Whacky Signs.

[jcredfer]

1 hour ago, Tankerman said:

 

Wokingham Borough Council is close to getting its residents to have to do the same thing.

 

At least the place in the picture and Wokingham are actually getting some form of repairs.....    

 

.....    Wiltshire please note.

 

Julian

 

[Compound2632]

1 hour ago, Tankerman said:

 

Wokingham Borough Council is close to getting its residents to have to do the same thing.

 

Yep, the only stretch of road near us that has been resurfaced in the last ten years leads to the residence of a former councillor. Not that it's much better - in one instance very much worse - when you cross the border into Reading.

[PhilJ W]

Our local council has just changed political colour. Now the priority for pot hole repairs will go to the wards that supported the party now in power. 

[AndrueC]

At a previous office I was the designated fire marshal. It was a small office and there was only one entrance/exit door. But regulations required us to have a green arrow pointing to it. When we first moved in the fitters installed all the safety equipment and they put a green arrow above the door pointing upward. At the first review it was pointed out to me that the arrow needed to be pointing downward. Unfortunately it was stuck on and we didn't want to damage the wall so we put the replacement sign underneath pointing downward.

 

All that for a door that was the only way in or out and could be seen from everywhere except inside the toilet.

 

At the next review I was told the regs had changed and we needed an arrow on the wall pointing toward the door :-/

[simontaylor484]

Round here to get decent roads repairs you had to be in the Tour de Yorkshire route

[Steamport Southport]

 

Well before the Tour De Yorkshire.

[jcredfer]

22 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Our local council has just changed political colour. Now the priority for pot hole repairs will go to the wards that supported the party now in power. 

 

If that's what I think it means, I will happily get out there with other volunteers, to smooth our local roads, as much as may be achieved, so that the Wards and their wonderful Staff may have the support they need.

 

However, I have to wonder about some of the other "spends" which seem to be...  of less priority than the NHS, less than restoring roads to their original width and less threatening to vehicle use.  

 

[Darius43]

On 06/05/2021 at 09:22, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

A story from the same page;

 

"Chomping beavers take down Canada town's internet"

 

The mind boggles!

 

Mike.

“Chomping Beavers” is a great name for a layout - could be a BLT set in the Chilterns or somewhere.

 

Cheers

 

Darius

[pH]

6 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Our local council has just changed political colour. Now the priority for pot hole repairs will go to the wards that supported the party now in power. 

 

There’s a term for that here in BC - ‘blacktop politics’:
 

http://www.timescolonist.com/news/b-c/spending-suggests-b-c-liberals-are-playing-blacktop-politics-1.2483988

[iands]

9 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

Round here to get decent roads repairs you had to be in the Tour de Yorkshire route

Yep, we got our roads & footpaths resurfaced when the Tour de France started in Yorkshire and was routed past our house, and some further  repairs when the Tour de Yorkshire was also routed our way - could do with it coming past us again soon! 

[62613]

10 hours ago, AndrueC said:

At a previous office I was the designated fire marshal. It was a small office and there was only one entrance/exit door. But regulations required us to have a green arrow pointing to it. When we first moved in the fitters installed all the safety equipment and they put a green arrow above the door pointing upward. At the first review it was pointed out to me that the arrow needed to be pointing downward. Unfortunately it was stuck on and we didn't want to damage the wall so we put the replacement sign underneath pointing downward.

 

All that for a door that was the only way in or out and could be seen from everywhere except inside the toilet.

 

At the next review I was told the regs had changed and we needed an arrow on the wall pointing toward the door :-/

Only one means of escape? I was always told you should have two, in case one was obstructed.

[PhilJ W]

11 minutes ago, 62613 said:

Only one means of escape? I was always told you should have two, in case one was obstructed.

Depends on the size of the room as well.

[kevinlms]

31 minutes ago, 62613 said:

Only one means of escape? I was always told you should have two, in case one was obstructed.

2 doors for the dunny?

Problem with that, is that you'll forget to lock one door and perhaps have unwanted visitors!

[JJGraphics]

13 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Yep, the only stretch of road near us that has been resurfaced in the last ten years leads to the residence of a former councillor. Not that it's much better - in one instance very much worse - when you cross the border into Reading.

 

For many years Berkshire has had the reputation of having the worst road surfaces in the South East, although I have seen more than a few pretty bad ones elsewhere. When we return to Berkshire, we always comment about the bumps beginning as we cross the border from Hampshire, Oxfordshire, etc.

Wokingham's roads are some of the worst I know of. All they ever seem to do is bodge up the holes with some sort of soft tarmac material which is stamped into place by a couple of bored-looking workers. This stays in place for a couple of weeks (if we're lucky) before the hole opens up again with the loose material scattered over the road surface. 

Many of the pavements in the area are also in a pretty appalling state as many have not been repaired since they were carved to shreds by the cable TV cowboys many years ago.

 

John

[Compound2632]

2 minutes ago, kevinlms said:

2 doors for the dunny?

Problem with that, is that you'll forget to lock one door and perhaps have unwanted visitors!

 

Could be worse. A friend had a college room that shared a bathroom with a room on the next staircase. The protocol was to bolt the door to the other room while one was in occupation, unbolting it as one left. Of course from time to time one party or the other forgot. Cue much banging on the party wall and serious bad luck if they'd gone out...

[Compound2632]

8 minutes ago, JJGraphics said:

For many years Berkshire has had the reputation of having the worst road surfaces in the South East, although I have seen more than a few pretty bad ones elsewhere. When we return to Berkshire, we always comment about the bumps beginning as we cross the border from Hampshire, Oxfordshire, etc.

Wokingham's roads are some of the worst I know of. All they ever seem to do is bodge up the holes with some sort of soft tarmac material which is stamped into place by a couple of bored-looking workers. This stays in place for a couple of weeks (if we're lucky) before the hole opens up again with the loose material scattered over the road surface. 

Many of the pavements in the area are also in a pretty appalling state as many have not been repaired since they were carved to shreds by the cable TV cowboys many years ago.

 

I wonder if that's a consequence of the ceremonial county having been carved up into unitary authorities, each too small to have the critical mass of resources to do the job properly. Or it may just be down to penny-pinching in the cause of low council tax. 

 

The resurfaced stretch of road I mentioned is a real safety hazard. It is a 30 mph limit, running into a 20 mph stretch past the schools and shops. Before it was resurfaced, it was so pot-holed that one wouldn't want to drive at more than 20 mph anyway; now folk glide along at 40 mph and carry on regardless into the 20 mph section. (I'm not saying that the 20 mph limit was previously universally observed...)

 

Just to keep on topic, the same stretch does have a standard duck hazard sign, though it's really the Canada Geese one has to watch out for, especially as a pedestrian. It's not so much the geese themselves - leading their goslings to feed on freshly-mown lawns - as the little proofs of their presence they leave behind.

Edited May 11, 2021 by Compound2632

[Nick C]

10 hours ago, jcredfer said:

 

If that's what I think it means, I will happily get out there with other volunteers, to smooth our local roads, as much as may be achieved, so that the Wards and their wonderful Staff may have the support they need.

 

However, I have to wonder about some of the other "spends" which seem to be...  of less priority than the NHS, less than restoring roads to their original width and less threatening to vehicle use.  

 

Different sort of ward I'm afraid - ward as in council area, not as in hospital...

[kevinlms]

34 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

 

I wonder if that's a consequence of the ceremonial county having been carved up into unitary authorities, each too small to have the critical mass of resources to do the job properly. Or it may just be down to penny-pinching in the cause of low council tax. 

 

The resurfaced stretch of road I mentioned is a real safety hazard. It is a 30 mph limit, running into a 20 mph stretch past the schools and shops. Before it was resurfaced, it was so pot-holed that one wouldn't want to drive at more than 20 mph anyway; now folk glide along at 40 mph and carry on regardless into the 20 mph section. (I'm not saying that the 20 mph limit was previously universally observed...)

 

Just to keep on topic, the same stretch does have a standard duck hazard sign, though it's really the Canada Geese one has to watch out for, especially as a pedestrian. It's not so much the geese themselves - leading their goslings to feed on freshly-mown lawns - as the little proofs of their presence they leave behind.

It's a well known fact, if you lower the speed limit, the road only needs to be maintained to the standard required for the lower limit!

[Compound2632]

Just now, kevinlms said:

It's a well known fact, if you lower the speed limit, the road only needs to be maintained to the standard required for the lower limit!

 

It's the most effective way of imposing the limit.

[62613]

1 hour ago, kevinlms said:

2 doors for the dunny?

Problem with that, is that you'll forget to lock one door and perhaps have unwanted visitors!

Obviously, there are exceptions!

 

[jcredfer]

1 hour ago, Nick C said:

Different sort of ward I'm afraid - ward as in council area, not as in hospital...

 

Yes, indeed, I'm sorry, I should have made the pun a bit clearer.    

 

 

[AndrueC]

6 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Depends on the size of the room as well.

I seem to remember we would have been in violation of H&S if we'd ever employed a woman because we only had the one toilet. A single exit must be legal for small offices because there was no other way to get out. We even had security bars on the windows so that one door was it.

 

There was only ever five of us - four software developers and one hardware developer (we gave him is own room and tried to ignore him ).

 

The kitchen door made us laugh. The chippy who installed it did so and didn't notice that it couldn't actually close (quality control - he'd heard of it) so had to be called back but ironically that was only there to satisfy fire safety rules. We took advantage of the lousy fit that meant it would jam open. There was little enough room in that kitchen without trying to open/close a door.

[Steamport Southport]

2 minutes ago, AndrueC said:

I seem to remember we would have been in violation of H&S if we'd ever employed a woman because we only had the one toilet. A single exit must be legal for small offices because there was no other way to get out. We even had security bars on the windows so that one door was it.

 

There was only ever five of us - four software developers and one hardware developer (we gave him is own room and tried to ignore him ).

 

The kitchen door made us laugh. The chippy who installed it did so and didn't notice that it couldn't actually close (quality control - he'd heard of it) so had to be called back but ironically that was only there to satisfy fire safety rules. We took advantage of the lousy fit that meant it would jam open. There was little enough room in that kitchen without trying to open/close a door.

 

Depends on how many employees you have. I think it's something like over twelve employees when you need to have separate facilities for men and women.

 

It's more a case that you would be in violation of the Equality Act for not employing women if you were using that as an excuse!

 

Many employers are now shifting to unisex/gender neutral toilets.

 

 

 

Firedoors can be a bit bizarre. Our one leads straight out into ASDAs bin and workshop/storage area. I'm always telling my volunteers to use the front door rather than the side door as that is more likely to be where the fire is!

 

 

Jason

[Steamport Southport]

 

 

[AndrueC]

8 minutes ago, Steamport Southport said:

It's more a case that you would be in violation of the Equality Act for not employing women if you were using that as an excuse!

Something that continues to annoy me. My profession needs more female programmers. In thirty years I've only known two and one of those was working for another company. What I found interesting (and I doubt it's statistically significant) was how they approached it. Most of the blokes I've worked with tend to get a bit annoyed when things don't work as expected. They also tend to just 'give this a go' (experience just means mytheir guess is more likely to be correct). But those women thought about the problem first and if their solution was wrong they just sat and thought about it a bit more.

 

I've developed a theory that men are poor communicators so we are fooled into thinking that we are talking to the computer and hence we don't always put enough mental effort in and why we get annoyed. But women are better communicators so I think they realise it's a machine they are dealing with so give it more thought and see no point in getting annoyed. But based on various girlfriends I think this can only apply when considering computer programmers. Out in the wider world women are just as capable of getting annoyed at machines

 

I have long thought that if we had more women involved it would be a big improvement in the quality of software.

Edited May 11, 2021 by AndrueC