bobzy Posted March 9, 2023 Share Posted March 9, 2023 (edited) 6 minutes ago, Genie said: I think we found ourselves a social media snow announcer I pretty much don't post anything anywhere Edit: Apart from here, of course! Edited March 9, 2023 by bobzy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted March 9, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted March 9, 2023 Stuff designed to make things simpler, which in actuality just makes its own ecosystem of difficulty that only becomes easy because some people spend all day using it and it's completely baffling for people that use it occasionally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StefanAVFC Posted March 9, 2023 Share Posted March 9, 2023 In today’s the Polish government are totally normal news: the American (privately run) news channel TVN (polish ITV) ran a story about John Paul II (polish pope - a huge deal here) knowing about sexual abuse of minors and not doing anything about it the government have summoned the US ambassador to Poland over this news report absolutely batshit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted March 10, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted March 10, 2023 9 hours ago, StefanAVFC said: In today’s the Polish government are totally normal news: the American (privately run) news channel TVN (polish ITV) ran a story about John Paul II (polish pope - a huge deal here) knowing about sexual abuse of minors and not doing anything about it the government have summoned the US ambassador to Poland over this news report absolutely batshit Does Poland have their own version of Netflix? Because we're just watching the French series Women at War (aka Les Combattantes), which features, among other things A priest impregnating a novice nun, but getting away with it, as the only other person who knows is the mother superior - who he's been covertly watching masturbating, and later shagging a German soldier. The Polish authorities would love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted March 10, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted March 10, 2023 (edited) I'm really really pissed off about something that I really shouldn't need to be. My daughter failed her driving test this week. I need to book a new test. It's **** impossible. Most tests available (I'm searching all centres in South Brum) are August. The only way to book a test is on their poxy website and its like Russian roulette. You have to sit there pressing refresh over and over waiting for a test to suddenly pop up and quickly hit a couple of buttons to select it. I've spent hours at it. You get about 20 searches and then have to wait an hour before trying again. I've managed to get late June so far so I'm just going to have to spend hours and hours at it trying to claw it forward. These tests dissappear in the blink of an eye when they appear. Before anyone talks about apps to book them I went through this with my son 2 years ago and the apps were crap. All the tests he had (3 cancelled due to strikes and weather) were booked by me manually because the apps didn't pick up on them. We had 2 different apps and neither worked. I've have to pay £160 to extend her learner insurance for 3 more months (non refundable) will have to keep up lessons that will cost another hundred or two and of course £62 for the new test. That's what bugs me the most. Surely £62 makes this self funding. Why can't they just employ enough examiners so you can get a test in a few weeks. Why do I have to go through all this shit and pay all this extra cost? She should be able to just have another test in a couple of weeks. Edited March 10, 2023 by sidcow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ender4 Posted March 11, 2023 Share Posted March 11, 2023 (edited) 12 hours ago, sidcow said: That's what bugs me the most. Surely £62 makes this self funding. Why can't they just employ enough examiners so you can get a test in a few weeks. Why do I have to go through all this shit and pay all this extra cost? She should be able to just have another test in a couple of weeks. There is just too much demand compared to the amount of instructors/examiners. During Covid, a lot of instructors retired, went part-time or retrained into a different job/industry. They are trying to recruit more instructors/examiners, but it takes time for them to qualify. In the meantime, there also aren’t enough trainers to train the driving instructors/examiners so the same backlog exists there. From a demand side, there was a whole age group who missed out on lessons and tests during Covid. So the demand is still double what it should normally be for a normal year. It’s going to take 3-4 years to get back to an equal supply and demand. Edited March 11, 2023 by ender4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted March 11, 2023 Share Posted March 11, 2023 Johnny Mathis’ warbly voice on ‘When a child is born’. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted March 11, 2023 Share Posted March 11, 2023 Talking about driving lessons, with the switch to electric cars in due course and the rising popularity of automatics, will we soon reach a generation that can't, or won't, be able to drive manual cars. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PussEKatt Posted March 11, 2023 Share Posted March 11, 2023 We already have that in Perth.Over here there are 2 types of driving licence,one for automatic cars only and one for automatic/manual cars.Most of the cars here are auto and I am suprised at the amount of people that can not drive a manual gear change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted March 11, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted March 11, 2023 44 minutes ago, Xela said: Talking about driving lessons, with the switch to electric cars in due course and the rising popularity of automatics, will we soon reach a generation that can't, or won't, be able to drive manual cars. My daughter thinks her current car (her first car) might well be the only manual car she ever drives. I think she'll probably have 1 more because electric aren't going to be cheap enough for her next swap but definitely the one after that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brommy Posted March 11, 2023 Share Posted March 11, 2023 1 hour ago, Xela said: Talking about driving lessons, with the switch to electric cars in due course and the rising popularity of automatics, will we soon reach a generation that can't, or won't, be able to drive manual cars. Last year, my niece, 17, decided to learn and passed her test only for automatic cars. Her Dad drives a Tesla and her Mom an automatic Mini. In the short term she'll need to pay a premium over manual cars for a small automatic car, but in the medium to long term I suspect most, if not all cars will be automatics so learning for a manual licence will be somewhat unnecessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted March 11, 2023 Moderator Share Posted March 11, 2023 28 minutes ago, sidcow said: My daughter thinks her current car (her first car) might well be the only manual car she ever drives. I think she'll probably have 1 more because electric aren't going to be cheap enough for her next swap but definitely the one after that. hybrids are pretty much all autos too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted March 11, 2023 Moderator Share Posted March 11, 2023 1 hour ago, PussEKatt said: Over here there are 2 types of driving licence,one for automatic cars only and one for automatic/manual cars Same in the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted March 11, 2023 Moderator Share Posted March 11, 2023 1 minute ago, bickster said: hybrids are pretty much all autos too Aye. It always annoys me at first if I drive an auto (to stay on topic), but once I adjust it's mostly better. I guess the next one I get will be an auto, though I'm not planning on changing anytime soon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seat68 Posted March 11, 2023 Share Posted March 11, 2023 My car is an automatic, my Motorhome is a left hand drive manual with gear stick on the steering column. I have to stop and think before I drive either as my automatics RNDP is in the same place as the manual gearstick in my MH. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ender4 Posted March 11, 2023 Share Posted March 11, 2023 3 hours ago, Xela said: Talking about driving lessons, with the switch to electric cars in due course and the rising popularity of automatics, will we soon reach a generation that can't, or won't, be able to drive manual cars. It’s already happening, but a lot just won’t drive at all. I’d say around 40% of people under 20 at my work don’t drive at all. They just never got round to passing their driving test as living in Bham they don’t really need it that much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
il_serpente Posted March 11, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted March 11, 2023 In the US the only cars you can still get with a manual are pretty much sports cars. When I bought my current car 7+ years ago I wanted a manual but they had stopped offering it the previous model year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rds1983 Posted March 11, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted March 11, 2023 3 hours ago, blandy said: Aye. It always annoys me at first if I drive an auto (to stay on topic), but once I adjust it's mostly better. I guess the next one I get will be an auto, though I'm not planning on changing anytime soon. Interesting, as I'm the opposite and really don't like driving automatics as always feel like I have less control of the car. Would choose manual any day. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted March 11, 2023 Moderator Share Posted March 11, 2023 25 minutes ago, Rds1983 said: Interesting, as I'm the opposite and really don't like driving automatics as always feel like I have less control of the car. Would choose manual any day. That feeling of having less control - yeah that's well described. For me, personally, that goes after a day or two and then when swapping back, I get annoyed that (especially in town and traffic) I have to keep changing gear. If you just have a hire car for a day, then it's going to be really annoying, but I've tended in recent years to have them from work for a couple of months at a time, and you just get totally used to it, and that's why I will get an auto box one next, eventually. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seat68 Posted March 11, 2023 Share Posted March 11, 2023 Sat on the M42 crawling and a heavy clutch was a contributing factor to getting an automatic. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts