Back after 2 weeks in the UK

[KEW]

OK, busted. That was me on my first day. After that, I returned the first car for the ALL RED one.

That couldn't have been in the UK. They drove on the right, and never stopped or slowed before entering the roundabout.

OK, they didn't enter the roundabout in the standard sense. But they did enter the airspace above it.

Here in Ga, it is pathetic how many treat the yield sign at a roundabout as a stop sign! However, Roundabouts in Ga are fairly new. For whatever reason, they have been converting intersections like crazy down here over the past 4-5 years.
Also the UK roundabouts are large enough diameter that you can maintain speed. The ones I have seen in the NE and around here pretty much force you to slow down to 20 - 30mph (unless you grew up in Texas ).
The roundabouts I remember mostly from the UK were out in the country on intersections of rural highways. Maybe they just stood out because that was a different concept! The ones I have seen in the US are all for more urban and surburban settings!

 

[lovinthehd]

Interesting background on the left/right thing, goes back a ways....https://www.allstate.com/blog/take-sides-the-history-behind-driving-on-the-left-or-right/

 

[Midwesthonky]

Glad you enjoyed it! I spent 2 weeks in London and it wasn't enough time to see it all.

One place we figured would be a stop in and get out quick was the British Library. Nope, got kciked out when they closed. So many historical documents on display! Magna Carta, hand-written Beattles lyrics, Guttenberg bible, etc. I'd like to go back to spend moe time at the British Museum and their Egyptian exhibit.

As for driving in the UK, you are braver than I am. I especially said hell no to driving in London. But I did get stuck doing the driving in Belgium where they at least drive in the same side of the road. Didn't need to drive in UK with their train system and the London Underground.

 

[Kvn_Walker]

Contrarian?



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I'm glad I watched the whole thing. The curious dog was funny. The cars that almost ran over the pedestrians coming to help... wasn't.

 

[3db]

Glad you had a good time. I can totally relate to the driving..two years ago, I did a trip to Scotland and did what amounts to a detailed distillery tool amongst other things. I learned to drive on a manual so I am more than comfortable with them.....until.... you drive on the wrong side of the road and shift using the wrong hand... I was brain fried from a 7 hour fight to Glasgow and a 3 hour drive to Oban, our first destination on roads that were barely 2 car widths wide. A sneeze would have caused an accident for sure. Glad it all worked out for you.

 

[Swerd]

Glad you had a good time.

I really did. Thanks.

I never did anything audio related while I was there, with one minor exception. One hotel, Holbeck Ghyll in the Lake District had small Monitor Audio tower speakers in a lounge room with fireplace and bar. They always played quiet piano music, in the back ground. I wanted to pull off the grills to have a look, but I restrained myself.

I can totally relate to the driving..two years ago, I did a trip to Scotland and did what amounts to a detailed distillery tool tour amongst other things. I learned to drive on a manual so I am more than comfortable with them.....until.... you drive on the wrong side of the road and shift using the wrong hand...

At home I've always driven manual shift cars. But in the UK I persuaded myself that I might get tired of slapping the door with my right hand, so I rented a 6 or 8 speed automatic. It worked well, and was one less distraction.

I was brain fried from a 7 hour fight to Glasgow and a 3 hour drive to Oban, our first destination on roads that were barely 2 car widths wide. A sneeze would have caused an accident for sure. .

That sounds about right. I'm glad I waited 2 days before picking up the rented car, as I was jet lagged too.

 

[GO-NAD!]

I really did. Thanks.

I never did anything audio related while I was there, with one minor exception. One hotel, Holbeck Ghyll in the Lake District had small Monitor Audio tower speakers in a lounge room with fireplace and bar. They always played quiet piano music, in the back ground. I wanted to pull off the grills to have a look, but I restrained myself.
At home I've always driven manual shift cars. But in the UK I persuaded myself that I might get tired of slapping the door with my right hand, so I rented a 6 or 8 speed automatic. It worked well, and was one less distraction.
That sounds about right. I'm glad I waited 2 days before picking up the rented car, as I was jet lagged too.

I had little trouble driving a manual when I lived there and it felt natural right from the get-go. However, I was in my mid-thirties then. As we age, we became less adaptable, so I can't say how I'd fare now.

On a related note, I've been driving my wife's car - which has an automatic transmission - to work this week, since I busted my right flipper last weekend. My pickup has a manual and my cast-bound forearm just isn't up to moving the gearshift.

 

[Alex2507]

I just realized why I would be afraid to drive backwards. I drive like an animal. At times I need to rely on learned habits that are auto mode to keep from hitting not only other cars, regular pedestrians and junkies in Boston but also the police.

All of us pull weird sh!t leaving work but my last day working I almost ran into a cop while I was taking a left from the left (oncoming traffic) side of the road. I wasn't on the wrong side of the road for much more than a couple of hundred feet. It shouldn't have been a big deal but the cop I almost hit didn't look like he concurred with my assessment.

I remember reading a Tom Clancy book long ago that described how as pedestrians we first look to the left before stepping into the road to cross. Then we step into the street and look right and then a final look left. Well, that automatic behavior over there is wrong. F^%& it, I don't even want to walk over there.

 

[hemiram]

A friend of mine was born over in the UK and had never been back until he was about 25. He went with his wife, his parents, and his US born sister and her fiancee'. After they got over there, they wanted to go to where his parents grew up, so they rented two cars and the plan was to meet up in whatever the tiny town was they came from and he was born in for the night, after doing what they wanted to separately during the day. My friend's parents were just awful drivers, so he and his wife drove. She wasn't comfortable at all, so he did most of the driving. When it was later in the evening, they stopped for dinner at a nice place, and had a decent meal. He was very tired from driving all day, and the food kicked in and he made a left turn into the right lane. And instantly hit a "lorry" which had just pulled onto the road. Nobody was hurt, but the car was a mess, and the rental company sent out a replacement. That car wasn't driven much, as they were scared he would mess up again. When they left about 5 days later, he was near Heathrow and did the same thing again, but this time didn't hit anything. Scared everyone though.

When his parents got pretty old, he took them back again, for what would surely be their last trip, and it was. That time and everytime since, they have hired one of my friend's cousins to drive them around. Apparently he does pretty well taking right side drivers around. I was thinking about going over to London, and there is no way I would drive, as I'm sure I would screw up and get into a wreck, going on "autopilot" when I got tired..

 

[highfigh]

I've always wanted to visit the UK. When you think about the history and some of the ancient structures still standing it puts into perspective just how young the US is as a country.

I have customers who went to Italy in November- when I asked about the trip, he said that he needed to re-think his whole idea of history because they have so much that's ancient. I told him that I think it's 'cute' that Americans think America has old history when they consider the Revolution or the time when Europeans first arrived, set up trading posts and started 'traditions' like Thanksgiving when it was only about 400 years ago. Sure, it's a long time for a living person, but it's almost nothing considered to building the aquaducts, Great Pyramids in Egypt, the ancient scholars and the Bronze Age ruins that can be seen throughout Europe.

The US is young and in many ways, it acts like a spoiled, petulant child.

 

[highfigh]

Contrarian?

That was your opportunity to answer with "No, I haven't".

 

[highfigh]

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Really stuck the landing, too.

 

[Alex2507]

That was your opportunity to answer with "No, I haven't".

I was shooting for the "Contrarian?" response actually being contrarian all by itself.
It's the same road, just different lanes.