For god sake don't start me off on the subject of cyclists

Why not Vic? :-) :-) Mention cyclists and the whole thread comes to a dead stop.Have you noticed the news lately?they are now proposing to get us to pay a toll for every mile we drive.Big brother alive and well.

I thought we paid for the upkeep of the roads from the existing taxes on cars & petrol? What's the justification for the latest proposal - making sure that the working man can't actually get to work, thus ensuring that we become dependent on the state and have to re-elect Dick Turpin and his wannabe yank boss every time? Or am I just an old cinic?

There are only three jobs I can think of where you actually get paid to screw people and lie for a living - the obvious horizontal entertainers, lawyers and politicians - and Blair is at least two of these!

The pretence is to get greenhouse gasses down. Some rich MP's reckon cars are the biggest problem. One "A" hole with a plumb in his mouth was on last night saying he wants to charge £1000 plus for bigger cars and to put tolls on all the roads. He could probably afford to pay £1000 a week if he wanted. He'd claim it back as expenses out of our taxes.
Oh yeah, they also want to greatly reduce the motorway speed limit to save gasses as well. (and make even more on speeding fines)

It's all rubbish because until India, China, the USA and god knows who else signs up to a treaty on greenhouse gasses we're wasting our time and paying a lot for the privilege.

(Ban all cyclists) Or better still, make them pay for insurance, road tax and mot on their cycles and make them OBEY THE ROAD LAWS.

Just back from Normandy and there wasnt a single speed camera the whole time we were there,although we did see a couple of radar speed traps.
It was such a refreshing change to be able to drive along without being continually looking for the dreaded yellow boxes.
I heard about the idea to lower the motorway speed limit,and there is also a proposal to lower the speed limits on country roads to 40mph and towns to 20 mph.
If the justification for all these speed cameras is to prevent accidents,yeah yeah we all know its a revenue exercise, maybe the powers that be should look at the root cause of the problem.
The general standard of driving in this country is appaling.In Germany for example,learning to drive consists of all types of routes and weather conditions, with a lot more extensive theory test,instead of a few multiple choice questions from the Highway Code and a quick drive around the block.
Speed cameras,,aaarrghhh!,,and as for red light cameras!!,,Ive read reports of drivers pulling forward over red lights to let emergency vehicles through and getting fined.And dont even think about getting me started on wheel clampers and no win no fee compensation claims,education standards,,the state of the NHS,public transport,yob culture,burglarys.

Whoops,,,think Id better take a couple of Beta Blockers and go and lie down for a bit :-) :-)
I think we ought to start a thread for G.O.M.,,,Grumpy Old Modellers :-)
Soap box back in the shed,,

You should have either grabbed the little scrote and marched him round to his chav parents and demanded the money for the damages thanks to his stupid behaviour or if it had been me I'd have wiped him off the bonnet and done a wheel spin on his bonce if you've got to pay for a meat waggon you want to know you'll get your money's worth

What do you expect?

Given the news yesterday, our leader is at Cliffs gaff, Beckett has gone to France, Dick Turpin has vanished and two jags is in charge (Yeah right) who is running the country? Condi Rice? GIHTFP.

OOPS political, sorry.

Craig

Started Grumpy Old Modellers - see my ammended sig line!

Just had my MOT - car passed, but then I spent nearly £800 on it a month ago - new discs, pads, suspension bushes. I was advised that at under 15000 miles since changing them I had one rear tyre on the limit, and two other within 1mm, so two new tyres on the rear, and the front to be done next week - at £90 a tyre!!
It's apparently down to the fact that modern tyres are safer and have more grip, using softer rubber - and modern roads are more abrasive due to the anti-skid properties of the surface. Funny - I never skidded with the old tyres and road surfaces; built in obsolescence on tyres???

We were thinking about changing our car, or maybe both. May now go for cars built before 1972 - no road tax, no expensive low-profile tyres, bodies that had proper metal and were not made to collapse as soon as the slightest pressure is applied (if I hit a brick-wall, I want my car to go through the bloody thing, not fold up like a paper aeroplane!). Not environmentaly friendly as they won't have a catalytic convertor, but then the checks at MOT aren't as stringent for older cars either.
Like autofocus on a camera, progress isn't always a good thing!!!

Dave, Can I be GOM 2?

Cheers

Craig

Be my guest!!

Good idea,,even if it was mine,,so Im going to claim 007!
003-006 can fight it out amongst themselves :-)
Nige

I forgot to mention that I spent a good half hour sitting in a police car,whilst my then 8 year old daughter was left unattended in my car.And the cop wouldn`t let her sit in the police car with us.

Greetings all,

Joe public is being taxed off the road. When they bring in the toll roads and they will, the cost of getting anywhere reasonable quickly will be beyond the pocket of most people.

This is so that 2 Jags can have a clear road along with the rest of the cronies.

The Criminal justice system is a joke and the Europen Human RIghts Act has made a lot of fat cat lawyers ever richer than they already were, left a lot of very undesirable people in the country and made us the laughing stock of Europe.

They can't pay a half decent pension to people who have worked all their life and waste money on a lot of PC nonsense. Premier Blair's answer to all this is that those over 50s can find job is B & Q and pass on their knowledge and experience whist working themselves to death until they are 68.

You can't have Christmas becuase someone might get offended and whatever you do don't raise you countries flag as this might be seen as racist.

They can't house the people born in this country but have no problem housing every Tom, Dick and Harry who arrives here with a hard luck story.

Education standards are falling, kids can't write a half decent sentence, unless it's a text messge, and can't add without a calculator. However, don't worry because thing are getting better, who do they think they are kidding.

Our history and achievements are be-littled at every opportunity and their social policies over the last 20 years have backfired on them in a big way.

They are just waiting to screw you further with the change over in the TV banding and whilst you paying your TV licence to watch repeats and general garbage, you can of course alternatively enjoy the delights of the reality shows and phone for cash nonsense on the other channels

No wonder people are leaving the country in droves, or at least hoping too.

Time for revolution folks, long past time.



And these my friends are just some of the daily wonders of living in this green and pleasent land. LOL, LOL.



:-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

Al

Edit: Ah, I feel so much better for that.

Good grief,

And I thought that I had been too political :-)

What Al forgot is that we're sending underfunded, under equipped and under paid troops out to fight in S*****Y little wars and when the coffins come back no one from this spineless shower bothers to turn up at Brize Norton or at the funerals.

Cheers

Craig (and I am trying to get out)

GOM # 002

Hi guys

Hmmm... probably time to rein this one in a bit. Try to remember this is a modelling site and not a politics forum.

Just to get you back on-topic... I ride a bicycle. :-) :-) :-)

All the best

Rowan

Rowan,

is that the one with the self-distruct button or the one that comes without a copy of the highway code

Cheers

Craig
GOM # 002

Since when did a cyclist use the highway code?
They should have to pay a licence fee, pass a test (i had to do the old cycling profficiency test before I was allowed on the road!) and have insurance like the rest of us. I had my last car bashed by a cyclist who pulled across without signalling. I ended up claiming for damage on my own insurance and he had the nerve to try and claim medical costs from me - if there hadn't been witnesses I'd have got the blame for it all.

Still no mention of Tofu or Lentils

Hi Craig

I'm afraid it's the one that comes with a "you should ride me more often and fitten up a bit" sign to glare at me every time walk past it...

All the best

Rowan

So Rowan,,
How long do you think its going to take you to cycle to the Nationals in Telford then???
Nige

A question.
If it`s illegal to have none standard number plates on your vehicle,which should not pass the M.O.T..Why is it legal to sell them?.

I think the rationale behind them is that you can use them if you take your car to car shows and the like - young lads with body kits on cars do this sort of thing. It is also legal to sell personal FM transmitters for an MP3 player - but illegal to use them - go figure

Andy

Should it be illegal to sell tofu or lentils - or just to consume them in a public place

There you go henk - not quite in context, but they've been mentioned.

Andy

And to be in a public place AFTER you've consumed them :-)

Craig

Hi Rowan

You do stop at red traffic lights and obay the highway code though don't you

:-) :-)

Vic