At least I'm alive.......

[Dave]

To the loud vocal cyclist who joined in with the motorcyclist in shouting at
me at the M6 J10 island, I might give cycling a bad name, but at least I'm
alive ;-)

....and for those who weren't there but might be interested.....
This evening I started a course at the local tech / uni / college / whatever
they call them these days. Decided to go in by bike and spent the day
prepping the 'bent, sorting the rear dynamo light, removing a few chain
links to try and remedy slippage. Ready to go when a discussion with my wife
concludes that it might not be a good idea to go on the bent and I should
use a cheaper / more expendable bike until I'm confident in the security.
Decided to go right to the cheap end and use the Hercules Compact foldabe I
picked up for a fiver a couple of months ago. Anyway, on the way home
spotted a lycra clad lad on a racer, givin' it some 'ommer and decided to
see if I could catch him on me 'shopper, white carrier / saddle bag 'n' all.
Thanks to a couple of sets of lights I caught up with him without too much
problem. He pulled away at the last set and headed off around junction 10.
Again, he got caught at the lights providing access onto the Black Country
Route. There was a motorcycle leading the queue in the outer lane, all
waiting to go down the BCR. The cyclist was inside lane also waiting to go
down the BCR. I moved into the outside lane, indicating my intention to turn
right and pick up the next exit after the BCR. As I approached the lights at
the front of the queue I spotted the lights changing to red on the other
pair. In order to get a lead on the racing start of the traffic going down
the BCR I cautiously started to move across the junction, having first
confirmed no traffic approaching the changing lights (plenty good
visibility). Whilst edging my way around I could hear very loud shouts of
"OI!!!"...."OI!!!"....."OI!!!...." Eventually I decided to look back and saw
an old geezer, grey beard and all in a T-shirt on a motorbike, hollering
about the f*ck*ng lights still being on f*ck*ng red when I started to cross.
I gave a shrug of the shoulders and carried on my way, just in time to see
him tear-arsing off down the BCR. Obviously a bit ****ed off that a cyclist
had taken him at the lights thought I. As I'd thought and have experienced
before, he was leading a constant flow of traffic, all practising their
racing starts. It would have made cycling past the junction very difficult /
risky.
Imagine my suprise when the cyclist then started shouting, equally loudly,
that I give cyclists a bad name......
I can only imagine that he only ever goes straight down the BCR and has
never tried crossing the two lane flow of impatient cagers. ahhh...and he
might have been a bit ****ed off about the fact that a bloke on a shopper
(lights and fluorescents) caught up with him ;-)
So, to all you cyclists out there, protecting the good name of cyclists, I
apologise......
However, to my family I say 'Daddies home again!!'

;-)

Dave.

[elyob]

"Dave" > wrote in message
...
>
> In order to get a lead on the racing start of the traffic going down
> the BCR I cautiously started to move across the junction, having first
> confirmed no traffic approaching the changing lights (plenty good
> visibility). Whilst edging my way around I could hear very loud shouts of
> "OI!!!"...."OI!!!"....."OI!!!...."
<snip>

You give cyclists a bad name. As well as keeping yourself alive, think of
the other road users who want to get back to see their children too.You
could easily spook another road user who may think you're about to go in
front of them. I certainly learnt my lesson cycling in Belfast, when I
crossed the white line at red lights. I only wanted to make others aware I
was there. Next thing I've got a semi-automatic pointed in my general
direction with a soldier shouting at me not to go through red lights.

One thing I like to do is stop at all traffic lights and overtake the feckin
idiots who go through the red lights past me.

[M Series]

> Imagine my suprise when the cyclist then started shouting, equally
> loudly, that I give cyclists a bad name......

Jumping red lights DOES give cyclists a bad name. Had I been the other
cyclist I might have shouted at you too, well not audibly in case you turned
round and tw****d me !

[Richard Goodman]

"elyob" > wrote in message
...

> One thing I like to do is stop at all traffic lights and overtake the
feckin
> idiots who go through the red lights past me.
>

But that's just a bit of an idle boast isn't it? While you may catch most
of the cyclists on the road who can't be bothered to work up a sweat, as
someone who likes to partake in the sport of chasing down any cyclist ahead
of him, I can tell you that in London at least some of the 'feckin idiots'
are damn fast.

Rich

[AndyMorris]

Eatmorepies wrote:
> A person with limited language skills may say of a non functioning
> computer "the ****ing ****er's ****ed". An I.T. specialist may say
> "there are corrupt tracks on the hard drive".

I am an I.T specialist and we say tfff.



--
Andy Morris

AndyAtJinkasDotFreeserve.Co.UK


Love this:
Put an end to Outlook Express's messy quotes
http://home.in.tum.de/~jain/software/oe-quotefix/

[Just zis Guy, you know?]

"Eatmorepies" > wrote in message
...

> A person with limited language skills may say of a non functioning
computer
> "the ****ing ****er's ****ed". An I.T. specialist may say "there are
corrupt
> tracks on the hard drive". They both communicate the non-functioning
element
> of the situation.

Or I might say "the system is in a functionally degraded state." "What?"
"It's f**ked." "Ah."

--
Guy
===

WARNING: may contain traces of irony. Contents may settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.com

[marc]

AndyMorris > wrote:

> > A person with limited language skills may say of a non functioning
> > computer "the ****ing ****er's ****ed". An I.T. specialist may say
> > "there are corrupt tracks on the hard drive".
>
> I am an I.T specialist and we say tfff.

Shoudn't that be expressed as an error code with at least 14 digits ?


--
Marc
Stickers,decals,membership,cards, T shirts, signs etc
for clubs and associations of all types.
http://www.jaceeprint.demon.co.uk/

[MS Jedi]

> A person with limited language skills may say of a non functioning computer
> "the ****ing ****er's ****ed". An I.T. specialist may say "there are corrupt
> tracks on the hard drive". They both communicate the non-functioning element
> of the situation. The first also communicates the sense of frustration she
> feels. Multiple effing was possibly used to impress upon you the seriousness
> of the possible danger the motorcyclist perceived you to be in.
>
> John

I work in I.T. Support, ( I know, I'm a geek!) and if I were describing a
problem to someone, I would say "yes, the tracks on the hard drive are
****ed!". This mix has meaning to people who have and haven't a clue
what I'm talking about, all the non IT aware people hear is "bla bla bla
bla ****ed" and they know that the equipment in question is faulty.

--
MS Jedi

[Dave]

"marc" > wrote in message
. co.uk...
> AndyMorris > wrote:
>
> > > A person with limited language skills may say of a non functioning
> > > computer "the ****ing ****er's ****ed". An I.T. specialist may say
> > > "there are corrupt tracks on the hard drive".
> >
> > I am an I.T specialist and we say tfff.
>
> Shoudn't that be expressed as an error code with at least 14 digits ?
>
>
> --
> Marc
> Stickers,decals,membership,cards, T shirts, signs etc
> for clubs and associations of all types.
> http://www.jaceeprint.demon.co.uk/

Wouldn't that be '0000000000tfff' ?

[marc]

Dave > wrote:

> > > > A person with limited language skills may say of a non functioning
> > > > computer "the ****ing ****er's ****ed". An I.T. specialist may say
> > > > "there are corrupt tracks on the hard drive".
> > >
> > > I am an I.T specialist and we say tfff.
> >
> > Shoudn't that be expressed as an error code with at least 14 digits ?
> >
> >
> > --
> > Marc
> > Stickers,decals,membership,cards, T shirts, signs etc
> > for clubs and associations of all types.
> > http://www.jaceeprint.demon.co.uk/
>
> Wouldn't that be '0000000000tfff' ?

No you have to throw in a few numbers mask the fact that its really just
tfff. Why are error codes and messages so obscure , can't they just say
"it's broken"?


--
Marc
Stickers,decals,membership,cards, T shirts, signs etc
for clubs and associations of all types.
http://www.jaceeprint.demon.co.uk/

[Tony Raven]

AndyMorris wrote:
> Eatmorepies wrote:
>> A person with limited language skills may say of a non functioning
>> computer "the ****ing ****er's ****ed". An I.T. specialist may say
>> "there are corrupt tracks on the hard drive".
>
> I am an I.T specialist and we say tfff.

.....even when all it needs is switching on at the back ;-)

Tony

--
"If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything."
Mark Twain

[RJ Webb]

Knowing the road in question, you simply had two alternatives, get a
lead on the lights or join the hedgehog club.....You did nothing wrong

IIRC your exit is barred to cars so most folk will not have a mental
map of that route. It is simply impossible to make it across the BCR
on a green light, especially as its a hellhole junction now with the
road works..

I hate crossing motorway junctions, I nearly got had 1 junction up the
M6 by a clown who cut me up assuming that my route was down the slip
road onto the M6

Scariest of all is Junctions 1 and 2 of the M54.. We badly need a
cycle crossing of this motorway.. The roundabouts are fast,lethal and
have no mercy. There are no alternatives, making northward travel from
Wolverhampton very frightening.

Richard Webb

[RJ Webb]

On Wed, 17 Sep 2003 18:55:57 +0100, "M Series" >
wrote:

>
>> Imagine my suprise when the cyclist then started shouting, equally
>> loudly, that I give cyclists a bad name......
>
>Jumping red lights DOES give cyclists a bad name. Had I been the other
>cyclist I might have shouted at you too, well not audibly in case you turned
>round and tw****d me !

Try looking at the road in question... TINA. If you want to make it to
the safe onward road thats what you have to do. Otherwise you are
lanejacked down a slipway infested dual carriageway. I would myself
turn pedestrian and walk around that one... Its truely evil.

Richard Webb

[Simon Brooke]

(marc) writes:

> AndyMorris > wrote:
>
> > > A person with limited language skills may say of a non functioning
> > > computer "the ****ing ****er's ****ed". An I.T. specialist may say
> > > "there are corrupt tracks on the hard drive".
> >
> > I am an I.T specialist and we say tfff.
>
> Shoudn't that be expressed as an error code with at least 14 digits ?

Error 1109: There is no message for this error

[that one is genuine, by the way]

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; when in the ****, the wise man plants courgettes

[Chris Johns]

> Error 1109: There is no message for this error
> [that one is genuine, by the way]

Fatal Error : Success (error 0)
--
Chris Johns )

[Tony Raven]

Simon Brooke wrote:
> (marc) writes:
>
> Error 1109: There is no message for this error
>
> [that one is genuine, by the way]

Which takes me back to my programming days when the computer used to often
rudely tell me I was an "invalid operator".

Tony ;-)

--
"If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything."
Mark Twain

[Ian Smith]

On Thu, 18 Sep 2003 13:16:58 +0100, marc > wrote:
> Dave > wrote:
>
> > > > > A person with limited language skills may say of a non functioning
> > > > > computer "the ****ing ****er's ****ed". An I.T. specialist may say
> > > > > "there are corrupt tracks on the hard drive".
> > > >
> > > > I am an I.T specialist and we say tfff.
> > >
> > > Shoudn't that be expressed as an error code with at least 14 digits ?
> > >
> > Wouldn't that be '0000000000tfff' ?
>
> No you have to throw in a few numbers mask the fact that its really just
> tfff. Why are error codes and messages so obscure , can't they just say
> "it's broken"?

Actually, as a network administrator (well, probably closer to phb now
than bofh) I generally just say "it's buggered". Most users seem
happy with this approach, I think - it tells them what they need to
know, and it saves me wasting breath on an explanation they don't
need. If they really want the gruesome details, they can interrogate
the sandwich student who subsequently dismembers the machine.

regards, Ian SMith
--
|\ /| no .sig
|o o|
|/ \|

[James Hodson]

On Thu, 18 Sep 2003 09:36:48 +0100, "Just zis Guy, you know?"
> wrote:

Some stuff.

Thank you for phoning the ... NTL Windows Technical Support Hotline.
We have not employed a sufficient number of ... NTL Windows Technical
Support Hotline ... staff. Please select the appropriate number from
the following menu, and may God go with you.

If there are corrupt tracks on the hard drive press #1
If error message 0000000000tfff is present press #1
If the ****ing ****er's ****ed press #1
If you know what the problem really is hang up and sort it out
yourself.
For any other queries phone 0800-039-1010 or visit
<http://makeashorterlink.com/?B2B1322F5>


James

--
"Sorry mate, I didn't see you" is not a satisfactory excuse.

[Dave]

"RJ Webb" > wrote in message
...
>
> >was there. Next thing I've got a semi-automatic pointed in my general
> >direction with a soldier shouting at me not to go through red lights.
>
> We only have neds pointing guns at folk round here....
> Now Ive only experienced the road system of Belfast as a cager... Not
> fun - Always get spat out in the opposite direction to where I want to
> go.
>
> Richard Webb

I did Belfast once as a cager....almost scarier than traversing M6J10 on a
bicycle was waiting at a set of lights on the motorway through the centre of
Belfast (no idea!!), behind an army armoured vehicle with three rifle
nozzles pointing in my general direction. I was looking everywhere except at
the back of this vehicle, whilst still trying to keep an eye on him starting
off....
Dave.

[Dave]

"RJ Webb" > wrote in message
...
> On Wed, 17 Sep 2003 18:55:57 +0100, "M Series" >
> wrote:
>
> >
> >> Imagine my suprise when the cyclist then started shouting, equally
> >> loudly, that I give cyclists a bad name......
> >
> >Jumping red lights DOES give cyclists a bad name. Had I been the other
> >cyclist I might have shouted at you too, well not audibly in case you
turned
> >round and tw****d me !
>
> Try looking at the road in question... TINA. If you want to make it to
> the safe onward road thats what you have to do. Otherwise you are
> lanejacked down a slipway infested dual carriageway. I would myself
> turn pedestrian and walk around that one... Its truely evil.
>
> Richard Webb

Thank you Richard ! Can't help feeling some 'reclaim the streets' action
needs to be taken regarding this particular island. It's actually more
dangerous in ped mode as there are no lights / warnings or any hint as to
when you can cross the slip road accesses, avoiding MDGs trying to achieve
warp factor 10 prior to joining the motorway. I'm probably at the height of
my physical fitness / awareness etcetc (sperm counts lowest though,
following op ;-) and even I find it seriously intimidating. God knows how
the blind deaf old biddy manages.....I know, catches the bus round!!

Dave.

[Dave]

"RJ Webb" > wrote in message
...
> Knowing the road in question, you simply had two alternatives, get a
> lead on the lights or join the hedgehog club.....You did nothing wrong
>
> IIRC your exit is barred to cars so most folk will not have a mental
> map of that route. It is simply impossible to make it across the BCR
> on a green light, especially as its a hellhole junction now with the
> road works..
>
> I hate crossing motorway junctions, I nearly got had 1 junction up the
> M6 by a clown who cut me up assuming that my route was down the slip
> road onto the M6
>
> Scariest of all is Junctions 1 and 2 of the M54.. We badly need a
> cycle crossing of this motorway.. The roundabouts are fast,lethal and
> have no mercy. There are no alternatives, making northward travel from
> Wolverhampton very frightening.
>
> Richard Webb

These are ok if you're moving at a reasonable rate on the approach and
there's nothing coming, BUT, if you have to stop.... well, life in very
slippy hands once more....ah the joys of cycling ;-)
Dave.

p.s. - take the same view as me, 'Why on earth would you want to leave
Wolverhampton ?? ' (seperate thread opportunity, I think ;-)