Things you have lost interest in over the years
Discussion
dandarez said:
super7 said:
Driving..... Gone from loving a drive in my old Caterham / Evo / Motorbike to it becoming a stress full nightmare.
When you're not dodging huge great big holes in the road, you have to drive at 20mph on roads that are safe at twice the speed, and every time you get a chance to stretch your legs, you run up behind someone whose just dawdling along at 1/2 the speed limit.
Speed limits are arbitrarily imposed with no real need for them. NSL to 50mph limits? Why?
And the biggest joke I saw last week, was a 20mph limit all through Bloxham in Oxfordshire, which ended just before the turn in to the Secondary school. So everyone starts accelerating past the school... stupid or what?
All due to the tosspots in charge now at Oxfordshire County Council that is. Spent a f fortune installing 20mph signs limits all across Oxfordshire, only to find just exactly what the Police roads/traffic chief told them: 'We cannot enforce these limits'. When you're not dodging huge great big holes in the road, you have to drive at 20mph on roads that are safe at twice the speed, and every time you get a chance to stretch your legs, you run up behind someone whose just dawdling along at 1/2 the speed limit.
Speed limits are arbitrarily imposed with no real need for them. NSL to 50mph limits? Why?
And the biggest joke I saw last week, was a 20mph limit all through Bloxham in Oxfordshire, which ended just before the turn in to the Secondary school. So everyone starts accelerating past the school... stupid or what?
Made no difference to the guy in charge at Oxfordshire County Council re 'Roads' - he replied (how about this!) 'Just because the Police Chief says something, doesn't mean he's right.' What an arrogant arse, eh? In real life the councillor in charge of the roads, is a - wait for it... a 'Music lecturer' with a professional background in 'Church Music'.
He's as dim as they come with regard to roads and safety.
When OCC found out drivers were ignoring the 20mph speed limit in my area, 'he', in all of his wisdom (none!), decided to spend more of the public's hard-earned money. All the signs he demanded had to be increased in 'size'.
What a f prat! Still made no difference. Potholes? They don't matter to these tossers!
When they first installed the 20mph signs, the fools left many of the original 30mph (some 40mph) signs and road marking limits in place! Confused, everyone was! When notified of their schoolkid errors they got council workers to work quickly covering up the original signs with black bin bags. You couldn't make this s
t up! The 'Lunatics' are in charge of the asylum, in this case Oxfordshire County Council.
There is a brilliant stretch of road (20mph) in Witney in Oxfordshire, approx a mile and a half stretch on the Woodstock Road, then for the last 100yds of so it suddenly changes to 40 mph! I was stuck behind a 20mph waller only this morning on this stretch of road.
Have you guessed yet? As this rare stickler for the new speed limit (fortunately, not too many of 'em) reached the 40 mph sign, she sped up to 40mph for the short stretch and then braked like mad at the junction. Unbelievable.
Gant I'm reliably informed even has a spoof account on the Oxford Mail website where he spouts everything and anything about 20mph being the best thing since sliced bread - it saves lives he says. No it doesn't. He is simply a Lib-Dum(b) Green 'car hater'.
Edited by dandarez on Tuesday 19th March 16:11
The rationale when I have written to the poor sods who have to put these in (that is, the Highways guys at OCC, after they have distanced themselves from the decision, which is wholly political) is that over time more people will comply. Because.
There is no, nada, nil, zero budget for evaluation of success. But we did in our village because we surveyed a year prior to, and then post implementation. Average traffic speeds had indeed reduced. By 0.9mph. From c31mph to 30.1mph. The cost of implementation for our little village was just under £7000...
The LibDem candidate in our newly-created Constituency is an OCC Councillor, and he wants to be my MP he tells me every time I get his campaign stuff shoved through the door. Sadly, he won't answer extremely polite emails on the subject from me, which is piss-poor to say the least.
The village is now wholly pissed off with then issue of speed, because this much-hyped initiative was going to be transformational, and all it has done is raise expectations, which have not been realised - in a village that didn't, apart from the odd selfish individual, have a speed issue previously.
Cracking job OCC. Meanwhile our Council Tax has just gone up again, and the overwhelming bulk of it goes to OCC, of course.
Echoing many above regarding F1, stopped watching when it went to Sky and got to be spasmodic anyway when it went hybrid and now have no interest at all. Haven't had a decent restaurant meal in UK since returning in 2019, last decent meal we had was at Lozenge in Athens last October, very reasonable and very good. Only been in a pub twice in the last two years both those were school reunions (all 8 of us still alive!!), just refuse to pay the ludicrous cost of a pint these days.
Mountain Biking. I have no idea why.
Used to love a blast through the trails. Had a proper bike (Orange) with trick forks and all the gear. 21 years ago, we moved to a house literally a minute from one of the best mountain bike blasts in Essex if not the South East (Danbury Common) and miles of other excellent routes. I think I ventured out twice since we moved here.
Used to love a blast through the trails. Had a proper bike (Orange) with trick forks and all the gear. 21 years ago, we moved to a house literally a minute from one of the best mountain bike blasts in Essex if not the South East (Danbury Common) and miles of other excellent routes. I think I ventured out twice since we moved here.
"Racy" cars. I used to always want the raw version. The harder the suspension, the noisier the exhaust, the better. Now I have have an electric roundabout (i3s) which I used to slag off. I love it. Like a silent assassin.
At the moment I'm considering an older more laid back GT for the weekend. I recently caught myself filtering for auto transmissions although that is because I want my wife to enjoy it too. That's another thing I wouldn't have considered 15 years ago.
At the moment I'm considering an older more laid back GT for the weekend. I recently caught myself filtering for auto transmissions although that is because I want my wife to enjoy it too. That's another thing I wouldn't have considered 15 years ago.
MitchT said:
New BMWs. I always loved BMWs but everything after the F3x 3/4 series looks like it was designed by a hormonal 14 year old boy trying to win a competition to design vehicles to appear in a rap music video.
When I clicked on this thread my first thought was BMW.What has happened to the product that we all lusted over in the late eighties, early nineties..?
In no particular order:
Playing Squash
Academic Enhancement
Moto GP
Riding Motorcycles
Rallying (that went on the withdrawal of Lancia)
Modern Cars (Exceptions being Alfa, Audi, BMW or Mercedes)
European Motoring Holidays (risk of having your pride and joy damaged in a French Car Park is too high)
Kayaking
Playing Squash
Academic Enhancement
Moto GP
Riding Motorcycles
Rallying (that went on the withdrawal of Lancia)
Modern Cars (Exceptions being Alfa, Audi, BMW or Mercedes)
European Motoring Holidays (risk of having your pride and joy damaged in a French Car Park is too high)
Kayaking
WhiskyDisco said:
When I clicked on this thread my first thought was BMW.
What has happened to the product that we all lusted over in the late eighties, early nineties..?
It's depressing. I dropped into a BMW main dealer a few weeks ago. The highlights among the monstrosities were an XM in black with gold trim on it, a 7 Series with illuminated pink interior trim and an M2 with the extra bits around the wheel arches that look like decals that came free with a copy of Max Power. I had to go outside and wander around the used car section to recover from the tackiness overload.What has happened to the product that we all lusted over in the late eighties, early nineties..?
WhiskyDisco said:
MitchT said:
New BMWs. I always loved BMWs but everything after the F3x 3/4 series looks like it was designed by a hormonal 14 year old boy trying to win a competition to design vehicles to appear in a rap music video.
When I clicked on this thread my first thought was BMW.What has happened to the product that we all lusted over in the late eighties, early nineties..?
P-Jay said:
Lots,
Bedroom antics, hard to say, but my desire is seriously on the wane and hoping the planets have aligned with the wife hardly seems worth the effort.
andBedroom antics, hard to say, but my desire is seriously on the wane and hoping the planets have aligned with the wife hardly seems worth the effort.
P-Jay said:
Nightclubs, flash bars, that sort of thing. My Wife is going through her own "just turned 40" crisis and likes all that crap again, I could do without.
Careful old chap. My spidey sense detects danger.Road cycling. Too many close calls with motorists and had to stop due to severe hay fever / asthma. Used to do 4k miles a year and would be out every single weekend
Drinking - not had a drop in 5.5 years and don't miss it one bit.
Friends - sounds odd, but only really hangout with friends where we share a hobby (Golf).
Drinking - not had a drop in 5.5 years and don't miss it one bit.
Friends - sounds odd, but only really hangout with friends where we share a hobby (Golf).
Chasing a big number in the bank account - used to work stupid hours, now I do 37 on less salary than I was 15 years ago but much happier.
A big house - currently in a small modern rented 2 bed as I am getting divorced and coming out of it with bugger all (why is the legal system so old fashioned??) The lack of a big number in my bank account does mean that I can only afford a shoe box when I am finally in a position to buy, but I can clean the whole house in about 30 minutes, the old one took hours.
And generally stuff, I have no plans to change my 12 year old car or my 20 year old motorbikes, nothing newer interests me enough to change. My house isn't full of trinkets or other detritus either, why do we feel the need to buy stuff??? I do have lots of pictures on the walls though.
Live TV - haven't watched it for over 12 months and the times I have looked, there's nothing worth watching.
A big house - currently in a small modern rented 2 bed as I am getting divorced and coming out of it with bugger all (why is the legal system so old fashioned??) The lack of a big number in my bank account does mean that I can only afford a shoe box when I am finally in a position to buy, but I can clean the whole house in about 30 minutes, the old one took hours.
And generally stuff, I have no plans to change my 12 year old car or my 20 year old motorbikes, nothing newer interests me enough to change. My house isn't full of trinkets or other detritus either, why do we feel the need to buy stuff??? I do have lots of pictures on the walls though.
Live TV - haven't watched it for over 12 months and the times I have looked, there's nothing worth watching.
STe_rsv4 said:
Going to local pubs with mates.
£5 - £6 a pint makes this occasion a little less frequent.
Maybe I'm living in the past but doesn't seem that long ago I was getting the same beer for £3-£4
I just got charge c$11 a pint in my local, that’s about 7.50 gbp, can you send me some of your cheap ones please!£5 - £6 a pint makes this occasion a little less frequent.
Maybe I'm living in the past but doesn't seem that long ago I was getting the same beer for £3-£4
Clubbing and noisy pubs.
I still like the music, though. Was listening to Sean Tyas quite loud in the car: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kejUo5cdrRE
I still like the music, though. Was listening to Sean Tyas quite loud in the car: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kejUo5cdrRE
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