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seriously, a joke`s a joke, but is petrol ever going to be a price that`s anywhere NEAR reasonable ever again?
after the last time this happened, all the methods of protest have now been made illegal so we just have to sit back and get reamed at the pump (as it were)
pay cut for police, extortionate petrol, all for "the bigger picture of the british economy" well how`s this for a big picture - no matter how much you take from us, it`s never enough. there`s always some new legislation, new law, new administrative error at THEIR end that serves no purpose but leave us all out of pocket. Round of applause for the Brown one here people; everything is the same shambles it always was.
Not that i expected him to fix everythng in his first year (or ever) but all he and his cabinet have managed so far is to systematically get everyones back up.
what prompts this little rant you may or may not be wondering? well sit back with a warm beverage and enjoy it while i recount you the tale of "V_M on the roads"....
as you may or may not know, at present i live in portsmouth and commute to work in oxford on a friday. In the leadup to christmas ("coincidentally" at the end of a tax quarter) all of a sudden the entire city of portsmouth becomes one sprawling mass of "road closed" signs and people in high vis vests appearing to do very little. Most of the time their actions baffle the nearby residents because it was only about a month ago that this road finished being dug up the last time. roadworks here are like the golden gate bridge painters - the second they finish they just go back and redo it ad nauseum. So essentially, for around half the year, my journey around town consists of "leave my estate, join a queue, stay there" except for the occasions when i decide to ride my bike, but screw that in december :D
So yeah, town driving is a constant battle of route re-planning because which roads will be closed appears to be decided with the use of a map, some darts and a blindfold. Which leads me to fridays and my jaunt up to oxford. Aside from the awful way the m3 joins the a27 (resulting in it being one of the longest running accident black spots in the country - quite the accolade) i then meander onto the a34 a dual carriageway consisting mostly of large lorries overtaking each other by going 3 inches an hour faster than the other, and people in Merc and BMW`s who feel that 2 feet is an ample distance to travel from my back wheels (and new audi drivers are getting as bad). In the morning it`s a bit foggy but nothing usually too bad, but coming home at this time of year? it`s plunged into total darkness for a majority of the journey, the only illumination coming from the flickering of headlights over/under the central reservatio from traffic on the other side. On a prolonged stretch of darkened road, i can only imagine a car on teh other side had brighter than average lights (halogens are they? i know nothing about cars) which cast it`s over/under the central reservation in the aforementioned manner and produced a glorious optical illusion, oooooooh, similar tooooooo let`s say, something small bolting out in from of you (common occurance, even moreso in berkshire)
As the drivers amongst you can no doubt appreciate - you think you see something bolt out infront of you, you try to avoid it. Bottom line is that i found myself skidding sideways across both lanes, haplessly skidding in a complete circle in a manner i can only describe as "stunt-a-riffic", slowing myself through cunning (if unwilling) use of the central barrier and then looking up to see a car about to plough into my drivers door. Any way you cut it - that was absolutely terrifying. So now i`m left in the most financially crippling month of the year, needing a deposit on a flat saved for my move in january (as well as enough to get the place kitted out) and now i`m staring down the barrel of needing a new car. fan-f`ing-tastic.
SO! Brown my dear fellow, if you`d be so kind - knock on the door to ruth kellys office and ask her why is it that a relatively small, if densely populated, area like portsmouth is incessantly and needlessly resurfaced, while one of the main routes for freight in the entire country remains on a strugglingly overladed road with no proper lighting for most of it while playing host to predomionatly massive haulage lorries that are nigh unstoppable; you`ve no idea how thankful i am it wasn`t one of them behind me :S
If people in Alaska can get the internet, then by golly i say "lights for berkshire" it`s rural, but it`s not THAT rural.
there endeth my venting.
thanks very much, i`ll see ya next time.
... if i can afford it ;)
EDIT - before anyone says it - yes i`m aware that having no car for a it will save me paying the daft petrol prices, the irony is not lost on me ;)
after the last time this happened, all the methods of protest have now been made illegal so we just have to sit back and get reamed at the pump (as it were)
pay cut for police, extortionate petrol, all for "the bigger picture of the british economy" well how`s this for a big picture - no matter how much you take from us, it`s never enough. there`s always some new legislation, new law, new administrative error at THEIR end that serves no purpose but leave us all out of pocket. Round of applause for the Brown one here people; everything is the same shambles it always was.
Not that i expected him to fix everythng in his first year (or ever) but all he and his cabinet have managed so far is to systematically get everyones back up.
what prompts this little rant you may or may not be wondering? well sit back with a warm beverage and enjoy it while i recount you the tale of "V_M on the roads"....
as you may or may not know, at present i live in portsmouth and commute to work in oxford on a friday. In the leadup to christmas ("coincidentally" at the end of a tax quarter) all of a sudden the entire city of portsmouth becomes one sprawling mass of "road closed" signs and people in high vis vests appearing to do very little. Most of the time their actions baffle the nearby residents because it was only about a month ago that this road finished being dug up the last time. roadworks here are like the golden gate bridge painters - the second they finish they just go back and redo it ad nauseum. So essentially, for around half the year, my journey around town consists of "leave my estate, join a queue, stay there" except for the occasions when i decide to ride my bike, but screw that in december :D
So yeah, town driving is a constant battle of route re-planning because which roads will be closed appears to be decided with the use of a map, some darts and a blindfold. Which leads me to fridays and my jaunt up to oxford. Aside from the awful way the m3 joins the a27 (resulting in it being one of the longest running accident black spots in the country - quite the accolade) i then meander onto the a34 a dual carriageway consisting mostly of large lorries overtaking each other by going 3 inches an hour faster than the other, and people in Merc and BMW`s who feel that 2 feet is an ample distance to travel from my back wheels (and new audi drivers are getting as bad). In the morning it`s a bit foggy but nothing usually too bad, but coming home at this time of year? it`s plunged into total darkness for a majority of the journey, the only illumination coming from the flickering of headlights over/under the central reservatio from traffic on the other side. On a prolonged stretch of darkened road, i can only imagine a car on teh other side had brighter than average lights (halogens are they? i know nothing about cars) which cast it`s over/under the central reservation in the aforementioned manner and produced a glorious optical illusion, oooooooh, similar tooooooo let`s say, something small bolting out in from of you (common occurance, even moreso in berkshire)
As the drivers amongst you can no doubt appreciate - you think you see something bolt out infront of you, you try to avoid it. Bottom line is that i found myself skidding sideways across both lanes, haplessly skidding in a complete circle in a manner i can only describe as "stunt-a-riffic", slowing myself through cunning (if unwilling) use of the central barrier and then looking up to see a car about to plough into my drivers door. Any way you cut it - that was absolutely terrifying. So now i`m left in the most financially crippling month of the year, needing a deposit on a flat saved for my move in january (as well as enough to get the place kitted out) and now i`m staring down the barrel of needing a new car. fan-f`ing-tastic.
SO! Brown my dear fellow, if you`d be so kind - knock on the door to ruth kellys office and ask her why is it that a relatively small, if densely populated, area like portsmouth is incessantly and needlessly resurfaced, while one of the main routes for freight in the entire country remains on a strugglingly overladed road with no proper lighting for most of it while playing host to predomionatly massive haulage lorries that are nigh unstoppable; you`ve no idea how thankful i am it wasn`t one of them behind me :S
If people in Alaska can get the internet, then by golly i say "lights for berkshire" it`s rural, but it`s not THAT rural.
there endeth my venting.
thanks very much, i`ll see ya next time.
... if i can afford it ;)
EDIT - before anyone says it - yes i`m aware that having no car for a it will save me paying the daft petrol prices, the irony is not lost on me ;)
seriously, a joke`s a joke, but is petrol ever going to be a price that`s anywhere NEAR reasonable ever again?
after the last time this happened, all the methods of protest have now been made illegal so we just have to sit back and get reamed at the pump (as it were)
pay cut for police, extortionate petrol, all for "the bigger picture of the british economy" well how`s this for a big picture - no matter how much you take from us, it`s never enough. there`s always some new legislation, new law, new administrative error at THEIR end that serves no purpose but leave us all out of pocket. Round of applause for the Brown one here people; everything is the same shambles it always was.
Not that i expected him to fix everythng in his first year (or ever) but all he and his cabinet have managed so far is to systematically get everyones back up.
what prompts this little rant you may or may not be wondering? well sit back with a warm beverage and enjoy it while i recount you the tale of "V_M on the roads"....
as you may or may not know, at present i live in portsmouth and commute to work in oxford on a friday. In the leadup to christmas ("coincidentally" at the end of a tax quarter) all of a sudden the entire city of portsmouth becomes one sprawling mass of "road closed" signs and people in high vis vests appearing to do very little. Most of the time their actions baffle the nearby residents because it was only about a month ago that this road finished being dug up the last time. roadworks here are like the golden gate bridge painters - the second they finish they just go back and redo it ad nauseum. So essentially, for around half the year, my journey around town consists of "leave my estate, join a queue, stay there" except for the occasions when i decide to ride my bike, but screw that in december :D
So yeah, town driving is a constant battle of route re-planning because which roads will be closed appears to be decided with the use of a map, some darts and a blindfold. Which leads me to fridays and my jaunt up to oxford. Aside from the awful way the m3 joins the a27 (resulting in it being one of the longest running accident black spots in the country - quite the accolade) i then meander onto the a34 a dual carriageway consisting mostly of large lorries overtaking each other by going 3 inches an hour faster than the other, and people in Merc and BMW`s who feel that 2 feet is an ample distance to travel from my back wheels (and new audi drivers are getting as bad). In the morning it`s a bit foggy but nothing usually too bad, but coming home at this time of year? it`s plunged into total darkness for a majority of the journey, the only illumination coming from the flickering of headlights over/under the central reservatio from traffic on the other side. On a prolonged stretch of darkened road, i can only imagine a car on teh other side had brighter than average lights (halogens are they? i know nothing about cars) which cast it`s over/under the central reservation in the aforementioned manner and produced a glorious optical illusion, oooooooh, similar tooooooo let`s say, something small bolting out in from of you (common occurance, even moreso in berkshire)
As the drivers amongst you can no doubt appreciate - you think you see something bolt out infront of you, you try to avoid it. Bottom line is that i found myself skidding sideways across both lanes, haplessly skidding in a complete circle in a manner i can only describe as "stunt-a-riffic", slowing myself through cunning (if unwilling) use of the central barrier and then looking up to see a car about to plough into my drivers door. Any way you cut it - that was absolutely terrifying. So now i`m left in the most financially crippling month of the year, needing a deposit on a flat saved for my move in january (as well as enough to get the place kitted out) and now i`m staring down the barrel of needing a new car. fan-f`ing-tastic.
SO! Brown my dear fellow, if you`d be so kind - knock on the door to ruth kellys office and ask her why is it that a relatively small, if densely populated, area like portsmouth is incessantly and needlessly resurfaced, while one of the main routes for freight in the entire country remains on a strugglingly overladed road with no proper lighting for most of it while playing host to predomionatly massive haulage lorries that are nigh unstoppable; you`ve no idea how thankful i am it wasn`t one of them behind me :S
If people in Alaska can get the internet, then by golly i say "lights for berkshire" it`s rural, but it`s not THAT rural.
there endeth my venting.
thanks very much, i`ll see ya next time.
... if i can afford it ;)
EDIT - before anyone says it - yes i`m aware that having no car for a it will save me paying the daft petrol prices, the irony is not lost on me ;)
after the last time this happened, all the methods of protest have now been made illegal so we just have to sit back and get reamed at the pump (as it were)
pay cut for police, extortionate petrol, all for "the bigger picture of the british economy" well how`s this for a big picture - no matter how much you take from us, it`s never enough. there`s always some new legislation, new law, new administrative error at THEIR end that serves no purpose but leave us all out of pocket. Round of applause for the Brown one here people; everything is the same shambles it always was.
Not that i expected him to fix everythng in his first year (or ever) but all he and his cabinet have managed so far is to systematically get everyones back up.
what prompts this little rant you may or may not be wondering? well sit back with a warm beverage and enjoy it while i recount you the tale of "V_M on the roads"....
as you may or may not know, at present i live in portsmouth and commute to work in oxford on a friday. In the leadup to christmas ("coincidentally" at the end of a tax quarter) all of a sudden the entire city of portsmouth becomes one sprawling mass of "road closed" signs and people in high vis vests appearing to do very little. Most of the time their actions baffle the nearby residents because it was only about a month ago that this road finished being dug up the last time. roadworks here are like the golden gate bridge painters - the second they finish they just go back and redo it ad nauseum. So essentially, for around half the year, my journey around town consists of "leave my estate, join a queue, stay there" except for the occasions when i decide to ride my bike, but screw that in december :D
So yeah, town driving is a constant battle of route re-planning because which roads will be closed appears to be decided with the use of a map, some darts and a blindfold. Which leads me to fridays and my jaunt up to oxford. Aside from the awful way the m3 joins the a27 (resulting in it being one of the longest running accident black spots in the country - quite the accolade) i then meander onto the a34 a dual carriageway consisting mostly of large lorries overtaking each other by going 3 inches an hour faster than the other, and people in Merc and BMW`s who feel that 2 feet is an ample distance to travel from my back wheels (and new audi drivers are getting as bad). In the morning it`s a bit foggy but nothing usually too bad, but coming home at this time of year? it`s plunged into total darkness for a majority of the journey, the only illumination coming from the flickering of headlights over/under the central reservatio from traffic on the other side. On a prolonged stretch of darkened road, i can only imagine a car on teh other side had brighter than average lights (halogens are they? i know nothing about cars) which cast it`s over/under the central reservation in the aforementioned manner and produced a glorious optical illusion, oooooooh, similar tooooooo let`s say, something small bolting out in from of you (common occurance, even moreso in berkshire)
As the drivers amongst you can no doubt appreciate - you think you see something bolt out infront of you, you try to avoid it. Bottom line is that i found myself skidding sideways across both lanes, haplessly skidding in a complete circle in a manner i can only describe as "stunt-a-riffic", slowing myself through cunning (if unwilling) use of the central barrier and then looking up to see a car about to plough into my drivers door. Any way you cut it - that was absolutely terrifying. So now i`m left in the most financially crippling month of the year, needing a deposit on a flat saved for my move in january (as well as enough to get the place kitted out) and now i`m staring down the barrel of needing a new car. fan-f`ing-tastic.
SO! Brown my dear fellow, if you`d be so kind - knock on the door to ruth kellys office and ask her why is it that a relatively small, if densely populated, area like portsmouth is incessantly and needlessly resurfaced, while one of the main routes for freight in the entire country remains on a strugglingly overladed road with no proper lighting for most of it while playing host to predomionatly massive haulage lorries that are nigh unstoppable; you`ve no idea how thankful i am it wasn`t one of them behind me :S
If people in Alaska can get the internet, then by golly i say "lights for berkshire" it`s rural, but it`s not THAT rural.
there endeth my venting.
thanks very much, i`ll see ya next time.
... if i can afford it ;)
EDIT - before anyone says it - yes i`m aware that having no car for a it will save me paying the daft petrol prices, the irony is not lost on me ;)
Know what you mean, over here the usual roadworks have started up again (despite the same patches of road being dug up only a few months ago) with the usual fantastic workmanship going on......ahem.
I'm sure it'll be the same story again around March time.
I'm sure it'll be the same story again around March time.
Well, if Ladyman's still Road Safety Minister, he's quite likely to lose his seat at the next election (That is, assuming the Conservatives will keep their substantial poll lead), so you may get some revenge in a couple of years, no?
I saw an article today saying that the government should cut fuek duties as it would really help the haulage industry, farmers et cetera and probably V_M and therefore boost the ol' economy, especially when it can afford to. I think there's a load of people petitioning the Great Clunking Fist/Bottler (If we're to keep up the abuse) over it. Admittedly article this was in the Express, I think, but of the papers my dad had in the car, it was easier to read whilst moving than the Telegraph...
To be honest, the government's dithering over where to build houses isn't doing the building industry any favours either; but it is quite a hard task in a small and densely poipulated country!
Also, in terms of town centres being queued up, St. Stephen's Street in Norwich is bad, but that's because it's where bus and car live together in large numbers...
I saw an article today saying that the government should cut fuek duties as it would really help the haulage industry, farmers et cetera and probably V_M and therefore boost the ol' economy, especially when it can afford to. I think there's a load of people petitioning the Great Clunking Fist/Bottler (If we're to keep up the abuse) over it. Admittedly article this was in the Express, I think, but of the papers my dad had in the car, it was easier to read whilst moving than the Telegraph...
To be honest, the government's dithering over where to build houses isn't doing the building industry any favours either; but it is quite a hard task in a small and densely poipulated country!
Also, in terms of town centres being queued up, St. Stephen's Street in Norwich is bad, but that's because it's where bus and car live together in large numbers...
For what actually has to be paid for, petrol is very cheap indeed. It's more expensive to buy a litre of coke for example.
yeah, we get ripped off on drinks as well ;)
if the pound is that strong at present then how come all our prices have rocketed?
i take your point about the coke, but that`s not a necessity - petrol is. noone is going to accept "i can`t afford petrol" as an excuse for not getting in to work, so what choice is there? none, we just have to pay up and take it. what i find outrageous is how quickly it went from being reasonable(ish) to being ludicrous, with no explaination other than "tuff" (esentailly), quickly followed by "of yeah, going up again in april" so not only is already extortion, but now they`re rubbing our face in it by basically saying "you think THIS is bad? well you`ll yearn for this soon"
i simply don`t understand where all the money goes. there`s road tax, toll roads, speed cameras, pay and display; motorists are forced to chuck money into the economy every time they even THINK about using their car and to be honest, i see no real improvement. if this is all just to appease the eco-mentalists then it`s ludicrous (they`d drive too if they had jobs ;) ), especially given the relative size of britain. it`d take somewhere like china or the USA about 3 seconds to undo a years worth of UK environmental work and we need to understand that - britain is simply not strong enough to make any difference until bigger places are pulling in the same direction; we`re spitting into a hurricane. it`s all very well fighting the good fight, but whether or not it`s worth alienating as majority of the population?.. i`d debate that.
"Speed cameras save lives" - well maybe so, but again, there aren`t any on the a34 and there are ALWAYS accidents there. i`ve been at rebellion for about 8 months and every single week i get stuck in delays because of accidents, especially as it gets darker. it can`t be unnoticed by the department of transport, economically speaking that`s an important roads, it goes from the shipping ports to the midlands, so for crying out loud make it safer, just bang some lights in so we can see! stick some cameras down to stop the incessent tailgaiting from people who insist on doing 100mph+ , that`s one lot of roadworks that`d be worthwhile in the long run.
and i don`t consider myself devoid of blame here at all, i`m VERY impatient and tend to go too fast as well; so i`d probably be irked at more cameras, but when it comes down to it, i`d rather be forced to go slower than have another accident like that.
if the pound is that strong at present then how come all our prices have rocketed?
i take your point about the coke, but that`s not a necessity - petrol is. noone is going to accept "i can`t afford petrol" as an excuse for not getting in to work, so what choice is there? none, we just have to pay up and take it. what i find outrageous is how quickly it went from being reasonable(ish) to being ludicrous, with no explaination other than "tuff" (esentailly), quickly followed by "of yeah, going up again in april" so not only is already extortion, but now they`re rubbing our face in it by basically saying "you think THIS is bad? well you`ll yearn for this soon"
i simply don`t understand where all the money goes. there`s road tax, toll roads, speed cameras, pay and display; motorists are forced to chuck money into the economy every time they even THINK about using their car and to be honest, i see no real improvement. if this is all just to appease the eco-mentalists then it`s ludicrous (they`d drive too if they had jobs ;) ), especially given the relative size of britain. it`d take somewhere like china or the USA about 3 seconds to undo a years worth of UK environmental work and we need to understand that - britain is simply not strong enough to make any difference until bigger places are pulling in the same direction; we`re spitting into a hurricane. it`s all very well fighting the good fight, but whether or not it`s worth alienating as majority of the population?.. i`d debate that.
"Speed cameras save lives" - well maybe so, but again, there aren`t any on the a34 and there are ALWAYS accidents there. i`ve been at rebellion for about 8 months and every single week i get stuck in delays because of accidents, especially as it gets darker. it can`t be unnoticed by the department of transport, economically speaking that`s an important roads, it goes from the shipping ports to the midlands, so for crying out loud make it safer, just bang some lights in so we can see! stick some cameras down to stop the incessent tailgaiting from people who insist on doing 100mph+ , that`s one lot of roadworks that`d be worthwhile in the long run.
and i don`t consider myself devoid of blame here at all, i`m VERY impatient and tend to go too fast as well; so i`d probably be irked at more cameras, but when it comes down to it, i`d rather be forced to go slower than have another accident like that.
Very_Metal = The Jeremy Clarkson of Freeola
hehe, now there`s a double edged comment :D
i`m just fed up with seeing money i work hard for disappearing into the ether and never seeing any improvements for me or those around me, especially when those taking it are all on salaries that eclipse anything we make. self-serving assclowns >:(
and my hair is better than clarksons, as the cat once said; "i do have hair like yours.. just not on my head" :D
i`m just fed up with seeing money i work hard for disappearing into the ether and never seeing any improvements for me or those around me, especially when those taking it are all on salaries that eclipse anything we make. self-serving assclowns >:(
and my hair is better than clarksons, as the cat once said; "i do have hair like yours.. just not on my head" :D