|
I was driving eastward across the Afsluitdijk today, in the slow lane, going just slightly under the speed limit, enjoying the views of the waters and boats. I catch up to a slow truck and I slow down to stay behind him. In my mirror I see another truck slowly gaining on us. He does not pull over into the passing lane, just gets closer and closer. He just creeps to within a couple feet of my bumper, at least that is what it feels like when all I see is grill in my rear view mirror.
So I decide maybe it is time to get out of there. Not comfortable between two trucks with one of them tailgating me. So I put on my signal, change lanes and boot it past the truck in front of me. I notice that the truck behind me does the same and also passes the truck. I pull back into the slow lane and slow down again to just under the speed limit. The truck, instead of just passing me, pulls in behind me again and once again pulls right up to my bumper, but this time he lays on his horn. So I let up on the throttle to slow down even more, before he finally pulls over and passes me, blaring his horn the whole time.
A little later this evening, I am driving down the A37 towards Coevorden, I am going the speed limit, passing a bunch of slower trucks when my GPS tells me my exit is coming up soon. So I pull into the slow lane and nestle in behind a truck so I will not miss my exit. Again, the truck I just past decides he does not like that, so he pulls right up behind me, just like the last guy earlier. But this time my exit is coming soon, so I just stay where I am. Bozo pulls up beside me, then comes into my lane, trying to run me off the road.
I have been driving for over 40 years, all over Canada and the US, and I have never seen behaviour like this before, then on my first day driving in Europe I have two incidents like this.
Are all European truck drivers this crazy, or is it just the dutch ones? I am almost not looking forward to tomorrow driving in Germany.
Within you lies the power for good - Use it!
|
|
|
|
|
Many moons ago, I visited Germany for business a number of times. I was told most trucks especially semi's used the autobahn at night. Not a law, but a practice that was pretty consistent. Most automobile traffic adjusted accordingly.
Left hand lane is passing only. If you cruise in the left lane the automobiles wanting to use it for passing let you know with flashing lights and maybe a horn to encourage you should move to the right. This is the practice here in Texas as well. Some just pass you on the right (not kosher but also tolerated). Road signs occasionally remind every one of the rules.
"A little time, a little trouble, your better day"
Badfinger
|
|
|
|
|
PJ Arends wrote: and I slow down to stay behind him.
As a guess, you were too close. The field of view behind a truck is limited. So perhaps the other truckers were less than pleased about that.
|
|
|
|
|
Best Lounge answer in ... nine turns of the watery star.
Noting a trucker's demeanor is difficult to do from down under the running board of a semi but it shouldn't be that difficult to note the shipping company's name, get a fix on it's street address and a working phone number, and phone in a complaint.
|
|
|
|
|
I was definitely not too close. My rental car has adaptive speed control, so if anything maybe they felt I was not close enough to the truck in front. I dislike tailgaters so I always like to keep my distance when following, and I know enough truckers and hear their stories about constantly being cut off by cars that do not leave them enough stopping room in front of them, that I never slip directly in front of a truck after I have passed it.
Either way, they should not be eh wholes on the roads, no matter how bad they think my driving is. Trying to run me off the road is not the way to do it.
Within you lies the power for good - Use it!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dennis Weaver (Chester in the old Gunsmoke TV show) does an excellent job in "Duel" movie.
Similar themes in "The Car" and "Maximum Overdrive".
"A little time, a little trouble, your better day"
Badfinger
|
|
|
|
|
jmaida wrote: Dennis Weaver (Chester in the old Gunsmoke TV show)
"Gunsmoke"? I thought they only had 1 HP vehicles in that TV show 
Religious freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make five.
|
|
|
|
|
Duel, I have seen that movie. Thankfully not the issue yesterday. Both truckers just scared us and drove off.
Within you lies the power for good - Use it!
|
|
|
|
|
Dual II 
|
|
|
|
|
I stick to the speed limit at all times, and it's noticable that I almost always build a queue of vehicles behind me, which makes it clear that they would all willfully break the speed limit if I wasn't in the way. It's a shocking indictment of motorists in my country, if you think about it. The attitude appears to be that it's ok to break the law (unless they're the victim, of course, that's different); the crime is getting caught.
|
|
|
|
|
haughtonomous wrote: The attitude appears to be that it's ok to break the law (unless they're the victim, of course, that's different); the crime is getting caught.
I think that driving code violations are not seen as "real" crimes. After all, who is hurt? What they don't realize is that the driving code was written in the blood of dead motorists.
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gone to the great MASHup. ![Rose | [Rose]](https://codeproject.global.ssl.fastly.net/script/Forums/Images/rose.gif)
If you can't find time to do it right the first time, how are you going to find time to do it again?
PartsBin an Electronics Part Organizer - Release Version 1.4.0 (Many new features) JaxCoder.com
Latest Article: EventAggregator
|
|
|
|
|
He played so many terrific roles. It's difficult to name a favorite but one that really stands out for me is when he was OddBall in "Kelly's Heroes." I especially like how he describes when their tanks fire shells filled with paint.
"They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers! Can I get an amen?"
|
|
|
|
|
"Woof woof, that's my other dog impression."
|
|
|
|
|
One of his quotes:
Quote: Well, I was always cast as an artistic homicidal maniac. But at least I was artistic!
|
|
|
|
|
Aw Donnie,
I was gonna post. In some strange way, it was a relief I was not first, here.
Fare thee well
Adam
![Rose | [Rose]](https://www.codeproject.com/script/Forums/Images/rose.gif)
PS
I was always more interested in directors than actors. Still I precisely remember the first film I noticed him as an actor:
Eye of the Needle (1981)
PPS
I also recall the first moment I noticed Kiefer Surherland. The opening scene of Flatliners (199x)
“This is a great day to die on.”
"If we don't change direction, we'll end up where we're going"
|
|
|
|
|
I'm not a big baseball fan, although I used to be but this man was a legend, he will be remembered and missed.
Baseball legend Willie Mays dies at 93 | AP News[^]
If you can't find time to do it right the first time, how are you going to find time to do it again?
PartsBin an Electronics Part Organizer - Release Version 1.4.0 (Many new features) JaxCoder.com
Latest Article: EventAggregator
|
|
|
|
|
One of the greatest. 
"the debugger doesn't tell me anything because this code compiles just fine" - random QA comment
"Facebook is where you tell lies to your friends. Twitter is where you tell the truth to strangers." - chriselst
"I don't drink any more... then again, I don't drink any less." - Mike Mullikins uncle
|
|
|
|
|
say hey.
Charlie Gilley
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
Has never been more appropriate.
|
|
|
|
|
One of the key features of my graphics library is the ability to create arbitrary pixel formats so you can for example, create a bitmap with any kind of color model and memory footprint you like.
I thought I was a bit crazy, because most IoT devices are 16-bit RGB if not monochrome.
I thought I was overengineering
Then along came color e-ink and all of the sudden even my palette support made sense.
Then I started doing professional displays on embedded outside the IoT realm and many are 24-bit color.
using rgb24 = gfx::rgb_pixel<24>;
And Bob's your uncle
Well then I made an Arduino emulator for the PC, and directx threw me for a bit of a loop because there are 4 channels but one is unused:
template<size_t BitDepth>
using bgrx_pixel = gfx::pixel<
gfx::channel_traits<gfx::channel_name::B,(BitDepth/4)>,
gfx::channel_traits<gfx::channel_name::G,((BitDepth/4)+(BitDepth%4))>,
gfx::channel_traits<gfx::channel_name::R,(BitDepth/4)>,
gfx::channel_traits<gfx::channel_name::nop,(BitDepth/4),0,(1<<(BitDepth/4))-1,(1<<(BitDepth/4))-1>
>;
using screen_t = uix::screen<bgrx_pixel<32>>;
Bam!
I have not redesigned this feature of my library since its inception in like 2021. It keeps just kicking ass.
I do not design with any expectation that what I designed will remain unchanged that far out because it's usually not realistic. I am not that smart. This was all luck.
Check out my IoT graphics library here:
https://honeythecodewitch.com/gfx
And my IoT UI/User Experience library here:
https://honeythecodewitch.com/uix
modified yesterday.
|
|
|
|
|
honey the codewitch wrote: I am not that smart. This was all luck.
It's not a coincidence that luck always prefers smart people.
|
|
|
|
|
There's a saying "You make your own luck".
|
|
|
|
|
Napoleon's usual Q at promotion time for an officer: "is he lucky?"
|
|
|
|
General 
News 
Suggestion 
Question 
Bug 
Answer 
Joke 
Praise 
Rant 
Admin 
Submit an article or tip
