Driving on the highway. Is it really that difficult…?

 daily life, minor ramblings  2 Responses »
Oct 092012
 

Ever since I’ve been riding shotgun in a motorized vehicle I’ve been flabbergasted/amazed/irritated by how some (dare I say: the majority of the) people drive on the highway here.

It’s all so simple… theoretically!

  • There are 1 or more lanes.
  • There is a speed limit (sometimes a separate one for trucks/lorries).
  • You pass people on the opposite side of where you’re driving: on the left in countries where one drives on the right, and on the right where one drives on the left.
  • You keep a safe distance to the vehicle in front of you.

Results of a traffic accident in NorwayI myself have the habit of driving exactly the speed limit. Not according to the speedometer in my car, because I am aware that these are never 100% accurate. In the USA federal law states speedometers cannot have an error of more than 5 percent (typically expressed as plus/minus 2.5 percent relative to the actual speed), and other countries have similar laws. I have determined with a GPS that when I have the speedometer on 106 km/hour I am actually doing 99-100 km/hour.

I’m located in Norway. Here the speed limit for cars on the highway is 100 km/hour, for trucks over 3.5 tons it’s 80 km/hour.

If I were to interpret the traffic rules to the letter then no one, with the exception of emergency vehicles with active warning devices such as lights and/or sirens, can legally pass me when I drive the exact legal speed limit. (If they’d do so, they’d be speeding). This is perhaps a bit of an oversimplification, but it is accurate.

The reality?
Most people do whatever pleases them! They switch lanes while totally ignoring markings on the road which forbid them to do so, they pass cars on the wrong side, etc etc.
And they speed! On the 11.3 kms/7 miles stretch of highway between my house and my office I get overtaken by many vehicles, every day. Some of them even trucks…

What about law enforcement, you may ask? I’m sorry to say, but they’re non-existent here, at least on the stretch of highway which is my commuter route. In all the time I’ve travelled up and down this road I have never, ever seen a single vehicle of the National Mobile Police Service ( Utrykningspolitiet ) in action.
And of course I’m probably not the only person who has noticed this lack of supervision. It’s most likely the main reason why so many people violate speed limits and other traffic rules…

My main frustration is that there’s absolutely nothing I can do about it. Even writing this post is probably just a waste of time. Yes, I will mention the post on Facebook, Twitter & App.net. More waste of time.
Nothing will be done, and I will just continue to irritate myself about it every time I drive on that road. And I will continue to pay tax, part of which will go to Utrykningspolitiet so that they can… well, whatever they do. Patrolling the E6 is not it, unfortunately!

Eon Extreme

 'Personal'  No Responses »
Aug 092012
 

I’ve visited the website of Iain Sinclair before, when I’d read somewhere about their superlight and supersharp utility knife, the size of a credit card (the CardSharp). Last year, I saw a new product had become available: the Eon Extreme, a credit card size flashlight. (Apparently all their products are credit card size, more or less.)

The Eon Extreme does sound quite impressive.
Specs: 45 grams, dimensions 8.5×5.5×0.4-0.8 cm, 230 lumens and rechargeable via micro-USB.
It boasts to have the highest power to weight ratio of any flashlight/torch in the world.

The Eon Extreme has 3 4 settings:

  • Discreet eco light, 12 hours on a full charge
  • Hyperbright light, 2 hours on a full charge
  • Strobe light, 5 hours on a full charge
  • Slow strobe light, ? hours on a full charge (undocumented)

(Since I’ve only had the unit for less than a day (more about this later) now I can’t comment on the battery life myself yet.)

My first impression is that it’s a good solid product that delivers what it promises. Since there is no focusing head, you get very little throw (which is fine for the target of the product). When used in a small room (4×5 meters), at first glance, you would be surprised that you aren’t using an overhead fluorescent light in the room, so bright is it.

About the ordering/delivery process… I placed my order in November 2011, and the unit arrived… This week (August 2012)! It has taken me many, many emails to their customer support (which changed email addresses a couple of times during the process, and uses Gmail…). A couple of times I was promised the unit would be shipped ‘next week’, but when I checked back a couple of weeks later it was delayed once again. A similar experience with the CardSharp as well.
Can I recommend them? Well… Their products are great, no doubt about that! So if you have a lot of patience, and don’t mind ‘poking’ their customer service every now and then, go for it!
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In Memoriam: Bibian Harmsen

 'Personal', in memoriam  No Responses »
Jul 262012
 

Bibian Harmsen

(July 5 1971 – July 25 2012)


This morning the sad news of Bibian’s passing reached me via Facebook:

Bibian fought a brave battle against pancreatic cancer which simply could not be won. Life’s just not fair…
My deepest condolences to husband Klaas and her 3 children Valentijn, Swip en Lulu. She will be missed. forever.

A book, written by her about how she has dealt with this last, terrible year will be available in Dutch in October 2012:

Paniekspinnen(isbn 9789057595509)

 

 
Thanks to places like YouTube we can still hear and see Bibian. Here with her daughter Lulu: Alles Rijmt

Skjeberg Kirke

 'Personal'  No Responses »
Jul 242012
 

Skjeberg ChurchSkjeberg Church was built around the year 1100 in Sarpsborg, Østfold county. It has a rectangular shape, is built of stone and has 360 seats.
It was built in Romanesque style, but has a Gothic portal. This stone church has carved heads and runic inscriptions. The Romanesque baptismal font is among the finest in Norway, made of dark soapstone from the 12th century with reliefs showing Christ with apostle and saint figures.
Skjeberg Church was extended and amended in 1300 and in 1750, and restored in 1968 in the style of the 1700s.

The chrurch can be reached via Fv118 and Fv536.

 

 

 

 

In the USA there also appear to be at least 3 of them:

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