Early Risers.

[Ozexpatriate]

3 hours ago, Hroth said:

(Screen went grey and there was a minutes pause while ER digested this post...)

It was the first post on a new page - this is the scenario where I see slow performance most frequently.  Any reply going to a different page can be slow but the first post on a page seems to be slower.

 

Once the page loads, it is usually quite snappy.  It's not just on this very long ER thread either.

 

EDIT:

Just like this post! Currently top of page 12902. Slow to respond.

 

Edited April 2 by Ozexpatriate

[DaveF]

15 minutes ago, The White Rabbit said:

 

My two-pennorth - is it a Stop or a Give Way junction? From how you've described it, if it's not the former then it ought to be. Not that I'm any sort of expert but it sounds like a junction where very slow speed and caution on emerging are called for.

 

Can you save your footage as evidence? 

 

As well as a letter to the local authority or Highways Agency, it may be worth contacting the local media, if only to highlight to the relevant authority it's a dangerous situation. And if you can get an article or letter published online, then - should anything bad happen and the family/solicitors start searching for any indication the junction is 'dodgy', they can wave that as evidence it was a known bad junction and nothing was done. That is something the council or HA will know and you may find it easier to get something done before someone gets hurt. Being sneaky, should you be able to get two or three of your friends to write letters to the local paper or interest the local reporter to do an article, you could then write to officialdom and say several of us have spotted this/had near misses and it's been in the press, if someone gets hurt, you're going to get hammered... 

 

 

It's a Give Way junction, apart from the lights visibility is quite good.  I am going to think what I might do.  Looking at my footage I think one (possibly both) lights are slightly out of alignment which hampers visibility.  Next time I pass I will have a good look at it.

 

David

[polybear]

Bear here.....

 

Hilly wander wandered, including the obligatory (big word for a Bear, that one) pitstop.  Once back in Bearsville I decided that a raid on the Co-op was called for, if only to check out what the current special freezer deal (five items for six quid) was.  It turned out to be A Rather Good Plan Indeed - the deal was Bear's favourite Pizza (Dr Oetkers), plus a McCain Garlic Pizza (useful as a Pizza base once you've scraped some of the garlic butter off - or leave it on if you're not going near anyone for a few days...), Chicken Nuggets (buddy over the road gets them), Potato Smiles (WTF?) and a Tub of Cadbury's Creme Egg Ice Cream - all for six quid.  So good in fact I had two of everything - total savings was a bit over sixteen quid, which I call a Right Result.

I was hoping to snaffle a cheapo Easter Egg as well - not for Bear (honest....) but for someone else - sadly there were none to be seen, so that's a Turdycurses.

 

On a brighter note we're now heading towards Tea Time.....

 

BG

[zarniwhoop]

4 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

I'm feeling a bit left out because I am having no issues. Is it the time zone difference that means I am  active in the UK nocturnal hours like a possum or a fruitbat  when you are all asleep  - except when nature calls?

I tend to keep very irregular hours, often reading here between 11pm and 4am or "later" , and I see the slowdowns from time to time even at 3 a.m. In particular, ERs is often very slow to go to the next page, other topics are only rarely very slow.  But late afternoon (I suppose from about now for maybe the next 6 hours)  is also a busy time and I think the worst delays or 'content unavailable' happen in the evening.

 

I'm sure that the whole site being busy (several people clicking on different topics at the same time) plays a part.

 

I'll mention that on the machine I mainly use I try to keep ERs, TNM, and the main page open long term, and look at another page or another site if ERs is slow.  But I've got 100+ tabs open in this browser (I had to close a few last week, it was getting slow).

 

Somebody suggested starting an ERs v2 the other week, I think doing that and making ERs v1 read-only might be the answer.

[DaveF]

Now for today.  I went in to town to get my haircut and was able to park in my usual place on the road.  The haircut didn't take long, the bad bit was the journey home as mentioned earlier.

 

I also rang Coop funerals, have organised what I want and paid for it (ouch!).  It is simply a burial in a plot I already "own" in the local cemetery, Mum and Dad are already buried in it.  When I bought it about twenty years ago for Mum and Dad (so it was in my name when we came to bury them to make it easier) the council had a "buy 2 graves and get 1 free offer" so I will fit in there as well, the exisitng headstone will just need another line adding.

 

I have received the documents by e mail, in due course I will receive a paper copy along with some documents for me to complete concerning who is my solicitor, exact details of any service I want, where the deeds for the grave are to be found, what goes on the headstone and so on.  They will also let my solicitors know that I have a pre paid funeral.

 

It was really very easy.

 

I've spent the rest of the day putting more things away now I can reach into cupboards and so on which means fewer things lying around.  Some modelling was also done.

 

David

[Tony_S]

14 minutes ago, zarniwhoop said:

Somebody suggested starting an ERs v2 the other week, I think doing that and making ERs v1 read-only might be the answer.

The present version certainly isn’t version 1. There were previous versions , some of us who survived the RMWeb near extinction events were around then and there are allegedly some people who can recall it being hosted by Dial.Pipex (who I used for my very first home dial up internet service). ER was first initiated by Gordon S who wanted someone to talk to while he was waiting very early at airports to travel on business. 

[Ozexpatriate]

4 hours ago, DaveF said:

I came to a road junction where the side street I was on meets the main road, less than a car's length along the main road is a light controlled crossing.  Coming up to the junction you can't see the lights, you have to be just starting to move forwards to really see the light.  The light changed to red just as I pulled out, fortunately I was able to stop just on the line.

36 minutes ago, The White Rabbit said:

My two-pennorth - is it a Stop or a Give Way junction? From how you've described it, if it's not the former then it ought to be. Not that I'm any sort of expert but it sounds like a junction where very slow speed and caution on emerging are called for.

13 minutes ago, DaveF said:

It's a Give Way junction, apart from the lights visibility is quite good.  I am going to think what I might do.  Looking at my footage I think one (possibly both) lights are slightly out of alignment which hampers visibility.  Next time I pass I will have a good look at it.

Colour me confused. I am familiar with the "GIVE WAY" sign (at least in Australia). This is very similar to the "YIELD" in the US. It is not usually used in association with any traffic signals. 

 

Rereading this more carefully I'm presuming the GIVE WAY controls the side street approaching the "T" (tee) and that the lights are around the corner on the main street a short distance* from the intersection with the side street?

 

* If this is truly less than a car's length - that's a pretty moronic traffic control implementation. Why would the pedestrian crossing (and lights) not be placed at the "T" intersection - with interlocked lights controlling the side street? Where one would naturally cross - at a corner?

 

Is this intersection on Google Street maps perchance?   

[pH]

Here’s today’s offering from a syndicated North American newspaper cartoon:

 

 

At a guess, I’d say the idea for this came from news of a recent happening in Staffordshire, England.

[Ian Abel]

Chewsday.

Nothing notable yesterday, except ears lowered to provide a "presentable" persona for our upcoming 7-day vacation to Phoenix and the Grand Canyon starting Friday.

 

Today, apparently the weather/climate decided it forgot yesterday was April Fools so gave us this prank first thing today;

 

Colour me NOT IMPRESSED!!!

 

Nothing else beyond frantic work expected to happen today.

 

1c getting the newspaper in the snow, headed for 4c later.

 

Onward.

 

[DaveF]

1 hour ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Colour me confused. I am familiar with the "GIVE WAY" sign (at least in Australia). This is very similar to the "YIELD" in the US. It is not usually used in association with any traffic signals. 

 

Rereading this more carefully I'm presuming the GIVE WAY controls the side street approaching the "T" (tee) and that the lights are around the corner on the main street a short distance* from the intersection with the side street?

 

* If this is truly less than a car's length - that's a pretty moronic traffic control implementation. Why would the pedestrian crossing (and lights) not be placed at the "T" intersection - with interlocked lights controlling the side street? Where one would naturally cross - at a corner?

 

Is this intersection on Google Street maps perchance?   

 

Herewith 2 photos at street level courtesy of Google Earth.

 

I was on the left of this road.  Note, the Google car was going in the opposte direction, so the photo is looking back on the right hand side, so you can just see one red light.  From the left hand side it is harder to see.

 

This is the view along the main road.

 

You can argue I should have been able to see the red light but on my dash cam it comes properly into view as I reach the junction.  Note there isn't even a Give Way sign.

 

David

Edited April 2 by DaveF

[polybear]

5 minutes ago, DaveF said:

You can argue I should hve been able to see the red light but on my dash cam it comes properly into view as I reach the junction.  Note there isn't even a give way sign.

 

David

 

Though the road markings (white lines) at the end of the side road do indicate a "Give Way" Junction; it would be safer as a compulsory stop junction though

[Coombe Barton]

2 hours ago, Tony_S said:

I only plant native trees and plants in our garden. Native to this planet 

The definition and list of native trees:

• a species that colonised these islands during the retreat of ice at the end of the last ice age
• a species that was present in these islands when the English Channel was created and the land bridge between Britain and continental Europe was flooded
• a species that has colonised without human assistance; in some cases this is uncertain.

 

• Alder (Alnus glutinosa)
• Crab Apple (Malus sylvestris)
• Common Ash (Fraxinus excelsior)
• European Beech (Fagus sylvatica)
• Silver Birch (Betula pendula)
• Downy Birch (Betula pubescens)
• Box (Buxus sempervirens)
• Wild Cherry (Prunus avium)
• Bird Cherry (Prunus padus)
• Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa)
• Wych Elm (Ulmus glabra)
• Field Elm (Ulmus minor; extremely variable aggregate with many varieties)
• Common Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna)
• Midland Hawthorn (Crataegus laevigata; southern Great Britain only)
• Crataegus × media - occurs as a natural hybrid wherever monogyna and laevigata overlap.
• Common Hazel (Corylus avellana)
• European Holly (Ilex aquifolium)
• European Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus; southern Great Britain only)
• Common Juniper (Juniperus communis)
• Small-leaved Linden/Lime (Tilia cordata)
• Large-leaved Linden/Lime (Tilia platyphyllos; southern Great Britain only)
• Field Maple (Acer campestre)
• Pedunculate Oak (Quercus robur)
• Sessile Oak (Quercus petraea)
• Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris)
• Aspen (Populus tremula)
• Black Poplar (Populus nigra; southern Great Britain only)
• European Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia)
• Common Whitebeam (Sorbus aria) and several related apomictic microspecies
• Service Tree (Sorbus domestica; recently discovered growing wild on a cliff in south Wales)
• Wild Service Tree (Sorbus torminalis)
• Strawberry Tree (Arbutus unedo; Ireland only)
• Willows (Salix spp.; several species)
• Bay Willow (Salix pentandra)
• Grey Willow (Salix cinerea)
• Goat Willow (Salix caprea)
• Purple Willow (Salix purpurea)
• European Yew (Taxus baccata)

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_trees_of_Great_Britain_and_Ireland

 

Edited April 2 by Coombe Barton
Missed a bit

[Tony_S]

40 minutes ago, DaveF said:

Note there isn't even a Give Way

Doesn’t need one. The double broken white lines mean the same. 
I now now notice Polybear has made the same  observation. I think a lot of people driving in my town don’t seem to,understand white lines. Though in some cases they are very worn. 

Edited April 2 by Tony_S

[DaveF]

41 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Though the road markings (white lines) at the end of the side road do indicate a "Give Way" Junction; it would be safer as a compulsory stop junction though

 

10 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Doesn’t need one. The double broken white lines mean the same. 
I now now notice Polybear has made the same  observation. I think a lot of people driving in my town don’t seem to,understand white lines. Though in some cases they are very worn. 

 

Round here some have signs, some don't.  I just look at the lines and Give Way, many do not.

 

To be honest this junction is a lot better than a number of others in the town.  I sometimes think Northumberland makes up its own rules about roads.

 

David

Edited April 2 by DaveF

[Tony_S]

17 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

Crataegus laevigata;

We miss the common hawthorn a neighbour chopped down. (restricted light, too many leaves apparently ) that was full of birds , sheltering or feeding at various times of the year. I might plant one of the red ones in our garden, but I will need to move the sheds a bit. Quite large ones are not particularly expensive. I really can’t believe we have to put up with nasty leylandii but a really old hawthorn got taken down. 

[polybear]

45 minutes ago, DaveF said:

 

 

Round here some have signs, some don't.  I just look at the lines and Give Way, many do not.

 

To be honest this junction is a lot better than a number of others in the town.  I sometimes think Northumberland makes up its own rules about roads.

 

David

 

The thing Bear learnt rather quickly whilst driving in Wales (from Carmarthen to Newcastle Emlyn "over the top") was that when a road had "SLOW" painted on it then it really, really was a rather good idea indeed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Tony_S]

20 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

The thing Bear learnt rather quickly whilst driving in Wales (from Carmarthen to Newcastle Emlyn "over the top") was that when a road had "SLOW" painted on it then it really, really was a rather good idea indeed.

 

 

Another good idea is when the sharp bend chevron signs are somewhat wonky and damaged. 

[New Haven Neil]

Wonky - a word that always makes me smile, for some reason.

 

ION, no comment yet about the large red box's contents.  Maybe 'Ixion' means something else in wife-world.

[pH]

1 hour ago, Tony_S said:

Doesn’t need one. The double broken white lines mean the same. 
I now now notice Polybear has made the same  observation. I think a lot of people driving in my town don’t seem to,understand white lines. Though in some cases they are very worn. 

When I started driving in Canada, having moved from the UK, I found I was experiencing sudden moments of panic in situations where there could be little, or even no, other traffic. 
 

I eventually worked out what was causing them. Here, there are solid white lines on the road at places other than road junctions e.g. to mark where you should stop short of occupied pedestrian crossings. Driving over these lines without stopping was (unconsciously) going against my UK driving instincts.

[skipepsi]

1 hour ago, Tony_S said:

Another good idea is when the sharp bend chevron signs are somewhat wonky and damaged. 

Or in the case of our local corner bent posts where the chevrons were and the broken concrete posts and missing fence parts

[PhilJ W]

2 hours ago, Tony_S said:

Doesn’t need one. The double broken white lines mean the same. 
I now now notice Polybear has made the same  observation. I think a lot of people driving in my town don’t seem to,understand white lines. Though in some cases they are very worn. 

And they disappear entirely on wet nights under LED streetlights.

[Gwiwer]

5 hours ago, The White Rabbit said:

DaveF said:

A short time ago I had a very unpleasant experience while returning home from town.  I came to a road junction where the side street I was on meets the main road, less than a car's length along the main road is a light controlled crossing.  Coming up to the junction you can't see the lights, you have to be just starting to move forwards to really see the light.  The light changed to red just as I pulled out, fortunately I was able to stop just on the line.

We had one of those Upon the Hill of Strawberries. 
 

You approached the main road from a residential one at a staggered crossroads. The markings and signage are both “Give Way” not “Stop”. 
 

Turning right you were faced with traffic emerging from the almost-opposite residential road which - in that direction - was just ahead of you and would expect to turn ahead of you. 
 

But turn left and you were right on a light-controlled pedestrian crossing. I don’t mean a short distance from it - once you were committed to the turn you had passed the light!  There was no signage to indicate this existed on either of the side roads and no way to see the colour of the light at all. 
 

If traffic on the main road was stopped it was red. But unless some kind soul let you out when it changed you were stuck there. When traffic cleared you went not knowing whether the light was green or not. 
 

Coming the other way - making the right turn off the main road - you were obliged to stop and obstruct the crossing before you could complete the turn. The light might have turned red whilst you were astride the crossing. 
 

Very very poorly thought out. And under the control of TfL (Transport for London) who never replied to calls, emails or any other attempt to talk about it. 
 

At the top of the blue line. You can judge for yourselves the distance between side-turning and crossing and the angle one would be expected to see the lights from if entering the main road.  The light us on a pole which appears as a dirty smudge exactly where the wavy white line meets the solid stop line. 
 

 

Reviewing DaveF’s post it’s about the same distance. But you cannot see the traffic light

Edited April 2 by Gwiwer

[PhilJ W]

2 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

• Wych Elm (Ulmus glabra)
• Field Elm (Ulmus minor; extremely variable aggregate with many varieties)

The wych elm is the only truly native British elm, all of the others are found in other parts of the world. It proved to be the most resistant to DED but despite that many succumbed to that disease. Elms readily hybridised and some hybrids turned out to be even more resistant. IIRC work is still going on to develop an elm resistant to DED.

[PupCam]

Evening All!

 

12 hours ago, RobAllen said:

Fantastic Easter weekend, but back to the grindstone today. Our eldest son was home so that he could use our driveway to update stuff on his car. He seems to have finally solved a rattling noise that had been annoying him!
 

 

He's back in early May to replace the some important belt or something (can you tell that I'm not a car person!)

 

That'll be the cam belt then I presume.   Nothing trivial ...... 

 

I'm reminded of my Mk3 Escort many  years ago.  I had the new cambelt in the boot and was going to change it "Next Weekend".   I couldn't do it "This Weekend" as I was at the Alban Arena all weekend for a certain show depicting things that run on parallel strips of metal.  Halfway home on the Sunday evening in the back end of Luton (by the Rugnby Club for those that know it) the engine suddenly stopped and couldn't be encouraged to start again.      Fearing the worst (cam belt broken) I took the top cover off (in the dark) and felt the belt.  Relief, it was still there and taut.   I arranged for recovery to get the car home.  

 

It was only on later investigation I understood the typical cam belt failure mode.    They don't "snap" and part company they just loose a few of those important little teeth and go all smooth and bald (like Puppers?).  But of course every single one of those teeth is there to do a job.  Those that aren't there shirk their duty, the cam(s) stop going round and some of the valves start getting all close-up and friendly with the piston crowns (in Mk 3 Escort engines anyway) .   That was a TC moment if ever there was one!   

 

There's an old proverb:  " A new cambelt in the boot is worth Diddly Squat!"    How true that is.

 

1 hour ago, polybear said:

The thing Bear learnt rather quickly whilst driving in Wales (from Carmarthen to Newcastle Emlyn "over the top") was that when a road had "SLOW" painted on it then it really, really was a rather good idea indeed.

 

Puppers may know that road quite well ..... 🤣

 

 

12 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

Morning, from a damp but drying rock, 8c and still.  The corresponding Fraggle is somewhat enamoured with the tall lady in iD's post of the Deer's Cry. Oooerr.

 

A day of silly little errands beckons, and the possibility of a delivery of a green device for perambulating along parallel lines to look forward to.  The b*llocking will come later when herself comes in from work!  An unplanned purchase but I have wanted one for some time, and one popped up on Rails used site (unavailable new).....oops.

 

49 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

Wonky - a word that always makes me smile, for some reason.

 

ION, no comment yet about the large red box's contents.  Maybe 'Ixion' means something else in wife-world.

 

Surely it means the illustrious writer in the "The Green One" (or was it "The Blue One" - I can never remember!).     Nice ploy to throw her off of the scent I'd say, she being a biker an all that.

 

ION

 

I went for a short thrash on the RD to Marston Moretaine (famous for a venerable old fund raising Captain and an illegal spa pool) this morning.   The purpose to  visit a former colleague (actually, he was originally from the same discipline/department as a certain white bear who frequents this parish but I don't believe they worked together or even knew one and other).   This was most enjoyable;  a thrash in the sunshine, a degree of "Putting the World to Rights"  followed by a return thrash.    Fortunately the rain didn't turn up until much, much later in the afternoon.   I may have mentioned before; I don't "Do" rain (or dark, or ice, or fog) on a motorcycle these days.    There was plenty of that when, as a young Pup, my bike was my only form of transport and "needs must".   Now their sole use is for entertainment and amusement so dry, daytime conditions are a must.

 

Other than that there's not a lot to report from Puppershire.

 

Night All

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TheQ]

 

It's now developed another problem, I can't emoticon... 

Belay that , on changing pages to see Gwiwer's comment I can emote again.

 

Evening Awl,

Ben's long walk was unusual due to rats, no less than 6 were separately seen running across fields or roads and muddy tracks. That and one deer got frightened and legged it across several fields.

 

For several years there has been no spraying on some of the fields around us. I believe the new farmer had ideas of getting some sort of rating for that..

It obviously didn't pay, because all the fields around us have been sprayed or pelleted in the last few days. I'm guessing at this time of year that'll be fertilizer of some sort.

 

Just back from the MRC where I learnt I'm not paying to go into the exhibition of unmentionables on Saturday. 

That'll be because I'll be making an exhibition of myself behind a club unmentionable as some one has dropped out. That'll make for a long day... Must find the club shirt...

 

On the way to the MRC there was one deer in the undergrowth by the side of the road on the way back there was a couple... Oh and one rat.

 

Also on the way back it was starting to rain.

 

Muggachoccy gone, goodnight Awl.