t find a safe place to park and photograph the offending sign!

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Weymouth Traffic Light Madness

The Weymouth relief road is now open, and I have to say that so far it seems to be a vast improvement over what er had previously. Crossing the Dorchester road is now a doddle as there is much less traffic and so you don’t need to muscle your way out.

However, I have to confess that I’m less than impressed with the rest of the changes Weymouth & Portland Council have out into place prior to the olympics in 2012.

At a time when most councils are being encouraged to replace traffic light controlled junctions with roundabouts to improve traffic flow, W&P council has decided to do the reverse and replace a number of roundabouts with junctions controlled by “intelligent” lights.

All I can say is that I can’t wait to see the chaos this causes in the peak holiday season.

Firstly, when the lights were turned on, there were no lines to indicate where traffic turning right needed to wait, and there were a number of near misses.

Then the council simply blames the all the problems with the junction on motorists not following the highway code, rather than admit they’ve made a balls up. They do however add lines to the junction to make it easier for motorists to position their vehicles when waiting to turn right. The also changed the phasing so that traffic turning right does not have to cross oncoming traffic, as turning traffic is controlled separately.

However, not only did the roundabout at the bottom of Boot Hill get replaced, but so did the mini roundabouts going up Boot Hill, so there are now 4 sets of lights as you go up Boot Hill. Basically this means that Boot Hill is almost permanently at a standstill, the junction at the bottom of boot hill is not hatched, so motorists simply sit in the middle of the junction, unable to move anywhere, then the lights change and nobody can move anywhere, cue gridlock and honking of horns.

Personally, I think that heads should roll over this cock up, but it seems like the council are unwilling to admit that they have got it wrong.

Probably all this grief has been caused so that when the Olympics are in Weymouth the nobs and sportsmen can have a priority route set up for them.

Please can we have the roundabouts back!!!!

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Echo Careers Fair in Southampton

I attended the Echo careers fair in Southampton today, and what a total waste of my time that was.

I was really disappointed, there were very few stands present.  There were no representatives from local councils, though I guess maybe thats not unexpected given funding cuts.

I think I spent a total of about 15 minutes at the jobs fair, and then decided to make the most of the nice day and have a bit of a wander around town.

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Dancing on Ice – WTF!!!

I have to confess that I really enjoy Strictly Come Dancing, and have up until now really enjoyed Dancing on Ice, but now its time for a bit of a rant.

WTF are ITV playing at, they’ve got so many “celebrities”in this year that the shows are running at 2 HOURS long, plus another half an hour for the results!!!

Plus, the first two weeks consisted of a pre-competition elimination so that they started with 4 more competitors than they had places for, and so 4 people were eliminated BEFORE the competition really started.

I’m sorry, but that really is TOO long for an “entertainment” show on a Sunday evening.  By the time its halfway through, I’ve got to the point of not caring anymore.

I’m now at the stage where I think I’ll just boycott the rest of the series just because the show is hogging the Sunday night schedule, god knows I’ve got enough CSI and NCIS recorded that I’ve got other stuff to watch.

Rant over!