morning all

Hey you

God, is it that late already??

Yes, it is.

Don't call me that, I haven't been willingly omnipotent for centuries

Must resist...Will not stay up past reasonable bedtime!!

one of us, one of us

I'll get you on to BST if it kills me!

I have to go in tomorrow for my monthly "sit in a chair and take your IV nicely, we'll let you go in 2 hours" thing.

I just learned that the VA pays $11,000 a month for this.

I have no way to know if it does any good at all.

:/

i read recently of a new study into antiretrovirals and MS

apparently very effective

medpagetoday.com/Neurology/MultipleSclerosis/44861

On another note, I got a check today for the full amount of the dental bill regarding my crown. (wasabi pea)

wahey

Stickin' it to the man

one tooth at a time

This is huge - "People with HIV appear to be at vastly reduced risk for MS." Put THAT in your pipe!

isn't it weird how one effects the other

researchers have had success shrinking cancerous tumours recently by injecting them with massive doses of the measles virus

these aren't small differences either...

sickle-cell anaemics are immune to malaria

perhaps the solution is to contract everything so that it all cancels itself out

different

The weirdness and unpredictability of MS makes it much, much harder to understand. I like that article though.

None of them have a patch on:

NICE!

I got a kick out of SAJ hating that episode so much...

Philistine.

yeah

he's such a hipster

if it's popular, he'll find a reason to dislike it just so he can appear more highbrow

"Is that the one with the flute ?"

where do you fall on these?

imgur.com/a/28S4v

#1 CRAWdad

New England is interestingly still relatively close to British English pronunciation

who the frig says pick-AHN

other than Captain Janeway

#2, CRAYawn rhymes with dawn

#3 Never, coleslaw is coleslaw, slaw alone implies something different

#4 You Guys (I even say that here)

#5 As in Father

#6 Pee-KAHN

#6 is funny. It used to be pop, but I an SOOO much more cosmopolitan now. It still says "pop" on the aisle markers of Des Moines grocery stores. I say "soda".

eurotrash

;)

#7 Traffic Circle

lol

#8 sub

traffic circle, how quaint

what do you call cars, horseless carriages?

#9 drinking fountain

Am I north of Fairbanks??

heh

Roundabouts (as we call them) are ten a penny here, and all over Europe - not as many grid systems I guess

Traffic circles are rare here...we have a couple in Anchoroge that are no end of amusement.

mrs and I had great fun watch people trying to negotiate Columbus Circle in NYC properly

it ain't rocket surgery, but often our first couple of driving lessons are dedicated just to roundabouts

There are a few famous ones in DC, but they are odd to most Americans.

in the States, you just have to remember 'give way to the left'

if someone's approaching from the left as you approach, give way. If they're giving way to someone on their left (ie someone going straight over and thus past you), you can go because that person is blocking the first

or, do it like they did in NYC and just go go go! and see what happens

No one pays any attention to that...Can I get there first?" Is all that matters.

and that's why there's 'no end of amusement'

of course, this is the ultimate roundabout

something like 8 lanes

We get the occasional little Eskimo...she'll run out of gas before she risks cutting someone off.

no car insurance in France covers you on that ^

they all have an 'Etoiles clause'

heheeh

i shit you not

from what I read on Reddit, driving in the States can be interesting at the best of times

joining a freeway seems to be a particular bugbear

This is our big one...it's scary to most of us:

pff

does it have lights?

as in stoplights?

Learning to merge to freeway traffic is very, very scary to drivers here. Circles are scary because they're rare..

there seems to be a tendency to stop on the approach, which is crazy

It's been too long, I don't think so, not on the circle itself.

how did you learn to drive?

Usuially with a parent. Then you take Driver's ed in High School.

I learned with my Dad. I did fine.

how did they test you?

My wicked stepbitch freaked out, that was one of the first things that clued my dad into the fact that she was a piece of work.

We drove, with a brave soul in the passenger seat.

He had a fixed route.

Usually in the applicant's car.

so your lessons are free in high school?

(the applicant's parent's car)

Yes

and the test?

Minimal...maybe $@%?

lol

Oops $25

how long did you spend learning?

1 semester in school, 2 years in life. We get a license that allows us to drive with a parent in the passenger seat at 14. We can get a license at 16.

Me? About a year.

Fourteen?!

Fourteen?!

holy fuck

Does that seem young??

christ yes

Shit.

you can't get a provisional license (the same thing) here until 17

In rural areas, kids drive waaaaaaay younger than that. Without a parent!

16 if you only want to ride a low CC moped

that's on public roads - you can drive at 3 on private land if you can reach the pedals (youngsters often drive tractors on farms - 10/11 etc)

We have to pay for lessons. About $20-25 an hour. You don't have to take proper lessons, you could learn with any driver, but the tests are strict on the regs so your chances would be much lower

You also have the benefit of a car with dual controls, so the instructor can stop the car if necessary

I understand it's a bit stricter now than when I was that age (dinosaurs and all that), but I think that's still the basic rule. 14 to drive with a teacher, 16 to drive by yourself.

we also have to take a theory test and a hazard perception test

In school the teacher had a brake, other than that, the car was totally in control of the student.

the driving test itself can be one of about half a dozen routes, includes 3 of about 8 possible maneuvers (turning in the road, reversing around a corner etc), and includes a portion of unguided navigation. The guy will ask you to get from A to B and you have to use the road signs to get there.

and of course, the vast majority of us learn manual

none of your oversized go-karts

:P

I learned on a manual transmission.

Used that car to take my test.

I think the biggest thing that was often failed was parallel parking.

yeah, that's always fun

they usually teach it here by rote - 'move forward until this point lines up with that sticker in the window - reverse full lock until here, full opposite lock until here'

which gets you through the test, but then you get in your own car and all the references are different

(we learn and test in the instructor's car)

I guess the much higher population and traffic density here means things have to be stricter

also the fact that most of our roads have these weird bends in them

;)

There is a hysterical YouTube video.Office nerds enjoying the repeated failures of a newbie.

we can't put the cruise control on and take a nap in the back even for, like, a minute

Phhfth...So why bother getting comfy?

In India, the test is: drive one mile, turn the car around, drive back

if no one is permanently injured, you pass

i am looking at a list of road deaths by country

bottom line: do not drive in Eritrea

The UK is, pleasingly, 10th safest in the world

the US is something like 60th!

good grief

That doesn't surprise me. Moose and High School kids. Anyway, I must sleep.Like now. Good night!

g'night

sweet dreams