An Incident In Walthamstow
I was walking to Walthamstow Central station yesterday, when I passed the building site, where they are building a new hotel. outside the gate were four builders, in fluorescent jackets and hard hats, chatting to each other. The sort of thing you always see.
one of the group was obviously a woman and then the biggest and oldest man in the group picked hold of her shoulders and gave her a good shaking. This looked to be odd behaviour and possibly inappropriate.
A few seconds later, when I looked back, the woman had grabbed hold of another of the group and was repeating the shaking.
It was only then, that I realised what was happening, as I noted all of the group, were wearing full body harnesses and they were going to go climbing on the tall unfinished building.
Certainly, Health and Safety was being taken very seriously.
A Very Dangerous Religious Law
This story on the BBC’s web site, just shows that religious zealots are alive and well and living in Indonesia.
They want women to sit on a motorcycle side-saddle. What about women, who want to actually drive the bike?
Incidentally, I know several women, who’ve been on the back of motor-bikes side-saddle, as it was seen occasionally in the 1960s.
I think we’d all agree it’s not a sensible idea, but then in India and I suspect Indonesia, you see lots of people riding motor-bikes in unusual and to us dangerous ways.
The interesting last word is these paragraphs from the article.
The regulation has been met with criticism from well-known Muslim activists like Ulil Abshar Abdalla, who is based in the capital, Jakarta.
“How to ride a motorbike is not regulated in Sharia. There is no mention of it in the Koran or Hadiths,” he said on his Twitter account, referring to the second most sacred text in Islam after the Koran.
You could also ask, how crash helmets fit in with Muslim and other religious views. I think for instance in the UK, that male Sikhs who adhere to their religious views, also follow the crash helmet law or don’t ride motor-bikes. Or at least, I haven’t seen a Sikh in a turban riding a motor-bike in years. Perhaps, they wear a patka underneath like some Sikh sportsmen do.
A Flying Boat From Norway
This was also pictured in today’s Times. It’s an escape life boat for an oil platform being tested by dropping from sixty metres.
There’s a video here, that is really worth watching.
The Times says that the boat can carry seventy passengers and is made of plastic.
I Like This Safety Poster
I took this picture at Pudding Mill station today.
Watch Your Step!
Penguins always get the message over.
It’s Not April The First
This story shown here in the Daily Mail first caught my eye in the Sunday Times, so I suspect it’s serious. But it does have the touch of the April Fool about it.
On the other hand, there must be lots of other professions like shop assistants, receptionists or pharmacists, where some women choose to wear high-heels. I’ve also known a few short ladies, who wear heels virtually all the time. I also had a lady dentist who always wore very high heels, but that was only with the old-fashioned dental chairs.
So perhaps the best solution would be to ban women from wearing them except in the comfort of their own home!
Health And Safety Has Its Place
This piece of raised concrete has annoyed me ever since the Emirates Air-Line opened.
Health And Safety Has Its Place
So I’m glad to see they’ve marked it with yellow paint. Not that I need any help any more, as my brain has now set its Sat-Nav to warn me to move right, as I approach the area.
My compliments must go to someone, who responded to the problem.
A Comedy Turn At Highbury Corner
I went up to the new littleWaitrose at Highbury Corner this afternoon. No problems in the shopping and in fact the shop is better than its medium sized sister at Islington, as the gluten-free selection is better and the self-service tills are easier to use.
Catching the 277 bus home, I was treated to one of the funniest comedy drunk acts in quite a few years. An obese lady, probably about fifty, with hair died a bright purple, was trying to board a bus. The stream of invective would have outshone a navvy, who had just dropped a sledge-hammer on their foot. When I arrived the lady driver of the bus, opened the door and let me in. she seemed totally unmoved at the invective and smiled widely, when I said thanks for waiting for me. In the end, the drunk was left on the pavement, still screaming loudly, much to the amusement of passengers.
One of the great advantages of Routemasters and their predecessors, was that the conductor could give a signal for the driver to leave quickly. I’ve actually seen a conductor do this, when a drunk was balanced on the rear platform and then give a small push, to make sure the drunk toppled into the road. Health and safety would stop such extreme measures these days.
Where was the Health and Safety Assessment?
This story of an off-duty trainee fireman, who saved a man from a blazing car, that then exploded, is a good story we all like to read. The fireman is being rightly praised and no-one is bothering about the Health and Safety implications. Perhaps, we have moved on in this area.
The Bus Games People Play
The behaviour of most people on London’s buses is generally immaculate, but it is sometimes treated like a serious game.
Obviously, kids like to travel in the front seats on the top. But so do adults and people generally move about to get the best seats as they become available. Perhaps, we all never grow up. Unless of course, we’re someone like Gordon Brown or Angela Merkel.
And then there’s how you choose, who you sit next to! It’s not just men, who like to sit next to nice-looking ladies and I can’t deny it doesn’t happen. But today, an elderly lady deliberately moved over so that I sat next to her, so she could have a chat. Most of the other passengers at the time were in their twenties at their eldest. In some ways, it’s only being friendly and no-one bothers.
And then there’s the game of judging what is the best time to descend from the top deck, just before you get off, as obviously walking down into an empty lobby is easiest. This game will get even more fun on a New Bus for London, as you have two staircases.
The New Bus for London also allows you to get on and off at convenient places, so this is yet another game, which at some time will come under the realm of the Health and Safety Police. But until then, let’s enjoy it.
The Missing Escalator at St.Paul’s Station
For the last few weeks, there has been no down escalator at St. Paul’s Station on the Central line, as one is being replaced.
So you have to walk down 99 steps.
However, there is space by the steps to put in a slide, which would be much more interesting. But would Health and Safety like it?
The Anonymous Widower 