What's made you grumpy today?

[vexorg]

The smoke alrm thing is a pain, we have two mains powered alarms, and they will need moved. They are sensibly placed in the downstairs all and upstairs hall, and I dont like the location of where the new ones must go. If the living room door is shut then it would take longer to detect a fire downstairs from one of the other rooms.

At least they delayed it a year, but no one seems to have bothered since.

 

[DaveMcT]

My neighbour has a yappy dog.

Dog - Yap Yap Yap​

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Pause​

Dog - Yap Yap Yap​

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Pause​

Dog - Yap Yap Yap​

Her - Shut up Fido​

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Dog - Yap Yap Yap​

Her - (Louder) Shut up Fido​

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Dog - Yap Yap Yap​

Her - (Even louder) Shut up Fido​

​

And on it goes. I'm mot sure who is the most stupid - the barking dog or the barking owner.​

 

[DaveMcT]

On top of all that our house was built just when RCD main boards were starting to be installed. Our street was the last one on our estate to have a fuse board - next street over they all got RCDs - So now I'm wondering if the chap who turns up to strip out our old meters and install the new ones, is going to condemn what I have and say it's all got to be changed to RCDs?

You can probably get plug in RCDs to replace the old fuses. We have an earth leakage breaker that trips the whole house and individual breakers for each circuit which act like fuses. I have no idea if its current (sic) spec but the meter guys were happy with it.

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

So now I'm wondering if the chap who turns up to strip out our old meters and install the new ones, is going to condemn what I have and say it's all got to be changed to RCDs?

It'll be a meter fitter and not an electrician. What’s after the meter is of no concern, or frankly any business of theirs.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Thanks guys. I actually quite like having the fuses because I do have an RCD plug in the garage and it tends to trip out with my compressor. If I plug into the socket in the utility room the compressor runs no problem.

 

[portland_bill]

And on it goes. I'm mot sure who is the most stupid - the barking dog or the barking owner.

The owner. Dogs are genrally not very bright, but are trainable. Owners, not very bright, difficult to train. I think the more stupid the owner, the more difficult to train them.
A long time ago, on the telly, there was a program about difficult dogs. A woman, Barbara Woodhouse, I think, taught the owners how to train their dogs, although it was evident she was training the owners at least as much.
The other side of me to the yappy idiots, is a lady with two spaniels. When they first arrived they were a bit barky. There's a lovely young woman in the next street, makes a living from walking peoples' dogs, and helping train them. She spent some time with the lady and dogs next door, and now they are fine. The dogs bark as a warning, as expected, then are quiet again, no problem.
The yappy idiots have no idea they are a problem, so would never consider getting help.

 

[FiatMatt94]

I recieved the renewal for my car insurance only to find it's jumped up £31 more than last year even though I have an extra years no claims & cannot find cheaper anywhere else so may have to stomach paying more than the previous year for the first time since passing my test. I'm not admitting defeat yet

 

[vexorg]

There are warnings of insurance hikes across the board as part of the cost of living. £31 doesn't sound too bad, but they'll usually bring it down if you call them and say you're not happy.

What's the total? just trying to gauge is £31 is a a lot or little relative to the total.

 

[StevenRB45]

A new pricing practices piece came in 17th January.

Basically model had previously been set you up on a cheap policy year 1 and slowly turn up the heat and rely on momentum to carry price rises.

You are no longer allowed to charge more for a renewal than a new business policy. Most places online sold year 1 at a loss..obviously if you do that now you're committing to a loss at renewal as well.

Rather than driving down renewal prices...it may well end up increasing year 1.

My Grump for the day..work has been a flipping nightmare this week. Lots of detailed work that requires thought...only time to smash it in with bare minimum. Been so bad I've ended up logging in unpaid just to clear normal scheduled jobs which have been stacking up

 

[StevenRB45]

Weather is currently mad, by which I mean there are more trees over than storm Arwen did up here.

Tried to go out...got as far as the next village before encountering the police turning everyone round due to a fallen tree, having driven round another fallen tree to get to that point.

Got back to the village, which involved driving over fallen high voltage cables, didn't get 30 seconds down the road off the other end before finding this.

What I had planned for the day isn't worth it at this point gone home, there's a good chance if I go out I'm going to end up on the wrong side of a road closure with a toddler.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Awoke this morning to a scene of relative carnage due to the high winds overnight. Looked out the bedroom window to see the fence to the side of the flats opposite in shreds with bits of panel strewn all over. Rushed through to the back bedroom window to see another post broken off between me and my neighbour and the wind trying to destroy the, still attached, fence panels. Then, as I turned away, spotted there's a damaged panel flapping away between me and my neighbour on the other side. As I turned away from the window I notice that the house over the back 3 houses up the street has no fence left at all. Everything, posts and panels, strewn all over the place. My guess would be the posts weren't sunk in deep enough?

Anyway, I've spent the morning doing repairs. Shored up the flapping post which still has it's panels attached - I'll be using the steel repair stakes (Post Buddy) I've previously posted about on the forum when the wind abates enough. By the way, the 4 posts we repaired with Post Buddies last year haven't moved at all - not one of them! I'm very impressed indeed. The Panel on the other side, on closer inspection, has split it's top rail - due to rot - Luckily I hoard bits of wood so I found some pieces of batten which have effected a semi permanent repair and when the wind dies down I'll get a better look at it and, if the rest of the panel is worth saving, I'll make a new top rail for it.

The bins have been blown all over the place, thank goodness I've got shrubs in my front border otherwise our cars might have been damaged. I've just had a wee bite to eat and now I'm going to help clean up all the rubbish which is blowing about from the upturned bins. Wind is moderating now. Hope that's an end to it. Oh, that's nice, the sun just came out!

 

[portland_bill]

We seem to have had a quieter night than some. A bin next door fell over, a few bits of greenery blown about on the road, and that appears to be it.

Some years ago, early nineties, behind our house was a row of three lockup garages. The guy in the middle left his door open, and the wind took the whole roof off, one complete piece of joists and corrugated asbestos, thelength of a garage by the width of three. It lifted off, and blew towards our neighbour's house, where the current agaisnt the house flipped it over the fence into our garden, where it stayed.
The council, who's garages they were, were uninterested in the roof in our garden, suggesting it was our problem. So I dismantled it, and placed all the bits in the still-open garage. Made a big dent in the grass.

 

[s130]

New Highway Code (not sure if I'm grumpy or not, close call, so I'll go grumpy)

Straight off anything that improves road safety is good.

I do have a real concern for giving way to a pedestrian lurking on a corner (as some do) and also those ready to cross.

So I approach a left turn off a more major estate/town road the there is a person lurking or dithering or getting ready to cross. So I slow to a stop only to get rear ended and shunted forward. Now if I had already put a little wheel lock on because I thought it was a lurker but stopped anyway then I'm now a shunted projectile about to / or will run over the pedestrian. Get the drift.

Of course we can all say you should have your wheels ahead and handbrake set, etc. It is just not really going to happen 100% of the time and I fear pedestrians are going to get injured or killed.

The old system where the car turning in had priority UNLESS the pedestrian was already in the road made sense. For years since we were kids we were all told to stop at the curb and check the coast is clear before proceeding. Two major points here with the old system.

1) the pedestrian is taking active action for their safety
2) when they do step out is will be with awareness and space so that any approaching vehicle wanting to turn left has time to slow down without stopping and control the traffic flow

With the new system I believe:

1) till all motorist understand and play by the rules the pedestrian is now at greater risk!
2) rear end shunts at any turn are not that un-common and many motorists are impatient and speeding. Now a car stopping on the road and because the motorist behind is not "scanning and observing" and expecting to carry etc. we have introduced a safety issue!
3) instead of reducing risk factors to improve safety I honestly believe these particular changes have made matter worse.

Will be interesting to see in 5 years time the stats of incidents of rear end shunts at left turns, resulting injury stats for pedestrians and drivers, etc.

I can not really see the safety logic and can only see pedestrian pressure groups not thinking clearly. With that said I do appreciate that with the old system they were often at risk and abuse due to prick motorist but I think they have now made matters worse and less safe.

AND NOW FOR REAL GRUMPY

We have news reports that many drivers are not aware of the new regulations. In fact there were many changes in the in the new highway code. So I went to the GOV site. The online system is *rap and if you want a legible download PDF or booklet you HAVE TO BUY IT!

 

[portland_bill]

I agree that the new rules do not add anything valuable, in my opinion, they merely set out what good drivers (that tiny percentage) have been doing anyway.
The new rules will enable arrogance to rule. Many pedestrians will continue to be careful, but some will just walk across without regard to moving traffic, expecting drivers to anticipate their actions, and submit to them.
With most junctions, we have a view on approach, and we can scan for loitering/dithering pedestrians. If we have close followng traffic, we can slow them more on approach, to reduce the risk of a rear shunt, and of course we can choose to abort the turn if the vehicle behind looks like a definite threat. No real change there. Whilst some may consider it cheeky, if there are loiterers, a short parp of the horn might encurage them to either stand still, or cross positively. The parp should be early enough to gain time for the pedestrian to react, and the driver.
The advantage of the trend towards SUVs, is that pedestrians may feel more threatened, so more careful. And they go under, so the view ahead is not compromised, whereas with a normal car, once you have more than two on the bonnet, the view ahead becomes difficult.

 

[portland_bill]

Yesterday, had to take my partner to the doctors' surgery. Outside the entrance, in the disabled bays, was a guy, sitting in his diesel Astra, engine running, and two small children in their child seats. Front passenger seat empty.
Options:
He's just arrived, and will stop the engine very soon.
He's about to leave.
He's just seen his passenger and has started the engine ready to go.

In we went, about ten minutes for the appointment, and out we come again. He's still sitting there, still with the engine running. He sees me shake my head.
While I'm getting my partner out of the wheelchair and into the car, the one between us departed, leaving a big gap between him and me. He'd gone in forwards, of course, and I'd reversed in, so driver's sides were towards each other.
As I walked around the car to get in, he wound his window down, "what's your problem?"
"You are sitting there, engine running, pumping out noxious diesel fumes, unnecessarily, right outside teh entrance where sick people are moving in and out. Special sort of genius."
Left him with his mouth open. Engine still running.

 

[StevenRB45]

I agree that the new rules do not add anything valuable, in my opinion, they merely set out what good drivers (that tiny percentage) have been doing anyway.
The new rules will enable arrogance to rule. Many pedestrians will continue to be careful, but some will just walk across without regard to moving traffic, expecting drivers to anticipate their actions, and submit to them.
With most junctions, we have a view on approach, and we can scan for loitering/dithering pedestrians. If we have close followng traffic, we can slow them more on approach, to reduce the risk of a rear shunt, and of course we can choose to abort the turn if the vehicle behind looks like a definite threat. No real change there. Whilst some may consider it cheeky, if there are loiterers, a short parp of the horn might encurage them to either stand still, or cross positively. The parp should be early enough to gain time for the pedestrian to react, and the driver.
The advantage of the trend towards SUVs, is that pedestrians may feel more threatened, so more careful. And they go under, so the view ahead is not compromised, whereas with a normal car, once you have more than two on the bonnet, the view ahead becomes difficult.

I suppose it's a case of do pedestrians read the highway code?

Regardless of what the damn thing says I'd still be reluctant to step in front of a ton + of metal on the basis it should stop without first making eye contact with the driver and seeing if they've seen me.

I apply the same rule in the car as well, if I don't see their face I don't pull into someone's path regardless of if I've got right of way.

Way I see it there's driving/walking by the letter and there's how you drive if you don't want to be standing beside your smashed car uttering the sentence "but I had right of way!"

For me the stuff that's going to be incendiary is the changes around cycling. Bikes are to ride in the centre of the lane, which was previously advised rather than in the rules as far as I'm aware.

So they've moved them 1 metre to the right...you have to give them 1.5 metres clearance. Awful lot of roads around here about 3 metres wide could be interesting I assume I'm allowed to mount the verge/pavement on the far to ensure their safety?

Can see it already, evangelical cyclist meets bloke in a Range Rover who is unaware of the any version of the highway code. In a 60 limit...gets stuck behind him due to road positioning and that will be enough...that should do it. Provided the bloke in the Range Rover looks up from his phone long enough not to collect him as a bonnet ornament.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

I won't just repeat what has been said above because I'm in agreement with pretty much all of it. I think the rear ending problem due to giving way to a pedestrian who perhaps decides not to cross after you've stopped and then disappears from the scene is going to be common. Following too close is such a common occurrence these days. There are many very sensible cyclists out there but there are also much more than a few who take the most diabolical risks, riding through red lights, on pavements, I could go on. I think these new regs will embolden these prats to perform even more risky "tricks" believing they will likely "get away with it" - and no, I'm not anti bike. I actually have my own elderly Raleigh complete with Sturmey Archer 3 speed but I mostly ride it on the cycle tracks because I've become convinced, after many years, that it pretty much doesn't matter what you do, cars and bikes together on the same carriageway, just isn't safe.

By the way, I picked up a TV presenter person today saying you can now be fined if you don't lean over and open the drivers door with your left hand? I learned to do this many years ago and it does work quite well because not only does it force you to twist round so you are much more likely to see someone coming up on your rear three quarter, but it also slows you down giving time for both you and an approaching vehicle/cycle to appraise your actions. However I sometimes do forget to do it and open the door, looking in the door mirror, with my right hand - Can I now really be fined for doing this? Incidentally it also hurts me to use my left hand in this way because I have arthritis in my right shoulder which doesn't hurt if I open the door with my right hand.

 

[s130]

And with all the above I HOPE / BEG / REQUEST that the government sends a free full copy of the new highway code to every license holder. They have all the information required and can easily ensure only one copy is sent to a household where there is move than one licensed driver with a covering note to say/ensure that all drivers at that residence must read and understand!

It is not going to happen and despite our best attentions to driving stands many of us could get gonged for a minor violation (if other poster's comment about left hand door opening and fining is true) and the "ignorance of the law is not an excuse" will hit us hard. But like I mentioned in my post you can't get a decent copy of the highway code unless you pay! Win Win for Them ..... at your expense.

Now more than ever with these radical changes the gov. should be providing copies of the code. The public interest adds on TV and in the press I have seen tell you NOTHING. They pick on a few items but that is all. Also the picked on item is a specific sub section of the change and all the other equally relevant changed items never get mentioned or explained. Net result "I've see the ad. I know all about it/changes". What *ollocks!

 

[portland_bill]

By the way, I picked up a TV presenter person today saying you can now be fined if you don't lean over and open the drivers door with your left hand? I learned to do this many years ago and it does work quite well because not only does it force you to twist round so you are much more likely to see someone coming up on your rear three quarter, but it also slows you down giving time for both you and an approaching vehicle/cycle to appraise your actions. However I sometimes do forget to do it and open the door, looking in the door mirror, with my right hand - Can I now really be fined for doing this? Incidentally it also hurts me to use my left hand in this way because I have arthritis in my right shoulder which doesn't hurt if I open the door with my right hand.

As usual, someone not paying proper attention. The reporter, not Jock.
The 'Dutch reach' as it is known, is I think mandated in the Netherlands, here just reccommended. If you open the door and cause a collision, there is probably an offence. How you opened the door is irrelevant. If you open the door safely, how you achieved that is also irrelevant.
One thing to note, the driver is 'in charge'of the vehicle, and can be held responsible if a passenger opens a door and hits anyone, or if they throw litter out, etc. This is not new.

And with all the above I HOPE / BEG / REQUEST that the government sends a free full copy of the new highway code to every license holder. They have all the information required and can easily ensure only one copy is sent to a household where there is move than one licensed driver with a covering note to say/ensure that all drivers at that residence must read and understand!

It is not going to happen and despite our best attentions to driving stands many of us could get gonged for a minor violation (if other poster's comment about left hand door opening and fining is true) and the "ignorance of the law is not an excuse" will hit us hard. But like I mentioned in my post you can't get a decent copy of the highway code unless you pay! Win Win for Them ..... at your expense.

Now more than ever with these radical changes the gov. should be providing copies of the code. The public interest adds on TV and in the press I have seen tell you NOTHING. They pick on a few items but that is all. Also the picked on item is a specific sub section of the change and all the other equally relevant changed items never get mentioned or explained. Net result "I've see the ad. I know all about it/changes". What *ollocks!

There is an old adage, that 'ignorance of the law is no excuse'. With so many new laws enacted, and only published in 'legal speak', it is impossible for most of us to know much law at all. For any legal issues, we are always reccommended to consult a solicitor. If the law was simple and in plain English, they'd all be redundant. Law is written by, and for, lawyers.
However, the Highway Code is available to everyone, at WH Smith in the High Street, from Amazon and similar online sellers, as well as online on the gov.uk website. Road traffic law is the most accessible law of all.

 

[chr1s]

However I sometimes do forget to do it and open the door, looking in the door mirror, with my right hand - Can I now really be fined for doing this?

My understanding is that no legislation has been changed by these new rules - the new rule about the Dutch Reach says we should us it, not we must use it, so it is guidance only. I think you can be fined for injuring a cyclist by opening your door on them, but this was previously the case.
I tried using my left hand to open the driver's door on my Mk4 Panda, and it is so awkward, reaching through or around the steering wheel, that all attention would be on doing that rather than looking for cyclists. And it wouldn't force me to turn my head backwards because the handle is at the forward end of the door. I will continue to use my right hand, whilst looking in my mirror, then look through the gap when I have started to open the door.

As to cycling in the centre of the lane on quiet roads, to make myself more visible, I will stick to wearing a high vis jacket and staying to the left, giving inattentive or speeding motorists the option to drive past me instead of through me.

Funnily enough, a week ago my wife and I were crossing a minor road in our local village at its junction with the main road. After we started crossing a car started to turn into our road but stopped to let us finish crossing, then sarcastically shouted out "thank you very much". I pointed out that we had priority because we were already crossing, to he replied that we were "ignorant". He drove off as I explained that we were following the highway code and he was the ignorant party. With that level of understanding of the old rules there is going to be a lot more confrontation with the new rules. In a busy village environment, there will tend to be people near to most corners of side roads, so massive opportunity for uncertainty, accidents and jokers pretending to cross then not crossing.