Little things that annoy you....

[Rosy]

Just had the electricity meter reader here. I asked why he had to come and read our meter when we were told smart meters bypassed the need to have meter readers come top the property in person. The reader told me they tell people that because they know they won't question it. Why would they bother saying it if it isn't true?

From the govt website

Smart meters - how do they work?

Smart meters measure and record how much electricity a household or business is using at 30 minute intervals. There are different smart meter models, but the basic functions are the same.
Smart meters communicate meter readings directly to electricity distributors, eliminating the need for someone to come out and read meters – whether that is required for each bill, to change electricity retailers or to reconnect power when customers move house. Not only does this reduce fees, but electricity bills will also be more accurate – virtually eliminating estimated bills.

 

[Scoop]

Just had the electricity meter reader here. I asked why he had to come and read our meter when we were told smart meters bypassed the need to have meter readers come top the property in person. The reader told me they tell people that because they know they won't question it. Why would they bother saying it if it isn't true?

From the govt website

Smart meters - how do they work?

Smart meters measure and record how much electricity a household or business is using at 30 minute intervals. There are different smart meter models, but the basic functions are the same.
Smart meters communicate meter readings directly to electricity distributors, eliminating the need for someone to come out and read meters – whether that is required for each bill, to change electricity retailers or to reconnect power when customers move house. Not only does this reduce fees, but electricity bills will also be more accurate – virtually eliminating estimated bills.

Great point. Never thought of that.

 

[TigerForce]

Cyclists with videos nicely prepared to purposely bang into some one/vehicle and show the proof on You Tube and then the National News.

 

[Rosy]

Cyclists with videos nicely prepared to purposely bang into some one/vehicle and show the proof on You Tube and then the National News.

Yep. Spot on.

 

[KnightersRevenge]

Get a smaller car Knighter.
If you have a family then make them walk.
Some solutions are simple.

I make a habit of parking my passenger door of my little car very close to the SUV's drivers door so they have trouble getting in.

I drive a van for work, I have no choice of type or size or whether to drive or walk. It is not a 4WD.

 

[tigertim]

Cyclists with videos nicely prepared to purposely bang into some one/vehicle and show the proof on You Tube and then the National News.

Sheesh, that's a bit cynical (and I'm not a cyclist!)

 

[TigerForce]

Sheesh, that's a bit cynical (and I'm not a cyclist!)

Possibly, but she highlighted the facts about the video pretty early to the bloke getting out of the rear passenger seat.

Usually when accidents happen, the first instinct is to say and respond to "sorry" and/or "are you OK?" but she comes up with "Can I have your details? Got it all on camera".

Set up.

 

[tigersnake]

What annoys the bejesus out of me is vehement anti-cyclist views. Its bizaare and irrational.

Yes there are some *smile* heads who ride bikes
Yes its annoying when a cyclist goes through a red light (it does annoy me, but generally nobody gets hurt)
Yes those big bunches of over 40 cyclists who think they are Cadel are downright irritating

But the level of hate is out of whack with the minority of annoying things, which, generally, are pretty harmless.

But fair dinkum, the vast majority of cyclists, like me, and my 75 year old dad, just ride our bikes from a to b and abide by the rules. The hate we cop is unbelievable. Amazing, road rage at the drop of a hat.

I'll argue any day of the week that there are more *smile* head car drivers around, but bike riders seem to cop a lot of hate. Maybe its because car driver understand other car drivers, *smile* head or not, but car drivers who don't ride a bike somehow can't understand, and seem to hate cyclists irrationally. I don't know.

Also, think about it, which has more potential to cause harm, a *smile* head on a push bike or a *smile* head in a car? Which one would you rather have in your vicinity? Or the vicinity of a family member?

Some bike riders an be annoying, they can annoy me, but the hate pisses me right off. Its irrational and dumb.

(I haven't seen the you tube video BTW, but people love sinking the boots into bikes, 'they should be registered' etc etc, geez, rant over.

 

[Tigertool]

Possibly, but she highlighted the facts about the video pretty early to the bloke getting out of the rear passenger seat.

Usually when accidents happen, the first instinct is to say and respond to "sorry" and/or "are you OK?" but she comes up with "Can I have your details? Got it all on camera".

Set up.

The other thing I don't get is that she's on the footpath, so why does she think it's an offence to begin with?. Also when I walk past cars on a footpath I don't walk right up next to them so that I'm within distance of a car door. So why the *smile* would someone ride their bike that close past cars?

The woman is a moron.

 

[Rosy]

Yep if you were riding a bike so close to the kerb and saw a car pull up would you slow down ready to stoop assuming a door could open or would you, camera rolling ride into said open door, tell them you had it on film then race to put it on YouTube and get ready to appear on the nightly news. The woman has done bike riders a great disservice.A political stunt.

 

[Streak]

The other thing I don't get is that she's on the footpath, so why does she think it's an offence to begin with?. Also when I walk past cars on a footpath I don't walk right up next to them so that I'm within distance of a car door. So why the *smile* would someone ride their bike that close past cars?

The woman is a moron.

In WA, it is an offence to ride a bike on the footpath. Not sure about other states.

 

[tigersnake]

The other thing I don't get is that she's on the footpath, so why does she think it's an offence to begin with?. Also when I walk past cars on a footpath I don't walk right up next to them so that I'm within distance of a car door. So why the *smile* would someone ride their bike that close past cars?

The woman is a moron.

she's not on the footpath, she's on the road, I think she's in a bikelane, but I'm not familiar with Melb CBD bikelanes so I can't be sure of that.

Fact: she is on the road, not the footpath

putting that aside, she either a) isn't very bright and doesn't have much road sense, or b) is trying to set someone up as TF says. the cab she hits is stopped, has its brakelights on, and is closer to the curb than other cars. It should be obvious to anyone the likelihood of a door opening is high.

Fact: the likelihood of a door opening was very high

Fact: she is wearing a camera

so TFs suspicion of a set up is understandable

also, the suits act like arseholes. Even if you think you are in the right, which I understand why they think that, I nice person would apologise, ask if they are OK (he did at the start before they got their hackles up), and provide details. Even if you think you are in the right.

Fact: the suits acted like arseholes, or at the very least, not pillars of integrity.

Its amazing how things change. I had a door opened on me in Nicholson St just down from the Ex Building once, late 90s. (its happened a few times, this was the worst), I was flying, cartwheeled over the door, landed on my back, smashed the helmet. The driver who opened the door was horrified, I was stunned. She offered to buy me a counter meal and pay me money. I just said no worries and wheeled my bent bike home. Didn't even think to get money or sue her or anything. It was an accident, I've almost done it to bikes myself.

 

[Rosy]

she's not on the footpath, she's on the road, I think she's in a bikelane, ...

It's not a bike lane.

 

[tigersnake]

It's not a bike lane.

Fair enough, its definitly not the footpath though, thought it was strange anyone would think that. The reporter in the Age said it was a bike lane. Pretty dumb place to put a bike lane I thought

 

[Tigertool]

Fair enough, its definitly not the footpath though, thought it was strange anyone would think that. The reporter in the Age said it was a bike lane. Pretty dumb place to put a bike lane I thought

It definitely looks like the footpath to me. That's definitely not road or a bikeline.

 

[tigersnake]

That's definitely not road

There's a curb. She is on the right of the curb, thats the road.

 

[Tigertool]

There's a curb. She is on the right of the curb, thats the road.

I'll have to have another look on my lunchbreak, I probably didn't look hard enough.

 

[TigerForce]

There's a curb. She is on the right of the curb, thats the road.

Going by your rant post snakey, I agree with you. I drive a lot especially in city and inner suburbs where there's a lot of cyclists and give respect to them by showing awareness. *smile* I've held up the traffic a few times when turning left just to let a cyclist pass through ("other cars with beep, beep, beep.....move!!! behind me" ;D) Some/most have given me the thumbs up and smile, but as you said, just like other vehicle drivers, there are the arseholes who just 'fly by' thinking they're riding in heaven or something with no awareness of heavy traffic. Motor bikes are the same, flying down the middle of two lanes and swaying left and right.

My annoyance posted on this thread is more about these 15 minute fame junkies who somehow want to video their bike rides and place it on social media.

 

[Tommo37]

Just had a look at the video and I'm a bit both ways on this.

1. That is not a bike lane, it is a line on the road to separate the car lane with the footpath as to not put pedestrians in danger who are walking on the footpath.

2. The taxi only stopped because it was in heavy traffic.

3. The cyclist is riding pretty fast in heavy traffic.

4. The suits exited the taxi in the wrong place, this was not a taxi area nor was it a place to stop your car and park.

5. The words the cyclist used told me she was prepared to get hit or went looking to get hit, you don't say " can I have your details " after you get hit, that comes later after checking if everyone is OK, the same as car accidents.

 

[tigerdave]

The other thing I don't get is that she's on the footpath, so why does she think it's an offence to begin with?. Also when I walk past cars on a footpath I don't walk right up next to them so that I'm within distance of a car door. So why the *smile* would someone ride their bike that close past cars?

The woman is a moron.

:fing32 Spot on.Thought exactly the same thing!