What happens when all the traffic lights go out in the City?

A driver's worst nightmare!

It was six-forty pm on a Tuesday. I was in the far righthand lane of five lanes that had  the red light. Most traffic was waiting to cross over four lanes of up traffic so that they could either cross over the four lanes of down traffic, or to turn left into those lanes. Fortunately for me I was one of those waiting to turn right into the up lanes.

Without warning the lights went out. That was because there was a power outage that affected the entire city. In a situation like that all traffic must come to a standstill and revert to the protocol where no traffic lights cover the junction. Drivers must give way to traffic approaching from the right at cross junctions, or wait for traffic to pass if you are on a side street. That didn't happen.

There arose such a cacophony of noise from car horns, and a lot of swearing and pushing out into the flow, causing lots of squealing tyres. I was able to merge with the traffic but I was desperate to get off the street and park. I had to go around the block twice before a space opened for me, and I can't really impress upon you enough how relieved I was to be out of that mess.

If drivers used the three "C's" of the road, being Courtesy, Care, and Common Sense the crisis would have passed smoothly and without all the stress.

Something to remember for the next time.

Copyright (c) 2013   Eugene Carmichael 

World Naked Cycling Day

W.T.F???

Here's the scenario:

My wife is driving in the centre of Valencia during the midday with her friend who is a conservative lady. They arrive at a red light as they notice a police car emerge across their street. Behind the police car come  so many naked cyclists that they have to wait through two sets of lights. Both my wife and  her friend look at one another with jaws dropped and eyes as big as saucers. They blink several times as this is a complete and utter surprise. Neither has ever heard of World Naked Cycling Day, and they were certainly not expecting to wind up right in midst of the event in downtown Valencia.

The first time I had ever heard of such a thing was during the visit to Valencia by the Pope. The city spent millions of euros of taxpayers money on the event. However, in this Catholic country there are a great many people who have turned off from the church, and many objected to the use of taxpayer money for the visit. They asked for a permit to protest during the Mass given by the Pope. Their permit allowed them to do a silent passby on pedal cycles absolutely naked. It seemed thousands participated. It was just as well that the day it was held was perfect. I have chuckled every time since when I think of it, but I never knew that the tradition of cycling in the nude goes back a very long time.

WNCD in San Francisco marked their tenth anniversary when  participants are invited to join in and be as "Bare as you Dare!" The only essentials are helmets and sunscreen, although many people don't even bother with those things. I am not a cyclist, for a very good reason. The last time I rode a bike I remember getting off it feeling so sore around my nether region, and I was wearing reinforced spandex. I cannot imagine how uncomfortable the men must feel, just to make some kind of statement, but I did notice lots of women wearing panties. presumably in the interest of avoidence of injury. As for those who went bareback, yes, I do admit to enjoying  thinking how that must have worked for them, and what injury they may have incurred, but really, that may have taken self-inflicted wounds a step too far.

I have looked through a gallery of pictures and I noticed that people used the event for all sorts of personal creative expression, including body art, street theatre and political protest. One article  mentioned that many of the events held pre and post celebrations. I wonder just what may have gone on during those times. I think I may have missed out on something really nice. Oh Well!

The ideas that people come up with that seemingly sound like fun but are not all that they are cracked up to be. Cycling nude has its drawbacks such as burnt nipples and overbaked penis' and sore sexual parts, but if anybody is thinking of holding a naked swim-a-thon. men should be warned that a dangling penis in the water looks like a juicy worm to a fish.

We know what fish do when they spot a worm. Ouch!

One of the great beauties of nature. Pure eye candy! 

Copyright (c) 2013  Eugene Carmichael

Rolling Thunder !!!

Rolling Thunder! Once in the Presence, never to be Forgotten!

Memorial Day in the United States of America is a specific day that is set aside for America's fallen heroes from wars past and present, as well as those still living to be  honoured and remembered. Whether those Missing-in-Action; (MIA), Prisoners of War, or permanently injured, regardless of whether the politicians were fully justified in taking the country into a specific conflict, the men and women who were placed in harm's way deserve the nation's respect.

One way that respect is demonstarted is by the motorcyclists of America bringing a great and thunderous noise upon Washington D.C. According to Donna, my daughter, who attended this year's event, it appeared that every Harley Davidson every manufactured desended upon the city, along with every Honda Goldwing, and every other make of bike was represented. In fact, it was estimated that about 700,000 bikes showed up, although it would have been difficult to count them because they never stop moving.

They did a pass around The Washington Mall, flying the American flag and allowing the thunder to roll. It took more than three and a half hours for them all to pass one single point. What a sight that must have been. I am a motorbike petrol head and I would have been in my element if I was riding.

My only hope is that the single point I referred to wasn't a motorist waiting at a stop sign for them all to pass so that he could continue his journey. Whether you were a patriot or not, you would have had your patience severely stretched.

Copyright (c) 2013  Eugene Carmichael

EMS Emergency

Taken for Granted?

The more I look into emergency services the more complex it becomes, and the more I come to realise how very important it is to everyone who is a potential user.

What is EMS (Emergency Medical Service)?

A service to be found in all civilized countries, providing emergency first-aid response; sometimes known as the First-Aid Squad; The Emrgency Squad; The Rescue Squad; Ambulance Service; Ambulance Corps; or Life Squad.

The primary goals are to provide treatment in situ; in transit, or simply rapid transit to hospital  or clinic.

An ambulance can be requested by an ordinary member of the public, or by authorities. The principal differences are determined by the level of training of personnel in attandance. Those personnel who only provide rapid transit are no better than a taxi or private car, except that they provide a strecther for the patient which may be more comfortable.

 Ambulance personnel, including the driver should be certified in at least basic first-aid. At the other extreme end personnel include a doctor, nurse, and assistant, and driver offering Advanced Life Support and the best chance of survival.

Ambulances are owned and provided by Fire Services; Police services; National Health services; hospitals; and private companies that include large industrial corporations that maintain a fleet to deal with possible industrial accidents.

Ambulance crew titles include, Emergency Medical Technician, Ambulance Technicion, and, in my opinion the most extensively trained is The Paramedic. This person, in the United States and Canada might be certified to carry out a wide range of critical life-saving procedures outside of a hospital setting that no other person, except a doctor is authorised to do. That makes the Paramedic the star of the show.

There is so much potential work for ambulances that I was trying to imagine what an average day in the life of an ambulance might be like. I have concluded that there is no such thing. Presumably they can go for long periods of time without much of interest, then suddenly and without warning they are pressed into using every bit of skill they posses.

The odd thing is how much we take the ambulance service for granted. Even the driver might hold twenty or more certificates, so never again will I undervalue the men and women of our local ambulance.

Copyright (c) 2013   Eugene Carmichael

Breaking News! Too many old cars on Spain's Roads.

A Rolls Royce. A car for Life!

I had intended that my blog for today would be a continuation of the story of the all-important role of the ambulance. However, during the week it was reported that the Dirrecion General de Trafico of Spain has deemed that the age of cars on Spain's roads is too old. It seems that the average age is 9.5 years, and the DGT deems 7 to be more acceptable.

I imagine that one reason people are holding on to our cars longer is that the country is firmly stuck in an economic situation unlike any before it, with more than six million people unemployed, and those who are employed unsure of tomorrow. When talking about reducing the age of cars the complexity of such a program is off the scale.

To begin with, the average budget family car will have a normal life cycle of about ten years. After that you will find it will spend about as much time in the garage as on the road. Top of the line cars have about 20 years as a normal life cycle, and after that they start getting familiar with the garage. So, these should not even be considered as old cars until they are about 25 years old. With many top brand names costing close to 200,000 euros, they had better last and last.

If your parents gave you a Rolls Royce and chauffer for your eighteenth birthday, you will have no need to ever change the car. The chauffer yes, but the car will outlive you. 

When the consumer buys a car and just holds on to it forever the impact is felt by the manufacturer and staff, and by the sellers of new cars. I'm not even sure it would be safe to say that we would all probably like to change our car for a newer model every year if we could. I have two old cars: one is a Jaguar XJ6 Sovereign, in mint condition. It is my classic. The other is a Volvo 850 GT that does the heavy lifting every day. It is such a well made machine, and so reliable that I absolutely love it. If I could dump it and buy any new car that I wanted I would still hesitate to do so because it is like my comfortable old slippers.

What Spain needs is a turnaound in its economic fortunes that put people back to work. Managing a country has always been about timing of its growth. There are certain fundamentals that are ignored at peril. The one that was ignored was the runaway building boom that has resulted in the over stock of homes and commercial buildings.  Everybody was so caught up in their own world of commissions and bonuses that no-one said "Hold On!"

The economy has always moved in an up and down cycle. Proper management provides for both cycles to be as short as possible. Spain has committed the ultimate sin by allowing the construction sector to go wild and build into a twenty-year future. That means that the country has so much vacant stock that it does not need to build another thing for about twenty years. Every person, every family that leaves the country in the meantime makes the housing situation worse as they vacate their space. It is construction that usually leads the way out of the downturn, but Spain does not have that ability, so I cannot see how we will get out of this hole.

Sure, if people scrap their old cars for new ones, that would maintain work for the manufacturing sector and their suppliers, and the new car sales industry, but if the DGT simply refuses to relicense old cars where will the money come from to buy new? Needless to say, we need our cars to get around. They are not a luxury!

Some times in this country we come up with ideas without connecting all the dots. I hope this is not another one of those.

Copyright (c) 2013  Eugene Carmichael