"Are you coming or going?"

Discussion in 'Miscellaneous' started by Tiberius Jim, Dec 8, 2013.

  1. Saito S

    Saito S Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I have no problem with most of what he said in terms of his personal reasons FOR wanting to get a bike. But this idea (which continues to this day apparently) of calling regular cars and drivers "cages"/"cagers" strikes me as silly, and paints all car drivers with a rather broad brush.

    I'm sorry, I can't do that. I already have a strong road vehicle faith:

    [​IMG]

    :D
     
  2. Mr. Laser Beam

    Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    It's like that line from "Synchronicity II" about "packed like lemmings into shiny metal boxes." I suspect that's overstating things JUST a tad. ;)

    Me, I have absolutely zero desire to get onto a motorcycle - be it as a passenger or a driver. Hell, I'd even sell my CAR if we had decent mass transit around here. Not really seeing the allure of driving or biking. I haven't even ridden my bicycle in years.
     
  3. doubleohfive

    doubleohfive Fleet Admiral

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    I'd certainly be open to giving it a try myself. I just don't have the time, resources, income or interest to do so properly at the moment. :shrug:

    That being said, I do dislike most motorcycle drivers in my area. I'm terrified that I'll be driving some day minding my own business and will accidentally back out over or hit a biker who decides to zig-zag through traffic (as they are legally allowed to do, admittedly) but who still frequently I find, barely avoid getting hit by others.
     
  4. Mr. Laser Beam

    Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    You live in L.A., don't you, 005? I was there this summer, and - please don't take this the wrong way, but L.A. traffic scared me more than any other traffic I'd ever seen in my life. So I don't blame you for not really being in a hurry to motorcycle. ;)

    (I personally was not driving at that time. I was on a tour bus. But that was enough. :lol: )
     
  5. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I'm convinced that if I drove a car someone would be dead. Or at best, maimed. Probably a motorcycle or bicycle rider. Heck last time I was riding my bike I kept getting convinced I would soon be dead because I am so bad at paying attention to all the things you simultaneously need to pay attention to in traffic situations.

    I've ridden on motorcycles and really, I have no joy in going fast at all. It's wasted on me.
     
  6. doubleohfive

    doubleohfive Fleet Admiral

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    L.A. traffic isn't so bad once you get used to it. I marveled at how much faster people drive here compared to back home when I first moved here, but then I realized, the majority of people here cover far greater distances daily (partly because of how broadly Los Angeles is laid out as a city) than anywhere else I've been. It's just something we live with here. :shrug:
     
  7. sojourner

    sojourner Admiral In Memoriam

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    Shit, L.A. traffic is absolutely pedestrian compared to Napoli, Italy, or more likely, any city in Italy.

    I owned a streetbike for about 2 months. Never took to it. Too unsafe. Dirtbikes are great fun though.
     
  8. Mr. Laser Beam

    Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Yeah, I figured as much. I guess I was just not acclimating well to being in CA. (The whole time I was there, the most 'at ease' I ever felt was in San Diego.)
     
  9. The Lensman

    The Lensman Commodore Commodore

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    Jesus, this is the epitome of "First World Problems".



    I bolded the relevant part here. They made a choice, they deal with it.

    Except you didn't have to do jack shit. No one forced you to do anything, YOU chose to do these things in both scenarios. If you need someone to rant about, look in the mirror and go to town, because that's the guy who made you do these things.

    So? You clearly spend too much time worrying about what other people think, even in the most trivial of instances. See below...

    Except you're not a "martyr". You're a guy who's too concerned that some stranger you'll never see again might think you're a jerk and you act based on that. And the reality of it is, even if they do think that, they're not going to be thinking about it all day, taking to Facebook or some science fiction themed BBS complaining about that asshole who made them wait 2 or three minutes while he put on his gear. Not only that, they won't be thinking about it for the next several hours, one hour or even 15 minutes. AT BEST, they'll think "hurry up asshole", park and get on with their lives, with you being nothing more than than the merest blip on the farthest and fuzziest edge of their personal radar. Totally forgotten after a mere two or three minutes because, quite frankly, you aren't that important to them.
     
  10. iguana_tonante

    iguana_tonante Admiral Admiral

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    I never learned to ride a motorbike, but I've been a passenger often, and it's fun. I have no strong feelings one way or the other, except that calling cars "cages" only makes you look like a... something I can't really mention here. :lol:

    The things I've seen. The things I've done. :alienblush:
     
  11. doubleohfive

    doubleohfive Fleet Admiral

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    That's because San Diego is a paradise compared to the shithole parts of L.A. can be.
     
  12. Yoda

    Yoda Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Someone waiting on a spot when the lot is at capacity? Hey man, he's gotta do what he's got to do. Someone waiting on a spot when there are 5 empty spots another 20 feet away from the front door? String that motherfucker up.
     
  13. Ethros

    Ethros Vice Admiral Admiral

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    "I can barely decide. I just drank a fifth of vodka, dare me to drive?"


    ...Just had to do that tbh
     
  14. doubleohfive

    doubleohfive Fleet Admiral

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    Something tells me nobody came. :(
     
  15. Bisz

    Bisz Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    As a Canadian, the answer to the above is yes, a lot of US parking lots are dreadfully designed. They have single, one-way aisles and it is impossible to pass anyone who is sitting in the aisle.
     
  16. Captain_Nick

    Captain_Nick Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I work in a shopping centre and so parking in crowded lots is something I'm used to. People do some stupid things in parking lots. Where I work, it's so busy on the weekends that people park on the nature strips, in the aisles, on the pavement - anywhere they can squeeze their car really. The parking lot is way too small. But you get used to it.

    As for vultures, I sit in my car, if I'm not in a hurry, and wait for them to give up and drive off before I depart.
     
  17. Trekker4747

    Trekker4747 Boldly going... Premium Member

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    Not really, but it depends. Some parking lots have the angled spots which have one-way aisles that are about as wide a lane on a road. Not enough room for a car to pass one standing.

    Parking lots with 90-degree angled parking slots have aisles that are two-way but usually it's a very narrow two-lane (about what you'd get on a road in a suburban area) not allowing for too much passing or movement in traffic flow. This is probably done to maximize space, the narrower the aisles the more cars the parking lot can accommodate or the smaller the parking lot needs to be to allowing space for other shops and/or landscaping.

    There's also a hitch... Drivers are... Well, drivers are stupid.

    Parking lots don't have lane-lines and such in them which usually translates to drivers in them doing whatever the hell they want. As stated the aisles for standard parking configuration isn't much wider than a regular two-lane road in a low-volume neighborhood. Just enough room for one car to go in each direction with some space to spare. But with no lane-lines people don't usually completely stay to one extreme side or the other and, rather, tend to go down the middle of the aisle which effectively makes a normally 2-way aisle now a one-way aisle. If cars stayed to one extreme side there'd be some decent room to overtake a waiting car. (Though passing is usually discouraged in parking lots as it's an unexpected thing that may make for an accident as a car backing out may wreck into an overtaking car being in the "open" lane.)

    Then we get into *how* people back out of the space. I was always taught that when you back out of a space you pull into the nearest lane and orient yourself to be in that lane properly. (i.e. pull out, turning your car to the right so that when you go in "Drive" again you're in the right-lane facing the correct direction.)

    Turning your wheel through the backing out-process properly while backing out should allow for the parked-car to do this and still allow for the far lane to continue through the aisle safely. (The inside lane having to hold-up for the backing-out car.)

    People don't do this.

    Instead they back-out and likely set themselves up to go in the "direction they need to go" rather than the inside lane. This ties up movement in BOTH lanes of the parking aisle.

    Then there's the people who don't know what that big wheel in front of them is for. So assuming the "direction they want to go" means pulling into the correct lane they may STILL tie-up both lanes of the aisle as they effectively back straight out of the stall, maybe with a slight slant, put the car into "Drive" and THEN they straighten the car out as they pull forward into the aisle and make a turn. As opposed to turning the car while backing out to stay as much in their lane as is possible.

    Granted doing a lot of this may be hard to do as people drive larger and larger cars (read: SUVs) that aren't as maneuverable or easy to see out of when backing out of a space. Or people who drive smaller cars who are flanked by larger cars making see out of the space harder when backing out.

    It's all a mess but boils down to people being idiots when they get into their cars and bigger idiots when they get into parking lots that are narrower than most roads and nifty little lines painted on the ground to tell people where they should and shouldn't be.
     
  18. Locutus of Bored

    Locutus of Bored Yo, Dawg! I Heard You Like Avatars... In Memoriam

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    Funny, I can't remember seeing that at ANY medium to major shopping center I have ever been to, in my area or in other states. They all have two-way lanes between the parking spots on either side. And those are the kinds of places where you'd most likely find huge crowds of shoppers and cars (sorry, "cages") waiting in line.

    Are we talking tiny little strip malls and small business parking lots? Because that's not really a fair example due to their limited space, nor is it comparable to what Mr. "I've been a biker for about five minutes but I just can't understand your world of cages any more" was talking about in the OP.


    As far as Flux goes, the reason someone would wait for you to pull out is because if they continuously kept circling around they would lose the spot the second someone else pulled up. It's really pretty simple, and not worth getting angry over. Get ready just as you normally would. If they get mad, that's on them.

    This is just symptomatic of your usual impatience and anger when dealing with other drivers, but somehow carried over into a parking lot. You'd think you would have chilled a bit when you started embracing the biker lifestyle. It was called "Easy Rider" not "Tense Rider." But no, you only seemed to borrow the part of riding that looks down on others for doing the thing you just did up until a few months ago. Well done, Sons of Animosity.
     
  19. Trekker4747

    Trekker4747 Boldly going... Premium Member

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    I like my "cage" I have heat, air-conditioning, a comfortable seat a radio and CD-player. And I don't have a higher statistical probability of doing something reckless and stupid and suffering a major injury.
     
  20. Amaris

    Amaris Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    My cage keeps me from hitting something at high speed and becoming something you spread on a Ritz cracker.