Diary Of An ADI

Archive for October, 2009

Hedgerows can be very old – often marking important boundaries. But their most significant features are their aesthetic appeal, and the amount of habitat they provide for various important flora and fauna. Many of the flora and fauna are endangered, and hedgerows are the only habitats in which they can survive.

The law surrounding hedgerows is both vague and complex. You can read more about this on Naturenet.

One of the most annoying aspects of hedgerow – and, indeed, any natural area’s – maintenance is the JCB (or tractor)-mounted Hedge Trimmer, like this one:

Typical Hedge Trimmer

Note the idyllic setting… spring or early summer, overhanging trees with blossom. Quiet rural road.

You can almost imagine wood nymphs frolicking naked in the adjoining fields, as local peasants draw water from natural wells or bathe in crystal-clear springs, before heading to the fields to sow their crops.

The reality is somewhat different, though. The picture here – taken from a sales brochure – doesn’t tell the true story. Not by a very long way indeed.

These destructive machines are not just used to mow the grass. They can be used for that, of course. But they also tend to ‘mow’ anything that gets in their paths, and that included all kinds of rubbish (i.e. plastic bottles) that the sanitised picture here doesn’t show. They’ll pulverise a Coke bottle into fragments in seconds – which brings me on to the subject of what they do to hedges.

I must admit that in the past I have been amazed by what local councils – or other responsible bodies, such as the National Rivers Authority (NRA) - do when the ‘maintain’ areas which fall under their jurisdiction. Forcing tarmac footpaths through every patch of green is one of my least favourite – how on earth attracting people into the middle of previously inaccessible natural areas (with their bikes, dogs, motorcycles, household waste, and so on) is in any way conducive to ‘conservation’ is a form of logic which escapes me. I think with councils in particular there is a huge chasm separating what they say they will do when they want to be elected, and what they actually do once they have been. So… are you ready for this?

Don’t forget the idyllic scene in the picture, above.

Over the last few days I have driven a number of times down a single track road in Bunny, Nottinghamshire. They are “trimming” the hedges. This is the result:

Hedge Trimming - Image 1

Until they started, the trees were up to that fence. But look more closely and notice that we are not talking about a bit of pruning – this is wholesale destruction. Here’s a closer view of part of it:

Hedge Trimming - Image 2

You can see how entire trees have simply been ripped apart – partly by the pneumatic jaws of the trimmer, partly by the sheer incompetence of the driver of the vehicle. It isn’t just this one area – the road is about half a mile long, and here is a close up of another part:

Hedge Trimming - Image 3

Here, you can see soil where the tree has effectively been uprooted. But it goes on:

Hedge Trimming - Image 4

Look how the entire tree – I think this one used to be a Willow (there is a small stream just on the other side) - has been blasted apart. And still it continues:

Hedge Trimming - Image 5

Another Willow – look at the thickness of that trunk. It must be at least 5cm diameter. And look at the shattered stump a few feet further on from it. But there is still more:

Hedge Trimming - Image 5

Again, just look at the thicknesses of those trunks. This is not pruning or trimming. It is tree-felling. Hardly the rural idyll depicted in the brochure, is it?

Now, I have long held the belief that council (and other authorities) workers who operate these machines, chainsaws, strimmers (or any other piece of equipment the general public wouldn’t normally have access to) have the kinds of intellects where they really get off on using them. And they use them to excess. The workers in this case had “NCC” on their backs, which I assume stands for “Nottinghamshire County Council”.

Ironically, this particular road became overgrown to a significant degree way back in spring. So overgrown, in fact, that it was dangerous to drive down – and yet nobody did anything (well, a farmer did trim a short section, and I noticed today that the NCC workers have left that section alone, suggesting some sort of idiotic “ownership” bureaucracy in force). Also ironically, Nottinghamshire has had a major issue this year with foliage hiding road signs - no one responsible for this got of their backsides and did what they’re supposed to. Indeed, the proliferation of those “Your Speed” signs around here has, on occasion, raised smiles with me and my pupils when we have seen them being erected behind trees – thus necessitating pruning (some months later, naturally: it is a different department) so that the branches don’t trigger the things falsely! No doubt there is some huge bureacracy shielding any single person from responsibility for all this madness, though.

The main point is that stupidity obviously doesn’t just reside in a tractor cab or behind a petrol-driven strimmer. It also resides behind desks at County Hall (or wherever else responsibility hides).

What makes this hedge-trimming business all the more worrying is that, less than a month ago (during the last of the summer weather, and on this same country road), I had to slow down to avoid a grass snake – the first time in my life I have ever seen a live snake in the wild in this country. It was about a metre long. Yesterday, I saw a stoat (or weasel – I can never tell which, as they go so fast) run across in front of me. Various hawks hunt along this road, and it is common to end up following a hare as it seeks to find a gap in the hedge (though it shouldn’t have much trouble now). You often see badgers in the evening, and owls can also be seen at night, flitting across your headlight beams.

One thing I’m certain of is that most of these would disappear if those hedgerows did.

Another aspect to these voracious cutting machines is that activities like hedge-trimming which were once a chore, and so done only infrequently (and to a lesser degree), are now often done two or three times a year (and to the extent shown in the photographs above). Farmers are the worse culprits in these cases, though I suspect idiotic Health & Safety regulations may force their hand. As a result, hedgerows consisting primarily of Hawthorn have their new growth removed in early spring (and so look awful for a large part of the time), and then all the berries are removed around September/October – and these are (or were) a food source for some of our native birds. The same applies to hedgerows containing Elderberry – these have weak stems and the thrashing they get up to three times between spring and autumn prevents them being able to produce flowers or berries. At the moment, most rural roads with hedgerows around here look sterile: all the yellowing leaves have been shaken off and the berries are gone. All that’s left are shattered twigs and geometrically-shaped columns for mile after mile.

In defence of farmers, at least they have the sense to fit their machines with the right kind of flail head. You see, those tractor-mounted cutters can have a variety of ‘hammers’ installed which deal with anything from grass up to things the size of cooling towers. Nottinghamshire County Council appears to operate on the ‘one size fits all’ principle, and that’s why its machines can do the kind of damage to whole trees shown in those pictures above.

I wonder if anyone will realise the damage being done before it’s too late? And I wonder if Nottinghamshire County Council actually cares?

There was an article in the Daily Mail a couple of days ago which trumpets:

The light bulb that lasts 25 years: It’s environmentally friendly and as bright as the old ones…

It could be the breakthrough that finally has consumers warming to the energy-saving light bulb…

Manufacturers claim the Pharox is the first low-energy bulb to give off the same light quality and brightness as a conventional 60-watt traditional bulb…

The bulb’s launch comes ahead of a European ban on conventional 60-watt incandescent bulbs, due to be introduced in 2011…

Let me just remind everyone of an article I posted in January - Daily Mail And Incandescence Over Light Bulbs. In it, I explain how the future of the light bulb lies with LEDs, and I mentioned the Pharox bulb in there. Contrary to what the Mail is reporting – inaccurately, as usual – the Pharox is not new – it has been around since 2007. It is simply being launched officially in the UK.

Ironically, I posted this at the time as a direct result of the Daily Mail offering free incandescent bulbs to its elderly Tory  readership – all fuelled by its hatred of anything to do with the EU, or which has its roots in any time period after the mid-20th century. I notice that the latest article does not mention this ill-conceived and totally stupid stunt.The word ‘hypocrites’ springs to mind.

Mind you, you wouldn’t believe the number of hits I got from people searching for “daily mail free lightbulb offer”. Anything for free, eh?

Check out some of the idiotic reader comments, as well (at the bottom of the latest Mail story).

The Pharox is available from Lemnis Lighting and Ryness (more info on REUK (via their website)) and you can get different versions (4/40W and 6/60W equivalents), plus bayonet or screw fittings. More suppliers will undoubtedly follow.

When I got home this afternoon, I went to the bank to deposit some money.

My bank – The Halifax – has a FastTrak machine, where you just put your card in, then it takes your money and cheques, counts them, and makes the deposit. It isn’t quite as fast as the name suggests (you have to confirm the amount for each cheque), and it IS temperamental concerning damaged notes and cheques, but it does the job. It’s main benefit is that most people stay away from it, so when there is a queue of 20 people waiting for the one cashier on duty, I can just stroll in, do the business, and stroll out.

Incidentally, I need to have a word with some of my pupils and make sure they stop tearing big chunks off their cheques when they tear them out of the book, and to try and use handwriting that isn’t quite so… copperplate in appearance. The machine doesn’t like that!

It was a torn cheque that forced me to go and stand in the queue to deposit it person-to-person. There were TWO (shock!) cashiers on duty, and one person in the queue, who’d just walked in (dammit). Cashier No. 1 became available, then cashier No. 2 immediately after. The guy in front walked to No. 1, who now declared he was no longer available, so I had to step back for him to go to No. 2.

And guess what?

Well, no matter how hard I try, I cannot understand why I, personally, would ever want to go into a bank and instigate business with one of the cashiers unless it involved either putting money IN or taking money OUT of my account. I just can’t.

But it seems that everyone else on the planet engages in anything BUT depositing or withdrawing money. This explains why there is always a mile-long queue (especially at the Halifax). This guy was no exception, and whatever he was doing it took a bloody long time – longer even than the length of time it takes a human cashier to credit a single cheque to your account in the Halifax (and that’s LONG): another cashier saw the queue building up again and came on duty, and the guy was still at whatever it was when I went out!

I’ve been on a long journey today and saw some real sights.

Last week I was on an evening lesson with a pupil when some idiot coming the other way overtook cars and caused my pupil to swerve. This is precisely how head-on collisions (or related accidents) occur – and there is usually one totally innocent party and one totally guilty party involved. So it brought this incident to mind today when a complete prat in a silver Audi (it HAS to be an Audi, doesn’t it?) travelling behind me on the A429 approaching Warwick (registration FY58 ZPZ) overtook at excessive speed and cut in in front. There was nowhere for him to go, so it was a pointless exercise really. But he was one of those queue hoppers – he was determined to keep going – so the next car he overtook (also at speed) caused a van coming the other way to slow down to avoid a head-on collision. After about 5 miles of further high-speed overtaking, he finally managed to get ahead of the JET tanker at the front of the queue. No doubt he was going towards the A46, so I hope he enjoyed sitting in the traffic queues at the roadworks taking place there.

Closer to home, I turned off a busy road to head towards home along a country lane, and a woman in a silver Nissan (registration N2 HMG) had decided to do the same… but to slow down to a crawl just around a blind bend so she could read something on her passenger seat. She dawdled the whole length of this road, during which time her eyes spent close to 70% of the time looking at something on the passenger seat. I don’t think she noticed me or the queue building up behind once. She sped up a little once we got on to a main road again, but I don’t think she saw the 60-30mph speed limit change, either, because when she went through that she was doing quite a bit more than 30. And the funny thing was that where she was heading would have brought her right back on to the same road she had left (presumably to avoid the traffic).

Less dangerous, but still irritating, was another Audi (a silver TT) on the M69. Right at the start, where the A46 crosses the M6 and becomes the M69 , there are roadworks and a 50mph limit set. I was doing 50mph, but as soon as the temporary limit ended I eased up to 70. This Audi pulled in right behind me – something which struck me as odd, since Audi drivers NEVER pull in behind ANYONE unless it is to their own advantage. He immediately pulled out again (ah, I thought. That’s more like it), and then cut in right in front of me – and I mean CLOSELY. He then proceeded to change lanes repeatedly down the whole length of the M69, which was quite busy, pulling out in front of other traffic every time. I think he must have thought he was being good by keep moving into the inside lane, even though he had to keep moving out of it because of all the lorries and caravans. But he was spending as much time in the outside lane, and was actually causing hold ups. If he’d have been speeding (like most Audis do), it wouldn’t have mattered – but contrary to all known cases, he was actually driving at more or less the speed limit!

Someone ought to explain to him that you don’t need to get into the left lane every time there is a small space - you need to plan ahead a little more.

Attitudes and standards of driving on the roads are deteriorating very rapidly. It’s been an eventful couple of days.

I was driving to a pupil last night during the rush hour and there was a dark grey Vauxhall Vectra in front of me (KH02 ABO). Something about his registration plate caught my eye – at first I thought it was dirty and didn’t think too much of it, because it seemed very dark and difficult to read. But as he moved a few feet I thought my eyes were going funny – the letters and numbers seemed to be winking on and off as he moved (a bit like those toys you get where when you view them from different angles you see a different image, or maybe even a hologram). I then realised his car was clean… and people must have thought I was nuts as I started moving my head side to side. Sure enough, the characters on his plate seemed designed to only be visible from very narrow angles. It took a little while to see enough of it to be able to note his registration number down.

I wonder if the speed and traffic light cameras are likely to have the same trouble reading it as I did. Nudge, nudge, wink wink!

This afternoon, I was on a lesson with a pupil who has her test coming up. It was around 3.30pm, and traffic was building up for the Friday rush hour. We were driving along a four lane road in the outer (2nd) lane of our carriageway, driving at the speed limit and in an area covered by average speed cameras. We were being tailgated by a white van (I won’t mention the registration number or company – I reported him directly and they were taking it very seriously) who obviously wanted to get past. There was no way we were moving into the left lane to get boxed in – but a jackass in a 4×4 (whose reg I didn’t get) decided he wasn’t going to either and cut out in front of us at traffic lights as his lane came to a halt, nearly taking the wing off. My pupil braked, I sounded the horn, and the white van behind (who nearly ran into us) sounded his, swung out into the new 3rd lane at speed, then cut in deliberately close to vent his anger - almost removing the other wing.

They only do it because it is a learner car, and their tiny little pea-brains cannot handle the fact that the learner is not actually causing any problems.

Then, shortly afterwards, I was driving to another pupil and came to a merging of two roads (four lanes in total going in one direction). This was around 4.30pm. I’d checked my mirrors and it was clear behind and clear on the left – so it was OK for me to move to the left lane (2nd) from the one I was in (3rd). I signalled and started to move – then suddenly realised this stupid bitch in a dark red Vauxhall Astra (M445 KFT) had come flying down in lane 4 to beat all the traffic (significantly in excess of the 50mph speed limit, seeing as I was doing exactly 50), cut across behind me, and gone straight over into lane 2 and overtook – all at speed. I had to swerve back to avoid her. She was also breaking  the speed limit in a 40mph zone shortly afterwards, and then in a 50-to-40 zone just after that. Even worse, she had kids in the car (one can only hope that – for their sakes – they are taken into care, with a senseless cow like that bringing them up).

And then even later, just as it was starting to get dark, I was on my way to another pupil and some spotty-faced weasel boy (most likely still with damp ink on his licence) tried to overtake on a small roundabout. Seeing as I was driving at normal speed he didn’t make it. I think he enjoyed being able to flash his lights as a result (thought it may also have been me pointing to my head which got him riled) – though not as much as I enjoyed showing up how bad his driving is.

God only knows how these cretins ever get their licences. Or how they keep them.

I found this great online shop for fresh and frozen seafood – Red Snapper Seafoods.

Every now and then I get a hankerin’ for fish or other seafood. In this case, I wanted some King Prawns because I was making my own King Prawn Chow Mein stir-fry - and a search brought up Red Snapper.

The deveined and shelled King Prawns were awesome. So awesome, that next time I buy some I think I’ll have to order the smaller variety – these were HUGE! But when I placed that first order I also bought some breaded wholetail scampi – and those were incredible.

I just ordered another load of the scampi, and this time I also got some fresh white crabmeat (and some cod). For a quick snack tonight I mixed a little of the crabmeat with a dollop of Hellmans Mayonnaise, seasoned it with salt and pepper, and slapped it between two slices of crusty bread.

Sheer Heaven!

I can highly recommend this online store – delivery is quick (well, they have to order in the crabmeat especially) and comes in a chilled box.

I’ve noticed quite a few hits from people who are obviously searching for answers to specific questions – either to do with driving instruction or driving lessons, or with things I have written about on this blog.

One of the most common is “welding rod keeps getting stuck” – from people who have found the links to my posts detailing the construction of my kneeling chair. Well, I’d like to think I have edited the relevant posts to provide the answers on that, but I have now added a Contact Form (see the button at the top right). If anyone wants any specific information – and assuming I can answer them – please use the form to send me an email.

On the driving front, I see search terms where people are obviously looking for the answer to a specific question. A recent one has been “dsa approach to roundabouts” and “adi roundabout questions“. Previously, I’ve seen “adi parallel park“, “adi turn in road“, and “adi reversing“, to name just a few. I assume that these are PDIs looking for help.

If I can be of assistance I’d be more than happy to answer any direct questions – and you won’t have to worry about me revealing your identity. Again, please use the Contact Form (see the button top right). And don’t worry if you are not English-speaking… I can use one of the Google translation tools, just as many of you use them to translate pages from this site.

The Daily Mail is off on one, again. It’s about salt in top brand foods this time.

Supermarket **˜own-label’ foods contain less salt than the leading brands, the food watchdog reveals today.

Now, ‘leading brands’ are called that because they sell more than other brands – those which you might say aren’t leading. Hasn’t it occurred to anyone that ‘leading brands’ hold that position because in spite of costing more, they actually taste better?

Kingsmill White tastes better than Tesco Wholemeal (although comparing white bread and wholemeal is a bit pointless).

Kelloggs Cornflakes taste better than Tesco’s own brand.

Kelloggs Rice Krispies taste better than Sainsbury’s own brand version of puffed rice cereal.

Heinz Tomato Ketchup tastes better than Asda’s Smart Price version.

Why? Because they all contain more salt, and salt makes food taste good. That’s why the top brands contain more salt. It’s also why so-called ’junk food’ tastes so good. (Incidentally, Heinz Baked Beans taste better than any other baked beans on the planet, yet even Heinz has screwed up by removing most of the salt. I just put it back in when I cook them.)

Furthermore, the Food Standards Agency recommends bread should contain a target level of 1.1g. Kingsmill bread only contains 0.08g more, but Tesco’s offering contains 0.4g less. Does it actually need to contain this much less?

This is the problem: people have got it into their heads that salt should be eliminated completely – or as near to completely as possible – from our food. The only reason bread still has it in is that it won’t rise properly if they take it out altogether. (It would also taste totally crap, but that doesn’t bother them.)

The human body needs salt – a totally salt-free diet would be unhealthy. But worse than that, a totally salt free diet would lead to the blandest food imaginable. And that reminds me of that Goodness Gracious Me sketch and ‘going for an English’:

If you can’t see the video you’ll need to download the DivX Web Player for Windows or Mac

Already, takeaway Chinese meals often taste rubbish because the salt is gone (egg-fried rice made with rice cooked without salt is awful). I even had a pizza last week and I didn’t know they made salt-free tomato paste and pepperoni until now. Thank God most Indian takeaways haven’t succumbed yet.

I saw this story in the Daily Mail today.

Girls with their eyes on the rearview mirror and one hand clutching the mascara or lipstick are to blame for nearly half a million accidents a year, it was revealed yesterday.

I’ve seen quite a few doing this, particularly first thing in the morning. Women often don’t seem to be able to accept that the car isn’t an extension of their homes, and behave behind the wheel as they would in their kitchens or bathrooms. Selfishly.

When I’m with pupils, people-watching can be fun. When a female driver stops at lights, the first thing she often does – even before putting the handbrake on – is lean over and toussle her hair! Or that thing women do, where they appear to be rubbing in face cream with their middle fingers just below their eyes. Or turn completely around to do or say something to the baby in the back seat (that one scares me: they often have a kid in back, and yet appear to be oblivious to the world outside). Or lean over and duck below seat level to do something in the glovebox or on the floor – and miss the lights changing.

One thing you see a lot of: badly adjusted mirrors! If you can’t see the side of their heads or their eyes in that rearview mirror, then they can’ see you. And it’s because they have it adjusted so they can see themselves!

Back in June, I published a post about people who send texts whilst driving.

I often say to pupils when we’re out on lessons (and if it’s safe to do so) and we’re sitting at traffic lights ”just have a look at this guy on the right. Look at his eyes. He’s sending a text.” And they are. You should see how they react when they see us looking at them.

Today, I got this link via an email from PCMag – a site I subscribe to. Bear in mind that it is an American site, but there is no way the data aren’t valid for us in the UK.

Distracted drivers **“ including those sending and reading text messages from behind the wheel **“ caused the deaths of nearly 6,000 people in 2008, according to Wednesday data from the Department of Transportation.

In addition to the almost 6,000 people who died last year, more than half a million people were injured by distracted drivers, according to Wednesday findings from DOT and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Driver distraction was involved in 16 percent of all fatal crashes last year.

Unlike the UK, America doesn’t appear to have a nationwide legislation regarding use of mobile phones. However, since it seems that most people in the UK flaunt the rule anyway, it is likely that they contribute to a significant number of accidents over here.

EDIT 4/10/2009: One of my pupils sent me the link to a recent BBC story. It contains this video on YouTube, created to show the dangers of texting when driving – it’s the full HD version from YouTube I’ve linked to, and it is very graphic:

I have to be honest, but I find it incredible that people who are as stupid as this are even allowed to sit a driving test, let alone go out unsupervised. But it is a growing problem – and as much as I applaud Gwent Police for doing it, it is going to take a little more than a video on YouTube to turn braindead idiots into even passably responsible drivers.

If you think I’m being unreasonable, look at some of the usual “learned” responses to the video on the YouTube page here.

I was on a lesson this morning and I said to my pupil as we were stopped at lights:

Look at the guy driving the car behind. What do you think he is doing?

His eyes were up and down, up and down. As we moved off, he overtook and I warned my pupil he would probably cut in. He did. He then weaved in and out across two lanes and turned left without indicating – stopping on green lights to let someone turn in front of him for some reason (they were stationary in the middle of the road). He disappeared somewhat faster than us after that. Then – about half a mile further on – we came to a roundabout. A car cut out across three lanes of traffic right in front of us, and guess who it was? My pupil said:

Look! It’s him again!

He then wandered in and out across two lanes of a dual carriageway and disappeared at speed again.