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If you don't have gates on the drive, now might be a good time to add some. Having a barrier can be enough to deter casual access.
and help to keep the site free for all
WAMT....what annoyed me today!
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If you don't have gates on the drive, now might be a good time to add some. Having a barrier can be enough to deter casual access.
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It may not be possible. The estate where I live is open plan front gardens so walls, fences and gates are not allowed. However, my cars are in a locked garage at night.
A few years ago my son heard noises outside at the back of our property and it appeared two youths were trying to break into our shed to steal my son's cycle. He shouted at them and they threatened him but by this time he had already called 999. He clearly scared them off and the police turned up a few minutes later. They were lucky to escape as there is only one way in and out the estate. I guess it made them concerned as they never returned.
Dave
woof woof
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I've been bombarded with emails and TXT's from the police but they're working on a four day backlog so wont see or hear from them for at least four days. I'll send them the cctv footage and no doubt they'll acknowledge receipt and the boxes will all be ticked and my ethnicity correctly logged.
Difficult though it may be but as there's no legal deterrent or punishment I think it should be open season on anyone snooping around your cars or property. It's a killer knowing that there's no come back what so ever for upsetting and even terrifying people but what can I do? "Defend" my property and I'm sure the police would find a window in their four day backlog to have me in PDQ so all I can do is shout and hope they go away and don't come back.
Gates at the end of the drive aren't really possible as everything is so open at the front and with the neighbours and a gate at the side of the house blocking the drive would be difficult too. Hopefully me getting a crime number has scared them off for good
Difficult though it may be but as there's no legal deterrent or punishment I think it should be open season on anyone snooping around your cars or property. It's a killer knowing that there's no come back what so ever for upsetting and even terrifying people but what can I do? "Defend" my property and I'm sure the police would find a window in their four day backlog to have me in PDQ so all I can do is shout and hope they go away and don't come back.
Gates at the end of the drive aren't really possible as everything is so open at the front and with the neighbours and a gate at the side of the house blocking the drive would be difficult too. Hopefully me getting a crime number has scared them off for good
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Likely you’ll never see them again - most crime comes down to opportunity and if you don’t leave stuff on show opportunities are reduced.Hopefully me getting a crime number has scared them off for good
We have a ‘fast’ bit of road by us that used to be a 60mph zone. In the councils wisdom it is now at 40 but no one, other than me, seems to go slower now. With all the 20mph zones now also, unless there is regular enforcement , they are pointless. Going through Godmanchester folk regularly over take those going at 20 making it far more hazardous than previous.
Policing seems to be smart now rather than feet on the ground. In the 21 years of living my estate I have never seen a policeman other than when they are attending an incident.
woof woof
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I've just been looking at something very similar at Halfords.
I bought one of those steering locks that cover the wheel and it's on my most expensive car now. I've had one before and sent it straight back as IMO they're a pile of poop, they mark the steering wheel and don't even stop the car being driven but some say they are at least a visual deterrent so it's just a £150 gamble. I'll get something for my other cars but I have to measure their steering wheels first.
woof woof
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Hope so. Mrs WW is upset and wouldn't go to church this morning so I hope she can move on soon.
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There's a marked area for these scooters near the lampost in the background. I think some 'ner do wells must have done this.
Yesterday they were parked 25m away across the road..not in the designated bay.They're quite heavy and can't be easily wheeled so the company will have to come and move them. They work 24/7.
Taken this morning:
Yesterday they were parked 25m away across the road..not in the designated bay.They're quite heavy and can't be easily wheeled so the company will have to come and move them. They work 24/7.
Taken this morning:
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WAMT - Seller on Gumtree advertises something I want at £375. I ask when I can view. Apologizes as he mistyped and says it should have been £425. I ask if he will take a part ex. He says that he might. Advert is withdrawn. I message, he says that it is already sold! Item is readvertised at £495. Give me strength! He's now on my "blocked" list! 
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I stopped at the red light of a local road works......the following small van/MPV stopped behind me and a moment later s/he pulled out and 'gunned it' through the road works.......on the red light. Clearly very late and the imminent oncoming traffic could wait!!! 
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I stopped at the red light of a local road works......the following small van/MPV stopped behind me and a moment later s/he pulled out and 'gunned it' through the road works.......on the red light. Clearly very late and the imminent oncoming traffic could wait!!!
There seem to be a lot of people like this right now, driving intentionally badly. We had almost exactly this situation last night, pulling out behind us after stopping at a red light for roadworks in Bicester. There also seem to be a lot of those who pull out of a turning on a major road, then accelerate slowly up to about 15mph below the limit and just sit there - try to overtake and they'll race you into the oncoming traffic, then sit close behind you afterwards when you got past.
An addendum. The 20mph limits round here make like crapper for the normal drivers, but those who did 40mph+ through the villages still do 40mph+. I'm close to the point where, if we didn't have family here, I really would want to leave the UK.
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I’m not far behind you with this.
I was surprised how well we got on in Japan. Folk are aware of people despite being glued to their phones. Businesses seem to be content with reasonable profit and not price gouging like here. We saw only considerate drivers and no road rage and even much tooting and all of this seems to be heightened since we came back.
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A very understandable desire. This country really has gone to the dogs. For me, Brexit has a lot to do with it not only for the economic hit and the travel issues but because I'm very pro-Europe and was darned annoyed, angry even, that so many European people left the UK ...especially the young ones. I love to meet Europeans.
The example you gave of the red light transgression is typical of the behaviour of so many who don't give a fig about any kind of social responsibility . I don't doubt,also, that having few Traffic police these days contributes to that kind of behaviour but it's stupid as the police actually prosecute quite a lot of motorists as a result of dashcam footage submitted to them .As you probably know,there are dedicated websites, often run by police, for uploading the worst examples.
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Exactly how I felt before we escaped to the West Country almost 5 years ago. I got to the point where I really hated living in London, and haven't been back despite being there over 25 years. We still have family in Kent, and even driving there along the M3/M25/M20 gets me depressed. I love living in the country where the only road block is the cows going to/from milking,,,,,
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I suspect one of the compounding factors is that traffic laws no longer seem to be based on safety and good sense, but rather appear petty and arbitrary and are therefore without real value or imperative. It's only a problem because you might get caught - not because you have done something that is obviously wrong. Speed cameras are a good example, where speeding is normal but everyone slows for a camera, effectively enabling speeding where such things don't exist (not that I've ever felt speed alone was a moral issue - speed in the wrong place much more so).
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Not sure about that. It takes a lot of scrutiny to get a law passed. Maybe you're referring to LA traffic laws ,even so, they must be discussed in detail and you have Cons-Labour and Lib Dems (generally) putting in their two-pennyworth. I've checked and they can only relate to issues involving, incorrectly driving into a bus lane,stopping in a yellow box junction, banned right or left turns, illegal U-turns, going the wrong way in a one-way street and ignoring a Traffic Regulation Order. The only one there that can catch out the average driver..ie.. one that normally complies..is the 'stopping in a yellow box junction' reg.
What laws did you have in mind ?
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I hadn't thought of the hatched box, but that's one example, although it's been around a long time. Changes to speed limits over the last 10 years, and especially the last couple. Restricting access and limiting driving through certain areas, use of 'smart' motorways, centre-lane hogging (apparently never enforced in practice). Road layouts play a part too, with markings around here being very prescriptive, requiring a driver to be in the right lane at junctions (if I'm in the wrong lane, can the police fine me?) taking away a sense of the driver being in charge. That will do without thinking too much.
And I've already given the speed camera example.
It's not that any of them are specifically wrong in general, but as newer speed limits are introduced piecemeal (I've previously cited a local village which goes from NSL>30>40>20>30>NSL in around half a mile) it's natural for many to just think "sod it, this is stupid" and ignore it provided they don't think they can get caught.
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As a counter point to the angst about such bad behaviour & ignored road markings/signage.
On Guernsey that have what looks like box junctions but are "filter in turn" and over various holidays there, they are very strictly observed and traffic just flows.
On Guernsey that have what looks like box junctions but are "filter in turn" and over various holidays there, they are very strictly observed and traffic just flows.
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Recent "traffic calming" measures in our locality means a series of "chicanes", "mini-humps" (roundabouts), extra pedestrian crossings (some within 100 yards of each other) and bits of kerbs that jut out into the road that have already caught folk unawares, resulting in buckled wheels and punctures/tyre ruination! Traffic previously flowed smoothly and efficiently but now the route is all stop, start, causing frustration and excessive fuel use. To the best of my knowledge, there have been no accidents on that stretch of road previously. A new 600 home development that is being built is given as the reason for all this!
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That sounds like Camp Road in Upper Heyford, though there were a couple of roundabouts to prevent real racing. And actually quite a few villages including this one.
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There's a roundabout here at the end of a dual carriageway ..50mph limit..and about 50m before there are two 30mph signs. I've never understood why. There's even a traffic-light controlled T junction at 25m before the roundabout. By the time you get there you'd be down to less than 30mph anyway. I'd have thought a "sign "Slow- Roundabout Ahead" would have sufficed. I mentioned it to my wife a couple of weeks ago as we approached that roundabout and she told me that she'd seen a police officer, with a speed gun, (standing on the central reservation) on several occasion within that 50m. Unbelievable.
Anway, I've had a think since I responded to you and come to the conclusion that it's not just what people may see as over-burdening restrictions..unnecessary in their eyes but what's going in general. We have a generation who just can't afford housing and there's a lamentable lack of it for those who can. The government seems to have abandoned the public with public services all but collapsed. We've had three PMs in two months,one chancellor Kwarsi Kwarteng lasted only 38 days. Our armed services are thread-bare..I heard a high-ranking retired officer say that with what we have now we wouldn't be able to protect the Falklands if the same happened today as in 1982. . Another aspect of army life is the lack of care for the soldiers from their accomodation to help when things go wrong ,including discharge on medical grounds. Maybe we just hear the failures. These people are there to fight and protect us from hostile foreign forces. Look how the US reveres its so-called.".Vets". The Health Dept has just sorted out the consultants strike but not the junior doctors. There's an outflow of doctors to english-speaking countries. One was on LBC Radio this morning (Matt Fry programme) saying that he was thinking of moving to Australia after hearing,from his colleagues, how much better life is there . It wasn't really the lifestyle that was attracting him but the staffing levels in the hospitals are much better leading to little, if any ,stress and all for a much higher salary and more time off. I think the rail strikes are still ongoing. One scandal after another with our MPs. Police are thin on the ground and The Met, in particular, is dealing with with one scandal after another . I've never know a periods when so many young people appear to be suffering mental health issues and getting little,if any help. Too many people are not 'living' but 'surviving' Our rivers and seas have been allowed to become polluted to extraordinary levels whilst the owners of the water companies of which over 70% are foreign-owned, along with their shareholders, pocket, collectively, billions. Since privatisation, it's been an average of £2 billion a year That's amounted to at least £66bn since 1989 and that's over £10bn more than the total amount of debt the industry is in.
I can't go on listing the issues causing so much grief to people but I get the impression that there's a feeling that the government just don't care ..so why should people keep their side of the unwritten 'social contract' ?
From the FT. January 20 2023.
"The British economy is in a generation-long slough of despond, a slow-burning economic catastrophe. Real household disposable income per capita has barely increased for 15 years. This is not normal.The past 15 years have been a disappointment on a scale that previous generations of British economists could hardly have imagined. John Burn-Murdoch,a columnist and the chief data reporter for the Financial Times, has recently shown that median incomes in the UK are well below those in places such as Norway, Switzerland or the US and well below the average of developed countries. Incomes of the poor, those at the 10th percentile, are lower in the UK than in Slovenia.
I don't know how indicative of our country's demise this recent revelation is but it appears we have a hundred times more potholes on our roads than the moon has craters.
Pass me the tablets.....
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I have a question for you. How come the French can afford to buy into our Power Generation network (part of our Critical National Infrastructure) but neither we or our Government can afford to? I guess we should be grateful that someone thinks we are worth investing in?
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › EDF_Energy
EDF Energy is a British integrated energy company, wholly owned by the French state-owned EDF (Électricité de France), with operations spanning electricity ...
History · Electricity generation · EDF Renewables · Sponsorship
EDF Energy
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › EDF_Energy
EDF Energy is a British integrated energy company, wholly owned by the French state-owned EDF (Électricité de France), with operations spanning electricity ...
History · Electricity generation · EDF Renewables · Sponsorship
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It wasn't a matter of affordability. Whilst British Energy had the land, EDF had (has) the expertise. They own 58 nuclear power stations, which provide more than three quarters of France's electricity. It seems that EDF got a good deal re the land that came with the plants they acquired. It's where future nuclear plants would be built. Very astute. The French goverment own 83% of EDF. In 2021 the unions won a battle to stop it being privatised.It's just a temporary win,though.The EU is increasingly putting pressure on EDF to break up this vertically-integrated public utility.
I don't think it's a very good strategy to allow a foreign country, especially China, to own energy plants and water companies. They have no interest other than profit at the expense of investment Well, we know that from the water companies.Having said that I'm not so sure that profit is the motivator re China but rather a more sinister aspect.Ie... Control, should they wish to exert it. Personally, I'd get China out of everything..starting with our Universities.
November 2022...https://news.sky.com/story/sizewell-c-nuclear-power-plant-go-ahead-reconfirmed-with-700m-public-investment-shapps-announces-12757786
2023 Hinckly Point https://www.ft.com/content/ae5fb399-08ce-4045-bb70-45a6531ac5f2
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Nod
Tootles
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Mild annoyance since I don't need it all until next week but yesterday, I ordered a set of ducting to take Mrs Nod's Mum's AC output hose neatly through the window. Host/duct adaptor - check. 2x 90° bends - check. Duct tape - check. 1m length of duct... Coming soon!
Mild amusement too. The Evri driver wasn't sure whether to ring the bell since the front curtains are shut (against the sunshine) as are the front (vertical) blinds and he thought we might be ill! He was also slightly confused because we usually leave the keys in the meter cupboard if we can't accept delivery. Spotted him hovering outside the front door so opened up for him
Mild amusement too. The Evri driver wasn't sure whether to ring the bell since the front curtains are shut (against the sunshine) as are the front (vertical) blinds and he thought we might be ill! He was also slightly confused because we usually leave the keys in the meter cupboard if we can't accept delivery. Spotted him hovering outside the front door so opened up for him
woof woof
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Just a BMW driver.
I saw him catching me in my rear view, I'd estimate he was doing 80mph in the 40mph limit. As we approached a roundabout I eased off and as I entered I slowed to a crawl as I knew he was going to try and straight line the roundabout (left lane is for straight on, RHL is for turning right) and that's exactly what he did.
Would he have tried this insane maneuver even if I hadn't eased off? In my mind I was sure he would and if I hadn't eased off there'd be two more crumpled cars in this world now. Not that his insane driving got him anywhere any quicker as when we parted ways a few minutes later he was no more than 20 yards from me.
I saw him catching me in my rear view, I'd estimate he was doing 80mph in the 40mph limit. As we approached a roundabout I eased off and as I entered I slowed to a crawl as I knew he was going to try and straight line the roundabout (left lane is for straight on, RHL is for turning right) and that's exactly what he did.
Would he have tried this insane maneuver even if I hadn't eased off? In my mind I was sure he would and if I hadn't eased off there'd be two more crumpled cars in this world now. Not that his insane driving got him anywhere any quicker as when we parted ways a few minutes later he was no more than 20 yards from me.
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Yes, but in his mind he left you for dust.
woof woof
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If I'd gone through the roundabout at normal speed my these days politically incorrect SUV might just have crushed his addled mind into the dust. Every now and again I suppose we all see insane driving and it is IMO best to drive as if the people around you are idiots.
Cockney
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I was on the M27 yesterday. There's roadworks for quite a few miles, so it's 50 mph and average speed cameras. An older chap in a BMW was about 2m off my backside, so I gently touched the brake with my left foot a couple of times, hinting that I wanted him to back off a bit. This didn't work, so I slowed from 52 down to 45, then down to 40, flashing the brakes again. All I got was main beam (pointless as he was so close his lights were below my mirror view) and waving of hands. I sped up to put a gap between us, and the whole saga was repeated again.
Why ? It's not like I was driving slower than the rest of the traffic, I couldn't go anywhere as I had cars in front of me. Suddenly he dropped to the inside lane, under took a row of cars, forced himself out about 3 cars in front causing everyone else to brake. Numpties, the motorways are full of them....
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That is something I was taught/learned decades and I have been driving >50 years.
Over the years my 6th sense has been (mostly) honed to see the b******t developing in the driver's around me.......and all too often it pays dividends in regard to the crapshoot of whether you end up at the wrong end of those idiot drivers stupidity
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That is something I was taught/learned decades and I have been driving >50 years.
Over the years my 6th sense has been (mostly) honed to see the b******t developing in the driver's around me.......and all too often it pays dividends in regard to the crapshoot of whether you end up at the wrong end of those idiot drivers stupidity
Once you have spent time on a motorcycle you learn 2 things.
1. Most drivers don't look properly, or don't care.
2. You can generally spot the real idiots even before they do something stupid...
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Too true.....and in part is what I meant about a 6th sense which one might all sum up as experience & roadcraft.
FWIW
I passed my car test first (after 13 lessons) a short few years later did my bike test. Also, then taking my IAM and RoSPA Advanced Test, both those were "examined/tested" by serving Class 1 police motorcyclists.
I found the experience of my motorcycle training and higher level 'tests' had an important influence on my car driving that has persisted to this day. For domestic reasons I gave up motorcycling in the mid to late 1980's.
Tringa
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I've thought something similar for some time. I don't think it is that our Government can't afford to; I think they don't want to.
I think any UK government should hang its head in shame when a foreign government thinks it is worthwhile investing in and operating an energy company in the UK but our government does not.
Dave
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I agree.
Then again, I think Callaghan and the rest of the Labour Party in the 1980s, have to answer for the chaotic state of Britain's infrastructure now. When Thatcher began to offer the shares, Labour should have promised that they would re-nationalise all privatised industries without compensation. How many people would have bought the shares, with that hanging over them?
woof woof
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One of our ctv cameras seemed to have stopped working so I rebooted the system and it was still dead. I then looked back to the last notification that camera gave and it was of the window cleaner walking up the drive so I checked the play back and up comes the ladder and... dead camera. I'll cancel them tomorrow as he must have known what he'd done and didn't own up.
Grrrr.
Grrrr.
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Kids walking to school with their mum she's looking on her phone and they run across our road she didn't even look up FFS
woof woof
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Look up? And miss what Sharon on friendface had for breakfast?