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by Flinders
21 Jan 2019, 3:46pm
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: Elderly drivers: when is it time to hand over the car keys?
Replies: 168
Views: 21643

Re: Elderly drivers: when is it time to hand over the car keys?

Tangled Metal wrote:Generally older people are involved in fewer accidents than young people apparently. As someone said there's reasons why this is a misleading bit of information relating to the issue of being fit to drive. It doesn't factor in typical driving times (off peak driving safer than peak driving), miles travelled per journey (longer journeys increase risk of accident I believe), etc.


My father stopped driving at once when his GP suggested he needed to consider stopping before much longer. He was a safe driver up to that point, sticking to speed limits and never having had a point on his licence; not long before he'd reacted to someone pulling out directly in front of him on a 60mph road very quickly, and his rapid and well-judged handling of the car was such that nobody was hurt- most drivers would have struggled to have reacted as quickly or as well, and it's more than likely that at least the driver in the other car would have been killed or seriously injured. My mother still drives, with full agreement of her GP and optician, but only drives a few hundred miles a year, and pretty much all in 30mph zones (and carefully and within that limit).

If many elderly people do very few miles, as she does, that will skew the accident stats in their favour, as would your point about when they drive- Mum avoids the rush hours, for example, because she can. OH and I do about 18,000 a year between us and often have to do journeys on busy M-ways at peak times in heavy traffic.

You'd need an 'accidents per mile driven' before comparing different age groups. And you'd also need to take into account the severity of the results of accidents before saying which age group was more dangerous. If the accidents that elderly people get involved with are more often low-speed, they may be less devastating in their effects.

Younger drivers tend to be less experienced, and you can't get round that. You can't stop inexperienced drivers (of any age) from driving unless you want in the long run to have nobody able to drive. That suggests to me there is some argument for restricting what less experienced drivers can do immediately after passing their test.
by Flinders
21 Jan 2019, 3:33pm
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: Elderly drivers: when is it time to hand over the car keys?
Replies: 168
Views: 21643

Re: Elderly drivers: when is it time to hand over the car keys?

Oldjohnw wrote:
Wouldn't it be brilliant if it transpired that he wasn't actually insured?


It is quite possible that he is not. I understand that the Crown has exemption. I believe Crown properties and departments do not insure.


As I understand it, car insurance is a legal requirement, not an option. On properties it is optional, but cars, no. You have to have it, or you are committing an offence. Maybe Thirdcrank can put us straight on this one?
by Flinders
20 Jan 2019, 7:26pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Duke In Rollover
Replies: 427
Views: 16090

Re: Duke In Rollover

mjr wrote:
Cyril Haearn wrote:Speed is the problem not sunlight
If one can not see far one should slow down, maybe stop or go another way

I still don't think the sun to the southwest has much to do with being able to see a car coming from the north.

Passenger in the other car says it was overcast in https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/p ... s-13882041


Quite. Nobody seems to have picked up this post, which is very pertinent. Even if there was low sun, your main point about direction is the big one- as someone whose work involves the behavior of natural light, I fail to see how low sun in the UK can stop you seeing something coming at you from the north........the one direction light can, by definition, never be coming from.
by Flinders
19 Jan 2019, 3:37pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Really creepy experience cycling home tonight (I did solve the mystery eventually)
Replies: 32
Views: 5679

Re: Really creepy experience cycling home tonight (I did solve the mystery eventually)

Buzzards round here have attacked cyclists- going for their helmets. And buzzards are big so-and-sos close up- their wingspan can be best part of five feet (Barn owls are more like 3 1/2 feet).
The A51 around Sandon is a known place for it. I've not experienced it directly, but have had buzzards flying disturbingly close alongside me on the back roads more than once on roads round there, and occasionally elsewhere in the general Stafford area.
by Flinders
17 Jan 2019, 8:49am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: How did you vote in 2016? How would you vote now?
Replies: 73
Views: 1844

Re: How did you vote in 2016? How would you vote now?

NATURAL ANKLING wrote:Hi,
50 % Out
44% Remain
6% Abstain

Maybe a bit more accurate than polls of late?


A poll of about 30 people (so far) from a small sub-group (cyclists posting on a specific subset of a specific forum) is 'more accurate' than polls of thousands carefully structured to try and eliminate bias in selection by experts? that's an interesting statistical take on it.... It may be accurate as to those 30-odd people (unless they are lying or pressed to wrong key) but not representative of the UK as a whole.
by Flinders
17 Jan 2019, 8:45am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: How did you vote in 2016? How would you vote now?
Replies: 73
Views: 1844

Re: How did you vote in 2016? How would you vote now?

RRSODL wrote:I voted leave and I'd do it again, those bullies in Brussels make me more determine than ever..... not forgetting the scaremongering coming from the remainers.
Theresa May should go now and let a true brexitier handle the exit negotiations.
Shame on Tony Blair, I regret supporting him with my vote.


Bullies? What are they bullying us about?
If someone wants to leave an organisation, that organisation has no obligation to treat them any different to any other non-member. The EU has bent over backwards to soften the blow we have dealt ourselves, and had given us a whole shedload of concessions in this transition period, but they cannot break the four most basic club rules for one member who is in any case leaving.

And for those sick of it all- if we voted now to remain, it would all end. If we leave, or vote again to leave and then leave, then this will go on and on for a minimum of two more years for the transition, and then we would have to negotiate a treaty for actually leaving (this last one was just for the transition), and as far as treaties with other countries than the EU go, in trade treaty land, at least another 8 years on average if the time taken for other similar treaties to get agreed is anything to go by, and that's assuming we can negotiate all the treaties at the same time. So far, we have proved incapable of even managing one.

If you want it all over with, then we need to remain. It is that simple.

And BTW, the 'true supporters of brexit' got their chance to negotiate, achieved b*ggar-all in two years, and then all bar the totally useless Fox ran away and are now whining from the sidelines blaming everyone but themselves for their own failure- their favourite situation as they have done nothing else for the last few decades.
by Flinders
14 Jan 2019, 9:48am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Wood Burners
Replies: 170
Views: 5320

Re: Wood Burners

PDQ Mobile wrote:
Ps dry wood on open fires is not very polluting but very inefficient (though very romantic!).. Some 70% of the available heat just dissapears up the flue.

Depends. Ours is open, but a special convecting design, so we lose very little heat.
by Flinders
14 Jan 2019, 9:46am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: ** The Brexit Thread ** - 'Brexit Means Brexit'
Replies: 21765
Views: 849668

Re: ** The Brexit Thread ** - 'Brexit Means Brexit'

Mick F wrote:Not us.
No more than normal, anyway. Usually have a freezer or two with stuff - bread takes up much of the space.
Cat food is stacked on the shelves in the porch, but we do have three of the damned things. Parrot food comes in big sacks, so she's happy.

Beer probably won't be an issue as I tend to drink local brews.
Wine? Australian normally.

What else is there?
Beer, wine, bread, cat food, parrot food.

Beer will be a problem. Look up where the hops come from. Clue: most of them, especially the better ones, the answer is 'not the UK'.
by Flinders
7 Jan 2019, 7:47pm
Forum: Health and fitness
Topic: Work boots as hiking boots?
Replies: 52
Views: 4416

Re: Work boots as hiking boots?

Airsporter1st wrote:If the human ankle is such a good design, I wonder why so many people manage to 'twist' them on uneven ground. Nothing wrong with my ankles, but I've been over on them a few times in my life - as I am sure have all those who are saying that ankle support is not necessary when hiking.


I'm inclined to agree. I think all joints with a high degree of mobility are vulnerable, though- the shoulder is another one. If you restrict the ankle by over-supporting it and not allowing it to absorb some of the movement/stress/slip, then the problem moves up to the knee, and you strain or wrench that instead.
There is also the extra problem that some of us females have re heels. Myself, I never wear heels, but many women wear them most of the time. That shortens the tendons down the back of the leg/ankle. Then they stick their feet in boots with no heel height to speak of, and the tendons just can't cope. I'm sure this is a contributory factor to females dishing ankles when out on the hills out of all proportion to males, even allowing for us females having less robust ankles in general.*

I do a sport that really stretches those tendons (horse riding, where your heel is kept lower than your toes and you balance across the arch, carrying much of, and at times all, your weight on the ball of the foot). I think it helps....

*I am reminded of an ancient Greek proverb I picked up when studying history 'I hate a woman thick about the ankles' :mrgreen:
by Flinders
7 Jan 2019, 7:31pm
Forum: Health and fitness
Topic: Work boots as hiking boots?
Replies: 52
Views: 4416

Re: Work boots as hiking boots?

Ttiabinar wrote:I've always been a big fan of wearing joggers for comfort when going for long walks, but with a trip to the Overland Track in Tassie coming up at the end of the year I've decided to get a pair of hiking boots again. My old boots are from Kathmandu (the shop, not the city), and never really wore in properly, to the point where I still can't wear them for a walk over a few hours in length, even after multiple trips and trying various methods of wearing them in.

I'm also not too keen on all the marketing hype from the trekking oriented manufacturers so am wondering about trying some work boots this time, such as Steel Blue or Oliver which by the sounds of things are very popular and comfortable. The only thing is I'm not sure if I'd find them too heavy for walking decent distances. Sounds like there's no problem with durability though.

Has anybody used boots like this for hiking around?

Thanks for the help

If you're going on a long trek you need boots designed for the terrain and which fit. Boots that need breaking in to any great extent (more than one or two walks) are by definition boots that don't fit. A well-fitted boot doesn't need breaking in at all. I would recommend you go to a shop where they are serious about boot fitting. like Fishers in Keswick (I'm sure other people on here can recommend other places if that's too far for you).

It's far more important to have boots that fit than any specific kind of boot, so long as it can cope with the terrain. My concern with work boots, though, would be that the flexibility of the sole might be wrong for long walks- they are not intended for that. I often wear my heavy leather boots on summer walks, as they fit, they're still perfectly comfortable; heavy or not, I forget I have them on.

It's far better to choose a boot on fit than on what other people think are 'good' makes. All makers have different lasts. I find Scarpa lasts are pretty much the only ones that ever fit me at all, so there is no point me deciding, for instance, that a Brasher is good on the basis of reviews- all their boots are masses too wide for me.

In my case, It's easily an hour's job in the shop to find a pair that fits right, and add to that getting a foot-bed (custom in my case, as I have weird feet) as well (which I would recommend if you can possibly afford them).
The last thing you want is to have your fantastic trip spoilt by sore feet.
by Flinders
7 Jan 2019, 3:37pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Grayling is derailing and failing in seamanship
Replies: 32
Views: 2436

Re: Grayling is derailing and failing in seamanship

From my observations is depends a lot on the LA, and whether the matter in question is an executive or political decision. Round here, someone I know got PP for an extension. He mentioned it in the pub, and someone said 'I didn't know you were on the council'. He wasn't, but the person saying it wasn't trying to be funny or make a point. He was simply making a comment he thought was completely innocent, working on years of observation of how it works round here. People just accept that's how it works.

IIRC a prominent councillor I heard about 'forgot' to mention that he was a company sec. of a company or two involved in a council decision he participated in, which curiously enough went their way. If you believe that someone can forget who they work for, there is a bridge I have going cheap. A planning decision round here recently was so outrageous I have been unable to work out what, other than undue influence, could have been the cause. It might of course be innocent, but I cannot see how on my own observations, and can see some very iffy indicators re those involved.

I don't think permanent staff are usually bent, but I don't trust actual politicians at all.

Someone with a name similar to one mentioned not a million miles from here gave (literally) millions to the tories. He then got a knighthood. May of course be totally unconnected, but if you really think those things are not connected, you must have a beautiful nature. I also may have another bridge available.

My view is that party donations should be banned from companies, and should only be allowed from individuals eligible to vote, living in the UK for tax purposes, and donations should be limited per year to what someone on minimum wage for a standard working week could reasonably afford to spare.
by Flinders
6 Jan 2019, 11:00pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: 90 Yr old cyclist stripped of World Champs in Drug Test
Replies: 21
Views: 1059

Re: 90 Yr old cyclist stripped of World Champs in Drug Test

Bonefishblues wrote:
Flinders wrote:Worrying if people are using steroids, especially at that age. They may end up with a 'fit'-looking body, but in a premature shroud.

Not sure if serious?

Yes, I am. Steroids are not side-effect-free drugs. It's stupid to take them unless you need to for medical reasons.

I have never been able to make up my mind about the recreational use of drugs- to me, the evidence on whether they should be legal or not remains inconclusive (and I try to keep up with it, as I prefer to base my opinions on facts than assumptions). In general, in those circumstances where it does not hurt other people, I think people ought to be able to make their own choices, however stupid I may think those choices are. But I personally would not take drugs recreationally, or as a performance enhancer ( as a performance enhancer I do object to them, because that causes harm and injustice) .

My personal distaste for drug taking without medical justification is a bit unusual- it's because for many years I had a very painful illness where I had to take a lot of painkillers. Enough, and strong enough ones, for me to be very concerned about the long-term effects. For some reason (and I can't explain precisely why) it irritated/irritates me that people risked the side effects of drugs for mere fun when I had no choice but to risk them for survival. It's sort of, well, 'I have to, but they don't, why are they being so stupid?'. An emotional response, of course, and not one to base an opinion about legality on, so I don't. But that's how I feel about it.
by Flinders
6 Jan 2019, 10:40am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: ** The Brexit Thread ** - 'Brexit Means Brexit'
Replies: 21765
Views: 849668

Re: ** The Brexit Thread ** - 'Brexit Means Brexit'

Cugel wrote:
kwackers wrote:
Canuk wrote:I think morality is a learned behaviour, which once rejected or lost can be a difficult state to alter or retrieve. We have someone in our office who habitually steals large amounts of office supplies and even bog roll (he even steals things he has absolutely no use for, like laser toner and computer hardware). It's not as if he is wanting money to buy such things, he just enjoys 'getting one over on the system', and has learned that this low level immorality comes with few penalties or punishments. Management are well aware of it, but he's a vital part of the team and on the whole well liked. He's the kind of guy that would pocket a wallet if he found it in a pub. He's learned that low level crime can pay.

(snip).

Your workmate no doubt rationalises what he does, a dehumanisation of the office environment and management that allows him to internally justify his theft.
The 85,000 people in the prison system likewise rationalise why they're there.

I guess the point is that almost everyone that behaves badly has a reason so the question is why do they need a reason? A truly non-empathic creature with no morals wouldn't need a reason.

I stand by my reasoning that morals are social rules that serve underlying structures, mainly in this case empathy. It'd be very hard to create rules that opposed innate behaviour, not impossible but you'd never manage to do it on a large scale because the organisms involved would naturally try to revert to their hardwired behaviour.

I guess the other innate behaviour that's used to dehumanise is tribalism. The old "one of us" mentality which allows us to pretend the 'others' don't matter as much.


There are plenty of moral traditions that don't rely on either sympathy or empathy. Many are derived from various philosophies that seem to exhibit very little understanding of human psychology and rather rely on some other-worldly utopian dream painting a picture of humans as the dreamer would like them to be rather than as they are.

A current example is the "philosophy" of Ayn Rand, who is a major source of the "greed is good" stuff found in many US Republican and other right-wing ideological organisations who are obsessed with both individualism and property. Ayn Rand exhibits a rather extreme version of Asperger's and, as such, has no apparent ability to either empathise (to imagine herself in the different mindsets of others) or sympathise (feel similarly to other humans about various situations or problems humans come across). Yet she generates a huge moral system, which is part of her claimed "objectivist" philosophy (laughably, the most subjective - solipsistic - stuff you'll ever come across). This moral system absolutely rejects any need or value in both empathy and sympathy in favour of an extreme individualism based on an entirely unrealistic meritocracy and madly selfish property rights.

This "philosophy" and it's associated moral codes play an enormous role in much US culture, economics, politics and mass media. It allows people to see morality as an entirely personal and individual set of rules-to-live-by which don't have to meet any social expectations whatever. It allows various right-wing loonies to claim that their hatred for everyone and everything not identical to themselves is their "moral courage" to reject the norms and laws of the society which succours them in favour of their nasty nightmare visions of what humans ought to be.

That's just one queer moral tradition that's driven by human evolved traits other than empathy and sympathy. You can find several others across history and across different cultural enclaves. The process you mention, of dehumanising "the other" to exclude them from normal moral considerations is fundamentally a failure to either empathise or sympathise with that "other". It's very common.

Cugel

Rand has been a poisonous influence in American (and other) politics. If anyone wants to see where her attitude gets you, look at her rather nasty end. Without other people baling her out in ways she herself opposed for others when she was fit and well, she'd have had an even nastier one.
by Flinders
6 Jan 2019, 10:35am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: When I'm dead .........
Replies: 78
Views: 5443

Re: When I'm dead .........

Mick F wrote:I have no intention (or expectation) of dying.
Let's get this bit out of the way first! :D

Years ago, I imagined a big funeral and a carriage pulled by four plumed horses with me lying in state inside. I imagined a Victorian sort of affair with mourners in abundance and a big wake afterwards. I've since had a change of heart.

A friend of ours has bought a plot at the local parish church and wants a big funeral and be laid to rest in his chosen position. I've told him that after he's gone, I'll sell the plot, drink the profits, and chuck his body in the river. :lol: :lol:

When I'm dead, do not spend a penny on getting rid of what's left of me. I'll be dead and I couldn't care a jot what you do with my body. Do not spend a penny. Incinerate me in a garden incinerator and chuck the ash out with the regular rubbish collection.

If you do want to spend something, chuck behind the bar and drink my health/death.


You echo the song by Jake Thackray, "The Last Will and Testament of Jake Thackray" :D It's a good one.
by Flinders
6 Jan 2019, 10:31am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: 90 Yr old cyclist stripped of World Champs in Drug Test
Replies: 21
Views: 1059

Re: 90 Yr old cyclist stripped of World Champs in Drug Test

Cunobelin wrote:IIRC Bowls was the sport with the highest positive test rate for banned substances!

All these old folks and their drugs!!

Actually on a more serious basis, there are many medicines that the elderly legitimately take to keep their health that are banned

Not just older people. My type of HRT (the only one I can take, and which I take for a specific medical condition, incidentally, will always have to take, and have taken for many years) is a banned substance, and there are no convenient 'exemptions' available for it. Pity being female is more of a problem than having *cough* 'asthma'.