As you may have spotted, I’m not much of a fan of cars. Oh sure, modern western society relies on them, but far too much. But even in my version of suburban utopia, they’d be there by neccessity for some people and some trips. So given they’ll always be around, it makes sense for them ... [More]
1. I’m turning right. You’re turning left. But I got here first and my car is bigger than yours, so I’m going to go first. 2. Sure, I can park here on this corner. Why not? 3. Sure, I can park here. Why not? Pah, pedestrians, school kids? Who cares?
Last week I filled up my car for just over $1 per litre. It was $1.609 $1.069, and I had some freaky discount offer that gave me 6 cents off, instead of the usual 4. But just seeing the humungous tank-like 4WDs rolling around the streets, and the resistance from government to improve PT makes ... [More]
A few times a week I make a left hand turn out of a side-street into a divided road. Frequently there is someone in the divided road doing a U-turn against me. And an alarming amount of the time, they fail to give way. I’ve got deliberately cautious now, it happens so much, seemingly particularly ... [More]
PS. Tuesday pm: A great little video on the topic of 4WDs.
My mate Brian sums up my attitude to cars quite nicely: “a car is just an airconditioner on wheels!” On Saturday I washed the exterior my car for… ooh, the first time in a year, I reckon. I vaccuum the inside of it every few months, but the outside I’ve really let go. The birds ... [More]
I just saw someone get hit by a car. He bounced off the bonnet of a dark-coloured Porsche (UCD-852) that had zoomed through the intersection as the light turned red. The man hit the footpath and ran into the nearby supermarket. The car stopped, and the driver got out and chased after him. I found ... [More]
I don’t suffer from road rage (not travelling by car in times of heavy traffic when I’m in a hurry helps a lot). If anything, I suffer from road smugness. I don’t shout at idiots on the road. Instead I make smart-arse remarks, to myself or to others in the car. “Yeah, well done mate.” ... [More]
Dear Car 2, it’s not your fault. Car 1 has parked in a stupid way, in the middle of two spots. But you can’t fit there. Really, you can’t. No matter how many times you try. Whatever angle you come in at. Your car is bigger than the space that is left. You might as ... [More]
A friend of mine has a car that is leased through a government job. The lease is expiring, and she’s seeing if she can swap models to something smaller and more fuel-efficient. Government policy dictates that, with few exceptions, fleet cars are Australian made. Australian made cars are all big ones: Falcon, Magna, Commodore and ... [More]
A grizzled old man in the supermarket queue tonight was bitching about petrol prices. “It’s criminal!” he was saying. I didn’t feel like trying to explain the concept of Peak Oil to him. Nor did I think telling him it was only going to get worse would placate him. A more informed response to the ... [More]
VicRoads web site: Footscray road (Docklands Hwy) west bound lanes at Appleton Dock road/West Melbourne VicRoads advises there is currently a Police Road Closure on the Footscray road (Docklands Hwy) west bound lanes at Appleton Dock road, West Melbourne. Traffic is being diverted at Appleton Dock road to Coode road back onto Footscray road. The ... [More]