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Author Topic: A touch of humor  (Read 309537 times)

Jeremy Roussak

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Re: A touch of humor
« Reply #1380 on: February 05, 2021, 04:16:19 am »

I rented a manual shift camper in NZ.  Most stressful driving I can recall. EVERYTHING was backasswards, even the seatbelt went the wrong way.

If you want a real challenge, try driving a right-hand-drive car in France, as I used (pre-pandemic) to do every year. Then do it without a passenger!

Jeremy
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Robert Roaldi

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Re: A touch of humor
« Reply #1381 on: February 05, 2021, 09:29:29 am »

If you want a real challenge, try driving a right-hand-drive car in France, as I used (pre-pandemic) to do every year. Then do it without a passenger!

Jeremy

Do the roundabouts on either side of the Chunnel experience higher than normal collisions? (In my mind, I am picturing a Mr. Bean skit.)
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degrub

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Re: A touch of humor
« Reply #1382 on: February 05, 2021, 09:59:47 am »

No, they just go "round and round... round and round..." like a Chevy Chase vacation  :o ;)
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faberryman

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Re: A touch of humor
« Reply #1383 on: February 05, 2021, 11:39:47 am »

A very long time ago I flew to Ireland, rented a car, and, overcompensating, struck the left curb and blew a tire on my way out of the airport. I changed the tire and drove back to the rental car place to get a new spare tire. Of course, rental car places don't have extra spare tires, so they gave me a new car. Turns out it was an upgrade.
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Chris Kern

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Re: A touch of humor
« Reply #1384 on: February 05, 2021, 07:40:53 pm »

Do the roundabouts on either side of the Chunnel experience higher than normal collisions?

Some years ago, a business contact, knowing my wife and I made occasional visits to London on theater (i.e., theatre) junkets, asked me whether I ever rented a car at Heathrow.  He and his wife were planning a first-ever trip to London, and thence to the Lake District and Scotland, and he figured the most efficient way to get from hither to thither to yon would be to rent a car at the airport—because that's how we do it in North America.

Needless to say, I recoiled in horror.  I explained that nobody in his right mind except a cab driver would drive a car in central London.  I don't think the Heathrow Express existed in those days, but I recommended that he use the Underground to get to the vicinity of his London hotel or, if he wanted to splurge, a black cab, then take a train to his next destination and, if he really wanted to drive the rest of the way, to rent a car there.

He thought I was exaggerating.  He rented the car anyway.

After he returned to the States, I asked him whether he enjoyed the trip.  He did, but he admitted to a mishap while they were heading out of London.  He had entered a roundabout, and quickly became disoriented by the traffic: wrong direction, wrong side of the road.  He realized the car was moving too fast, and tried to grab the shift lever to move to a lower gear.  Alas, what he actually grabbed was the door handle.  The car door was pushed open by centrifugal force and it was all he could do to hold onto it while circling the roundabout.  Which, he claimed, he did at least two or three times because, between the disorientation, the excessive speed, and his attempt to hold the door in place made it impossible for him to decide where to exit.

There are a few cities we have visited where I would never consider driving, regardless of which side of the street is used.  New York and London are at the top of the list, mostly because we have more experience with them and are familiar with their public transportation systems, but Bangkok, Tokyo, and Taipei are certainly in the same league.  I might be tempted to drive in Singapore, except that unless you know exactly where you are going to be able to park you will never be able to get out of the car; downtown Montreal is also a parking nightmare, as I recall (but it's been a while).

Come to think of it, if the pandemic ever ends and we are able to start traveling again, I think I've reached the age and attained the wisdom to pay someone to drive us around.

Redcrown

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Re: A touch of humor
« Reply #1385 on: February 06, 2021, 12:10:04 am »

A very long time ago I flew to Ireland, rented a car, and, overcompensating, struck the left curb and blew a tire on my way out of the airport. I changed the tire and drove back to the rental car place to get a new spare tire. Of course, rental car places don't have extra spare tires, so they gave me a new car. Turns out it was an upgrade.
In my previous post, the reason my wife was drivng and I was shifting in Ireland was because I flattened 2 tires in the 1st 2 days striking the left side curb. While I could shift like a race driver, I could not stay on the road, always fearful I was going to hit the guy coming at me. The 2nd time we were in the middle of nowhere and limped into a small village on the spare. I was surprised to find a garage there with the right size tire. The rest of the week I started paying attention to the many, many tire shops in small rural places. It seems the Irish are well prepared for American drivers.
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Slobodan Blagojevic

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Re: A touch of humor
« Reply #1386 on: February 06, 2021, 03:01:46 am »

“A touch of humor” - dictionary definition - a thread on Luminous Landscape where humor comes to die.

jeremyrh

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Re: A touch of humor
« Reply #1387 on: February 06, 2021, 06:30:14 am »

If you want a real challenge, try driving a right-hand-drive car in France, as I used (pre-pandemic) to do every year. Then do it without a passenger!

Jeremy
When we lived in France we kept our UK car, and it caused no end of strange looks when I drove with my small daughter in the passenger seat. When she got a bit older it was less fun because we got fewer worried glances, but at least she was able to operate the "péage" machines.
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Peter McLennan

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Re: A touch of humor
« Reply #1388 on: February 06, 2021, 10:29:43 am »

If you want a real challenge, try driving a right-hand-drive car in France, as I used (pre-pandemic) to do every year. Then do it without a passenger!

Jeremy

Agreed.  I did this in the middle sixties in a tiny Ford van bought in the Midlands. Six months adrift in Europe. Always with a pax, though.  Overtaking was a near-death experience every time.
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athegn

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Re: A touch of humor
« Reply #1389 on: February 07, 2021, 02:38:06 pm »

I visited several sets of friends in West Ireland some 8 years ago. Flew into Kerry airport, near where the first set  lived, to collect a pre-booked car. I was given a two door vehicle. After some discussion they agreed I had ordered a four door but they only had an older four door car available; after a reduction in fees I accepted that. Two days later that car broke down. They brought me a new vehicle and were please to announce that they had given me an upgrade, to a sports saloon. Reluctantly I accepted as that was all now available.

Remember this is West Ireland. The trunk roads a good but the minor roads were/are not. My friends only have older cars; new ones soon become old on those roads! My upgrade caused a number of problems due to the low profile tyres. My back seat passengers complained how rough the journeys were and of course I came round a bend straight over a blind pothole that damaged the front passenger tyre. I blame Michael Collins as we had just passed his memorial when it happened. My friends, who lived locally, said they should have warned about that pot hole; been there sometime could end being a fixture:-)
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Slobodan Blagojevic

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Re: A touch of humor
« Reply #1390 on: March 20, 2021, 06:38:50 am »

“A touch of humor” - dictionary definition - a thread on Luminous Landscape where humor comes to die.

Let's try to resuscitate it...

Slobodan Blagojevic

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Re: A touch of humor
« Reply #1391 on: March 20, 2021, 06:49:45 am »

About that spelling...

PeterAit

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Re: A touch of humor
« Reply #1392 on: March 23, 2021, 05:39:03 pm »

Let's try to resuscitate it...

Good!! Took my wee brain a minute to get it.
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jeremyrh

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Re: A touch of humor
« Reply #1393 on: March 25, 2021, 05:12:07 am »

Good!! Took my wee brain a minute to get it.
Me too - glad it's not just me!!
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jeremyrh

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Re: A touch of humor
« Reply #1394 on: March 29, 2021, 07:14:09 am »

.
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PeterAit

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Re: A touch of humor
« Reply #1395 on: March 30, 2021, 12:25:15 pm »

.

Good one! Appropriate for me as I just ordered a Sony A-1. But given that it will be my wife's camera, she won't complain.
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Peter McLennan

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Re: A touch of humor
« Reply #1396 on: April 07, 2021, 11:34:52 am »

1) Cartoon printed and posted on our fridge.
2) Subsequently ordered a Nikon Z6ii and a 24-200.
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Slobodan Blagojevic

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Re: A touch of humor
« Reply #1397 on: April 07, 2021, 02:19:28 pm »

1) Cartoon printed and posted on our fridge.
2) Subsequently ordered a Nikon Z6ii and a 24-200.

I want to kill myself when I see a serious camera paired with a kiddy lens. And this is not funny. I tried it once and almost barfed seeing the results.

JoeKitchen

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Re: A touch of humor
« Reply #1398 on: April 08, 2021, 10:33:57 am »

I suddenly feel less then enthused with my state after looking at this map. 
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josh.reichmann

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Re: A touch of humor
« Reply #1399 on: April 08, 2021, 11:52:41 am »

Dear Slobodan:  Fuck you, too.

Gonna erase this.
But offering a moment before for repair.
Takers ?
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