2017 - What a Wacky year that was!

2017 has been the wackiest year that any of us have ever seen.  In The United States they started the year by trying a new style of politics; in England the risky choice of Brexit moved a few steps forward, and in Spain certain citizens thought they had the right to break up the country into which they were born. The entire year appeared to be one extended version of April’s Fool’s Day.

Among the many things that happened, the top two for scope and outrageousness were the plight of the Rohingya people of Myanmar, previously known as Burma, and the other was the Grenfell Tower obscenity.

The Rohingya are a minority Muslim group who have lived for a very long time in the Rakine State of Myanmar.   They have endured persecution from the Myanmar/Burmese and the Buddhists monks apparently simply because they are who they are. I assumed that they must have done something pretty horrible to draw down upon them such hatred. They seem to be innocent of anything in particular to make people hate them so.

However, after suffering unwarranted abuse a core group of young Rohingya men formed together to push back. Evidently that was all the government was waiting for as they have launched into this group of people with such ferocity and intensity as to be determined to cleanse the country of them altogether.

They say they are fighting against terrorists. What terrorists? Are they speaking about the babies, young children and women whose deaths they are responsible for through the assaults by the military?

So far it has been reported that more than 650,000 Rohingya have been forced to run for their lives into Bangladesh, and in the process more than 6.500 have perished, including about 1,200 babies and young children.   They are the modern Jews in Hitler’s Germany, persecuted simply for being who they are.

Meanwhile Myanmar assures me that if I choose to come and visit their country I will have a wonderful time. I don’t think so! In fact I do not want anything at all to do with this miserable country.

The Grenfell Tower terror is currently sub-judice as there will likely be charges flowing from that awful disaster. As a human tragedy it is in a class of its own. The manner in which those who were killed died was about as bad as it gets, especially as it has been reported that residents warned against just such a probability.  When I first saw the blaze I had to turn away, it was more than I could process.

In third place is the currently unfolding drama of the Hashtag MeToo campaign against rich, famous and powerful men who are accused of sexually touching, harassing and even raping women as though it were their right.

The first big shock of this type was Bill Cosby, a man who I practically worshipped as a comedian who conducted himself in public with great dignity, and in the process raised the bar of what the general public; (read white America) should think of his people. His was a cataclysmic fall but I bet he is much relieved now having been joined by such a long list of luminaries.

Incidentally, the world used to presume your innocence until you were found guilty in a court of law. Not anymore! No sooner is the accusation made than action is taken against the accused. This is how everybody who was anybody is being treated. I feel I should pay some really hard to believe women to accuse me so that I can be somebody. Not!

As usual I shall not celebrate the coming of the New Year because I cannot know what it will bring. The year now closing very nearly killed me: I wouldn’t say that was something worth celebrating; however the fact that I have survived is definitely worth making a fuss over.

So, to each and everyone I extend my very best wishes to you for 2018. My hope is that the year will treat you and your families well, bringing first and foremost the very best of health, and prosperity!

A cautious Happy New Year!

Copyright © 2017-

Eugene Carmichael           

Who will celebrate Christmas Day and New Year's Day?

My fellow drivers, I'm sorry to say this but some of us will not celebrate Christmas Day nor New Year's Day because we will be dead!

I know, I know that's a very sober thing to say but it will turn out to be true. This is the festival season and what do we do when festivals come around? We lose touch with reality and we end up killing ourselves and each other. We have done this ever  since the motor vehicle came on the scene. Some years are better than others but in one form or another the carnage has continued.

I was being driven by a person recently who broke every rule there ever was. I was certain my life was about to end, and to make matters worse at the end of that journey we had to turn around and return to our point of departure. That was a little too much excitement for my blood.

Nowhere is it written that we have to lose our lives just because the country is having a fiesta. That is not what fiestas are for. Ideally they bring families together to enjoy themselves and afterwards to return safely home. For the past thirty years I have been the designated driver, the one with the responsibility to get my family home safely. That has meant that I have had to avoid drinking alcohol, and in the process I rarely do take a drink. Even then it will only be one small one in the comfort of my home when I know I will not have to get in the car and drive.

I'm not saying I'm better than anyone else, just that I'm still alive and a lot of people who failed to observe this rule of not driving after having impaired one's judgement are dead. That's the difference.

I really do want to wish for each and everyone of you a Happy Holiday spent with your families. By family I mean your biologic family or the group you hang out with who are like family to you. By making this wish I want it to come true. It's not an idle wish to which I simply pay lip service.

If you'll drive with care and caution; stay sober and away from drugs that diminish your judgement so that you are always alert you will be helping to make my sincere hope and dream of these final few days of the year free from death on the road.

That would be the best Christmas present that anyone could give me.

Happy Holidays everyone!  We will talk about 2018 when it gets here.

Copyright (c) 2017
Eugene Carmichael

Something Big and Bad always happens.....

It's that time of year in the run up to Christmas when something always happens that is  huge in volume and that impacts a lot of people. On Friday the 13th, right on time for those of us who think this is a bad luck day,  a lorry with a huge trailer jacknifed and flipped across the whole of the South bound lane of the A-7 just past the turnoff to the CV-35 which takes traffic into Valencia city.

As I write this I have not determined the full extent of the crash. It's difficult to see how no-one lost their life as it was such a disaster that would have involved other vehicles.  For one thing other South bound traffic came to a halt and stood still for hours. How far back the tail would have gone is any body's guess.

I first encountered the tailback as I was travelling North, making myself a note to avoid the A-7 on my return. I then promptly forgot that advice to myself, so it's no surprise that on my return I made the turn that took me straight into the thick of it. This was three hours later. I couldn't believe I did that. There was nothing else for it but to sit there and simmer for about thirty-minutes. Then, to my great surprise and delight there was movement, albeit very slow, but we were moving.

For my unmindfullness a journey from one entrance to the next exit that normally takes five minutes took close to an hour. It's just as well I'm a retired person when there is no hurry left in my life.

When that type of incident takes place that's when we come to realise how many trucks daily use the roads. When they all come to a stop it is an amazing sight.

Something Big and Bad, I can only hope that no one lost their life but that seems improbable.

Safe Holiday driving everyone!

Copyright (c) 2017
Eugene Carmichael

A Driver's Worst Nightmare

England has been trying out the Average Speed Zone check for some time and evidently it is working. The problem with stationary cameras is that their presence is announced and predictably drivers slow while passing them and then speed up again. However, the cameras are worth their salt because it is amazing how many drivers completely ignore them, so if they work they must issue an amazing number of  fines.

Spain has now decided to install this type of speed check which is a righteous pain in the ass for drivers. Firstly you have to know that you have entered into such a zone which could include more that one speed limit, in which case you have to be a mathematician to work out what your time within the zone has to be to work out what your maximum average speed can be to remain legal.

At the end of the zone that  the cameras are located they are not so easy to spot. By then your picture has been taken and you have either passed or you will be sent an invitation to contribute to the General Fund for the privilege of learning more about the average speed zone.

What is worse is that having missed the end of the zone you continue to drive at the legal limit as you try to avoid a fine. Other drivers will become quickly annoyed with you as they speed up to overtake your slow moving vehicle. They will have no idea of what it is that you are doing. Some may guess that you are driving at the limit but they will never work out why.

In overtaking they of course increase their speed but that may not be a bad thing as you will be sanctioned for being one kilometre over or 49 kph in excess. Go for it!

I have written about this development before but the way I have seen the setup work is by two mobile recording stations. Now they are fixing these station in place so it would appear that they are here to stay. People who regularly drive these routes will get to know where the entrance / exits are to the zone and they will learn to behave themselves accordingly. Tourists will pay the penalty as usual. The police have got to make a living too.

There is one way in which we all can beat these tricks and that is to always abide by the speed limits.

Really?  Really!

Copyright (c) 2017
Eugene Carmichaek

Self Driving Cars

I realize that to successfully bring the world into a safer era of driving by making the driver the car itself is a long way off. The technology will have to be complicated to the extent of blocking the sick bastards who would like nothing better than hacking cars and making them slam into one another as another form of terror.

By removing the responsibility from we irresponsible humans and placing it upon the machine that would not willingly drink and drive, or get tired and simply fall asleep while moving at 150 kilometres an hour would save so many lives that the world population would take a sharp turn upwards.

We need not worry however, as men will find some other way to kill each other. We don't really need an excuse as we see by the horrid things that evil men do today.

I know a lot of people actually enjoy driving and they want to drive any old fashion that suits them. The roadways is one place where we must trust each other to correctly carry out our own individual responsibilities. If we don't people will die, or become so injured they will wish they were dead.

Just think of the many infractions that would cease to generate fines: failure to stop where indicated. No more exceeding the speed limit. Let's face it, most so-called accidents involve an excess of speed. It may not be by much but a reduction of speed is always better than an excess.

Negligence is a big one these days as people insist on focusing on their mobiles rather than the road ahead. The phone rings and it must be responded to immediately. Well, no is doesn't! Mankind was not made to be contactable every second of the day or night.

Negligence and carelessness go together of course. There are those people who have a passenger and seek to converse with them as though they are at home sitting on the sofa. Well, we are not at home, we are in charge of a deadly missile that is solely under our control and everyone around us is relying on us to pay attention!

The list goes on and on to outline the improvements that could come if we can simply take control away from humans. I really do wish the technicians all the very best in their endeavours. I am so sick of my fellow man who threatens me every time I go on the road. Of course they feel the same way about me.

We have met the enemy and it is us!

Copyright (c) 2017
Eugene Carmichael