Mazda Rotary Club

As per the title I am conserned how you all coping and being affected with COVID-19

Nobody being affected in any way then ?

No mate. Life carries on as normal in Wiltshire...i had an appointment cancel...but lady rang and had consultation over phone...saved me 2.5hrs round trip.
My wife is very busy though.

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I honestly think it's a load of bullshit, over hyped by the media.

Apart from self isolating in the shed today

Not coz of corona but I have a days holiday and a car to build


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Oh and hopefully doing the brakes on the 8


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Lucky so far,

Just had a customer panicing in the Neatherlands that we get his new Koyo rad out the door,  as they all have to stay at home for 3 weeks and hope for the best! (as he putts it) .

I get to work from home so I’m one of the lucky ones


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At last count there were ten confirmed cases in the whole of Essex :dontknow: (assume this includes Malcolm's daughter in law, a doctor :() but on the strength of this I may be confined to home for four month's :sign0085:. I am already tunnelling out in order to visit the seafront after dark :)).

My wifes been told to work from hole for 2 weeks...im back at work reduced hours...trying to get back on shift.

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Im thinking of buying some gloss white paint snd some harris brushes....skirting boards are well overdue if we all get kerfewed...give me something todo.
I suspect another baby boom as well

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All good here.  Shotgun loaded, ready to blast my way through to Asda. I hope they have some biscuits, I’m running out of jam to spread on the stale Ryvita.  On the plus side, I have amassed a pasta mountain by using disguises or false identities in multiple shops and wrested the last case of tinned beef off an old lady who looked like she might once have had a cough. I have barricaded the front door with a few hundred spare toilet rolls and slicked the front path with gallons of hand sanitiser I came by as a result of the clear thinking of a neighbour whose usual line of work is hijacking shipments of cigarettes.  Can't think why everybody hasn't done the same. :dontknow:  Or have they?

Quote from: rote8 on March 16, 2020, 05:41:51 PM
At last count there were ten confirmed cases in the whole of Essex :dontknow: (assume this includes Malcolm's daughter in law, a doctor :()

The trouble is, there's no testing taking place, at least of any significance, so how does the Govt really know the true number of those infected? Dau-in-Law MAY just have "ordinary" flu, but there is no way to know without testing.

Confirmed cases are therefore likely just the tip of the iceberg!

Just been to Tesco to get regular supplies and it's manic in there. Never seen so many empty shelves. Just got what we needed; milk, bread and some fresh fruit, but milk racks were about 20% of usual amount, bread about 20% too. No potatoes or pasta, cereal shelves looking very empty too. Fresh meat shelves were decimated also.

Hopefully, the panic buyers have got what they wanted and the store can restock for those who are refusing to panic  :(

Quote from: jinx on March 17, 2020, 11:37:05 AM
All good here.  Shotgun loaded, ready to blast my way through to Asda. I hope they have some biscuits, I’m running out of jam to spread on the stale Ryvita.  On the plus side, I have amassed a pasta mountain by using disguises or false identities in multiple shops and wrested the last case of tinned beef off an old lady who looked like she might once have had a cough. I have barricaded the front door with a few hundred spare toilet rolls and slicked the front path with gallons of hand sanitiser I came by as a result of the clear thinking of a neighbour whose usual line of work is hijacking shipments of cigarettes.  Can't think why everybody hasn't done the same. :dontknow:  Or have they?

;D ;D ;D excellent Andrew, I needed that dose of your humour :icon_thumleft:

Motorsport UK COVID-19 Update
Tuesday 17 March 2020

It is with regret that Motorsport UK is suspending all organising permits and Certificates of Exemption until at least 30th April 2020. This suspension follows the latest guidance issued by HM UK Government in response to the outbreak of COVID-19.

Yes we need to keep our sense  of humour, look the Americans are  ::)

Never mind queuing loo rolls, they have different priorities,  they are queuing  for guns (on the  news this morning!)

I'm keeping my sense of humour (just)  ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OyBtMPqpNY

Does the license suspension effect trackdays too?

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Quote from: boosted on March 17, 2020, 06:50:19 PM
Does the license suspension effect trackdays too?

Yes I would have thought so  :(

Drat!!!! Well enough to blimin book now...raa...

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Quote from: boosted on March 17, 2020, 06:57:31 PM
Drat!!!! Well enough to blimin book now...raa...

Jon, let us pray :great:

Ive just book 4th of may!!! Its after ban...as i reckon big demand!

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I believe there are a few cases here in Devon.....life goes on at the hectic pace of a Tractor. Went in to the Bank today & in anticipation of havng to speak Face to Face with someone, I wore my old Respirator & NBC suit, in hindsight it might have been a mistake (so the Police told me) as the Staff kept giving me cash!

 ;D ;D ;D ;D

Hi Pete - keep up that sense of humour, it's badly needed with all the gloom and doom around!

Dutch are queuing weed...

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I am on lockdown in Lanzarote, but hopefully get home today. Don't get me wrong it's been awful having to rest on the balcony and drink beer.
8)

 :occasion14: As long as the beer supplies hold up, you'll be fine Jim  ;)

I hope the plans to get home go smoothly though.

Andrew, Pete, Jim, Malcolm, Ray and all , thank god your here, we both needed a laugh, best medicine and all that. :bravo_2: 

(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200318/bd0e97567a883cc5bea2c70d9d638b0f.jpg)


There will always be fish n chips to combat this crisis


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....and chocolate.

My local Tesco has filled the empty loo roll shelves with Easter eggs, seriously   ;D

Garage stereo got corona virsus...raa....no planet rock today

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You know what really pissed me off in this whole thing is:

1: I am currently changing job. I have really good change to get that new job, and Im really exited. However, because of this situation, they have to re thing they situation and they cant get new personel

2: allready two of my favorit rallycross events are canceled! And both were my favorits. Second one, in late May, was suppose to MY debut race with Blueberry

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Don’t forget... To just think of yourself....... 


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Japi


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Here in Finland, we still live in our nice little bubble. S**t hasnt hitted the fan yet. Im not sure how many have been infected but not much I think...

Still what worrys me alot is that how little companys and self imployed people will survive thru this. So most important thing that we as persons can do is support those little companys to keep wheels turning. Because within months, they could be out off business, and that means loss off expertice, knowledge and so on...

Different thing is these capitalism bastards like my boss, only thing they are worried is money for them selfs. I work for big company. And hes worried about sales. Few days ago he came to as crying about 5% loss off sales allready. I told him that in this point, I dont give a f**c about this company, my concern is on my family. Well, I so fed up with this company and boss anyways...

Anyhoo, my point is, panic wont do any good. Only thing we can do is to keep our familys safe, try to live as normal life as we can. Because if you shut your self in the house, many will do that to, and eventyally it will shut down your community, shops and your entire society...

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Quote from: LINAS on March 18, 2020, 11:30:24 PM
Don’t forget... To just think of yourself....... 

Good line.
For once thinking of yourself helps other people  :icon_thumleft:

Quote from: clive on March 19, 2020, 08:51:55 AM

Quote from: LINAS on March 18, 2020, 11:30:24 PM
Don’t forget... To just think of yourself....... 

Good line.
For once thinking of yourself helps other people  :icon_thumleft:

That is true. Basically, only way to survive and keep your family safe is to think selfish. Sad, but true....

However, I truly believe that now is to time to think other wise in some cases. As I wrote above. This could have bigger effects than economy depressions have ever had. This can shut down companys in really short period of time.

As I write this, Im sitting all alone in my local petrolstations cafe. Sad. Usually, in this time of day, its full...

Well, these are just my thoughts. As some of you know me, Im a weird bastard. But now its time to go to do Vert...

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I’m very blasé about the whole thing

I’m very doubtful that the country did this much panicking over world war 2.

On one hand I need to be careful that I don’t bring germs home and infect Emma as her immune system is already on its ass, but then she’s harping on about my diabetes and how I should expect to be self isolating.

Schools shutting, empty shelves, deserted streets, businesses going bump, no one mentions or even gives a crap about the 10000 people who die each year from flu.

The media don’t mention the 000’s of people who have been cured from this virus.

I woke up this morning with a cold sore, does that mean I’m run down? Am I more vulnerable? Should I wrap myself in cotton wool?

F that, Boris should be leading an example and being out on the streets handing out cans of “man-up”

This new C word it’s getting more annoying and offensive than the last “C word” ...,. So I’ll start using another C word for the whole thing.... 

... Codswhallop !


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Twenty odd years ago I was at an event where a very senior doctor was predicting that the viruses were so much smarter than the pharmacologists, they were what the world needed to worry about. Seems he was right.

I don't know much about pre WW2 panic but then those were different times, not burdened by 24 hour news broadcasts desperate to say something even if only to speculate what someone else might be going to say the next time they speak.  Nor, in 1939 did the Governor of the Bank of England have to issue a public warning to stock traders not to speculate against businesses likely to be badly effected by events beyond their control.  But the modern world is one in which the other bloke had it coming if he didn't see you first so betting on other's likely misfortune is fair game.  Of course, back then there was the added benefit of being able to spot a German with a machine gun coming towards you, as opposed to having to dodge microscopic particles of doom you can't see.

Panic is not the sole reason for empty shelves in supermarkets though is it?  That is as likely to be about people with a heightened sense of entitlement who think their needs supersede others. Did they exist in 39? Probably, but their numbers were far smaller because, by and large, very few had the necessary spending power. I was in a local convenience store the other day - you know the sort, ideal for emergency bread, milk and eggs. A lady in front of me paid her +£300 bill with a piece of plastic, content that her bulging shopping trolleys were nothing more than her right.  Perhaps I am being unfair and she was not just looking out for Number 1 but shopping for beleaguered battalions of OAP's who could not get out of the house because they were afraid or immobile and unable to get their usual delivery service to oblige because all the slots had been taken by others who could have walked or driven to a store with little or no risk to life.  I'm not suggesting we all cower in bunkers and worry ourselves thin but it seems hard to deny the situation need have no effect on life when it so clearly already is and estimates of 250,000 fatalities make Flu's scores look a bit half hearted. (Call yourself a virus?)

British war debt to the US was paid off in 2006.  If the government plans to keep its promise to support 'everybody' through this situation, we will be paying for it for a very long time. They might like to connect forethought and action to the promises before they make them but seem to believe the appearance of action is the same as the real thing.  Maybe the real issue is how do they do they co-ordinate events in a society where the rights of the individual are now taken to trump (small t) any other commitment.  Co-operation is surely the only alternative to coercion but it does not appear to come easily to some people any more.

And finally, as an experienced self isolator (my normal life), a tip for those working from home is to hire an imaginary colleague as a repository for blame. It was not you or your dearly beloved (of either gender please note Malcolm) who left the trailing hoover cable you tripped over but that idiot <insert name of virtual colleague here> who must already be on his third verbal warning this week.

Sorry...thinking aloud again....obviously too much time on my hands...something to do with a virus.  I'll just go and tap a few weevils out of a stale Ryvita for lunch.

Saw reality setting in for real today, as Jarno predicted.

Across from our office is another company that supplies staff for school dinners up and down the county which they have done for many years.

It was awful to overhear that they are having to terminate their entire work force in the vain hope of keeping their company afloat, so they can re-employ their staff once they have news of schools re-opening, of which they have no date for ! 

Damn...

...and so it begins...

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I was undecided til i watched the news...3500 deaths in Italy...
Thats chilling. Made me think of my mother and father in law and how id feel if i lost them to this virus....just some simple adjustments stay in abit more.

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Quote from: clive on March 19, 2020, 05:01:49 PM

It was awful to overhear that they are having to terminate their entire work force in the vain hope of keeping their company afloat, so they can re-employ their staff once they have news of schools re-opening, of which they have no date for !

I can't help feeling that if the powers that be had more experience of running a small business rather than a hedge fund, they would have foreseen that offering to lend a business the money to pay staff not to work, made it a no brainer to sack the entire workforce and mothball the business until the dust settles.  Add to that the pressure from daily press conferences to announce something 'new' and they made the pledge with no machinery in place to deliver on it so even those businesses who tried to enquire got only a vague promise about something being in place in a couple of weeks.  Denmark's government is already paying 75% of wages and employers 25% in businesses adversely affected by COVID-19. I'm not sure I am in awe of the UK governing class - whatever colour banner they fly.  Be well everyone.

WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH PEOPLE  :angryfire:

Aside from stripping shelfs, this morning I had a woman that wanted to stand close to me in the supermarket and wondered if I was queuing because I had left a gap in front of me.

I found myself having to tell her we are supposed to be leaving gaps between ourselves, unlike the till next to us where they were all huddled like penguins, which I confess I said loud enough for people to hear, with no reactions from anyone !

Listening to the radio, if we can’t control ourselves the restrictions will become much greater.

An English woman rung in who lives in Paris to say that they are not allowed to travel more than one to two kilometres from home.
They also have to have a dated written note on them, stating why they are out of their homes. The police are checking and giving fines to people with out these notes.       

This is quite chilling. From a reputable source and shows the UK is on the same trajectory as Italy and Spain, just a week or two behind them, heading for the same number of deaths if nothing changes. The daily rate of increase of deaths of 33% is scarily consistent, but also shows China's harsh measures have had a positive impact since day 12 of their outbreak.

It brings it home how important it is to socially distance and stop the spread before it overwhelms our NHS resource.

There is an app worldometer casey..thats where the info is from.
I reckon were heading for full lockdown...


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Quote from: boosted on March 22, 2020, 12:16:17 PM
There is an app worldometer casey.

Thx Jon, now bookmarked - a lot of info there!

Ill be fine, Ive got my shed

Sanity keeper.

Each day from teatime onwards we have a News curfew in place, by then we have heard all the news we need to hear!
We are even actively watching comedies before bed.  (no not re-runs of my races ???)

Not that we are not taking all this seriously, as we are taking every precaution we can, but  many people must be getting not only mesmerised by the wall to wall coverage but must also must be making themselves more and more depressed by their new found obsession to know and find out everything surrounding this horrible deadly disease  :(.     

Well it had to happen the full lockdown....
People just not taking it seriously like my inlaws.
Sarah is swamped with work due to this virus long hours in home office.

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Did UK went full lockdown?

I feel that we have it coming too. No one takes this seriously...

Feel sorry for Sarah. Be strong

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No one takes this seriously.

They are still not.
Lisa popped out to do the post to have a walk but keep distance from people and had an old boy come near her, who exclaimed he was not bothered  :violent1:!

Yep...im in the garage...loads of people out n about...cars coming any going....
Ive gotta work tomoz breakdowns in all departments.
Fun.

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I have seen so many cases even today of people who simply don't care and yet here's the choice for them and those around  them !

I know we live in a society where people have a freedom of expression and entitled to an opinion.

However I was to share this with you all.

For those who know me well enough will know my vocabulary is quite select and direct.

The mrc is a “family show” so I won’t say what’s on my mind, but I’m sure you can guess


https://youtu.be/VM2lApW1kMU


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There are some proper idiots on the roads here too...driving way to fast on the quiet roads.

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Put that person in a ward full of infected people and then in isolation with no medical assistance and see if their view changes  :angryfire:

Unbelievable (polite version)  :angry5:

Quote from: Casey on March 26, 2020, 08:25:48 PM
Put that person in a ward full of infected people and then in isolation with no medical assistance and see if their view changes  :angryfire:

Unbelievable (polite version)  :angry5:

Quite tame


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Thanks for that Jamie, sadly I for one am not supprised.

WHAT A STUPID IGNORANT WOMAN, I bet even if her friend gets it she would never believe she could have caused it.

There is a lot of mis-information doing the rounds at the moment, I overheard this conversation between a nurse & a Doctor in the surgery this morning  "if you get an email from the Department of Health saying not to eat tinned pork because it contains Covid-19, ignore it.
It’s spam"

Ive come in from tinkering in garage on my own.
Neighbour just wont leave me alone.
Can you disconect towbar wiring?
Can i borrow stereo removing pins?
Can i borrow Torques.
Have you got inline blade fuse holder?
Can i borrow soldering iron?

Trying to be polite easiest thing is to go in!!!

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Get all my contaminated tools back tomoz

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Awww you have a fwend that doesn’t understand (https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200327/76d93616f6f8adfe40db10c6638567c9.jpg)


All I have is filler dust to keep me company lol

That’s likely to kill me too with the amount of sanding I do lolll


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Quote from: RE5 on March 27, 2020, 03:09:35 PM
There is a lot of mis-information doing the rounds at the moment, I overheard this conversation between a nurse & a Doctor in the surgery this morning  "if you get an email from the Department of Health saying not to eat tinned pork because it contains Covid-19, ignore it.
It’s spam"

:57: :57: :57:

Hes handy for the times i need a lift or brake fluid bleed...but generally i fix his stuff and lend him my tools which i then end up using on his stuff!

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Film choice tonight...Contagion

Good watch and very close to home.

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Watched Contagion last night. Chilling to watch. Surprised it was scheduled at such a time!

Maybe to make certain people aware of the Gravity of the situation.

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Here's some info.

One way of sorting out the stupid people

This virus is becoming more and more real to me now by the day.

Found out last week a guy who I used to race against is resurrecting an old race of mine from 35 years ago. He apologised for not getting back to me sooner, but he was in Oxford building a temporary Morgue! I have replied to tell him what he is doing is just a little more important   ???.

Then today I had a trade customer telling me how his normally healthy mate has got it bad. Started with something mild then within 12 hours he was fighting for his life on a respirator! However he has survived and as soon as he showed signs of recovery they got him off the respirator and sent him home on the quick, as they needed the respirator and to get rid of him so he could not poison anyone else.

His wife told him that the two most distressing thing were that she could not go in the ambulance or go to the hospital, then when her husband came home that he remembered the doctor telling him that now he was on the respirator there was no more that could be done to help him. Now there’s an excellent bedside manner  ::)!   

Getting very real now and I pray all connected to anyone of us stay well .

This cheered me up tonight though as the streets are now quiet due to the virus.

A Herd Of Deer Has Colonised This Empty East London Neighbourhood ( Harold Hill Essex)   

Its getting to the point id rather just stay at home....its only money and blimin prawns.

Nights was bad no social distancing atall....
My workmate lost his rag with 1 cleaner as laughed at him when he asked him to back up a metre.

Im  wearing a surgical mask and gloves tomoz at work. Id rather look a pratt than being infected by 1!

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Big debate whether i can wear a mask in the production area (ive covered with a snood).
I said i dont want to cause any trouble but my personal choice as very hard to social distance on a production line...
I may be causing alarm/ distress to those who have not got masks

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I said fine..get me answer but if im not allowed to protect myself then im off home!

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Not allowed to wear a mask....



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I'm surprised they are preventing you from taking sensible protection action. Can they really do that? What happens if you don't comply? Is there anything in your job contract that prevents you from wearing a mask?

It seems likely that official advice will change soon to state wearing a mask has benefits, providing precautions are taken in removing it, and clarifying its not a substitute for social distancing.

Well I dunno how many of you know Jesse? (Hobbawobba)

There is a worldwide pandemic going on and this kid manages to get chickenpox !!!

He’s definitely one in a million lol


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I was livid tbh...my 2 workmates complied and took them straight off which left me the nail sticking out...so i didnt leave the workshop for the rest of the shift and put my phone on charge...
People are thick rumours went round that the engineers have the virus and thats why there wearing masks......



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I work all over the country, mainly down south and mostly in and around the London area. Sainsbury's and tesco that I do work for have stopped most works, so I'm at home in my. New house trying to work on my car as much as I can

Kids are annoying, can't go anywhere, I have just recently started judo with my son and now we're stuck not being able to go to that.

Other than that, I have a little cough, caught from my daughter who has a had a horrible flemmy cough for a few weeks now.

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Random act of viral diversion…a Michael Caine moment.

Contentedly drooling over pictures of Italian exotica (from the nineteen forties - something of a guilty passion for me) I idly wondered why the beautiful Alfa 6C Cabriolet was right hand drive.  One link led to another and the question about why so many get it ‘wrong’ as regards their choice.

Driving (or even walking) on the left was common sense until the late 1700’s for the obvious reason; it kept your lance or sword hand on the same side as the guy coming the other way.  This in turn meant most people followed the military practice of mounting a horse from the left to avoid striking the poor beast with sword or scabbard whilst getting on.  The UK government’s first ever ‘keep left’ recommendation in the General Highways Act of 1773 was therefore only an extension of common practice.

In France, the keep left rule was adhered to for all the same reasons but also biased by social class.  The rich and aristocratic (the ones with swords) used the left, the rest using the right - presumably looking over their shoulder a good deal. Come the revolution, the smarter aristocrats began using the right to identify with what was unquestionably, already the winning side. In post revolutionary Paris the first ‘keep right’ rule was laid down in 1794, at the height of 'The Terror', lifting it beyond a reflection of 'people-power' to make it the law.

Naturally the sword rule applied practically everywhere else and might have left the French out on a limb were it not for Napoleon….who was left handed.  His army marched on the right because he wanted his sword arm facing the other guy - the common soldiery were obviously expected to take their own chances.  By the time he had finished annexing various parts of Europe the ‘keep right’ rule had currency in more and more places.

In an age of empires it became a straight fight. Anywhere we went, we took the ‘Left’ rule with us. Similarly, the French exported their own ideas, which takes us to America.  The French had a guiding hand in the former British colony around the time of its independence. (Because they liked the British about as much as Americans did for broadly similar reasons and were well up for revolutions; their own being in full flow at home.)  Courtesy of one General Lafeyette, the first written rule on which side of US highways to use dates from 1792 on the Lancaster to Philadelphia turnpike, both places being, at one time or another, the capital of the new nation until 1800 when a different town got the job full time. Washington DC was a clean sheet, green field site; the whole city being designed from scratch…by a Frenchman.

Italy drove on the left until 1924 and even after it officially swapped across, lots of drivers preferred a right hand drive car because most roads were narrow and they were accustomed to gauging distances from their right. Throw in a little of the French class distinction and even when the bottom of the market moved the wheel to the left, prestige marques, many with a racing pedigree, kept the wheel on the right. (Racing cars often adopted a RHD solution to improve corner sighting on the predominantly clockwise tracks. Even though Brooklands, the world's first purpose built race track, mostly ran anti-clockwise.)

There is a suggestion that after 1924, RHD made it easy, safe and quick for the Italian chauffeur and passengers to slip seamlessly to the pavement after the car pulled up. Since cars have doors both sides that seems less convincing than a resistance to change by person’s of quality …few of whom would surely have cared what risk the chauffeur had to run to get the relevant back door open.  The 1924 drive on the right law followed the crooked election that put Mussolini into power thanks to mob rule. He was famously all for the right… in anything… so presumably did not care.

That answered my original question, but it left the outstanding one as far as this forum is concerned….Why do the Japanese drive on the right?  Our fault again it turns out.

The general Highways Act of 1773 enshrined the Keep Left rule for the road and when railways arrived it was natural they would adopt the same standard for ‘iron roads’ too.   What does this have to do with Japan?  Well, we sold them and built their first railways.  The Japanese inherited the 'keep left' rule for trains from us in 1872, almost three decades before cars got their start. With almost a century of UK convention lending it weight, even before the country mechanised, Japan was applying the 1773 UK act’s logic in reverse - railways to highways as opposed to the other way round.

I thought it was interesting and I can’t promise the virus won’t strike again but if you read this far, you know just what I mean.  ;D

What virus?

I found it interesting regardless


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Thank you Andrew, sad git I am I love reading this sort of thing.

I had heard a minuscule explanation of the fact that initially four wheel  motorised vehicles even in America were RHD, but never with such detailed reasoning so thank you. I love trivia so keep em coming.

So here’s a poser, how did one way systems originate and are supermarkets going to be instigating one way systems to stop people contaminating each other.

On a different shocking note, I confess I did exclaim this morning after seeing the New York burials, that sadly it was the same as  something from medieval times :( 

Quote from: jinx on April 10, 2020, 12:07:21 AM
Random act of viral diversion…a Michael Caine moment.

Contentedly drooling over pictures of Italian exotica (from the nineteen forties - something of a guilty passion for me) I idly wondered why the beautiful Alfa 6C Cabriolet was right hand drive.  One link led to another and the question about why so many get it ‘wrong’ as regards their choice.

Driving (or even walking) on the left was common sense until the late 1700’s for the obvious reason; it kept your lance or sword hand on the same side as the guy coming the other way.  This in turn meant most people followed the military practice of mounting a horse from the left to avoid striking the poor beast with sword or scabbard whilst getting on.  The UK government’s first ever ‘keep left’ recommendation in the General Highways Act of 1773 was therefore only an extension of common practice.

In France, the keep left rule was adhered to for all the same reasons but also biased by social class.  The rich and aristocratic (the ones with swords) used the left, the rest using the right - presumably looking over their shoulder a good deal. Come the revolution, the smarter aristocrats began using the right to identify with what was unquestionably, already the winning side. In post revolutionary Paris the first ‘keep right’ rule was laid down in 1794, at the height of 'The Terror', lifting it beyond a reflection of 'people-power' to make it the law.

Naturally the sword rule applied practically everywhere else and might have left the French out on a limb were it not for Napoleon….who was left handed.  His army marched on the right because he wanted his sword arm facing the other guy - the common soldiery were obviously expected to take their own chances.  By the time he had finished annexing various parts of Europe the ‘keep right’ rule had currency in more and more places.

In an age of empires it became a straight fight. Anywhere we went, we took the ‘Left’ rule with us. Similarly, the French exported their own ideas, which takes us to America.  The French had a guiding hand in the former British colony around the time of its independence. (Because they liked the British about as much as Americans did for broadly similar reasons and were well up for revolutions; their own being in full flow at home.)  Courtesy of one General Lafeyette, the first written rule on which side of US highways to use dates from 1792 on the Lancaster to Philadelphia turnpike, both places being, at one time or another, the capital of the new nation until 1800 when a different town got the job full time. Washington DC was a clean sheet, green field site; the whole city being designed from scratch…by a Frenchman.

Italy drove on the left until 1924 and even after it officially swapped across, lots of drivers preferred a right hand drive car because most roads were narrow and they were accustomed to gauging distances from their right. Throw in a little of the French class distinction and even when the bottom of the market moved the wheel to the left, prestige marques, many with a racing pedigree, kept the wheel on the right. (Racing cars often adopted a RHD solution to improve corner sighting on the predominantly clockwise tracks. Even though Brooklands, the world's first purpose built race track, mostly ran anti-clockwise.)

There is a suggestion that after 1924, RHD made it easy, safe and quick for the Italian chauffeur and passengers to slip seamlessly to the pavement after the car pulled up. Since cars have doors both sides that seems less convincing than a resistance to change by person’s of quality …few of whom would surely have cared what risk the chauffeur had to run to get the relevant back door open.  The 1924 drive on the right law followed the crooked election that put Mussolini into power thanks to mob rule. He was famously all for the right… in anything… so presumably did not care.

That answered my original question, but it left the outstanding one as far as this forum is concerned….Why do the Japanese drive on the right?  Our fault again it turns out.

The general Highways Act of 1773 enshrined the Keep Left rule for the road and when railways arrived it was natural they would adopt the same standard for ‘iron roads’ too.   What does this have to do with Japan?  Well, we sold them and built their first railways.  The Japanese inherited the 'keep left' rule for trains from us in 1872, almost three decades before cars got their start. With almost a century of UK convention lending it weight, even before the country mechanised, Japan was applying the 1773 UK act’s logic in reverse - railways to highways as opposed to the other way round.

I thought it was interesting and I can’t promise the virus won’t strike again but if you read this far, you know just what I mean.  ;D

Wow, thats really interesting

Lähetetty minun G8141 laitteesta Tapatalkilla

Hope your all still well.

China, never one to miss an opportunity, the offers of dodgy coils and tin foil exhaust's has finally stopped, instead we are getting these mails all the time now !

Provide KN95,N95,disposable mask/high quality/low price

Just got 1 of my pension statements....jesus Covid 19 has hit that hard!!! couldve bought a mint rx7 fd with the money lost!!! :angryfire: :violent1: :violent1: :violent1: :'( 

Thread resurection, how are you all getting on.

This amused me about the lock down.

Just be careful because people are going crazy from being in lock down! Actually I've just been talking about this with the microwave and toaster while drinking coffee and we all agreed that things are getting bad. I didn't mention anything to the washing machine as she puts a different spin on everything. Certainly not to the fridge as he is acting cold and distant. In the end the iron straightened me out as she said everything will be fine, no situation is too pressing. The vacuum was very unsympathetic... told me to just suck it up, but the fan was more optimistic and hoped it would all soon blow over! The toilet looked a bit flushed when I asked its opinion and didn’t say anything but the door knob told me to get a grip.😬 The front door said I was unhinged and so the curtains told me to ........yes, you guessed it 😝.....pull myself together.

Right my first gripe about covid19

Couriers and deliveries.

When you order supplies on a Sunday and it’s still not here on a Thursday.

I could have walked to Redruth quicker and fetched it .

Does Boris not realise I have a rotus to build ???


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I bought an undertray for mx5..3 to 5 days...then when got the despatch note 10 to 15 due to covid....i cancelled and got refunded...so made my own..(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200611/71cb8e423b75714b0f377d55a119acaf.jpg)(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200611/1d2ffa87e7b6aaa9659827e4256d7401.jpg)(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200611/20faef668ece97bcec944fb22cd59596.jpg)

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Quote from: boosted on June 11, 2020, 09:35:23 AM
I bought an undertray for mx5..3 to 5 days...then when got the despatch note 10 to 15 due to covid....i cancelled and got refunded...so made my own..(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200611/71cb8e423b75714b0f377d55a119acaf.jpg)(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200611/1d2ffa87e7b6aaa9659827e4256d7401.jpg)(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200611/20faef668ece97bcec944fb22cd59596.jpg)

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Good work mate !

Looks really good. You going any further back ?

I wish I could make my own polyester resin, I’d save a fortune !


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Maybe later on..so much todo. Getting it handling with grip then add aero later on.

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Cool beans........

Oooo I hear a courier van

Time to get off the outside loo !


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That's tidy, well done Jon

All bolted up today..with braces inside to stop it blowing out. Should be 10 bolts and down and out if need too to get access.

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Touch wood all of our shipments have come in and out OK over the last few week's.
"However" for the first time we have not been able to book on direct with UPS, we presume this is so they can play catch up.

We have still been able to book colections through a third party with UPS and our driver told me they are so short staffed they still had 4 40foot trailers sitting there waiting for unloading!.

All the couriers also tell me they are busier than they ever see at Chrismas purely due to Amazon sales !