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Post by Calidore on Oct 11, 2024 13:42:12 GMT -5
Has the word “experience” been devalued recently? I pay my council tax online every month. On one occasion, after paying it, I had a survey request pop up asking me to rate my ‘experience’ of paying council tax. It’s a tax. That’s it. There’s nothing more to say. I have had similar requests to rate my ‘experience’ of shopping in Asda, or having a repair done. To me, an experience would be visiting the Grand Canyon, climbing Mount Everest, riding an advanced motorcycle, parachuting, visiting NASA HQ, etc. Those would be experiences, not simple mundane things like paying council tax. In the same vein, I have never once had a survey ask about my experience filling out a survey. |
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Post by driver1980 on Oct 11, 2024 15:35:36 GMT -5
I should add, the survey request about my paying council tax was not about the tax itself, but about the payment method. They use Worldpay to facilitate such things, and I really don’t see how that is an “experience”. I’d love to visit the Grand Canyon, I’d love to take a parachute jump, and I’d love to eat out in New York City. Those would be experiences. I’m not sure how indifferently using Worldpay to pay my council tax is an experience, I doubt it’d make any tourist brochures.
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Post by Icctrombone on Oct 12, 2024 7:50:23 GMT -5
I think when the members of ABBA begin to die off , I will be very sad. Their songs made me smile.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Oct 13, 2024 7:17:57 GMT -5
On Friday we had a reunion at the research centre where I did my graduate studies. It was founded in the early '80s and is now moving to a brand new building (something that also happened in the late '90s). There were more than a hundred people present, and we jokingly mentioned that in genetic terms, we had representatives of the F0 to F3 generations on the premises: mentors who trained mentors who trained even more mentors, with assorted students. Traveling down memory lane was sometimes bittersweet, remembering the people who passed away over the decades; however it was very moving to see beloved teachers still going strong, though sometimes grown feeble and ethereal, and to see them receive well-deserved homages by their old students and colleagues. And boy, for someone who has a hard time remembering names, was it hard for me to greet people whose face I recognized! I was actually pretty surprised at my batting average, though. In that as in all things, my memory is better for things I learned long ago than for current stuff. Two things struck me in particular: how old friends are still old friends, even after 30 years apart, and how bloody old I've become!  In the first case, for many of us, it was as if we had last met yesterday. We mostly remembered each other's kids' names, or where we all lived; or the made-up lyrics for a song we had composed for a Christmas party and sung exactly once. It was great to laugh at old shared jokes, and remembering old embarrassing moments... like when the journal Nature described our building as "what must be the most crowded lab in the world". (Not that there were that many of us then... we just had very cramped quarters!) And how many times do you get to ask "so, what did you do in the last 30 years?" We laughed out loud when a new generation of students (now in their 40s, but "new" to us old-timers) informed us that our common mentor had treated them to the same exasperated " you know that!" exclamation that he had used on us. And it was of course brilliant to see the man himself again; he is truly like a second father to me -and I suspect to most of the folks who worked in his lab. What made me feel my age was meeting those I once considered the "young" ones... who now have white hair. I mean, when you're in your mid-twenties and nearing the end of your studies, and some younger person starts their own project, you view them as the new kids on the block -emphasis on "kids". Seeing them 30 years later, all white-haired and having had a brilliant and successful career, makes one realize how quickly it all goes by. I'm sad to think that I won't be there for an eventual new reunion in 30 years or so... but that's the way of things, and I'm extremely grateful to have had the family be together again one last time. We don't tell people how much we love them often enough. Here's to fond memories, good friends and new generations; that's what life is all about. " You know that!" |
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Post by MRPs_Missives on Oct 14, 2024 13:07:21 GMT -5
Happy Thanksgiving to our Canadian fellows.
-M
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Oct 14, 2024 17:32:43 GMT -5
Happy Thanksgiving to our Canadian fellows. -M Thank you, eh? This Canuck is very thankful for this community! |
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 14, 2024 20:23:18 GMT -5
On Friday we had a reunion at the research centre where I did my graduate studies. It was founded in the early '80s and is now moving to a brand new building (something that also happened in the late '90s). There were more than a hundred people present, and we jokingly mentioned that in genetic terms, we had representatives of the F0 to F3 generations on the premises: mentors who trained mentors who trained even more mentors, with assorted students. Traveling down memory lane was sometimes bittersweet, remembering the people who passed away over the decades; however it was very moving to see beloved teachers still going strong, though sometimes grown feeble and ethereal, and to see them receive well-deserved homages by their old students and colleagues. And boy, for someone who has a hard time remembering names, was it hard for me to greet people whose face I recognized! I was actually pretty surprised at my batting average, though. In that as in all things, my memory is better for things I learned long ago than for current stuff. Two things struck me in particular: how old friends are still old friends, even after 30 years apart, and how bloody old I've become! In the first case, for many of us, it was as if we had last met yesterday. We mostly remembered each other's kids' names, or where we all lived; or the made-up lyrics for a song we had composed for a Christmas party and sung exactly once. It was great to laugh at old shared jokes, and remembering old embarrassing moments... like when the journal Nature described our building as "what must be the most crowded lab in the world". (Not that there were that many of us then... we just had very cramped quarters!) And how many times do you get to ask "so, what did you do in the last 30 years?" We laughed out loud when a new generation of students (now in their 40s, but "new" to us old-timers) informed us that our common mentor had treated them to the same exasperated " you know that!" exclamation that he had used on us. And it was of course brilliant to see the man himself again; he is truly like a second father to me -and I suspect to most of the folks who worked in his lab. What made me feel my age was meeting those I once considered the "young" ones... who now have white hair. I mean, when you're in your mid-twenties and nearing the end of your studies, and some younger person starts their own project, you view them as the new kids on the block -emphasis on "kids". Seeing them 30 years later, all white-haired and having had a brilliant and successful career, makes one realize how quickly it all goes by. I'm sad to think that I won't be there for an eventual new reunion in 30 years or so... but that's the way of things, and I'm extremely grateful to have had the family be together again one last time. We don't tell people how much we love them often enough. Here's to fond memories, good friends and new generations; that's what life is all about. " You know that!"Sadly, college wasn't really conducive to those kinds of bonds, for me, as the average class size of many of mine were over 100 students. I had a circle of friends from my dorm, who I stayed in touch with through college, even as they moved out of the dorm; but, the bulk of my friends were within my NROTC unit. All of us now, would be past military retirement, if we stayed for a career. Since most were from Chicago or other areas, I have never come in contact with any of them since graduation, apart from one classmate who was assigned to the same home port. |
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Post by driver1980 on Oct 15, 2024 14:10:49 GMT -5
Somebody told me he passed his driving test after six lessons. I must admit, I find it hard to believe.
Why? Because whenever this topic has come up, the average is a lot more than six lessons. I had 37 one-hour lessons, a theory test and then I failed my driving test, but I passed second time.
Most people I have spoken with about this have said they had a lot of lessons, the answers range from 37 to 40 lessons.
Seems hard to believe that someone was ready for a test after just six lessons. We all remember our driving tuition, I would say it took me until about the third lesson to really feel comfortable, at that point the clutch and gears started to feel “right”.
But, hey, maybe this guy did it.
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 15, 2024 14:40:18 GMT -5
Somebody told me he passed his driving test after six lessons. I must admit, I find it hard to believe. Why? Because whenever this topic has come up, the average is a lot more than six lessons. I had 37 one-hour lessons, a theory test and then I failed my driving test, but I passed second time. Most people I have spoken with about this have said they had a lot of lessons, the answers range from 37 to 40 lessons. Seems hard to believe that someone was ready for a test after just six lessons. We all remember our driving tuition, I would say it took me until about the third lesson to really feel comfortable, at that point the clutch and gears started to feel “right”. But, hey, maybe this guy did it. I don't know about the UK test vs Illinois, in 1982; but I aced the written test, after reading the rules of the road. We did have to take a driver's education class, in school; but, because of my November birthday, I didn't get to do the practical driving portion until the next semester. That, however, was less than a dozen sessions behind the wheel. The bulk of my training came from my dad just having me drive and correcting me when I was drifting out of the lane or needed to speed up or slow down. My first time, we just drove over to an empty parking lot and he had me drive slowly, around the lot, getting used to steering and changing directions. The rest of the time, I drove on the road. He'd drive until we were outside Decatur and then switch places and have me drive home, to our little town. It was country highways or back roads, so traffic was minimal and I could quickly build confidence and skill, before driving in Decatur, on city streets. After a couple of lessons, I was fine with keeping to my lane, maybe a little cautious on speed. I passed my driving test with no problems, in my mother's land yacht of a Buick. I had a steeper learning curve on driving stick, but that was mostly not dumping the clutch when starting out in 1st gear. I was fine once I shifted up, but it was always going from a dead stop in 1st. I soon learned to let the engine rev up a bit more before letting off the clutch. Personally, I found that driving with a manual transmission made you a better driver, because you had to pay more attention to the car. I also preferred it in winter, with hazardous roads, as you could use the clutch to bleed off momentum, before touching the brakes. With my current car, I don't have that, but, we had a mild winter last year, so I haven't really driven it in slushy or icy roads, yet. |
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Post by driver1980 on Oct 15, 2024 15:52:11 GMT -5
codystarbuck wrote this: Absolutely! I also know that people with automatic-only licences can limit their employment options. A friend of mine worked as a postman for Royal Mail years ago, but he was never able to drive the vans as they were all manual. I also worked in a clerical job where we had a pool car - that was manual, so if somebody with an automatic licence had joined the company, he/she would not have been able to use it. I have driven automatics, and we are probably heading for all-automatic cars (aren’t all electric cars automatic?), but I think there are benefits to having a manual licence. Although I could live without stalling, one of the most annoying things one can do while driving.
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 15, 2024 17:34:57 GMT -5
codystarbuck wrote this: Absolutely! I also know that people with automatic-only licences can limit their employment options. A friend of mine worked as a postman for Royal Mail years ago, but he was never able to drive the vans as they were all manual. I also worked in a clerical job where we had a pool car - that was manual, so if somebody with an automatic licence had joined the company, he/she would not have been able to use it. I have driven automatics, and we are probably heading for all-automatic cars (aren’t all electric cars automatic?), but I think there are benefits to having a manual licence. Although I could live without stalling, one of the most annoying things one can do while driving. We don't have a specific license for a manual transmission and there are no special requirements. Most cars sold new, in the US are automatic transmission, now, with no manual option. Pick-up trucks (some, as most are automatic, too) and motorcycles are about the only exceptions left. When I was on my last midshipman summer training cruise, before my senior year of college, my ship stopped in Santa Barbara, CA, for a nautical festival. The midshipman had to join the captain in making appearances at some public functions, as guests and representatives of the ship and the US Navy. The toy soldier bit (or sailor, as the case may be). We were taken to a reception from a Naval Reserve center, which was acting as a liason for us. A driver had to take us there, in a van (the captain had his own vehicle assigned). We hopped in and I was riding shotgun, in the front passenger side. I noticed that it was a 3-speed manual transmission, which was odd, as most Navy official vehicles were automatic. The driver hopped in and saw three pedals and asked what the extra one was? Slightly surprised I told him it was the clutch. He replied "Clutch?" I replied, yes, it was a 3-speed, with the gear shift on the steering column. he asked what a 3-speed was and I answered a manual transmission, with three gears, instead of 4 or 5. I then asked if he knew how to drive stick? He said yes, but had never seen this configuration. So, we spent about 5 or 10 minutes with me teaching him the shifting pattern for the gears and at what speeds he should be shifting (though engine noise should be enough to alert you. He then got us going and handled it okay, though I did have to prompt him a couple of times that he needed to shift into a higher gear. For a minute, I thought I was going to have to drive. I've driven cars and pick-up trucks with manual transmissions, as well as manned the helm of an oiler (Navy tanker) and helm and dive planes of a submarine, as well as the controls of a helicopter (with a lot of overriding by the pilot). Never got to drive a tank, nor have I handled anything requiring a Commercial Driver's License (CDL), like a semi-truck (articulated lorry, in your neck of the woods). |
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Post by Batflunkie on Oct 15, 2024 19:50:29 GMT -5
Happy Thanksgiving to our Canadian fellows. -M Do Canadians partake in the silly tradition of "pardoning turkeys" like the US does? |
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Post by tartanphantom on Oct 15, 2024 20:44:16 GMT -5
codystarbuck wrote this: Absolutely! I also know that people with automatic-only licences can limit their employment options. A friend of mine worked as a postman for Royal Mail years ago, but he was never able to drive the vans as they were all manual. I also worked in a clerical job where we had a pool car - that was manual, so if somebody with an automatic licence had joined the company, he/she would not have been able to use it. I have driven automatics, and we are probably heading for all-automatic cars (aren’t all electric cars automatic?), but I think there are benefits to having a manual licence. Although I could live without stalling, one of the most annoying things one can do while driving.
As codystarbuck stated, we don't have automatic/manual subdivisions on drivers licenses in most, if not all states.
However, my first driving experience was gained on a Ford 9N tractor, and later on an International Harvester Farmall Diesel, both with a non-synchronized gearbox, at the age of 13. Though I rarely got above 15mph (only exception being going to-from certain pastures on the property, which sometimes required using access roads). While not the same as road driving, it did give me plenty of experience in the brake-clutch-shifter-throttle relationships, and how they interact with each other.
After that, I began "real" driving in a 5-speed 1976 Datsun pickup truck at age 15. Although I haven't owned a vehicle with a manual transmission since 2000, I have driven them occasionally since then. I still think it's a good skill to have, even in this current era of Automatic everything. I know plenty of people who couldn't drive a manual transmission even if their life depended on it.
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 15, 2024 20:50:16 GMT -5
codystarbuck wrote this: Absolutely! I also know that people with automatic-only licences can limit their employment options. A friend of mine worked as a postman for Royal Mail years ago, but he was never able to drive the vans as they were all manual. I also worked in a clerical job where we had a pool car - that was manual, so if somebody with an automatic licence had joined the company, he/she would not have been able to use it. I have driven automatics, and we are probably heading for all-automatic cars (aren’t all electric cars automatic?), but I think there are benefits to having a manual licence. Although I could live without stalling, one of the most annoying things one can do while driving.
As codystarbuck stated, we don't have automatic/manual subdivisions on drivers licenses in most, if not all states.
However, my first driving experience was gained on a Ford 9N tractor, with an non-synchronized gearbox at the age of 13. Though I rarely got above 15mph (only exception being going to-from certain pastures on the property, which sometimes required using access roads). While not the same as road driving, it did give me plenty of experience in the brake-clutch-shifter-throttle relationships, and how they interact with each other.
After that, I began "real" driving in a 5-speed 1976 Datsun pickup truck at age 15. Although I haven't owned a vehicle with a manual transmission since 2000, I have driven them occasionally since then. I still think it's a good skill to have, even in this current era of Automatic everything. I know plenty of people who couldn't drive a manual transmission even if their life depended on it.
Yeah, like the lot kid who was bringing my car out of the service bay of the Kia dealer, after I had a circuit board replaced on it. I saw the car hiccupping and told them to stop him, I would walk over and get my car, before he destroyed the transmission! Even the dealers didn't have people who could drive their own cars! |
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Post by Rob Allen on Oct 15, 2024 22:23:56 GMT -5
I've read that a manual transmission is the best anti-theft device available.
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In the first case, for many of us, it was as if we had last met yesterday. We mostly remembered each other's kids' names, or where we all lived; or the made-up lyrics for a song we had composed for a Christmas party and sung exactly once. It was great to laugh at old shared jokes, and remembering old embarrassing moments... like when the journal Nature described our building as "what must be the most crowded lab in the world". (Not that there were that many of us then... we just had very cramped quarters!) And how many times do you get to ask "so, what did you do in the last 30 years?"
