Idiots on Wheels

I went out for a short walk this morning and getting towards the end of the road I saw a car which I thought was turning into my road, so I got on to the grass verge as Yorkshire seems to be very short on footpaths. The car stayed there, then I realised it was positioned to possibly cross the Pickering road, blocking the road, then another car came up behind it. The car blocking the road was a BMW and you start thinking about the stereotype expensive car owners and their habits.

German cars are a beacon of engineering excellence, and that makes drivers feel much safer, and some drivers start to think that they own the road and screw everyone else.

The the passenger got out of the BMW, walked round to the drivers side and open the back door and take out a road map, walk back and get in then they started looking at the map. All the while there is the car behind being blocked in. They then sounded their horn. No reaction from the BMW driver so the car behind was forced to overtake on the wrong side of the road (very dangerous, but the BMW driver was oblivious) and get on their way.

The thing is, if you're lost you find somewhere safe to park up then look at where you are and need to go, but this BMW showed absolute idiocy in what he did and could have caused a serious accident. The Helmsley to Pickering road gets quite busy and the car forced to overtake could have been hit because they couldn't get a good view of the main road, or a car may have tried to turn in off the main road.

I think an appropriate song for this post is one of my favourite car songs from Chuck Berry, the excellent "Maybelline". I need to hit another eight thousand steps so maintain my holiday step average for my Million Step Challenge, which I think should be well within my capability.

Whitby Jet

Going To Whitby

The weathjer has been a bit rainy over the last couple of days , but that didnt stop us taking the steam train from Pickering to Whitby on Tuesday. The cost of the journey has gone up significantly since we last made it , but it was still worth it as it is privately funded. It's an enjoyable one including one section over a 40 foor deep bog where the railway line floats on wattle and wool rafy pontoons. The North Yorkshire Moors Railway's website is here .

Two Trains

It's not the fastest journey and you can forget about a mobile phone signal, but is extremely relaxing.

Whitby was brilliant as always , lunching in The Magpie Cafe and not finishing it again (quality and quantity), then visits to Folk Devils and the still unnamed record shop in The Shambles.

Becasue of the train times it was quite a long day but thoroughly enjoyable.

200

This is my 200th blog post this year, so I can still obviously use a keyborad. At some point I want to try and dictate a post into my phone on some microphone and put it up unedited to see if it makes sense. I've still got around sixty days left this year so possibly expect to finish on 240 or 250 posts.

I was hoping to do the Pickering to Whitby steam train run , but just checked the timetable and the winter one kicked in this week, which means no midweek trains. C'est la vie.

Either Facebook or Google have stopped allowing the use of Youtube or embedded images when I post a link to Facebook, which is annoying. I didn't want an image of me for each post, I wanted something relevant to the actual post. I will research into why this is happening.

Anyway, the holiday is continuing with much relaxation, watching The Wire, Game Of Thrones and Boardwalk Empire. I now have lots of technology at my disposal so I can download stuff off BBC's iPlayer so I caught up with the excellent Orphan Black on my iPad as well as a program on The Who's Quadrophenia.

Orphan Black

As I type this I'm listening to the J Geils Band using my Samsung Note phone as a music player, though just switched it to the wonderful Penguin Eggs by Nic Jones, an album that should be in everyone's collection.

The thing is where I am in Ampleforth I don't have a mobile signal, so that means another form of total relaxation. It's sometimes nice to just cut yourself off, although I'm obviously posting this, and keeping abreast of the times using the BBC site and posting on Instagram as well so people can see what I'm finding interesting. Well I'm going to put an image on here and a John Cooper Clarke song that I loved from the first moment I heard it, with some great lines and a soft porn soundtrack, take a listen. Everyone have a wonderful day everyone.

Pickering To Whitby by Steam Train

In October we decided to try the steam run from Pickering to Whitby on the Nork Yorkshire Moors Railway. This turned out to be excellent , with proper compartmentalised first class carriages , though the steam seeping through the floor was slightly disconcerting . Here's a short video of the journey soundtracked by the Kinks "Last of the Steam Powered Trains" , which you can download here.