"What have you eaten" Parallel Chat

Antje77 said:

Everyone. The bike lanes are next to the parking spots.

Both the picture and the video are taken in my old neighbourhood, both obviously at quiet hours with very few cars, those are rather busy streets during the day.
As you can see, in wider roads there are usually small biking lanes, but if the road is smaller, everyone just shares the same part of the road.

Very, very important to check for bikes when getting out of your car!

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As Ann says, yours look sensible and they use the cycle lanes. Here the rule change says they don't have to use the cycle lanes. They can go along in the middle of the road. Edinburgh is a right mess with what was supposed to be temporary cycle lanes. To be fair I have some sympathy as the roads are a right mess too with potholes. I've been dodging a large one locally for 2 years now!

Our cycle lanes are not wide enough to drive a vehicle in here. I use my door mirrors to see what is behind me, as I have a big aluminium box in the back of my Colorado truck as a dealer fixture.

Another thing is never get out of the vehicle unless the police ask / tell you to, they like to see both hands as well. Our police carry fire arms, tasers, capsicum spray so no arguing.

With a new vehicle it should be some of the first things you ask before going out of the car yard, where is the light switch, window winder if electric, and how to put it it in reverse gear (there's differences between car makers) if it's a manual, and check to see see what side the fuel filler cap is on.

In other news Ashley Bartley won the ladies tennis final Yay!, Nic and his partner won the doubles Yay!, sweating on Raffa winning today.

Riva_Roxaban said:

I use my door mirrors to see what is behind me

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You'll miss the cyclist who is next to your rear wheel, can't see that part in the window. And they'll be right where your door is when you open it after checking the mirror.

maglil55 said:

Edinburgh is a right mess with what was supposed to be temporary cycle lanes.

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I've just reached a part in the book I'm currently reading which plays in Edinburgh in the 18th century (very exciting, a long awaited reunion, dead constables hidden in a vat of crème de menthe, people saved from burning print shops, a young boy's first visit to a house of pleasure, smugglers narrowly escaping their downfall, things like that), so at the moment Edinburgh in my mind is a fictional and very wild city.
You mentioning the current cycling situation in Edinburgh gave me a funny jolt, two realities coming together. I'd almost forgotten it is of course a real city!

Antje77 said:

(very exciting, a long awaited reunion, dead constables hidden in a vat of crème de menthe, people saved from burning print shops, a young boy's first visit to a house of pleasure, smugglers narrowly escaping their downfall, things like that

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What's the book @Antje77 ?

MrsA2 said:

What's the book @Antje77 ?

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Voyager. It's the third book in the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. I'm currently rereading the whole series because finally (FINALLY!) the new book is out!

Very fine reading if you like big fat books with lots of pages, some adventure, some romance, some history and some far-fetched storylines!

Riva_Roxaban said:

Our cycle lanes are not wide enough to drive a vehicle in here. I use my door mirrors to see what is behind me, as I have a big aluminium box in the back of my Colorado truck as a dealer fixture.

Another thing is never get out of the vehicle unless the police ask / tell you to, they like to see both hands as well. Our police carry fire arms, tasers, capsicum spray so no arguing.

With a new vehicle it should be some of the first things you ask before going out of the car yard, where is the light switch, window winder if electric, and how to put it it in reverse gear (there's differences between car makers) if it's a manual, and check to see see what side the fuel filler cap is on.

In other news Ashley Bartley won the ladies tennis final Yay!, Nic and his partner won the doubles Yay!, sweating on Raffa winning today.

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DIL knew where most of the bits and pieces were because she drives an almost identical vehicle herself, but it turned out that the satnav was a bit different and the button to open the door was in a slightly different place - neither of which she had noticed in the showroom. Have to admit, she's a bit cavalier about some things and can be a bit over-confident. At least she wasn't driving along the road, fiddling with the satnav and had stopped to sort it out.

Here, I think, the police do ask you to get out of the vehicle while they do whatever check they are doing. However, the one we were discussing was out of order. He had no reason to suppose that he would spend an hour searching and eventually find a fault. He also shouldn't have been on his own on patrol. Not these days, in the current suspicious climate around police officers.

However, all over now and we wait to see if anything comes of it.

Antje77 said:

You'll miss the cyclist who is next to your rear wheel, can't see that part in the window. And they'll be right where your door is when you open it after checking the mirror.

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I drive a truck similar to this make and model, it also has a rear view camera when it's not blocked by the gear in the back. Cyclists riding in the middle of the road overtaking a vehicle have a death wish.

Riva_Roxaban said:

Cyclists riding in the middle of the road overtaking a vehicle have a death wish.

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I was talking about opening the car door after parallel parking on the side of the road. The cyclist would be riding where they're supposed to be.
A rear view camera is a great tool!

Antje77 said:

I was talking about opening the car door after parallel parking on the side of the road. The cyclist would be riding where they're supposed to be.

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We drive on the left hand side of the road same as the UK, so for the cyclist to hit the drivers door on the right hand side he / she would have to be out in the middle of the road.

Plenty of room on the left hand side on the grass strips, as they are on most Australian roads.

Riva_Roxaban said:

We drive on the left hand side of the road same as the UK, so for the cyclist to hit the drivers door on the right hand side he / she would have to be out in the middle of the road.

Plenty of room on the left hand side on the grass strips, as they are on most Australian roads.

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I meant this situation, for UK and Australia you can just mentally mirror the image.
If you drive left side, you'll mostly parallel park left side. When you then open your right side door the cyclist crashes into that door.
Regardless of the side of the road you drive, the driver's door will be where the cyclists are.
Unless I take my car on holiday to the UK of course, in that case I'll just be utterly confused all holiday!

Just back from my pre-op assessment. Just to be awkward, I slept in until 8.40 (up at 3 am for about an hour and then back to sleep) and had 20 minutes to get washed, dressed and out of the door. Made it but had no drink or food or time to take pills.

Anyway, all is reasonable, apart from the fact that my lungs are those of a 90 year old! I knew there was an issue with my lungs (post covid?) but there's nothing to be seen on scans. However, there obviously is something. It's not going to stop the surgery going ahead though, so that's OK.

The surgery is pencilled in for 10th February so there's no hanging around. It will be a 3 day affair - ferry and car on day 1, surgery on day 2 (discharged same day) and car and ferry back on day 3. It took 3 nurses and an anaesthetist 3/4 hour to get blood out of me. That's not unusual for me.

While in the car, I checked the handles to open the doors and realised they are too far forward to make us look backwards before opening the doors. In fact, the one on the driver's side is hidden by the steering wheel. I'm afraid the dutch way won't work with the Scenic because we have to lean too far forward to be able to check behind. Lucky it is, after all, advisory.

I mentioned to my brother (who has been driving for more than 60 years) about DIL's encounter with the policeman. He had 3 points to add - 1. the windscreen washer fault is not one which brings down points on a license any more than opening the door wrongly is 2. getting points on a license involves a court hearing, because the driver has to be given a chance to defend themselves, 3. on the spot fines can only be given for a speeding offense, not for a failure to have everything in working order. So we have to wonder what that particular police officer was thinking of. Maybe he was just bored.

With the little bit of walking I did today (just down the ramp to the car, a short walk along the corridor at the dentists and back up the ramp again once home) I can't understand why my legs are so bad tonight. Of course, I have been aware that they are getting worse lately but this has brought it home to me.

I was also thinking, last night, about the back rest I pl(got half way through a sentence and the post uploaded itself, so I am continuing in the edit screen)...I planned to buy. I realised that I would not be able to manoevre myself into position in the bed so that I could use it. What I need is something like a full riser/recliner chair instead of a bed. Might just forget about the bedroom and sleep in the kitchen full time. Don't imagine that that would work though so maybe replace the bed with said chair.

Antje77 said:

Regardless of the side of the road you drive, the driver's door will be where the cyclists are.

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We mostly angle park here, fortunately we do not have many bikes on our roads as Holland.

Here's a pix of the cbd roughly now..

Riva_Roxaban said:

We mostly angle park here

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In this situation there's not a chance of running into a car door, unless people do really strange things!

Antje77 said:

In this situation there's not a chance of running into a car door, unless people do really strange things!

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You'd be surprised!

Antje77 said:

In this situation there's not a chance of running into a car door, unless people do really strange things!

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Here's a short video of the Friendlies Hospital near me, with their disabled parking spots, it's got to be a dumb cyclist to hit Chris.

Antje77 said:

In this situation there's not a chance of running into a car door, unless people do really strange things!

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Our stupid teenagers do incredibly strange (and dangerous) things!

maglil55 said:

Our stupid teenagers do incredibly strange (and dangerous) things!

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Not often, but I have actually seen kids on bikes using a car park like some sort of speed maze on 2 wheels (sometimes one wheel), dashing through one gap and back through another and another - lots of fun, I'm sure. A bit daunting to people who can't dodge easily, especially elderly or young mothers with kids in tow. And rather dangerous to the kids indulging in the game. I would say they get what they deserve but they are clearly not quite the full shilling so not responsible for their actions. That's me being politically correct.

Five new face masks arrived yesterday from a store in the ACT, took longer to arrive than Australia Day lasted last week

No 2 son was only in hospital for the one day. The gall bladder was removed using keyhole surgery so he has 4 holes where instruments were inserted to do the job. He's feeling a bit bruised and sore, but he's OK. Now has 2 weeks off work to recover.

My appointment at Raigmore Hospital has been pencilled in for 10 February - again, no overnight stay. I guess they just don't want to keep people in hospital due to covid. They are depending on Neil to ensure that I am allright overnight after the general anaesthetic.

Just this morning, received a letter from the Western Isles Hospital for an appointment at the medical clinic (they are supposed to keep an eye on my liver) which has been delayed by the covid restrictions. It is for 10 February! Wouldn't you know it? So that has been cancelled and they will reschedule it for some time in future.

Currently Neil has a very sore back and shoulder so can't actually do very much so we are in a worse case than usually. He's gone for a long walk in the hope of getting rid of some of the stiffness.

Em was here for her breakfast (bacon and ketchup) before school today - her dad can't get her to school and it is a bit too far and too dark for her to walk up on her own, so DIL had to drop her off here on her way to work (about 6.45). School starts at 8.40 am and takes 10 minutes to walk from here. Sunrise was at 8.28 today and so it was just light enough to see where she was going. Lucky we are so close to the school. It's good to see her in school clothes that are actually big enough for her!