OT: American drivers and pedal confusion

[James Wilkinson Sword]

So what tells you which direction it's going in?

[James Wilkinson Sword]

On Thu, 30 Mar 2017 20:46:48 +0100, Tekkie=AE wrote= :

-- =

Please be bending short long rod before inserting the output firmly inwa= rds to save health unwellness.

[rbowman]

Speaking as a former trucker, they were just wishing you and your ill car were a burning piece of wreckage on some other roadway. I don't know about Britain but most US long haul truckers get paid by the mile.

[rbowman]

Signs.

This looks like Salt Lake. Apparently Tucson gave up on them on Grant St some time ago:

[James Wilkinson Sword]

82% black? Oh my god I didn't realise how far gone it was.

[rbowman]

Yes, we really need to gift it to Canada...

Most of those cities are places you don't want to visit. Keep in mind those are just majority black cities, not cities where blacks hold a plurality.

[James Wilkinson Sword]

That is the stupidest road layout I've ever seen. It's amazing people don't smash into each other all the time.

This is the equivalent in the UK, the lane only exists for a short distance for the right (in your case left) turn:

Why does your middle lane continue when it's nowhere near the junction? What are you supposed to do with it?

[Cindy Hamilton]

We have similar, on less busy roads.

There are a lot of businesses along that stretch, so it provides the ability to turn in to them without blocking traffic. It cuts down on rear-end collisions.

Cindy Hamilton

[James Wilkinson Sword]

But it was no hassle for them to change lane and overtake me. The only people who should have been annoyed were the cars who could no longer overtake the 40mph lorry.

[James Wilkinson Sword]

Looks like an accident waiting to happen.

[rbowman]

When you're trying to make a ham and cheese on rye it's annoying to have to put you hands on the wheel to change lanes. It's even worse if you get mustard on the wheel. Trust me, self driving trucks were around a long time before Google.

[James Wilkinson Sword]

But you're not supposed to use it for overtaking presumably.

[James Wilkinson Sword]

For some reason it irritates me when people use gift as a verb. I give a gift. Probably because until about 5 or 10 years ago, I never heard it used that way, now it's quite common and pisses me off.

Must be a coincidence? Surely blacks can't ruin a place :-)

[rbowman]

There is an osprey nest down the road by the river. They would come back every spring and raise their family. I enjoyed watching the young birds learning to fly.

One year a goose decided to appropriate the nest laid her eggs. It was a safe place since foxes do not climb phone poles. The osprey were not happy when they got back from their winter vacation but did more than perch on a nearby pole and glare at the goose before finding another site and building a new nest.

Geese do no maintenance so in a few years the nest was almost gone and the goose moved on to some other place where she could scrape together a few twigs and rocks and call it home.

The osprey came back to find their site vacant and build a large new nest to osprey standards, a secure place for their chicks even if an osprey nest looks a little messy.

Another year went by and the goose found someone built her a new nest and moved in. The osprey aren't back yet but I assume they will just build another nest. Or maybe they'll kill the goose and toss her and her eggs out of the nest as a lesson to other geese.

There is a moral in that story someplace, I think.

[James Wilkinson Sword]

Indeed.

And I like the term "osprey standards".

[rbowman]

Naturalist probably would be upset with interfering but the local baseball team is called the Osprey and, appropriately, has an osprey pair nesting in the outfield. Until a goose moved in. The city build a conical cover which is placed over the nest to thwart the goose. When the osprey show up it is removed.

I've never been to a baseball game there but did go to a Willie Nelson concert. The ospreys are a welcome visual distraction while waiting around for the usual delays of setting up between bands.

I've never managed to catch the act but the goose has a different approach. The osprey chicks learn to fly while in the nest. The goose rolls them over the edge where they fall about 30' and bounce a few times. When all the goslings are on the ground, the family waddles off to the river. They learn to fly after they learn to swim.

[James Wilkinson Sword]

Scotland doesn't have many Osprey. I think our RSPB (bird protection people) help them in any way they can (including the likes of what you said).

[James Wilkinson Sword]

Don't they know you're meant to steer with your knees while eating?