Paddy's "Things that cheer you up"

[Davkaus]

6 hours ago, bickster said:

We now have a fair few cars licensed by Wolverhampton Council. So that means every year they have to be driven down to Wolves for compliance testing by the council. That isn't my job thankfully nor is it what cheers me up.

I started calling these regular trips down to Wolves, the Yam Yam Express shortly after they started.

Slowly but surely this has now stuck and it is ingrained in company talk.

What are you up to tomorrow mate? I'm on the Yam Yams is now heard a lot. Brings a smile everytime I hear it.    

What are your thoughts on the Wolverhampton licensing? I read once it's just the easiest place to get a license so I've always viewed it with suspicion, is that accurate? 

[bickster]

53 minutes ago, Davkaus said:

What are your thoughts on the Wolverhampton licensing? I read once it's just the easiest place to get a license so I've always viewed it with suspicion, is that accurate? 

It depends how you define easiest.It’s easiest because it’s a well drilled machine comparatively to other Local Authorities and a driver can get licensed relatively quickly.

On the flip side, they have far stricter criteria than a lot of local authorities. For example any more than 6 points on a driving licence and you will not get licensed. More than 3 points and you get interviewed before a licence will be granted. Go over 6 points at any point and the licence is revoked. That’s he strictest criteria I’ve ever come acrossThey are also very strict on the vehicle side, even minor scratches must be fixed before a vehicle is licensed- again, strictest I've come across.

It doesn’t matter which local authority a driver is licensed by, every driver in the country goes through an Advanced DBS check

Wolves do not have a topography test, they really are an anachronism in this day and age but some LAs and older taxi drivers think they are an essential skill, they aren't they are a very shit memory test and nothing more. They do have a one day course teaching (and they use qualified teachers) drivers licensing law and their regulatory requirements, it isn’t easy to pass, many fail.Fail three times and you can’t retry for 6 months. Never come across that before either.

You'll find a lot of people talking crap about Wolves Licensing,.Ignore  it, it’s utter bollocks.

It’s easier to get licensed if you fit the criteria. They, however are strict criteria and it’s much easier to lose that licence. The ease is in Wolves efficiency

 

[KentVillan]

1 hour ago, bickster said:

It depends how you define easiest.It’s easiest because it’s a well drilled machine comparatively to other Local Authorities and a driver can get licensed relatively quickly.

On the flip side, they have far stricter criteria than a lot of local authorities. For example any more than 6 points on a driving licence and you will not get licensed. More than 3 points and you get interviewed before a licence will be granted. Go over 6 points at any point and the licence is revoked. That’s he strictest criteria I’ve ever come acrossThey are also very strict on the vehicle side, even minor scratches must be fixed before a vehicle is licensed- again, strictest I've come across.

It doesn’t matter which local authority a driver is licensed by, every driver in the country goes through an Advanced DBS check

Wolves do not have a topography test, they really are an anachronism in this day and age but some LAs and older taxi drivers think they are an essential skill, they aren't they are a very shit memory test and nothing more. They do have a one day course teaching (and they use qualified teachers) drivers licensing law and their regulatory requirements, it isn’t easy to pass, many fail.Fail three times and you can’t retry for 6 months. Never come across that before either.

You'll find a lot of people talking crap about Wolves Licensing,.Ignore  it, it’s utter bollocks.

It’s easier to get licensed if you fit the criteria. They, however are strict criteria and it’s much easier to lose that licence. The ease is in Wolves efficiency

 

Going to pass this off as my own knowledge on my next Tinder date

[Stevo985]

16 hours ago, bickster said:

We now have a fair few cars licensed by Wolverhampton Council.

On a side note, why is this? almost every cab I get into in birmingham (usually Ubers, sorry) are licensed by wolverhampton council. 

Edit: sorry I was on the previous page. Didn't realise you'd addressed this

Edited January 13, 2023 by Stevo985

[bickster]

4 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

On a side note, why is this? almost every cab I get into in birmingham (usually Ubers, sorry) are licensed by wolverhampton council. 

Edit: sorry I was on the previous page. Didn't realise you'd addressed this

C'mon pull your....can't be bothered

[BOF]

10 hours ago, bickster said:

It depends how you define easiest.It’s easiest because it’s a well drilled machine comparatively to other Local Authorities and a driver can get licensed relatively quickly.

On the flip side, they have far stricter criteria than a lot of local authorities. For example any more than 6 points on a driving licence and you will not get licensed. More than 3 points and you get interviewed before a licence will be granted. Go over 6 points at any point and the licence is revoked. That’s he strictest criteria I’ve ever come acrossThey are also very strict on the vehicle side, even minor scratches must be fixed before a vehicle is licensed- again, strictest I've come across.

It doesn’t matter which local authority a driver is licensed by, every driver in the country goes through an Advanced DBS check

Wolves do not have a topography test, they really are an anachronism in this day and age but some LAs and older taxi drivers think they are an essential skill, they aren't they are a very shit memory test and nothing more. They do have a one day course teaching (and they use qualified teachers) drivers licensing law and their regulatory requirements, it isn’t easy to pass, many fail.Fail three times and you can’t retry for 6 months. Never come across that before either.

You'll find a lot of people talking crap about Wolves Licensing,.Ignore  it, it’s utter bollocks.

It’s easier to get licensed if you fit the criteria. They, however are strict criteria and it’s much easier to lose that licence. The ease is in Wolves efficiency

 

Surely deciding not to issue a licence above 6pts is illegal. That's them arbitrarily deciding that, say, 7pts which is perfectly legal to drive on, is too much to drive on. You're not piggy. You're a wannabe piggy over-stepping your bounds.

[bobzy]

10 hours ago, bickster said:

It depends how you define easiest.It’s easiest because it’s a well drilled machine comparatively to other Local Authorities and a driver can get licensed relatively quickly.

On the flip side, they have far stricter criteria than a lot of local authorities. For example any more than 6 points on a driving licence and you will not get licensed. More than 3 points and you get interviewed before a licence will be granted. Go over 6 points at any point and the licence is revoked. That’s he strictest criteria I’ve ever come acrossThey are also very strict on the vehicle side, even minor scratches must be fixed before a vehicle is licensed- again, strictest I've come across.

It doesn’t matter which local authority a driver is licensed by, every driver in the country goes through an Advanced DBS check

Wolves do not have a topography test, they really are an anachronism in this day and age but some LAs and older taxi drivers think they are an essential skill, they aren't they are a very shit memory test and nothing more. They do have a one day course teaching (and they use qualified teachers) drivers licensing law and their regulatory requirements, it isn’t easy to pass, many fail.Fail three times and you can’t retry for 6 months. Never come across that before either.

You'll find a lot of people talking crap about Wolves Licensing,.Ignore  it, it’s utter bollocks.

It’s easier to get licensed if you fit the criteria. They, however are strict criteria and it’s much easier to lose that licence. The ease is in Wolves efficiency

I still find it surprising that it's so incredibly common if the only real benefit is efficiency.  Pretty much every taxi I've bothered to notice in Nottingham is "Wolverhampton City Council" licensed.

[bickster]

25 minutes ago, bobzy said:

I still find it surprising that it's so incredibly common if the only real benefit is efficiency.  Pretty much every taxi I've bothered to notice in Nottingham is "Wolverhampton City Council" licensed.

SInce COVID, there are an awful lot of Local Authorities throughout the country who have taxi licensing backlogs of over two years for new applicants. In fact I think I saw some figures the other day that said that was around the average delay.

Wolves 3 months (though that is creeping up)

That's the level of efficiency I'm talking about. What LAs have done with Taxi Licensing (or not actually done) since COVID is an absolute scandal

The system is utterly broken. Wolves at least are getting people on the road and earning money

[bickster]

33 minutes ago, BOF said:

Surely deciding not to issue a licence above 6pts is illegal. That's them arbitrarily deciding that, say, 7pts which is perfectly legal to drive on, is too much to drive on. You're not piggy. You're a wannabe piggy over-stepping your bounds.

Local authorities are able to set their own criteria for taxi licensing. They aren't stopping people from driving, just driving taxis

[foreveryoung]

You can dress it up how you like, it's well known it's a piece of piss to get a licence in Wolverhampton, other areas are a bit more strict and may do it by the book. 

[bickster]

25 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

You can dress it up how you like, it's well known it's a piece of piss to get a licence in Wolverhampton, other areas are a bit more strict and may do it by the book. 

Do you always argue with industry experts with no research and zero knowledge in the field?

Come back to me with comparisons of Wolves and other local authorities Private Hire regulations and show me examples of where the other LAs have stricter criteria than Wolves.

Then come back to me with the waiting times for new applicants at those other LAs

Maybe then we'll be able to have a meaningful conversation

 

[BOF]

It could equally be a thing that pisses me off too, and reminded of it by @GarethRDR's post in the cat thread. My thing that cheers me up is the fact that the word 'nonplussed' has effectively 2 exactly opposite meanings depending on which side of the pond you're on. In the States it means basically not bothered, completely disinterested, whereas over here it means very bothered (surprised), bewildered.

It amuses me that this makes it an almost useless word in the global age, as each audience completely changes the meaning of the sentence

[bickster]

3 minutes ago, BOF said:

It could equally be a thing that pisses me off too, and reminded of it by @GarethRDR's post in the cat thread. My thing that cheers me up is the fact that the word 'nonplussed' has effectively 2 exactly opposite meanings depending on which side of the pond you're on. In the States it means basically not bothered, completely disinterested, whereas over here it means very bothered (surprised), bewildered.

It amuses me that this makes it an almost useless word in the global age, as each audience completely changes the meaning of the sentence

Well we all know which definition is correct and which one is American

[BOF]

Just now, bickster said:

Well we all know which definition is correct and which one is American

True fact  

[GarethRDR]

Yikes, in that case I've been misusing it for years as I always took it as the Yank meaning. 

[blandy]

1 hour ago, foreveryoung said:

You can dress it up how you like, it's well known it's a piece of piss to get a licence in Wolverhampton, other areas are a bit more strict and may do it by the book. 

"dressing it up how you like" is an odd way to describe someone with expert knowledge and experience in a particular field explaining the way things actually are, isn't it? I like listening to experts, enthusiasts and skilled folk and so on and gaining knowledge cheers me up.

[Seat68]

Its a well known fact that Aircraft Engineers universally don't know the names of planes and refer to them by nicknames, big planey, small put put, zoomy zoomster. Anyone that says otherwise probably isn't an expert in this field.

Edited January 13, 2023 by Seat68

[BOF]

14 minutes ago, GarethRDR said:

Yikes, in that case I've been misusing it for years as I always took it as the Yank meaning. 

I can guarantee you are far from the only person who does that. I think the look of the word lends itself to the American meaning. Nonplussed kinda makes sense as not bothered. Yours still made sense as I took it to mean the cat was completely bewildered by the kerfuffle  

[mjmooney]

26 minutes ago, BOF said:

In the States it means basically not bothered, completely disinterested 

You mean uninterested? 

Disinterested means neutral, unbiased. 

Another one for my list (and that's before I even start on 'bias'). 

[BOF]

1 minute ago, Seat68 said:

Its a well known fact that plane engineers universally dont know the names of planes and refer to them by nicknames, big planey, small put put, zoomy zoomster. Anyone that says otherwise probably isnt an expert in this field.

From my extensive youtube watching, I assume the DC-10 was generally referred to as the crashy smashy kaboom.