...and shop at non-peak times - Morrisons are now closing at 8pm.
Because reducing the amount of off-peak shopping times, at a time when people are being encouraged to shop during off-peak shopping times, makes about as much fucking sense as anything else that's going on these days.
How nice to be rewarded for trying to do the right thing by being told upon reaching the shops that "ha ha, we're closing in 6 minutes. Better get that shopping done quick! lol"
Fuck this fucking timeline and the camel it rode in on.
Because reducing the amount of off-peak shopping times, at a time when people are being encouraged to shop during off-peak shopping times, makes about as much fucking sense as anything else that's going on these days.
How nice to be rewarded for trying to do the right thing by being told upon reaching the shops that "ha ha, we're closing in 6 minutes. Better get that shopping done quick! lol"
Fuck this fucking timeline and the camel it rode in on.
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Sorry for the slightly delayed posting. I was a bit poorly last week and haven't had much energy to spare.
This being February, it's customary to go for Chinese as it was Chinese New Year on Jan 25th, so, how about ChinaTown on London Road. Meet in the Beer Engine, and on the off chance that ChinaTown is busy because of CNY (although things should have tailed off by then?) then we can wander up London Road until we find somewhere that can accommodate us.
This being February, it's customary to go for Chinese as it was Chinese New Year on Jan 25th, so, how about ChinaTown on London Road. Meet in the Beer Engine, and on the off chance that ChinaTown is busy because of CNY (although things should have tailed off by then?) then we can wander up London Road until we find somewhere that can accommodate us.
Which is on the 8th, because where would have been open on the 1st anyway, will be at a new Ethiopian Eritrean place called Mesob on London road, between the Shawarma place and Ozmen's, at 7:30. Meet in the Cremorne.
Wow. Feels like a while since we've been to London Road for lard.
Wow. Feels like a while since we've been to London Road for lard.
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It's slipped a day from the 21st this year, because of how a year isn't exactly 365 days long, but the leap year next February will sort that out so it'll be back again next year.
Anyway, here's looking forward to the days getting longer, even if only verry...slowly to begin with, from now on.
Anyway, here's looking forward to the days getting longer, even if only verry...slowly to begin with, from now on.
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If someone does something nice for you on the road, like pull over on a narrow lane with cars parked on both sides so you can pass, do not thank them by flashing your high beams at them.
If I've been considerate of someone else, and done the polite thing to get out of their way, I do not appreciate being fucking blinded in response. I mean, how would you like it if you stopped to hold a door open for me, and I kicked you in the nutsack to show my gratitude?
Seriously, go fuck yourself, you utter cockwomble.
If I've been considerate of someone else, and done the polite thing to get out of their way, I do not appreciate being fucking blinded in response. I mean, how would you like it if you stopped to hold a door open for me, and I kicked you in the nutsack to show my gratitude?
Seriously, go fuck yourself, you utter cockwomble.
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...you know, the sort of amount that an idiot would consider it worth totally humiliating themself for.
Over the last few weeks or so, while waiting for another episode of The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, or Brooklyn Nine-Nine to come on, I've been bombarded with teaser trailers for "The Circle". Being teaser trailers, they didn't tell me much about what the show was, but they told me enough for me to know that I wasn't really interested in seeing it.
Apparently it started a few days ago, and so the trailers have changed. They now tell you it's a Big Brother clone, with an "on the internet, nobody knows you're a dog" twist. Fair enough. I mean, I'm still not interested in seeing it, but whatever.
Except one of the trailers mentioned that the prize was "a hundred grand". Not "one hundred thousand pounds", or some other way of wording that particular amount, but literally "a hundred grand". In my mind, that is a bit unfortunate, because in the context of a reality show prize it immediately brings to mind that Mitchell and Webb sketch: "Apprentice".
Poor wording indeed.
And just in case anyone hates the glut of cheap and often exploitative reality TV shows that have multiplied over our airwaves, but have one they simply have to watch because "it's like car crash TV" or whatever, be sure to watch the sketch all the way to the end.
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I was in town on Friday 20th when the Climate Strike march was underway, and my mood was generally uplifted by the vibe of the protests, the message being sent, the number of people out there doing it, and the inventiveness of the protest sign slogans ("Keep Earth clean - it's not Uranus").
One of the chants that caught my ear ended with the line "This is what democracy looks like!"
It's a powerful line, but it's kind of weird, because what was happening was not democracy. Democracy is not about having your voice heard, it about having your voice count. Peaceful assembly and protest is not democracy - voting is.
To be sure, the right to peaceful assembly and protest is generally correlated with democracy, but it's neither necessary nor sufficient for a democratic state. Strict monarchies could allow for peaceful assembly and protest (and some have), and in theory a democracy could ban protests (or confine them to only happen in out of the way places where no-one would ever actually see them, either in designated "free speech zones", or outside large designated "exclusion zones", or some other authoritarian sounding nightmare) without impinging on citizens' right to vote and their core democratic nature.
So, how do you use democracy to make a change on climate?
Well, that's easy. Vote Green.
I did wonder how many of the people marching that day had actually voted green at the last local election, general election, or European parliament election. One of my friends pointed out that a fair proportion of the people protesting weren't old enough to vote, which is fair. But I'm not sure it's relevant, because I think the protesters are targetting the wrong people. The protesters seem to be targetting our current MPs, who are the ones that through their current inaction have already demonstrated their enduring loyalty to the businesses that are causing the problems. If the protesters want to use democracy to make a change, their protests should be targetting voters to vote for a different set of MPs - green MPs.
Another friend of mine pointed out that this was an issue because apparently a number of (UK) Green Party policies, in areas that don't intersect with the environment (e.g. education?), are "bonkers". This friend is better versed in the minutiae of political party manifestos than I, and much better versed in the practicalities of turning manifesto promises into government policy and executing on that, so I will not attempt to claim otherwise here.
However, if the problems of climate change are as severe, or as existential, as the climate strikers purport to believe, then even the potential problems that could be caused by a few non-environmental "bonkers" policies should be insignificant compared to the climate change problem that needs to be addressed. Also, it's possible that greens aren't particularly invested in their non-environmental policies. If it turns out that some of them aren't workable, isn't it likely that they'd change them for policies that were? At least, it seems that that is more likely than mainstream non-green parties changing their not-working environmental policies for ones that do - after all, they've had at least 30 years to fix their environmental policies at this point and have so far failed to do so.
(That's not even taking into account the notion that voting green will put pressure on the mainstream parties to have more comprehensive environmental policies, in order to win over those voters.)
So, climate strikers and climate strike sympathisers, if you want democracy to be a part of the solution to the climate problem, persuade everyone you can to vote green at the next election.
One of the chants that caught my ear ended with the line "This is what democracy looks like!"
It's a powerful line, but it's kind of weird, because what was happening was not democracy. Democracy is not about having your voice heard, it about having your voice count. Peaceful assembly and protest is not democracy - voting is.
To be sure, the right to peaceful assembly and protest is generally correlated with democracy, but it's neither necessary nor sufficient for a democratic state. Strict monarchies could allow for peaceful assembly and protest (and some have), and in theory a democracy could ban protests (or confine them to only happen in out of the way places where no-one would ever actually see them, either in designated "free speech zones", or outside large designated "exclusion zones", or some other authoritarian sounding nightmare) without impinging on citizens' right to vote and their core democratic nature.
So, how do you use democracy to make a change on climate?
Well, that's easy. Vote Green.
I did wonder how many of the people marching that day had actually voted green at the last local election, general election, or European parliament election. One of my friends pointed out that a fair proportion of the people protesting weren't old enough to vote, which is fair. But I'm not sure it's relevant, because I think the protesters are targetting the wrong people. The protesters seem to be targetting our current MPs, who are the ones that through their current inaction have already demonstrated their enduring loyalty to the businesses that are causing the problems. If the protesters want to use democracy to make a change, their protests should be targetting voters to vote for a different set of MPs - green MPs.
Another friend of mine pointed out that this was an issue because apparently a number of (UK) Green Party policies, in areas that don't intersect with the environment (e.g. education?), are "bonkers". This friend is better versed in the minutiae of political party manifestos than I, and much better versed in the practicalities of turning manifesto promises into government policy and executing on that, so I will not attempt to claim otherwise here.
However, if the problems of climate change are as severe, or as existential, as the climate strikers purport to believe, then even the potential problems that could be caused by a few non-environmental "bonkers" policies should be insignificant compared to the climate change problem that needs to be addressed. Also, it's possible that greens aren't particularly invested in their non-environmental policies. If it turns out that some of them aren't workable, isn't it likely that they'd change them for policies that were? At least, it seems that that is more likely than mainstream non-green parties changing their not-working environmental policies for ones that do - after all, they've had at least 30 years to fix their environmental policies at this point and have so far failed to do so.
(That's not even taking into account the notion that voting green will put pressure on the mainstream parties to have more comprehensive environmental policies, in order to win over those voters.)
So, climate strikers and climate strike sympathisers, if you want democracy to be a part of the solution to the climate problem, persuade everyone you can to vote green at the next election.
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Hey everyone,
So, I'm putting the plan to go back to Chez Lahlou back by aweekmonth, because ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rich_jacko is away and wanted to go, and there's a place on my radar that he didn't want to go to so this would be a good month to try that.
Therefore, next Wednesday let's try Bishop's Carribean Bistro near Meersbrook Park, 7:30ish.
There aren't any pubs right around the corner, but the Cross Scythes isn't that far away and looks interesting, so let's try meeting there beforehand.
So, I'm putting the plan to go back to Chez Lahlou back by a
rich_jacko is away and wanted to go, and there's a place on my radar that he didn't want to go to so this would be a good month to try that.Therefore, next Wednesday let's try Bishop's Carribean Bistro near Meersbrook Park, 7:30ish.
There aren't any pubs right around the corner, but the Cross Scythes isn't that far away and looks interesting, so let's try meeting there beforehand.
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If you ever go to the National Rail Enquiries website to look up ticket prices, always hover over the ticket type, e.g. "Off Peak", to see if you get a popin that includes the text "online", e.g. "Super Off-Peak Single (online)"
If it does, you can only get that price of ticket online. If you're using the website to look up the price of a ticket, but intend to go and actually buy it at a ticket counter, you're in for a shock. You need to click the "Other Tickets" dropdown to see the actual price of the ticket, rather than the special online discount price.
For example, one ticket I was looking at earlier was £47.00 for the "Off Peak" (Super Off-Peak Single (online)) version, but £81.50 for the "Advance" (Advance (Standard Class)) version I could get when I got to the station.
Strangely, the online tickets departing from times ranging between 15:00 through to 22:00 were all labelled "off-peak", but the offline tickets departing at the same times were all just labelled "advance". So, uh, what times are supposed to be off-peak exactly? And why can't you seem to get off-peak tickets from a ticket booth? It seems like they're mixing up online purchasing discounts with off-peak train time discounts - but those are two completely different concepts. How... wha...? I don't... I don't understand what is going on here.
Didn't they announce a few months ago that ticket prices were going to be simplified, rather than the completely bugnuts insane mess that we appear to have at the moment? What the hell happened to that? Why is the ticket price not just the ticket price? Why are things so goddamn complicated? Why is everything so hard?
If it does, you can only get that price of ticket online. If you're using the website to look up the price of a ticket, but intend to go and actually buy it at a ticket counter, you're in for a shock. You need to click the "Other Tickets" dropdown to see the actual price of the ticket, rather than the special online discount price.
For example, one ticket I was looking at earlier was £47.00 for the "Off Peak" (Super Off-Peak Single (online)) version, but £81.50 for the "Advance" (Advance (Standard Class)) version I could get when I got to the station.
Strangely, the online tickets departing from times ranging between 15:00 through to 22:00 were all labelled "off-peak", but the offline tickets departing at the same times were all just labelled "advance". So, uh, what times are supposed to be off-peak exactly? And why can't you seem to get off-peak tickets from a ticket booth? It seems like they're mixing up online purchasing discounts with off-peak train time discounts - but those are two completely different concepts. How... wha...? I don't... I don't understand what is going on here.
Didn't they announce a few months ago that ticket prices were going to be simplified, rather than the completely bugnuts insane mess that we appear to have at the moment? What the hell happened to that? Why is the ticket price not just the ticket price? Why are things so goddamn complicated? Why is everything so hard?
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Fuck First, fuck Stagecoach, and fuck SYPTE - you're all fucking shit and you should be ashamed of yourselves.
So I wanted to catch a bus earlier. I'd looked up the timetable and made sure to get to the stop I wanted a couple of minutes ahead of schedule. Only as I walked around a corner onto the road with the bus stop on it, the bus I wanted drives by and goes straight past the stop I was headed for, without stopping, 3 goddamn minutes ahead of schedule. 3 minutes. Ahead of schedule. For a bus that runs every 30 minutes.
So, uh, what the fuck am I supposed to do at that point, exactly? Wait for half a fucking hour for the next one? Are you fucking kidding me?
Or what about on Wednesday, where I was going to meet up with some friends in town. I had plenty of time, and thought it might be nice to have a drink with them while I was there, so I decided to take the bus instead of driving. Got to the bus stop 5 minutes ahead of schedule. Waited. And waited. And waited. For 20 minutes. So, 15 minutes after the bus was due, and running out of time to meet friends and have enough time to have a drink before we were due to go off and do something else, I was effectively forced to abandon the wait and get my car and drive into town. Having spent 20 fucking minutes standing around like a bloody lemon for nothing. And then having to pay for parking. And not being able to have a drink, because I was driving.
So yeah, fuck you.
And all of that is on top of years of shitty bus services. Of getting to a bus stop a bit early, and having the next bus be so late that if the bus before it had been as late as it was, I'd have been able to catch that. Except it wasn't, so I couldn't. Or of having to sometimes wait more than 20 minutes for a bus that's supposed to come every 10 minutes.
If buses not being able to keep to schedule wasn't bad enough, even the scheduling makes no goddamn sense half the time. Near me there's a road that runs into the town centre, and there are 4 or 5 different bus routes that run down it into town. 2 or 3 of these buses run somewhat regularly after 6pm - every 20 mins or so. So with anywhere between 6 and 10 buses per hour running, you'd expect the maximum wait to be fairly low. Except the buses seem to be scheduled so that buses on the different routes all arrive within 5 minutes of each other - on purpose - and then there are no buses at all for 15+ minutes. How do you even manage that?
Why don't you just admit defeat, and instead of timetables put up signs on the bus stops saying "Some buses will probably turn up eventually. Probably." That would, at least, lower expectations to be more in line with what reality appears to be, and therefore reduce the levels of stress and anger in the city by significant levels.
So if you're ever wondering why bus use is declining - that's why. You're fucking shit, and you make it impossible to rely on buses to actually get where you want to go at any particular time.
So I wanted to catch a bus earlier. I'd looked up the timetable and made sure to get to the stop I wanted a couple of minutes ahead of schedule. Only as I walked around a corner onto the road with the bus stop on it, the bus I wanted drives by and goes straight past the stop I was headed for, without stopping, 3 goddamn minutes ahead of schedule. 3 minutes. Ahead of schedule. For a bus that runs every 30 minutes.
So, uh, what the fuck am I supposed to do at that point, exactly? Wait for half a fucking hour for the next one? Are you fucking kidding me?
Or what about on Wednesday, where I was going to meet up with some friends in town. I had plenty of time, and thought it might be nice to have a drink with them while I was there, so I decided to take the bus instead of driving. Got to the bus stop 5 minutes ahead of schedule. Waited. And waited. And waited. For 20 minutes. So, 15 minutes after the bus was due, and running out of time to meet friends and have enough time to have a drink before we were due to go off and do something else, I was effectively forced to abandon the wait and get my car and drive into town. Having spent 20 fucking minutes standing around like a bloody lemon for nothing. And then having to pay for parking. And not being able to have a drink, because I was driving.
So yeah, fuck you.
And all of that is on top of years of shitty bus services. Of getting to a bus stop a bit early, and having the next bus be so late that if the bus before it had been as late as it was, I'd have been able to catch that. Except it wasn't, so I couldn't. Or of having to sometimes wait more than 20 minutes for a bus that's supposed to come every 10 minutes.
If buses not being able to keep to schedule wasn't bad enough, even the scheduling makes no goddamn sense half the time. Near me there's a road that runs into the town centre, and there are 4 or 5 different bus routes that run down it into town. 2 or 3 of these buses run somewhat regularly after 6pm - every 20 mins or so. So with anywhere between 6 and 10 buses per hour running, you'd expect the maximum wait to be fairly low. Except the buses seem to be scheduled so that buses on the different routes all arrive within 5 minutes of each other - on purpose - and then there are no buses at all for 15+ minutes. How do you even manage that?
Why don't you just admit defeat, and instead of timetables put up signs on the bus stops saying "Some buses will probably turn up eventually. Probably." That would, at least, lower expectations to be more in line with what reality appears to be, and therefore reduce the levels of stress and anger in the city by significant levels.
So if you're ever wondering why bus use is declining - that's why. You're fucking shit, and you make it impossible to rely on buses to actually get where you want to go at any particular time.
