Posts by Sam F
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Comments that are abusive, snarky, off-topic and/or silly in nature will not be published.
I think the horse has bolted on this one.
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For an alternative take on bikeriding in Auckland City, there are also these folks.
Apparently, it's so much more satisfying climbing hills with one gear when you know you'll get to skid all the way down the other side.
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None taken.
We're headed for your Belgian beer bar with our strangled vowels.
None meant, of course!
But come one, come all. I'll tell the proprietors to lay down the sawdust before Friday.
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I have very vague recollections of it being underneath the 'new' Mangere Bridge (aka the SH20 crossing, aka the bridge which is shown partially complete in 'Goodbye Pork Pie'). Is that correct? Is it still there?
I haven't thought about that for about 20 years!
Confirmed. I rode to Mangere every weekday from June through August this year, and I never once took that clipon cycleway. I was told by workmates that people coming home in the evening that way could very easily be mugged by two people blocking their escape in either direction. Stuff that.
Besides...
the lovely old bridge, with fresh air and beautiful views and friendly old fishermen, so there really isn't much reason not to use it!
Hell yes. I found myself leaving work early in the mornings just so I could stop off on the bridge and watch the wildlife. I saw a shag eat an entire flounder in one mouthful. That's worth a month of cycling in my book.
As far as aggressiveness goes: yes, it's very easy to develop a rage-filled personality as a cyclist in Auckland City. Much better, though, to remember that your opponents in cars can get just as angry and have thousands of kilograms of metal on their side. So I take the utmost advantage of being a visible human being rather than a shadow behind a windscreen. I indicate with my hands. Smile at people, nod to acknowledge them, give a thumbs up when they respect your right of way. Wave a free hand at intersections and and watch for drivers' reactions, even if you look like a dork with royal pretensions, because that's the best way to tell if they're looking.
The ground rule seems to be: be conspicuous, and be conspicuously nice to everybody. It's a good way to stave off heart disease and terminal cynicism.
I am reliably informed that shoreBoys (& shoreGirls) roam between Takapuna and Devonport for similar reasons. Link the 2 over the bridge and we can extend the enjoyment of these people.
Although I'm intrigued by the possibilities of genetic cross-pollination between the Mission Bay and North Shore munter subspecies, it'd probably result in an unpleasant amount of broken beer bottles on the walkway.
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PAS hivemind...
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The council were not sure but gave it a go. However instead of building the cycleway they offered a bus/van service which picked up the cyclists on one side and deposited them on the other.
And how many people used this service?
sweet f a. And i mean *seriously* sweet f a.
God, I know I wouldn't be complaining about a complete lack of infrastructure if <i>I</i> was offered the chance of waiting for a poky little van to carry me through gridlock traffic over a 1km stretch of road. I'd be lapping that shit up and calling it icecream, just to show my undying gratitude for scraps from the council table.
Sheesh.
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Again, I lol'ed.
But where is the "more" advertised? I expected gallery-sized goodness...
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I will be sending a CD of whale songs and some aromatic candles to Sir Brian Lochore, endorsed with the message, "love, Colin".
You, sir, made me laugh out loud in the office at ten to nine on a Monday.
I salute you.
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Wow - a lot of people really have had meaningful, intense experiences involving the Net. Respect to you guys.
My experience with the Internet has been pretty much completely ordinary. We had no computer at all in our household until 1997, which was when I got to joyfully stuff away the typewriter I'd been using for school assignments in the garage attic. It was a Pentium 200 from Kingsland Computers, which came along with a printer, standalone speakers (which I'm still using now, actually) and one of those weird handheld scanners which we never got the hang of using.
That said, we never got the Internet until ... wait for it ... 2001. It feels kinda liberating to get that off my chest in the midst of all you early adopters and tech freaks. My parents shelled out for bog-standard dialup from Quicksilver, and we were surfing away with an antiquated version of IE. We never had a single issue with virii from 2001 onwards, thanks to running Windows 95. Cue hours spent on MSN, various vintage Volkswagen websites (I was an online tyrekicker), and also on constant arguments about the phone line. Seems positively quaint to think of all this now.
The ancient 200 was finally ditched in 2004 for a much more modern machine, but we still had dialup to contend with. Im 2005 I encountered the Craccum Forum bulletin board, which was run by a couple of guys at university on a free hosting server. Two revamps later, the site's still going strong with a nice community feel, and I've met many friends there who got me through tough times over the last three years.
My first experience of broadband was when I moved out in 2006 and signed on with iHug, who were brilliant. Vodafone are trying but not quite there. And now the Net is as natural as breathing.
I've tarried too long with a very average tale, but thanks to the wonders of technology, feel free to scroll away in search of more interesting memories. :)
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But of course.
It's quite interesting to see the five or six outraged replies that reliably follow every post from Dexter. In the antiseptic white behavioural lab of PAS, he's the happy rodent that's found the feeding bar.
To add another metaphor, I see him almost as part of the furniture by now. It's up to others if they want to use him as a scratching post, and fair enough too given the nonsense he posts, but usually I can't be bothered. Too much other worthwhile stuff being said all around.