What’s on your mind?

[scubachap]

Are the B-roads really as bad as they've shown on Keeping Up Appearances and other TV serials?

Yes, plenty of rural (and not so rural) are very narrow. Some have passing places (little lay-bys) you can wait in or reverse back to if necessary if you meet something coming the other way - like a massive tractor or something. Back in the day on really tight bends with high hedges it was considered good form to beep your horn as you approached to warn anything coming.

It's becoming more tricky though as cars (even non ev) seem to be getting bigger and bigger. I saw a BMW the other day the size of a small truck - goodness knows how you'd squeeze past that.

 

[bousozoku]

Yes, plenty of rural (and not so rural) are very narrow. Some have passing places (little lay-bys) you can wait in or reverse back to if necessary if you meet something coming the other way - like a massive tractor or something. Back in the day on really tight bends with high hedges it was considered good form to beep your horn as you approached to warn anything coming.

It's becoming more tricky though as cars (even non ev) seem to be getting bigger and bigger. I saw a BMW the other day the size of a small truck - goodness knows how you'd squeeze past that.

Thanks!

Sounds as though they're as small as Japanese city streets in some places. I remember when the Ford Cortina had a modification of about half an inch to meet the width requirement for such cars or the tax would be increased on it.

The last time I was in Japan was 1985 and there were some American mid-size cars that looked huge on Japanese roads. Now, with so many 9 passenger vehicles, they must have a horrible tax rate, if they're allowed into Japan at all.

 

[mtbdudex]

Yep, you guys have good instincts.

I truly tried to go 100% digital at work back in the mid-1990’s. The original Newton message pad came out and I tried it in store but not sold on its real life usage.

The 110 came out and I bought it.

Then I was a Senior Project Manager for Nissan product planning. I found myself struggling with its digital ink to txt translation too much. Went back to hand writing notes and desktop for the mtg minutes, assignments, etc.
Day 29 of 30….

This was also just pre PalmPilot for me, ha I used a Franklin Planner, remember those? Our company bought them for all staff.

I'd wager it to be the Message Pad (Not that I was aware that such a product existed). I've always been fond of personal computing histories and the surrounding ephemera, what interface are you using to index all those devices.

Bonus guess, the handwriting recognition really did not cut it.

I still have, tucked away somewhere in boxes or drawers, all of my three(3) Newtons.

(I also have all my HP calculators, from HP25 onwards, and my slide rules, and my book of 7-figure log tables.)

These did what they did well enough when I got one later 1990’s:
My busy calendar was with me 24/7, and phone contact list.
Hard cable sync to desktop via docking module.

Well well, when I migrated from Palm Pilot to iPhone way back it carried over some categories info for contacts ..

 

[scubachap]

The last time I was in Japan was 1985 and there were some American mid-size cars that looked huge on Japanese roads. Now, with so many 9 passenger vehicles, they must have a horrible tax rate, if they're allowed into Japan at all.

I'd suggest that our car sizes have been pretty similar (the US is probably the outlier). Even back in the 80's there were British and Japanese cars that shared the same platform, differences being mainly style and possibly engines.

Also due to parked cars, many of our city streets are pretty much single lane. You pass in the gaps afforded by parking restrictions or someones dropped curb for parking on a drive.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

A truly horrible day, weather wise.

However, there have been interesting online meetings, (yes, such things can occasionally be extraordinarily interesting).

Moreover, there is freshly prepared (by me) coffee (from El Salvador) to enjoy, alongside freshly squeezed (by your humble scribe) citrus juice (which comprised: A freshly squeezed lemon, a freshly squeezed pink grapefruit, and two freshly squeezed blood oranges, all together; bliss - this is sunshine in a glass).

 

[fanboy-ish]

I feel it necessary to bring this up here, since it was brought up in another thread a couple days ago. Plus, I was just talking with someone about it (it just came up, I didn't force it). Why do we (humans collectively) tend to feel uncomfortable around people with disabilities? I looked it up, and the statistic says the nearly 70% of people actually feel uncomfortable.

I think it has to do with a variety of factors. People not having enough experience around these folks is probably the most important. Also, people not being sure what to expect. That's what makes people "uncomfortable."

I was around a lot of people with disabilities when I was younger, because I was in special education through middle school. And I am, uh, probably one of these people myself. So I know there is nothing to "worry" about. I'm sure a lot of other people on this forum are the same way.

Anyway, just a thought that crossed my mind. I wasn't sure whether I wanted to post this because it's so personal, and it pains me a little to write this, but I think it's really, really important. To give you an idea, I wrote this with my eyes closed so I didn't have to see the words unravel. But it did get discussed in a couple other threads, so why not bring it up here while the topic is still relevant to a lot of us.

My answer is going to be pretty gloomy.

People are scared by mental disabilities and disgusted by physical disabilities.

There's another component, though. People many times don't know how to behave, they may think that offering a helping hand might be interpreted as pity and have no idea how the other person may react.

There's even another category, people that don't want to put up with the limitations. A disabled person, usually, does have limitations regarding what they can do, and healthy people don't want to have anything to do with it.

There are even worse people, those who think that disabled people are taking advantage of their disability to elicit sympathy or to get a more favorable treatment, those people think that disabled people are making things bigger than they are.

I find that many people don't even want to know, to understand, so, people with disabilities, end up being shunned.

And the problem is deep, it's not limited to social interactions or relationships, it gets into the workplace too, if companies can help it they will avoid hiring a disabled person, because they know that person may not be able to perform as efficiently as the others, or they may need more days of sick leave or free days for visits and exams; it's so bad that in my country the Government had to pass a law that forces companies to hire a disabled person, companies that have between 15 and 35 employees must hire 1 disabled person, 36 to 50 employees they must hire 2 people, over 50 employees they must meet a quota, 7% of their employees must be disabled people.

I can tell you my story, I have epilepsy, I'm not technically disabled but I have consequences and, yes, people look at me differently than they used to when I was healthy, the discrimination is still very much there. My mother has multiple sclerosis, she has lost all but 3 or 4 friends, I've also lost friends of 20 years because of my problems.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Citrus fruit have been delivered; a big bag containing several pink grapefruits, several lemons, and lots and lots of blood oranges.

 

[rm5]

People are scared by mental disabilities and disgusted by physical disabilities.

Yes, I agree.

There's another component, though. People many times don't know how to behave, they may think that offering a helping hand might be interpreted as pity and have no idea how the other person may react.

No, some people don't, unfortunately. But in my experience (recently) most people simply ignore it. That didn't used to be the case though.

There's even another category, people that don't want to put up with the limitations. A disabled person, usually, does have limitations regarding what they can do, and healthy people don't want to have anything to do with it.

Luckily, that was (is) never a big problem for me personally. Thankfully, I've gotten support in that realm.

There are even worse people, those who think that disabled people are taking advantage of their disability to elicit sympathy or to get a more favorable treatment, those people think that disabled people are making things bigger than they are.

Sadly, yes.

I don't think there's really a solution to this, because we can't control how other people react or feel or whatever. The only solution is to hang around these people and make friends with them (which is often what people like us lack).

Anyways, idk what else to say.

 

[fanboy-ish]

I don't think there's really a solution to this, because we can't control how other people react or feel or whatever. The only solution is to hang around these people and make friends with them (which is often what people like us lack).

Education, culture, and information are the keys.

Public service announcements can be helpful in raising awareness about diseases, so do activities in schools, letting charities come to schools and explain, do some activities with the kids, and also letting said charities present their work during TV shows.

I'm also a big proponent for "alternative punishments" for youth petty crimes like bullying, some violence, petty stealing, I think they should be "sentenced" to a mandatory period volunteering, possibly during weekend afternoons, in charities that help disabled people, I've seen that volunteering work can really change a person, if done in the appropriate setting with qualified tutoring.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Education, culture, and information are the keys.

And teaching kids empathy and decency and kindness from a young age while modelling such behaviour on the part of parents, other responsible adults, and schools, playgrounds, anywhere kids will congregate, or hang out.

Public service announcements can be helpful in raising awareness about diseases, so do activities in schools, letting charities come to schools and explain, do some activities with the kids, and also letting said charities present their work during TV shows.

Agreed.

I'm also a big proponent for "alternative punishments" for youth petty crimes like bullying, some violence, petty stealing, I think they should be "sentenced" to a mandatory period volunteering, possibly during weekend afternoons, in charities that help disabled people, I've seen that volunteering work can really change a person, if done in the appropriate setting with qualified tutoring.

An excellent idea, educational, life-affirming and positive rather than punitive.

 

[rm5]

And teaching kids empathy and decency and kindness from a young age while modelling such behaviour on the part of parents, other responsible adults, and schools, playgrounds, anywhere kids will congregate, or hang out.

YES!!!!!!!

I honestly do think schools are trying their hardest to do this, but, especially in the case of elementary/middle schools ("primary schools" to you, I think), it's just really hard.

I don't know if parents are actually the problem. Kids are just young and stupid most of the time (and I'm not excluding myself from that either, because sure, I was stupid as a kid).

I do, however, put a little bit of blame on administrators. And obviously not every teacher/administrator has this problem, but some do (in my experience), especially at the elementary/middle school level. For example, in 5th grade (10-11 years old), it took SEVERAL emails from my parents (signed with my name, mind you), and me trying (and a lot of times failing) to speak up for the school to do ANYTHING about what was going on. It was ignored at first. Then eventually it was (somewhat) resolved - never perfect - but good enough for me to handle.

In middle school, it got a little bit better in terms of teachers/administrators doing something immediately to try and correct the situation, but the experience was worse. All of the things that went on caused my mental health to take a steep decline, in turn causing those years to be some of the worst in my life so far. I don't want to go into too much detail in this thread about what kinds of stuff exactly happened (any of you can DM if you really want to know) - but so much of it happened behind closed doors, and I just wasn't brave enough to speak up. I was physically and mentally unable to talk about it. I had lots of support at home, thankfully. No disciplinary action was taken against ANY of the students who engaged in harming me though.

High school was good for the most part—there were some aspects that I quite enjoyed about it in fact. So things did get better eventually.

Honestly, as I've gotten to know you guys, I've been able to become a little more open about stuff. But it's also just because I've gotten older and all that stuff is further behind me (but still undoubtedly relevant). What nobody knows (really I've just kept this inside my family, medical staff, and relevant school officials) is my full story, and I don't think anyone will anytime soon. It's just too much. It's a mental block—I just can't tell it. Doesn't matter if it's a public or private setting, I just can't. I've even tried locking myself in a room (when I'm home alone) and telling it to myself, and I can't do that either. Nor can I write it, I've tried that, too.

Sometimes I really wish I could just yell it from the rooftops for all to hear, so that people would understand where I'm coning from. I do think it needs to be heard, somehow. My parents have said the same thing. I can tell little bits of it and be vague like I just did, but it's just... too much. There's parts of it that even I don't understand.

Just so you know, I did lie down and cry after writing this. It's nothing any of you inflicted, it's my emotional response. *Sigh*

 

[bousozoku]

I feel it necessary to bring this up here, since it was brought up in another thread a couple days ago. Plus, I was just talking with someone about it (it just came up, I didn't force it). Why do we (humans collectively) tend to feel uncomfortable around people with disabilities? I looked it up, and the statistic says the nearly 70% of people actually feel uncomfortable.

I think it has to do with a variety of factors. People not having enough experience around these folks is probably the most important. Also, people not being sure what to expect. That's what makes people "uncomfortable."

I was around a lot of people with disabilities when I was younger, because I was in special education through middle school. And I am, uh, probably one of these people myself. So I know there is nothing to "worry" about. I'm sure a lot of other people on this forum are the same way.

Anyway, just a thought that crossed my mind. I wasn't sure whether I wanted to post this because it's so personal, and it pains me a little to write this, but I think it's really, really important. To give you an idea, I wrote this with my eyes closed so I didn't have to see the words unravel. But it did get discussed in a couple other threads, so why not bring it up here while the topic is still relevant to a lot of us.

Working in retail, I meet a lot of ignorant, intolerant people. That's not to say that educated people can't be intolerant, but it's less common.

If people can't be tolerant of hair color, tattoos, piercings, will they react better to people who can't communicate with them effectively?

Too many people haven't the experience to handle the unknown. Too many people didn't have good parents and grandparents to teach them.

 

[bousozoku]

I went downstairs to start my laundry. I returned to my room to get my stuff, so that I could eat.

I hear someone calling my name, and I go into the living room/lounge, and they're trying to watch some Apple TV series. They don't have it set up, and they're looking at the privacy disclosure. They can't get out of it. He's 80 and she's 77.

I get them out of it and we get back to the point where they can sign up. I ask for his phone and he hands me the Cable TV remote control. Eventually, I get the phone and unlock it. I go to the Camera app and follow the link. On the phone, it shows his Apple ID connection and to proceed, it wants his Apple ID e-mail address, which he can't remember.

He just wants to watch CNN. She wants to watch anything but that. I just want to eat.

He rushes to the SUV to go shopping for something. He forgets his keys, his wallet, everything.

After I told her three times that it cost US$9.99 per month, she tells him that. "I don't want to pay anything monthly." he says. I run for the kitchen.

 

[HDFan]

Citrus fruit have been delivered;

That brings back memories of picking an orange from our tree, covered in dew sparkling in the sunshine, for breakfast in the morning.

 

[bousozoku]

I'd suggest that our car sizes have been pretty similar (the US is probably the outlier). Even back in the 80's there were British and Japanese cars that shared the same platform, differences being mainly style and possibly engines.

Also due to parked cars, many of our city streets are pretty much single lane. You pass in the gaps afforded by parking restrictions or someones dropped curb for parking on a drive.

Many of my friends in Japan had access to their parents' car. It's still shocking to me that they had cars. In Tokyo, you have to have a parking space in advance of buying a car, since most residential streets have no parking, and some barely have enough width for a small delivery vehicle.

I spent a lot of time on the train, and a couple of times on a bus. Someone drove to Narita airport to pick me up and another drove me back. On a trip to Nikko, I spent one direction of the trip in the back of the original Honda Prelude for three hours.

Travel in Japan is definitely easier by train than by car.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I went downstairs to start my laundry. I returned to my room to get my stuff, so that I could eat.

I hear someone calling my name, and I go into the living room/lounge, and they're trying to watch some Apple TV series. They don't have it set up, and they're looking at the privacy disclosure. They can't get out of it. He's 80 and she's 77.

I get them out of it and we get back to the point where they can sign up. I ask for his phone and he hands me the Cable TV remote control. Eventually, I get the phone and unlock it. I go to the Camera app and follow the link. On the phone, it shows his Apple ID connection and to proceed, it wants his Apple ID e-mail address, which he can't remember.

He just wants to watch CNN. She wants to watch anything but that. I just want to eat.

He rushes to the SUV to go shopping for something. He forgets his keys, his wallet, everything.

After I told her three times that it cost US$9.99 per month, she tells him that. "I don't want to pay anything monthly." he says. I run for the kitchen.

Sounds like fun.

I’ve been trying to get hold of my Mum for about two weeks. Today I finally get a message telling me that both her landline phone and mobile phone are broken and need replacing.
She lives about 4-5 hours from where I live. My Dad slightly less.
As they age I can foresee things are going to get quite tricky.

 

[bousozoku]

Sounds like fun.

I’ve been trying to get hold of my Mum for about two weeks. Today I finally get a message telling me that both her landline phone and mobile phone are broken and need replacing.
She lives about 4-5 hours from where I live. My Dad slightly less.
As they age I can foresee things are going to get quite tricky.

Tricky is an understatement.

I took care of my parents before they died. I really am not ready for another go with a couple I barely know, especially when they have two sons.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Tricky is an understatement.

I took care of my parents before they died.

Tricky, yes, (and I write as someone who cared for both of my parents), but, on the other hand, one should not need the equivalent of a postgraduate degree just in order to be able to watch TV, or turn on - or tune - a car radio.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

The barometer has been plunging today; not at all pleasant.

 

[bousozoku]

Tricky, yes, (and I write as someone who cared for both of my parents), but, on the other hand, one should not need the equivalent of a postgraduate degree just in order to be able to watch TV, or turn on - or tune - a car radio.

If one has the understanding of limits, it should be less of a problem. I try to help this couple but sometimes, they're beyond help. They were probably this bad in their 30s but the world was simpler then.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

If one has the understanding of limits, it should be less of a problem.

Limits - and knowing them - are one thing, but being able to explain how things work (for it is not always enough to know how things work) is another.

I try to help this couple but sometimes, they're beyond help.

That is a good thing to do.

They were probably this bad in their 30s but the world was simpler then.

I doubt it.

I suspect that they were properly acclimatised and acculturated to their various respective worlds in their 30s, but, the world has changed since then, and frankly, some of the modern tech stuff is unnecessarily complex and complicated.

Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see whether - or, to what degree - their two sons show (or prove) themselves supportive to their parents.

 

[bousozoku]

Limits - and knowing them - are one thing, but being able to explain how things work (for it is not always enough to know how things work) is another.

That is a good thing to do.

I doubt it.

I suspect that they were properly acclimatised and acculturated to their various respective worlds in their 30s, but, the world has changed since then, and frankly, some of the modern tech stuff is unnecessarily complex and complicated.

Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see whether - or, to what degree - their two sons show (or prove) themselves supportive to their parents.

Their sons seem to be so important that they are annoyed any time they're asking to do something while they're in the house. In their 50s, they're still needing help from the parents, which seems a signal of poor parenting. I don't want to be their source of help, even though I often am. I have medical issues of my own and am struggling.

I grew up with parents from the military. There were always rules.

At ten years old, my mother was teaching me how to reconcile a check book and I was teaching her how to drive a four-speed manual transmission.

I would like to believe that all parents are so good during that time, but it didn't seem so. However, there are always exceptions. Good parents now seem to be the exception.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Food. Sat in a restaurant in Hereford starving and wondering if it’ll come before this evening?

 

[Apple fanboy]

Food. Sat in a restaurant in Hereford starving and wondering if it’ll come before this evening?

Are they killing the cow or growing the potatoes?

 

[VisceralRealist]

Ugh, Joe Rogan discourse on MacRumors. Bleh. Some days I just shouldn't be logging on here...