Not a bad day really ...

June 27

Yesterday went off fine, even if there was little if any sunshine; so how did my forehead and nose get a tad red I wonder. After the zoo we drove a few miles more and took Kile for his usual McDonalds, which he enjoyed, so usual too. Back home I began sorting my photos and I found 55 worth keeping out of the 300+ I shot. For most snappers that is a fairly high hit rate, but for me, if I like the result, then I keep it. I only reject items which are clearly out of focus or the exposure is too far off to be clearly rescued. The first from yesterday will be here later.

Of course yesterday was a Sunday, so therefore there were a lot of families about. Most of the adults were considerate and helped when the saw us on our scooters. However, the majority of the kids didn’t, and neither did their parents; in fact, some of them seemed to go out of the way to make things difficult for us. And it wasn’t just us either; I saw the same things with other scooter/wheelchair users too. Neither of us are keen to be in big crowds these days, so we have decided that we will go back later sometime, but in the week so we won’t be crowded out everywhere.

Sadly, this thing isn’t confined to tourist sites; no, I’ve seen it just about everywhere I go on my scooter. It seems to increasing too. Perhaps there’s growing resentment towards disabled folk these days? I wouldn’t be surprised if it was, simply because of the lack of patience I see whenever I go out. But, you know something? A lot of the blame for it is down to a number of scooter uses who use their disability as an excuse to do just about anything. I know one woman who used to ask if she could get past someone; if they didn’t give way, she would ride straight into them – no excuse for that at all.

There’s another group who think that claim they are allowed priority in everything, and therefore when someone helps or moves out of their, they do not say ‘Thank you’. In most places disabled are not given priority as a right, but it’s down to the company concerned, not the law. Rugby town centre had a problem with a small minority of scooter riders who ignore everyone and rode though crowds as if they were not there. A number of people were injured by them, and they didn’t even look back to see what had happened or if the person they hit was OK or not. There was a lot of resentment there are the time.

Such incidents don’t any of us any good at all. To make it even worse, the police can’t do anything about them either. Scooters don’t have registration plates on them, nor are they insured (ours included actually), and the law is a fairly grey area really. Scooter come in two speed ranges; ours are within the lower 4mph range, which is fine and we can use them on town pavements, but not on the roads.

The 8mph range are not supposed to be used on pavements, only on the road itself. However, what use is that when a rider needs to get into town to do some shopping? At some point they have to ride on the pavement. This speed difference is where the grey areas lie in wait for the unwary. When I bought my first scooter all of this was explained to me, including the advice about drinking booze and riding it. Our current scooters are from a local company and we’re happy with the company and the scooters. When we collected our new scooters we were not told any of the advice I was given first time round; however, with me being an experience rider at that time, they didn’t really need to tell us.

Here’s something else you may be unaware of; there is no requirement for rider training. That means you can enter a shop, buy a scooter and ride it off without any training at all. There’s a lot of hazard out there for scooter rider’s folks, and not all of them are the street furniture all towns have. Pedestrians are our biggest concern overall. They don’t seem to care or to be bothered as long as they can get where they are going, and sod all the others. Guessing what these people are going to do next is impossible, honestly. And as for those on their phones texting or playing a game are so involved with it, they just don’t seem aware of where they are or why.

Today’ photo then …

Covers both the zoo and a scooter rider; Jan in pixel-packing mode.

Today’s funny …

A petrol attendent is filling a man's car, when he notices that a small penguin was sitting in the back seat. The attendant turns to the man and asks what the deal is with the penguin.
"Well" the man says. "I found the little guy a few weeks ago wandering around looking sad. I've been going crazy thinking of things I can do for him."
"There's a zoo just down the road," replies the attendant. "Why don't you take him there".
The man thanks the attendant, pays, and drives off to the zoo.
A few days later the man pulls up to the petrol station and again is met by the attendant who notices that the penguin is still in the back of the car.
"I thought you were taking him to the zoo" asks the attendant.
"I did thanks" answers the man. "He loved it, so I'm taking him to the beach today".