Journaling on estrip is free and easy. get started today

Last Visit n/a |Start Date 2007-04-24 20:10:40 |Comments 12 |Entries 6 |Theme |

07/04/07 12:56 - 64ºF - ID#39912

Bicycles in Buffalo

Last night at about 11:00pm I was driving along Ashland Avenue between West Ferry and Lafayette. I stopped for the stop sign at Breckenridge, checked that there was nothing coming from the left (it's one way so there should only be traffic coming from the left), the road was clear and so I was about to set off when two people on bicycles came speeding through the junction, the wrong way from the direction of Elmwood Avenue. Not only were these two idiots riding the wrong way down a one way street, but they were going very fast, and they didn't even slow down at the junction!!!

What the hell are these people thinking?

OK, I know I'm in Buffalo, and there are a lot of cyclists here who don't seem to understand that they are supposed to follow the same rules as other road users, so I drive accordingly, looking for cyclists in places where common sense would suggest that they shouldn't be. So the two numbskulls last night were safe. They went on their reckless way unharmed.

But what if the car driver wasn't someone like me? What if it had been the sort of driver who doesn't look before pulling out? (This is Buffalo - you know that there are lots of those sort of drivers here). The cyclists could have ended up splattered across the road.

I've spoken to a few cyclists here who say it is somehow safer to ride on the wrong side of the road. They say that by riding the wrong way that they can see the cars and are able to avoid being hit by the many bad drivers that they come across.

But I see a huge fault in their logic. Even a good driver can be challenged when faced with a vehicle approaching from the wrong direction, but in a city where according to the cyclists themselves bad driving seems to be the norm, the chances are that they will come across someone with poor driving skills who is unable to figure out how to avoid collision, with potentially tragic consequences.

Cyclists who don't follow the New York State Traffic Rules and Regulations which state that "Traffic Rules are applicable to bicycles. These provisions include all traffic controls for motor vehicles including pavement markings, signs and traffic signals" are surely taking their lives in their hands by riding in such a foolhardy manner.

I have a feeling that this won't be the last time I write on this subject...

.
print add/read comments

Permalink: Bicycles_in_Buffalo.html
Words: 420


06/14/07 12:03 - 72ºF - ID#39651

I'm a grandad!

I'm a grandad!

My lovely daughter Eve gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on Sunday. It's quite possible that I am the happiest man on the planet at the moment :o)



.
print add/read comments

Permalink: I_m_a_grandad_.html
Words: 32


04/30/07 12:47 - 50ºF - ID#39097

the interwebs...

Aren't the interwebs wonderful? Just think of it - all those little pipes connecting all those computers together. It's amazing really how they do it. I mean, just today I printed something from my computer for a friend ((e:leetee)). D'you know, the clever piece of paper got all the way from my computer screen, via its little pipe (that looks like a normal electric cable), and out of the front of my printer. You'd never even know how tightly the paper must have been rolled up (to fit inside the pipe), it came out as flat as you like. Amazing!

I'm so glad I've been working with (e:leetee) recently. If not for her I would never have known how the interwebs actually work. Heck, I didn't even know they were called the interwebs until she explained it to me.

But now I know. And it's totally great because now I also know why I can't get on many web sites tonight. It has nothing to do with Time Warner not caring about it's customers, heck no! It's just that the pipes on the interwebs are getting clogged up. They probably just need a good cleaning...
print add/read comments

Permalink: the_interwebs_.html
Words: 197


04/29/07 12:33 - 41ºF - ID#39082

Ghosties and ghoulies

D'you ever get a feeling that someone is watching you? I did today. Problem is...there was nobody there.

I was washing dishes at the house we've been working on. I wanted a change, and I'm certain that (e:leetee) must be fed up with being elbow deep in soapy water by now. So, there I was, happily washing dishes while (e:leetee) and (e:heidismadhouse) were downstairs doing other estate sale preparation stuff, when I suddenly got the feeling that there was someone behind me.....watching! I turned, as you do, to see who was there. And there in the doorway to the attic was a figure....a woman in a white nightgown. As I looked at her she just disappeared.

There was no sound. She didn't turn and walk away. She just was there one moment....then she wasn't. And there was no way I was going up into that dark attic to see if she was up there.

No, I bravely left my dish washing duties and ran downstairs. I didn't run away you understand. No, I wanted to make sure that the women folk were safe.........yeah, right!

I think that tomorrow we will be working together...all in the same room. If one of us has to go to a different part of the house, then we'll all go....

Funny thing is, none of us really believe in all that gobble-de-gook.....


print add/read comments

Permalink: Ghosties_and_ghoulies.html
Words: 236


04/26/07 01:05 - 42ºF - ID#39045

beer...

I wish Rochester was a bit closer to Buffalo. There's an English pub there y'see, it's called The Old Toad (great name for a pub), and they're having a Yorkshire week at the beginning of May.

Well, as a Yorkshireman I consider it to be my duty to be there flying the flag for those of us Tykes on this side of the pond. Trouble is that if I go there I'd have to drink some of that lovely Yorkshire beer that they'll be selling. I understand that they're going to have some Black Sheep on tap, and I haven't tasted that particular delight for many many years. In fact I believe that the last time I partook of a pint of that fine ale was in 1990 when I went with a few friends to the Black Sheep brewery at Masham as we were heading over to Whitby on our motorcycles. I seem to remember that we never got to Whitby that day, in fact I seem to remember waking up the following morning in a field with a hangover that you could hang a hat on...but I digress...

A visit to The Old Toad would mean a night of drunken merrymaking, and would have to include an overnight stay in a hotel (I don't drink and drive, I'm not that dumb) so, as that's not possible I will probably have to give it a miss.

Ah well, I'll just have to wait for my next visit home to England. I am due to become a grandad at the end of May, and I have every intention of getting back home to welcome the baby to planet Earth. I have a feeling that I will be drinking a pint or three during that visit...
print add/read comments

Permalink: beer_.html
Words: 295


Date Cloud

Category Cloud

  1. User must have at least 3 blogs in one category for categories list to show.

More Entries

My Fav Posts

  1. This user has zero favorite blogs selected ;(

Search

Chatter

New Site Wide Comments

sina said to sina
yes thank you!
Well, since 2018 I am living in France, I have finished my second master of science,...

paul said to sina
Nice to hear from you!! Hope everything is going great....

paul said to twisted
Hello from the east coast! It took me so long to see this, it might as well have arrived in a lette...

joe said to Ronqualityglas
I really don't think people should worry about how their eyelids work. Don't you?...