Posts by Matthew Poole
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Hard News: You can Roughan but you just…, in reply to Sacha,
I meant the words that I italicised are missing from the report on the far end of your link.
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Hard News: You can Roughan but you just…, in reply to Yamis,
I’m sure there’s plenty of other spots that will get potentially nightmarish as well as centres often near rail build up, at the same time and train frequency increases.
I’m sure the transport planners have thought of all this though. I have faith in them a damn sight more than the ideolgues doing the rounds.
The number of at-grade road crossings across the whole of the Auckland rail network is in the small dozens. Some, such as Sarawia St are just diabolical, and will only become more so as the frequency of services increases when electrification and the roll-out of the electric trains completes. Even with the increase in frequency that the CRL will enable, only two crossings are to be grade-separated as part of the CRL works.
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Hard News: You can Roughan but you just…, in reply to Sacha,
Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee, who hasn’t read the report
Italicised words not in the article as it now shows. Your editing, or theirs?
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Hard News: You can Roughan but you just…, in reply to Tristan,
Auckland started as ... maybe a tram city
No "maybe" about it. In 1953, based largely on the tram network, Auckland had around 110m public transport trips off a population less than a quarter of current. We still haven't recovered to those numbers after decades of automobile-centric sprawl and festivals of road-building.
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Hard News: Dressing for the Road, in reply to Lucy Stewart,
As I noted up-thread, biking in work clothes is pretty much impossible for me. I sweat much too freely and readily to do it, for one, and for another I work in offices where it's required to look moderately tidy. This is Auckland, so going any real distance (where I am that means going more than about 2km, and in most directions it's half that) will require negotiating hills.
The idea that you should just ride in whatever you need to wear at the other end is fine if you aren't physiologically inclined towards needing a change of clothes regardless, or if what you will wear at the other end isn't particularly tidy. The idea of riding in a quality suit just doesn't sit right with me, even without my perspiration issues.
Hell, when I was biking to uni I still wore exercise clothes for the ride and then showered and changed on arrival. No dress code, just my body's annoying imperatives. That said, being able to wear a single layer in the middle of winter and be toasty warm by the time I finished my 5km, 11 minute ride was quite nice. -
Hard News: Dressing for the Road, in reply to Lilith __,
A cycle lane between parked cars and the footpath potentially puts you in the path of passenger doors, but at least you can’t be knocked into the path of moving traffic
Doors will kill you much more effectively than passing traffic unless you're particularly unlucky.
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Since I cycle for fitness purposes I’m a semi-traditional dresser: Cleated shoes, lyrca shorts, and a fluoro-yellow cycling shirt (not lycra). If I’m going to meet someone I’ll pull a pair of cargo shorts over the top of the cycling shorts, but I find that the baggier crotch can catch on the seat so I don’t ride with them as a habit.
Like you I always wear gloves. I’ve come off a few times and it’s always the hands that take the brunt. I’ve dislocated a shoulder and cut my chin (same incident) but the worst that happened to my hands was pain from the impact. Likewise a chest-plant when the bike slid out from under me as I turned a corner, got some grazes on my forearms but the hands were fine (though the glove palms were a bit shredded, so they clearly saved me a lot of pain).
Because I have clipless pedals I don’t have much choice about footwear, but I also sweat readily and copiously so going much further than the local shops (which are a five minute walk so it’s barely worth the hassle) in normal clothes is pretty much out of the question, especially in summer. Even in winter, though, I will be sweating after a 10-minute ride.
ETA: I also have a wind-breaker vest and lycra/fleece arm-warmers in the same yellow shade, and lycra/fleece knee- and leg-warmers in black. Plus full-finger fleece-lined gloves for cold weather riding, since I get horrendously cold fingers very easily.
AETA: Oh, and a helmet. Of course. Never leave home without it.
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Hard News: Key Questions, in reply to Steve Barnes,
This “Shoulder Tapping” lark seem rife with this bunch.
Mike Williams said on Radio NZ's "Focus on Politics" the week before last that he'd done similar with at least two of the current Labour caucus. It's not unseemly when it's politicians, because good political leaders should always be on the lookout for talent; there's no hiring process, either, unlike for civil servants.
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Hard News: Key Questions, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
before the EPA would let anything out of the lab.
Yeah, but things don't need to leave the lab in order to be known and dangerous.
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Hard News: Key Questions, in reply to Matthew Poole,
As an example of how complicated the whole dual-use question gets, check out Schedule 2 and Schedule 3 of the Chemical Weapons Convention. Those schedules are a heap of substances that may be legitimately produced and exported (to other CWC signatory countries) but which are controlled because they're also precursors to Schedule 1 substances and/or chemical weapons in their own right (such as phosgene).