On Thu, 05 Apr 2018 19:56:01 +0100, Paul Herber wrote:

On 5 Apr 2018 16:50:32 GMT, Bob Eager wrote:

On Thu, 05 Apr 2018 14:48:02 +0100, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article ,
michael adams wrote:
A lot of the stuff they're classing as "previously owned" when in
fact what they're probably talking about is demonstration or display
stock.

Probably returns. Which the likes of Argos sell on as new. As I
discovered recently.

Worst one I ever had was from Homebase.

Wooden toilet sdeat, in the packaging. Got it home and it had been used
-
stains and all.

That's just taking the ****.

At least ...



--
My posts are my copyright and if @diy_forums or Home Owners' Hub
wish to copy them they can pay me £1 a message.
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK: http://www.mirrorservice.org
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"michael adams" wrote in message
o.uk...

wrote in message
...
On Thursday, 5 April 2018 16:59:31 UTC+1, michael adams wrote:
Khans father was a bus driver. And he's full of pie in the sky nonsense.
Have you personally travelled on a London Bus recently ? Basically
they're
now targetted at idiots who instantly forget what bus they got on,
immediately they board and have to be reminded at every stop with
loudspeaker announcements at full volume.

Those are for blind people and tourists.

Why would blind people or tourists for that matter, forget what bus they'd
just got on ?

in the case of the blind person

how did they know which bus they were getting on until the on-bus
announcement tells them?

tim



michael adams

...

"tim..." wrote in message news


"michael adams" wrote in message
o.uk...

wrote in message
...
On Thursday, 5 April 2018 16:59:31 UTC+1, michael adams wrote:
Khans father was a bus driver. And he's full of pie in the sky nonsense.
Have you personally travelled on a London Bus recently ? Basically they're
now targetted at idiots who instantly forget what bus they got on,
immediately they board and have to be reminded at every stop with
loudspeaker announcements at full volume.

Those are for blind people and tourists.

Why would blind people or tourists for that matter, forget what bus they'd
just got on ?

in the case of the blind person

how did they know which bus they were getting on until the on-bus announcement tells
them?


They ask the driver. Or another person in the queue if there
is one before boarding the bus. As they did before on-board
announcements.

Similarly they tell the driver at which stop they want to get off
This not only allows the driver to call their stop, but also
alerts him to the fact that a blind person will be alighting at
that particular stop and so he needs to allow more time for them
to leave their seat and exit the vehicle. And not to do so until
they've done this.

Simply relying on announcements alone would put the blind person
at a disadvantage where they might be left on the bus in such
circumstances.


michael adams

....

On 05/04/2018 20:02, michael adams wrote:
"Andrew" wrote in message
news
On 05/04/2018 12:09, michael adams wrote:
ATM the only problem I have with Sainsbury is availability
of 4pt skimmed milk which at times can be erratic. Not that I buy much
else in there nowadays.

You might just as well buy 4 pints of semi-skimmed and add 4 pints
of water, or simply use less of it. Skimmed milk is so pathetic you
just end up using more.

It's all a matter of taste.

Skimmed milk tastes like water and not like milk.


--
Adam

On 05/04/2018 21:34, ARW wrote:


Skimmed milk tastes like water and not like milk.

Having drunk skimmed milk for the past 40 years I now find full fat milk
somewhat unpleasant.

In the good old days when milk was mainly delivered in glass bottles to
the doorstep the fat/cream formed a layer at the top and many people
just separated it off first before drinkink/using the remainder.

These days the milk is homogenised so the fats don't separate out.

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

In article ,
whisky-dave wrote:
Otherwise flats are going up everywhere despite there being little
or no parking provision in many places.

By design, lots of new places near me and near public transport aren't
allowed parking spaces.

Quite. An estate built near here about 30 years ago doesn't have anything
like enough parking for the cars people will inevitably have. Done
deliberately at planning time. Which means they spill out onto surrounding
roads which are already congested by parking.

--
*Don't use no double negatives *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
michael adams wrote:
Basically they're now targetted at idiots who instantly forget what bus
they got on, immediately they board and have to be reminded at every
stop with loudspeaker announcements at full volume.

But rather preferable to people shouting on their phones.

--
*Arkansas State Motto: Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Laugh.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
Bob Eager wrote:
On Thu, 05 Apr 2018 14:48:02 +0100, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article ,
michael adams wrote:
A lot of the stuff they're classing as "previously owned" when in fact
what they're probably talking about is demonstration or display stock.

Probably returns. Which the likes of Argos sell on as new. As I
discovered recently.

Worst one I ever had was from Homebase.

Wooden toilet sdeat, in the packaging. Got it home and it had been used -
stains and all.

That's taking the ****. ;-)

--
*To steal ideas from *one* person is plagiarism; from many, research*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

alan_m Wrote in message:
On 05/04/2018 21:34, ARW wrote:


Skimmed milk tastes like water and not like milk.

Having drunk skimmed milk for the past 40 years I now find full fat milk
somewhat unpleasant.

In the good old days when milk was mainly delivered in glass bottles to
the doorstep the fat/cream formed a layer at the top and many people
just separated it off first before drinkink/using the remainder.

These days the milk is homogenised so the fats don't separate out.

Not that there is any fat (nor obviously any fat soluble vitamins)
in that white **** you prefer...

--
Jim K


----Android NewsGroup Reader----
http://usenet.sinaapp.com/

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Quite. An estate built near here about 30 years ago doesn't have anything
like enough parking for the cars people will inevitably have. Done
deliberately at planning time. Which means they spill out onto surrounding
roads which are already congested by parking.

I used to continuously have arguments about this last decade when I was
involved in this stuff.
: The development's next to a bus stop, so there's no parking places.
Q But where will the residents put their cars?
: They'll be using the buses.
Q Yes, but where will they put their cars when they're using the buses?
: They're student flats, they'll be walking to university.
Q Yes, but where will they put the car that they've used to drive here
in September and will drive away at half term/end of term? Cars cost
thruppence happenny nowadays, Students Have Cars.
etc.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
What creates more income to the council? A shop or that shop (area)
converted to flats?

Business Rates goes to the Government, Council Tax goes to the Council.
(Some slight changes happening on that front, but that's essentiall it.)

Andrew Gabriel wrote:
These were behind the component counter. There are still some there,
but others are now in the shop "buy the whole drawer unit and what's
in it." They have listed what's in it, but as a bundle where you
might use 1% of the contents, they were way too expensive. If they
had been Racco Professional drawer units, I would have bought partly
for those (I use them a lot at home), but they weren't - I didn't
recognise the style.

Ah, I see what you mean. Was just curious because 100 quid isn't bad value
if it's something like this:
https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/tool-...inets/8335900/
which is roughly what the 'front of house' drawer chests are like.

I had a look through in case there's any components worth 'banking' just in
case, but there's not much to make it worthwhile over getting if on-demand
next day from Farnell/CPC if needed.

Theo

On Thursday, 5 April 2018 16:59:31 UTC+1, michael adams wrote:
"whisky-dave" wrote in message
...
On Thursday, 5 April 2018 15:57:41 UTC+1, michael adams wrote:
"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
michael adams wrote:
Wouldn't put it past them here in Cambridge any unused building will be
flats sooner or not much later;!

If my local Council is anything to go by, they seem to encourage the
developement of flats anywhere and everywhere so as to increase their
income from Council Tax. It also suits them for them to stay empty
for as long as possible, or at least until the developer goes bust.

What creates more income to the council? A shop or that shop (area)
converted to flats?

On the High St its the spaces above large shops which were formerly
stockrooms that are being converted into flats. Ground floors of
smaller sites are often taken over by charity shops that get either
80% or 100% business rate relief.

Just In Time delivery resulting from improved IT has probably freed
up a lot of stockroom space in any case.

Otherwise flats are going up everywhere despite there being little
or no parking provision in many places.

By design, lots of new places near me and near public transport aren't allowed parking
spaces.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/s...-a3704011.html

Khans father was a bus driver. And he's full of pie in the sky nonsense.
Have you personally travelled on a London Bus recently ?

Yes, ~8:15am this morning, twice a day weekdays, sometimes more.

Basically they're
now targetted at idiots who instantly forget what bus they got on, immediately
they board and have to be reminded at every stop with loudspeaker announcements
at full volume.

No we don't need to be, most know where we are and where we are going.
But at night when it;s dark, cold and the windows are steamed up you don't always know where exactly you are and whther or not the next stop is closed..
But at least they stop the stupid warning about the bus about to move while it was already moving.


That''s if you're lucky enough to travel when the bus isn't full of
schoolkids.

True, they seemed to have cut out all school buses.


Personally I'd rather crawl on my hands and knees in the rain rather than have to
travel regularly on buses.

That is your choice.

So quite why Khan expects people who are expected to
pay upwards of 500k for a flat to do so, is rather beyond me.

Because they can live outside London in a nice big house and pay £5k+ a year to travel in on public trnasprot or drive in and pay for parking and have 2+ hours travel time.


The tube is hardly any better although passenger numbers have fallen this year
apparently, although not during rush hours from what I can see.

Maybe that is why we are increasing the number of people living in London and other cities so we can have more of these £500k 1-2 bed flats rather than 6 bed house out in the sticks, because we need more people on public transport.

On Thursday, 5 April 2018 20:24:45 UTC+1, tim... wrote:
"michael adams" wrote in message
o.uk...

wrote in message
...
On Thursday, 5 April 2018 16:59:31 UTC+1, michael adams wrote:
Khans father was a bus driver. And he's full of pie in the sky nonsense.
Have you personally travelled on a London Bus recently ? Basically
they're
now targetted at idiots who instantly forget what bus they got on,
immediately they board and have to be reminded at every stop with
loudspeaker announcements at full volume.

Those are for blind people and tourists.

Why would blind people or tourists for that matter, forget what bus they'd
just got on ?

in the case of the blind person

how did they know which bus they were getting on until the on-bus
announcement tells them?

I've had people ask me what the bus is and they arent all blind either just can't see the bus number without putting their glasses on.

How do you think the blind know they are standing at a bus stop and not just a lamp post or telegraph pole ?

On Thursday, 5 April 2018 20:47:19 UTC+1, James Wilkinson Sword wrote:
On Wed, 04 Apr 2018 20:18:04 +0100, Andy Burns wrote:

michael adams wrote:

ARW wrote:
Very little when I had a look.

In three branches in West London I've looked in, they've still got plenty of stock.

I've been in two; while buying what I went in for, I trawled the shelves
and didn't really see anything else worth buying.

Their windows are plastered with two posters.
"Up to 20% off" and "Everything Must Go".

Different types of items were 10%, 20%, 40%

a lot of their stuff is cheaper elsewhere

yep

Last time I went into a Maplins, at full price, their electrical stuff was a sensible price, but their computer stuff was 10x what you could get on Ebay. They wanted £12 for a 1m USB lead. I walked out with a £1 IEC connector.

Why did you buy a £1 IEC connector if you wanted a 1M USB lead ?
they aren't really compatable.

On Thursday, 5 April 2018 21:55:07 UTC+1, alan_m wrote:
On 05/04/2018 21:34, ARW wrote:


Skimmed milk tastes like water and not like milk.

Having drunk skimmed milk for the past 40 years I now find full fat milk
somewhat unpleasant.

Yes I do too, when I went to my parent I foiund it difficult to drink even in tea and that was just 3-4 years after moving out, I also found that I had gone from 3 spoons of sugar down to less than 1.5.


In the good old days when milk was mainly delivered in glass bottles to
the doorstep the fat/cream formed a layer at the top and many people
just separated it off first before drinkink/using the remainder.

When I was at school I used to buy a pint of gold top milk, a ring of iced buns and a mars bar was better than spending the money on a school dinner.


These days the milk is homogenised so the fats don't separate out.

I've tried the fully skimmed and the orange cap topped versions but can't drink those although I don't find soya milk too unpleasent but prefer 'proper milk'

On Fri, 6 Apr 2018 02:42:12 -0700 (PDT), whisky-dave wrote:

Why did you buy a £1 IEC connector if you wanted a 1M USB lead ?
they aren't really compatable.

He's an idiot. And so are you for taking his idiotic baits, even when you
know what he's about!

"James Wilkinson Sword" wrote in message
news
On Wed, 04 Apr 2018 20:18:04 +0100, Andy Burns
wrote:

michael adams wrote:

ARW wrote:
Very little when I had a look.

In three branches in West London I've looked in, they've still got
plenty of stock.

I've been in two; while buying what I went in for, I trawled the shelves
and didn't really see anything else worth buying.

Their windows are plastered with two posters.
"Up to 20% off" and "Everything Must Go".

Different types of items were 10%, 20%, 40%

a lot of their stuff is cheaper elsewhere

yep

Last time I went into a Maplins, at full price, their electrical stuff was
a sensible price, but their computer stuff was 10x what you could get on
Ebay. They wanted £12 for a 1m USB lead.

the problem with buying that sort of stuff on eBay is the variable quality

I bought a 1.99 HDMI connector on eBay, failed within 3 months

in theory, I'm entitled to refund or replacement, by for such a sum it just
too much hassle

tim

"michael adams" wrote in message
o.uk...

"tim..." wrote in message
news


"michael adams" wrote in message
o.uk...

wrote in message
...
On Thursday, 5 April 2018 16:59:31 UTC+1, michael adams wrote:
Khans father was a bus driver. And he's full of pie in the sky
nonsense.
Have you personally travelled on a London Bus recently ? Basically
they're
now targetted at idiots who instantly forget what bus they got on,
immediately they board and have to be reminded at every stop with
loudspeaker announcements at full volume.

Those are for blind people and tourists.

Why would blind people or tourists for that matter, forget what bus
they'd
just got on ?

in the case of the blind person

how did they know which bus they were getting on until the on-bus
announcement tells them?


They ask the driver. Or another person in the queue if there
is one before boarding the bus.

but how do they know that they aren't being lied to (deliberately or
otherwise)

I often have people ask me questions about next bus/train and 30 seconds
later I see them asking someone else

tim

"Jethro_uk" wrote in message
news
On Fri, 06 Apr 2018 11:25:59 +0100, tim... wrote:

"James Wilkinson Sword" wrote in message
news
On Wed, 04 Apr 2018 20:18:04 +0100, Andy Burns
wrote:

michael adams wrote:

ARW wrote:
Very little when I had a look.

In three branches in West London I've looked in, they've still got
plenty of stock.

I've been in two; while buying what I went in for, I trawled the
shelves and didn't really see anything else worth buying.

Their windows are plastered with two posters.
"Up to 20% off" and "Everything Must Go".

Different types of items were 10%, 20%, 40%

a lot of their stuff is cheaper elsewhere

yep

Last time I went into a Maplins, at full price, their electrical stuff
was a sensible price, but their computer stuff was 10x what you could
get on Ebay. They wanted £12 for a 1m USB lead.

the problem with buying that sort of stuff on eBay is the variable
quality

but that cuts both ways ...


I bought a 1.99 HDMI connector on eBay, failed within 3 months

JOOI was it subject to any repeated plugging/unplugging ? Surely once it
was "working" there's very little to deteriorate ?

It had components inside

they obviously died

tim

"ARW" wrote in message
...
On 05/04/2018 20:02, michael adams wrote:
"Andrew" wrote in message
news
On 05/04/2018 12:09, michael adams wrote:
ATM the only problem I have with Sainsbury is availability
of 4pt skimmed milk which at times can be erratic. Not that I buy much
else in there nowadays.

You might just as well buy 4 pints of semi-skimmed and add 4 pints
of water, or simply use less of it. Skimmed milk is so pathetic you
just end up using more.

It's all a matter of taste.

Skimmed milk tastes like water and not like milk.

There are people around, otherwise quite normal looking people
who will only drink tea without any milk or sugar. They will ask you
why anyone would want to mask the delicate taste of the tea with
cow juice and sickly sugar or sweetener.

You take a sip and it doesn't taste any better than it did the last time;
and you're immediately looking around for a convenient pot plant.

As I said, it's all a matter of taste.

As it happens I mainly use milk in tea - Tesco Red Label teabags.

Whether there's any delicate taste there to mask,is maybe another question.

Years ago, like most other people I was quite happy to drink bright orange tea
straight out of an urn in cafes, with "normal" milk and maybe four spoons of
sugar.

Nowadays it's all skimmed milk and sweeteners and the former cafe most likely
only sells artisan crafted llapsong souchong at a tenner a cup

Tastes also evolve.


michael adams

....
..

On 06/04/2018 10:47, Jethro_uk wrote:
On Thu, 05 Apr 2018 16:13:37 -0700, jgh wrote:

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Quite. An estate built near here about 30 years ago doesn't have
anything like enough parking for the cars people will inevitably have.
Done deliberately at planning time. Which means they spill out onto
surrounding roads which are already congested by parking.

I used to continuously have arguments about this last decade when I was
involved in this stuff.
: The development's next to a bus stop, so there's no parking places. Q
But where will the residents put their cars?
: They'll be using the buses.
Q Yes, but where will they put their cars when they're using the buses?
: They're student flats, they'll be walking to university.
Q Yes, but where will they put the car that they've used to drive here
in September and will drive away at half term/end of term? Cars cost
thruppence happenny nowadays, Students Have Cars.
etc.

And - as proved by the above exchange - never any thought for people who
can't walk or use buses.

Why on earth would SWMBO chance her arm waiting at a bus stop, onluy to
be told she can't get on *this* bus, because there's no space for the
wheelchair.

Or, in 30 minutes, the next bus.

Or, after an hour, the bus after that.

(Bearing in mind this is how the DWP would require you to get to work).


I think there's almost always a need to provide disabled parking. And
round here people can get the council to designate space outside their
home. Whether that's enough is another matter.

--
Cheers, Rob

In article ,
says...

Quite. An estate built near here about 30 years ago doesn't have anything
like enough parking for the cars people will inevitably have. Done
deliberately at planning time. Which means they spill out onto surrounding
roads which are already congested by parking.

And how many estates like that originally had frequent bus
services 7 days a week until late at night and now either have
none or a much slimmed down service which stops ay 6pm and
doesn't run on Sundays?

How would a shift worker be expected to cope - or anyone else
required to work overtime?

--

Terry

---
This email has been checked for viruses by AVG.
http://www.avg.com

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
michael adams wrote:
Basically they're now targetted at idiots who instantly forget what bus
they got on, immediately they board and have to be reminded at every
stop with loudspeaker announcements at full volume.

But rather preferable to people shouting on their phones.

I've seldom encountered people "shouting" on their phones
but people talking on their phones is a quite common experience.
Whether it suits anyone else, doing this at least suits two
people the caller and the called.

As presumably you yourself, like everyone else don't forget
what bus you've just got on, it remains to be seen what
possible purpose is served by these announcements.

The answer is none. Like many other things these annoying
abnnouncekments come under the category - "if we can do
something which will impact on the customer experience
which can be implemented fairly cheaply, then we should do it
regardless of whether it will actually improve anything"
There are plenty of other examples of this around.

You expect people on phones to be annoying as they don't
know any better. The clowns who implement these "improvements"
are actual being paid to do so and will put them on their CV's.


michael adams

....

Dave Plowman wrote:

An estate built near here about 30 years ago doesn't have anything
like enough parking for the cars people will inevitably have. Done
deliberately at planning time.

On this estate the houses were built without garages but a long drive at
the side of the house, sufficient for 3-4 cars. Most houses have since
built an attached garage and kitchen extension (of course modern cars
don't fit into the garage, so many have converted subsequently been
converted into a habitable room) reducing the drive to the length of one
car (those with 4x4s leave bumpers sticking into the path) but of course
they now have two or three cars ... hence the road is like an obstacle
course.

"tim..." wrote in message news


"michael adams" wrote in message
o.uk...

"tim..." wrote in message news


"michael adams" wrote in message
o.uk...

wrote in message
...
On Thursday, 5 April 2018 16:59:31 UTC+1, michael adams wrote:
Khans father was a bus driver. And he's full of pie in the sky nonsense.
Have you personally travelled on a London Bus recently ? Basically they're
now targetted at idiots who instantly forget what bus they got on,
immediately they board and have to be reminded at every stop with
loudspeaker announcements at full volume.

Those are for blind people and tourists.

Why would blind people or tourists for that matter, forget what bus they'd
just got on ?

in the case of the blind person

how did they know which bus they were getting on until the on-bus announcement tells
them?


They ask the driver. Or another person in the queue if there
is one before boarding the bus.

but how do they know that they aren't being lied to (deliberately or otherwise)

They'd know once they'd got on the bus. They'd confirm the route
when they told the driver their stop.

The only reason for asking somebody on the queuse is to save the
blind person the trouble of boarding the wrong bus only to
be told by the driver that they've got on the wrong one.

Your idea that they'd board a succession of buses of different
routes all serving the same stop, and then wait to listen to the
on board announcement before decideing whether they needed to get
off or not is, quite frankly, one of the most ludicrous suggestions
its ever been my pleasuse to read on UseNet.

And that's even leaving out the likelihood of people deliberately
lying to blind people.


I often have people ask me questions about next bus/train and 30 seconds later I see
them asking someone else

That will presumably depend on how much confidence they have in what
you told them; which sad to say will mainly be based on your
appearance, accent, confident manner or not, abscence of facial tics
etc. Basically even nowadyas if you were dressed in a pin strip suit,
with a crisp white shirt, matching tie and handerkerchief, and spoke
with a public school accent then people would be far more inclined to
believe you first time than if you had long hair, a beard,
were wearing jeans and spoke with say a cockney accent .And this
goes for all classes of enquirers.


michael adams

....

"whisky-dave" wrote in message
...
Have you personally travelled on a London Bus recently ?

- Yes, ~8:15am this morning, twice a day weekdays, sometimes more.

Then you have my sympathies.

You're faced with the same announcements on the tube but usually the ride is so
smooth that you can blot them out by reading a book or the paper. Maybe it depends
on the model of bus and knowing the best place to sit, never mind drivers slamming
on the brakes but I've always found it impossible to read on buses; another reason
for avoiding them as much as possible.

michael adams

....

On Friday, 6 April 2018 13:17:03 UTC+1, michael adams wrote:
That will presumably depend on how much confidence they have in what
you told them; which sad to say will mainly be based on your
appearance, accent, confident manner or not, abscence of facial tics
etc. Basically even nowadyas if you were dressed in a pin strip suit,
with a crisp white shirt, matching tie and handerkerchief, and spoke
with a public school accent then people would be far more inclined to
believe you first time than if you had long hair, a beard,
were wearing jeans and spoke with say a cockney accent .And this
goes for all classes of enquirers.

Yes, that's the difference between people like Fred Goodwin and Philip Green and, say, Richard Branson (although he's an Old Stoic and probably doesn't have a cockney accent).

Owain

On 06/04/2018 13:02, Jethro_uk wrote:
On Fri, 06 Apr 2018 12:42:58 +0100, RJH wrote:

snip


I think there's almost always a need to provide disabled parking.

No in any new build I have ever seen. In fact most of the show homes were
inaccessible - in one case the sales agent had to call four builders over
to carry SWMBO wheelchair over the gravel car park.

round here people can get the council to designate space outside their
home. Whether that's enough is another matter.

Quite aside from the question of having enough road space to do so, such
a move is not a guarantee to the householder involved. It merely becomes
an allocated on-street disabled bay which can be used by *anyone* with a
BB being used legitimately.


Yes, good point. I think it's down the local authority to specify
matters of parking as a planning condition. But while there may be a
need, and there is a way - it's not often used perhaps.

Still, off street parking is the least of our worries. We can easily fit
5 cars on our drives and garage, despite only being 2 people. Meanwhile
the family across the road of 5 have 6 cars between them and 3 spaces ....


Good grief. I'd guess 4 of the 30 homes on this terraced street have 3
or more cars. Couple of caravans and trailers. Quite a scramble at
coming home time ;-)

--
Cheers, Rob

wrote in message
...
On Friday, 6 April 2018 13:17:03 UTC+1, michael adams wrote:
That will presumably depend on how much confidence they have in what
you told them; which sad to say will mainly be based on your
appearance, accent, confident manner or not, abscence of facial tics
etc. Basically even nowadyas if you were dressed in a pin strip suit,
with a crisp white shirt, matching tie and handerkerchief, and spoke
with a public school accent then people would be far more inclined to
believe you first time than if you had long hair, a beard,
were wearing jeans and spoke with say a cockney accent .And this
goes for all classes of enquirers.

Yes, that's the difference between people like Fred Goodwin and Philip Green and, say,
Richard Branson (although he's an Old Stoic and probably doesn't have a cockney
accent).

Owain


I was speaking of people in general not the subset of the terminally gullible
who are especially susceptible to tax dodging smiling bull**** merchants
such as Richard Branson.


michael adams

....

In article ,
Jethro_uk wrote:
And - as proved by the above exchange - never any thought for people who
can't walk or use buses.

Why on earth would SWMBO chance her arm waiting at a bus stop, onluy to
be told she can't get on *this* bus, because there's no space for the
wheelchair.

Or, in 30 minutes, the next bus.

Or, after an hour, the bus after that.

(Bearing in mind this is how the DWP would require you to get to work).

There doesn't seem to be a problem providing a disabled parking space
anywhere it's needed. Including one round here right on a junction - where
previously there was a yellow line to stop parking and give decent
visibility at that junction. They actually had to move the stop line, so
buses using the junction can swing out past that parked 'disabled' car.

We also have buses which can lower themselves to allow easier access to
wheelchairs, etc. So having speaking signs for the blind etc seems only
fair. Also indicator boards for the deaf.

--
*A clear conscience is the sign of a fuzzy memory.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
Terry Casey wrote:
In article ,
says...

Quite. An estate built near here about 30 years ago doesn't have anything
like enough parking for the cars people will inevitably have. Done
deliberately at planning time. Which means they spill out onto surrounding
roads which are already congested by parking.

And how many estates like that originally had frequent bus
services 7 days a week until late at night and now either have
none or a much slimmed down service which stops ay 6pm and
doesn't run on Sundays?

This is London. If anything, the PT service has improved in the last 30
years. Most especially the service from the local overground railway
station. Far more trains stop there now.

If you are out in the sticks with poor PT, chances are land is cheap
enough to provide off street parking.

How would a shift worker be expected to cope - or anyone else
required to work overtime?

--
*Go the extra mile. It makes your boss look like an incompetent slacker *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
michael adams wrote:
The answer is none. Like many other things these annoying
abnnouncekments come under the category - "if we can do
something which will impact on the customer experience
which can be implemented fairly cheaply, then we should do it
regardless of whether it will actually improve anything"
There are plenty of other examples of this around.

Well, what did come in about the same time is indicators at a bus stop
telling you when your wanted bus is likely to arrive. And cameras on the
buses recording bad behaviour etc. And air con on some buses too.

I do use buses quite a bit out of rush hour as they are a pleasant way to
travel with no parking hassles. But then I also get free travel. Can't say
the announcements particularly annoy me unless very loud which would be a
fault condition. But could see someone not used to them and looking for a
reason to convince themselves not to use a bus could get annoyed by them.
;-)

--
*The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...

So having speaking signs for the blind etc seems only
fair. Also indicator boards for the deaf.

That's all very well for blind and deaf people who can
read and speak English. But what of any ethnic minority
passengers who can't ?* Is it really fair on them ?

Won't that make them feel even more disadvantaged ?

"They taken these special measures for English speaking
passengers, but not for us." (Although obviously they'll
be thinking this in their own language)


michael adams

* The same might also be said to apply to some tourists

....

On Friday, 6 April 2018 13:17:03 UTC+1, michael adams wrote:
"tim..." wrote in message news


"michael adams" wrote in message
o.uk...

"tim..." wrote in message news

"michael adams" wrote in message
o.uk...

wrote in message
...
On Thursday, 5 April 2018 16:59:31 UTC+1, michael adams wrote:
Khans father was a bus driver. And he's full of pie in the sky nonsense.
Have you personally travelled on a London Bus recently ? Basically they're
now targetted at idiots who instantly forget what bus they got on,
immediately they board and have to be reminded at every stop with
loudspeaker announcements at full volume.

Those are for blind people and tourists.

Why would blind people or tourists for that matter, forget what bus they'd
just got on ?

in the case of the blind person

how did they know which bus they were getting on until the on-bus announcement tells
them?


They ask the driver. Or another person in the queue if there
is one before boarding the bus.

but how do they know that they aren't being lied to (deliberately or otherwise)

They'd know once they'd got on the bus. They'd confirm the route
when they told the driver their stop.

Most of the buses I use have the entrace and exit on the side or back so you don't need to pass the driver.

The only reason for asking somebody on the queuse is to save the
blind person the trouble of boarding the wrong bus only to
be told by the driver that they've got on the wrong one.

I think that is a pretty important reason to ask, especailly if the person happens to be in a wheelchair. Some ask if they don't know whether or not the bus is going to their destination.
Sometimes and quite often the bus changes it's final destination.
About 1 in every 3 journeys I make the bus stops and the annoucnment says the driver will wait here for 5 mins to better regulate the service.


Your idea that they'd board a succession of buses of different
routes all serving the same stop, and then wait to listen to the
on board announcement before decideing whether they needed to get
off or not is, quite frankly, one of the most ludicrous suggestions
its ever been my pleasuse to read on UseNet.

But it would make a good comedy sketch.
be even funny if this system was used on planes.


And that's even leaving out the likelihood of people deliberately
lying to blind people.

Not seen that happen but people can get things wrong.

A couple of years ago the Walthamstow Leisure centre was called the Kelmscott Leisure Centre.

Wonder if they'll change the name again.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crim...-a3804416.html



I often have people ask me questions about next bus/train and 30 seconds later I see
them asking someone else

That will presumably depend on how much confidence they have in what
you told them;

In fact I was asked is the Kelmscott Leisure Centre near here as I got off the bus 2 stops before. I said yes it's about 2 stops away but it's called something else now, I didn;t know what at the time.



which sad to say will mainly be based on your
appearance, accent, confident manner or not, abscence of facial tics
etc. Basically even nowadyas if you were dressed in a pin strip suit,
with a crisp white shirt, matching tie and handerkerchief, and spoke
with a public school accent then people would be far more inclined to
believe you first time than if you had long hair, a beard,
were wearing jeans and spoke with say a cockney accent .And this
goes for all classes of enquirers.

Not always, if I'm looking for a gig/venue I'd ask people that look like they might know.

On Friday, 6 April 2018 13:27:18 UTC+1, michael adams wrote:
"whisky-dave" wrote in message
...
Have you personally travelled on a London Bus recently ?

- Yes, ~8:15am this morning, twice a day weekdays, sometimes more.

Then you have my sympathies.

Cheers, I find it worse now I have a mobile and can check on the times.


You're faced with the same announcements on the tube but usually the ride is so
smooth that you can blot them out by reading a book or the paper.

Less noticable on the tube but then I only go two stops which would be about a dozen stops on the bus. But if you're standing near the tubes speaker it's very annoying more annoying than the bus. Aother annoucment when arriving at stratford "the doors will open on both sides of the train"
Theere the service ones that tell you we've stoped in the tunnel waiting for the train in fronmt o the red light or passnger action.



Maybe it depends
on the model of bus and knowing the best place to sit, never mind drivers slamming
on the brakes but I've always found it impossible to read on buses; another reason
for avoiding them as much as possible.

Me too and actually any moving vehical, I think I get a seat on the tube perhaps twice a month, on buses I almost always get a seat in the morning and evenings provided there;s no delays or problems.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...

Well, what did come in about the same time is indicators at a bus stop
telling you when your wanted bus is likely to arrive.

According to posters on uk.transport.london these often
malfunction and have actually been removed from some stops.

On the tube I sometimes use the District Line. Look at old
photos from the 1910's 1920's and you'll see train
indicator boards on the platforms. Blue glass panels
with the destinations lit from behind with a bulb.

One hundred years later they installed digital (or whatever)
indicator boards. Go into any Distict line station and you
will see a notice "Please check the destination on the front
of the train as the indicator board may not be correct"
And they've not been correct whenever I've travelled.
This has been going on for months.
But if it "may" not be correct what's the point of having it at
all ? Why not just switch it off until its fixed ?

This is the mentality you're dealing with. On the one hand its
a miracle they've kept trains running continuously on the
London Underground (in one form or another) for over 150 years
now through two world wars. On the other hand its even more of
a miracle when plonkers like this are in charge.

And cameras on the
buses recording bad behaviour etc.

They're not just recording bad behaviour. Potentially they're
recording all behaviour.

And air con on some buses too.

I do use buses quite a bit out of rush hour as they are a pleasant way to
travel with no parking hassles.

Do you find you can read on buses ? Otherwise what do you do
just look out the window ?

But then I also get free travel.

Indeed.Just think of the poor sods who are having to pay to have
loudspeakers blaring at them proffering this totally superfluous
information. At every single stop !

Can't say
the announcements particularly annoy me unless very loud which would be a
fault condition.

The volume is solely at the discretion of the driver. As with tubes
the maximium appears to be such as to overcome the noise of a revving
engine or a tube in a tunnel.

But could see someone not used to them and looking for a
reason to convince themselves not to use a bus could get annoyed by them.
;-)

If somebody could produce a genuine reason for their use - if you
insist they could be switched on and off as blind people boarded and
alighteed from the bus - then I wouldn't find them annoying at all. As
it is they're simply unnecessary noise pollution being inflicted on a
captive audience; many of whom are paying for the privilige.


michael adams

....

On Friday, 6 April 2018 14:25:06 UTC+1, michael adams wrote:
"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...

Well, what did come in about the same time is indicators at a bus stop
telling you when your wanted bus is likely to arrive.

According to posters on uk.transport.london these often
malfunction and have actually been removed from some stops.

They seem to malfunction due to water or dodgy connections and I'm not sure why they get removed or installed at particular stops.
They indicate how long until the next bus in mins, which might not be very accurate as it depends on speed and traffic but it's a reasonable guide I think they take the times from the same data as the phone apps do.


On the tube I sometimes use the District Line. Look at old
photos from the 1910's 1920's and you'll see train
indicator boards on the platforms. Blue glass panels
with the destinations lit from behind with a bulb.

They still have one at stepney green station, the only one they have.
They can;t indicate any problems either and for some reason even the 'tannoy' can;t report that the line is out it seems.



One hundred years later they installed digital (or whatever)
indicator boards. Go into any Distict line station and you
will see a notice "Please check the destination on the front
of the train as the indicator board may not be correct"

Yes that is true but it's not the norm, they only annouce such things rarely.
It's a far bigger problem on the buses as destination often change and you have to get off and changes buses, getting the next one, if you're lucky.


And they've not been correct whenever I've travelled.
This has been going on for months.

I've only noticed such a thing last a day or so.

But if it "may" not be correct what's the point of having it at
all ? Why not just switch it off until its fixed ?

A reasonable Q , but maybe they don't know it's incorrect until passengers tell them ;-)





And air con on some buses too.

I do use buses quite a bit out of rush hour as they are a pleasant way to
travel with no parking hassles.

Do you find you can read on buses ? Otherwise what do you do
just look out the window ?

I normaly just look out of the window or observe what others are doing, sometimes I listen to what people are saying on the phone conversations, they can be funny.


But then I also get free travel.

Indeed.Just think of the poor sods who are having to pay to have
loudspeakers blaring at them proffering this totally superfluous
information. At every single stop !

Mine's about £1k per year just zones 2/3


Can't say
the announcements particularly annoy me unless very loud which would be a
fault condition.

The volume is solely at the discretion of the driver. As with tubes
the maximium appears to be such as to overcome the noise of a revving
engine or a tube in a tunnel.

That would make sense, although on some stations the messages while they can be heard are difficult to understand.


But could see someone not used to them and looking for a
reason to convince themselves not to use a bus could get annoyed by them.
;-)

If somebody could produce a genuine reason for their use -

Handy for those new to the area I suppose. Might be handy too for those that might not understand how to prounounce certain names of places.
I can usualy ignore them, but sometimes you get a bus that is not from the area and it announces stops that arent where it;s stopping.



if you
insist they could be switched on and off as blind people boarded and
alighteed from the bus -

Is that just the audio or the rotating message display too ?

then I wouldn't find them annoying at all. As
it is they're simply unnecessary noise pollution being inflicted on a
captive audience; many of whom are paying for the privilige.

If they annoy peolpe on their mobiles then I'd say turn the announcements UP.



michael adams

...

On 05/04/2018 23:50, Jim K wrote:
alan_m Wrote in message:
On 05/04/2018 21:34, ARW wrote:


Skimmed milk tastes like water and not like milk.

Having drunk skimmed milk for the past 40 years I now find full fat milk
somewhat unpleasant.

In the good old days when milk was mainly delivered in glass bottles to
the doorstep the fat/cream formed a layer at the top and many people
just separated it off first before drinkink/using the remainder.

These days the milk is homogenised so the fats don't separate out.

Not that there is any fat (nor obviously any fat soluble vitamins)
in that white **** you prefer...


'White water' as farmers describe it as.

Waitrose sell unhomogenised milk, and the local farm has its
own shop where you can buy proper raw milk.

In article ,
michael adams wrote:
So having speaking signs for the blind etc seems only
fair. Also indicator boards for the deaf.

That's all very well for blind and deaf people who can
read and speak English. But what of any ethnic minority
passengers who can't ?* Is it really fair on them ?

Won't that make them feel even more disadvantaged ?

Not really. Even someone who doesn't speak English well can learn to
recognise what their destination sounds like in a foreign language. Most
of us manage it when abroad.

--
*I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.