Random Silliness - Collected Rants

I established a "Random Rants" page a while back so I could vent about various things, but I never had anything to rant about! I did rant about 3 things, so here they are below in a more static setting...

Spam Spam Spam

Posted 1 March 2002

I got some spam today

What astounded me was not that I got it, but that it was also sent to alden.bates@comp.vuw.ac.nz, an email address I haven't used for years, and which AFAIK doesn't even work.

Just how dumb are spammers, anyway?

I just got another spam, aimed at the same address, plus a half-dozen more which shouldn't work any more.

Well, I guess that answers my question.

Round and round we go

Posted 21 July 2001

Ah, there's nothing like the roading construct that is roundabouts.

Some 50% of the cars travelling around roundabouts don't seem to know how to signal (at least in New Zealand), so if you're trying to cross a road which connects to one, you can never tell if the car's going to keep turning or come down your street. If there's no pedestrian crossing (as there often isn't) it can be a battle of nerves!

Unlike traffic lights, if there's a constant stream of cars going around it, traffic can quite often bank up around a less favoured arm. One particular roundabout near where I work (Lower Hutt, New Zealand) often has 30 or so cars waiting on one arm to traverse the roundabout. It doesn't help that one of the other arms leads to a bridge which often has traffic banked up across it.

I can see why the council would put 'em in though - low maintenance costs. Still don't like 'em!

Addenda: A while back, I saw a little old lady almost run over while attempting to cross the road near a roundabout - the motorist coming off swerved around her and tootled vigorously. Someone almost lost their granny...

Smoking Drivers

Posted 19 July 2001

So I was driving home the other day when the person driving the car in front of me hiffed a cigarette butt out of their window. The butt bounced off the road, breaking up and showering the front of my car with burning embers. Some of them actually zoomed up past my windscreen.

Great, thought I, why do they bother putting ash trays in cars anyway?

I ended up posting my gripe to nz.general, which resulted in many tales of similar incidents, and one person who shall remain nameless emailing me to suggest" I had been tailgating the smoker. Which I hadn't, and besides which throwing ignited cigarette butts out of car windows is littering, plain and simple.

There are times I wish I was a police officer in a mufti patrol car - that was one of them.


	Main : Random Silliness Collected Rants I established a "Random Rants" page a while back so I could vent about various things, but I never had anything to rant about! I did rant about 3 things, so here they are below in a more static setting... Spam Spam Spam Posted 1 March 2002 I got some spam today What astounded me was not that I got it, but that it was also sent to alden.bates@comp.vuw.ac.nz, an email address I haven't used for years, and which AFAIK doesn't even work. Just how dumb are spammers, anyway? I just got another spam, aimed at the same address, plus a half-dozen more which shouldn't work any more. Well, I guess that answers my question. Round and round we go Posted 21 July 2001 Ah, there's nothing like the roading construct that is roundabouts. Some 50% of the cars travelling around roundabouts don't seem to know how to signal (at least in New Zealand), so if you're trying to cross a road which connects to one, you can never tell if the car's going to keep turning or come down your street. If there's no pedestrian crossing (as there often isn't) it can be a battle of nerves! Unlike traffic lights, if there's a constant stream of cars going around it, traffic can quite often bank up around a less favoured arm. One particular roundabout near where I work (Lower Hutt, New Zealand) often has 30 or so cars waiting on one arm to traverse the roundabout. It doesn't help that one of the other arms leads to a bridge which often has traffic banked up across it. I can see why the council would put 'em in though - low maintenance costs. Still don't like 'em! Addenda: A while back, I saw a little old lady almost run over while attempting to cross the road near a roundabout - the motorist coming off swerved around her and tootled vigorously. Someone almost lost their granny... Smoking Drivers Posted 19 July 2001 So I was driving home the other day when the person driving the car in front of me hiffed a cigarette butt out of their window. The butt bounced off the road, breaking up and showering the front of my car with burning embers. Some of them actually zoomed up past my windscreen. Great, thought I, why do they bother putting ash trays in cars anyway? I ended up posting my gripe to nz.general, which resulted in many tales of similar incidents, and one person who shall remain nameless emailing me to suggest" I had been tailgating the smoker. Which I hadn't, and besides which throwing ignited cigarette butts out of car windows is littering, plain and simple. There are times I wish I was a police officer in a mufti patrol car - that was one of them.
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