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5th July 2021, 08:27 AM
#21
Re: New Member just saying Hello
Victoria there used to be a kids program on the BBC called the Magic Roundabout. When we first came out here in later life permanently in 1991 , roundabouts were only just appearing in WA and the antics of drivers got to me and I called them the Magic Roundabouts like the kids rode on their stationary steeds. I just carried on as I did at sea driving ships giving way to crossing traffic on your right , and those on the roundabout or in the channel having right of way. About the only thing that is compatable between ship and shore. Cheers JS...
PS I must say on arrival Oz I had no driving licence and very little money and no job so whilst seeking work I also had to have 3 lessons and a quick test as a licence was essential to the job as joined ships which were unreachable by public transport and hire cars were mostly used. So I drove around on P plates for two years. JS...
Last edited by j.sabourn; 5th July 2021 at 08:49 AM.
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5th July 2021, 09:05 AM
#22
Re: New Member just saying Hello
Mention of roundabouts, six years ago I drove Route 66(Chicago to LA), two couples and the journey took 2 weeks involving stopovers each night along the route. Interesting trip, and to meet Americans and be welcomed in their own backyard was indeed an amazing experience.
During that 3,000 mile trip not once did we navigate a roundabout. America doesn't have any. Just intersections. Seems to work ok. I didn't miss them. Interestingly, HGV vehicles are not speed restricted on interstate highways, which can be bit scary.
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5th July 2021, 09:15 AM
#23
Re: New Member just saying Hello
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5th July 2021, 09:29 AM
#24
Re: New Member just saying Hello
#24.. John if you ever went to Chicago on a ship they had their own quirks . The derricks had to be up at 45 degrees and all plumbed fore and aft . After that the shore gangs adjusted them as necessary. Like most American ports the head stevedore used to give the mate an envelope for expected co-operation usually containing the grand amount of not much more than $20 which I used to put behind the ships bar if we had one. Those Lakes runs I always found the various ports you went to the stevedores were usually very polite and well mannered , unusual for a very rough job at times . America is a very strange country at times as different parts different social classes .
The roughest parts I found were the likes of New York . And had to be careful of what parts you visited . Cheers JS.
Last edited by j.sabourn; 5th July 2021 at 09:31 AM.
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5th July 2021, 09:48 AM
#25
Re: New Member just saying Hello
Originally Posted by
Victoria Moss
#12 JS we had a police woman talk to us about that recently. She said whoever is on the roundabout has right of way. My question was if everyone gets to the round about at the same time all looking to their right who goes first???? This implying of course that at that time no one is actually on the roundabout leaving an empty intersection.
Didn't get much of response from the police woman on that. LOL
It happens here Victoria, it usually depends on who has the bottle to make the first move.
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5th July 2021, 10:46 AM
#26
Re: New Member just saying Hello
What I found in the uk on visits back their roundabouts were sometimes colossal compared to Oz . When you got on some it was just as crowded as had sometimes 6 lanes on same and have gone right round some as couldn’t change lanes safely , they even have traffic lights on roundabouts. On the leading off/on roads yet to come to WA , maybe already over in the Eastern States ? They have already defeated the purpose they were designed for. JS
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5th July 2021, 10:57 AM
#27
Re: New Member just saying Hello
You would love this one, not a lot!
Magic Roundabout (Swindon) ... The Magic Roundabout in Swindon, England:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OGvj7GZSIo
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6th July 2021, 01:07 AM
#28
Re: New Member just saying Hello
#20 Thanks Ken one of my nephews was in the Australian police and well under 6 feet . Don’t know about women’s heights but had a cousin also in the police but think it was the MOD police , as she was the first sergeant then female Inspector at Hampton Court. She was a very feminine and attractive woman as well , can remember her going for screen tests at Teddington Studios at the end of the war. I think a lot of seafarers who applied for the police probably failed on knowledge of present affairs as were never long enough in country to catch up on. As regards customs and excise they were probably already considered as rogues so their screening would be much harder. Like you live in a retirement village but only been here since last August. But up to now is and was the way to go. Regards JS.
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6th July 2021, 01:47 AM
#29
Re: New Member just saying Hello
I nearly got wiped out on a roundabout the other day, the main street was jammed with traffic going to the snow fields, so I took a side street to come into Cooma by the back way, turned up another small street only to find the gate across owing to a flooded creek, went back to the roundabout and was halfway around when this dickhead in a Ute came screaming from my left and just missed us by an inch, I think he had been frustrated at not being able to get on the main road and decided to do what we were doing, there was a driver opposite who was just sitting there with his mouth open, probably couldn't believe how he'd missed us.
Des
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6th July 2021, 02:35 AM
#30
Re: New Member just saying Hello
Probably the proverbial blue heeler he had sitting in the tray had more sense than him Des. Could say a mongrel driving a dog of distinction. Cheers JS
Last edited by j.sabourn; 6th July 2021 at 02:36 AM.
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