I'm heading home, doing 125
Aug. 4th, 2004 12:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ventaThis morning on the way to work it appeared to be Weird Roadworks Day.
Firstly we passed an ordinary roadworks sign, to which had been appended an extra, yellow placard reading "RAGWORT CLEARANCE". Which seemed slightly strange. Why do we care what they're clearing ? Why have they told us ? Is ragwort particularly dangerous ? It ragwort clearance sufficiently common to merit its own signs ?
(Actually, a bit of googling suggests that the answer to those last two questions might be yes. Assuming this is the variety of ragwort in question, then it's actually quite poisonous.)
About two days ago, an extra section of the A4074 suddenly turned into a 30mph limit. While wishing to get to work as sharpish as possible, I did have to concede that it was a sensible place to put a 30 limit. (For those that care: that section of road by the Wallingford roundabout, where there are all the small junctions). Pelting along smartly at 60, rounding a corner to find a car in the middle of the road waiting to turn right isn't ideal, and probably has caused a fair few accidents there.
Today, the second team of workmen we passed were industriously shrouding all the shiny new 30 signs in black plastic, and taping them up. I can't really think of a sensible explanation for this - unless someone's found some sort of bye-law loophole, and discovered that the correct bit of red tape to allow the placing of the signs has not yet been circumnavigated.
This morning, while constructing my morning toast-and-evil, I paused to read the advert on the lid of this week's I Can't Believe Some People Can't Believe It's Not Butter product. The prize they're offering is "a year's salary", capped at £20,000. If you can produce a pay slip, they'll match your salary up to that value. If you can't, you get £15,000.
So, basically, if you're earning a good salary, they'll give you lots of money. If you're not, they'll give you less. To them that hath shall much be given.
Does it strike anyone else as a rather bizarre offer ? The only reason I can imagine they've done it is so they can use the very weak "bread head" slogan, thus in some way tying it in to butter.
Firstly we passed an ordinary roadworks sign, to which had been appended an extra, yellow placard reading "RAGWORT CLEARANCE". Which seemed slightly strange. Why do we care what they're clearing ? Why have they told us ? Is ragwort particularly dangerous ? It ragwort clearance sufficiently common to merit its own signs ?
(Actually, a bit of googling suggests that the answer to those last two questions might be yes. Assuming this is the variety of ragwort in question, then it's actually quite poisonous.)
About two days ago, an extra section of the A4074 suddenly turned into a 30mph limit. While wishing to get to work as sharpish as possible, I did have to concede that it was a sensible place to put a 30 limit. (For those that care: that section of road by the Wallingford roundabout, where there are all the small junctions). Pelting along smartly at 60, rounding a corner to find a car in the middle of the road waiting to turn right isn't ideal, and probably has caused a fair few accidents there.
Today, the second team of workmen we passed were industriously shrouding all the shiny new 30 signs in black plastic, and taping them up. I can't really think of a sensible explanation for this - unless someone's found some sort of bye-law loophole, and discovered that the correct bit of red tape to allow the placing of the signs has not yet been circumnavigated.
This morning, while constructing my morning toast-and-evil, I paused to read the advert on the lid of this week's I Can't Believe Some People Can't Believe It's Not Butter product. The prize they're offering is "a year's salary", capped at £20,000. If you can produce a pay slip, they'll match your salary up to that value. If you can't, you get £15,000.
So, basically, if you're earning a good salary, they'll give you lots of money. If you're not, they'll give you less. To them that hath shall much be given.
Does it strike anyone else as a rather bizarre offer ? The only reason I can imagine they've done it is so they can use the very weak "bread head" slogan, thus in some way tying it in to butter.
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no subject
Date: 2004-08-04 04:34 am (UTC)One was 10mph advisory signs, due to surface relaying. The warning signs appear a day or two before the work starts. Maybe, in this case, they've had to put the work off longer, but it's cheaper to cover the signs than remove and replace them?
The other was that some work is going to be done to reduce accidents (and overtaking) on the Dorchester Bypass, and some associated hill. I think they said the B4173 (certainly *not* the A4074, but presumably there's a connection). I wasn't listening closely enough to know more, I'm afraid.
For the money question: if you're earning less than 15,000, and "can't" find a payslip, do you still get the 15,000?
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Date: 2004-08-04 05:05 am (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2004-08-04 06:10 am (UTC)If that's so, then a prize of £20,000 actually represents what you would get after tax from a salary which I can't be bothered to work out properly, but would probably be more like £25,000 p.a. (possibly more). So less stingy, on that view.
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Date: 2004-08-04 04:42 pm (UTC)On the flipside, it's also a vital habitat for one or more species of bug, and therefore food for various other wildlife, and rather essential unless you fancy wiping out a few other species. The choice is yours.
It's amazing what you can learn doing the washing up to R4.