Thanks Barry, yes I do try to remind myself of the city traffic when I am tempted to have a rant about the disadvantages of living in the country.
I don't know about Sydney, but Brisbane which I visit occasionally, has toll roads everywhere so you are constantly being bitten for using infrastructure that politicians are handsomely paid to provide as part of their basic reason for being.
Reduce their salaries and spend it on the roads, I say!
(if they could get some of that money back from Mr Obeid, Senator MacDonald and their mates it would help)
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parents with prams priority parking
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Hello Rocky,
For the information of those of you living in the bush, express parking in Sydney is actually on all lanes on the freeways, which are not free, during the peak hour which runs for not 1 but for 3 to 4 hours morning and afternoon. You are so lucky in the sticks.
Barry
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TG - you are a male and you should know that subtlety is totally lost on males.
Actually - are there really things called "Express" parking spots?
Living up in the sticks, I always marvel at all those new-fangled things they have in the big city!
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Rocky I thought that by now you'd recognise my posting style. Yelta unknowingly or not overtly made the point I was making covertly.Originally posted by Rocky View PostYelta puts his finger on a salient point here. Once you start dividing society up into discrete categories (privileged groups) the good ol Aussie egalitarianism starts to go out the window and we start to resent others who are perceived (rightly or wrongly) as getting some benefit we don't. We need to keep it real - and the number of 'special groups' to an absolute minimum.
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Not sure who you might think I was belittling Hamburglar, but life was different back then. Most of the things we experienced are now illegal or controlled so tightly you can't do them anyway. From maybe 7 or 8 I'd be on my bike after breakfast and gone for the day - only rule was to be home by dark.
At about 10yo I used to ride with friends from Corio to the You Yangs (20km or so) where we'd play all day in the rocks and bush. We could buy crackers and rockets and had lotsa fun blowing things up and we all still have all our fingers and toes.
But we also had our jobs to do - mine was look after the chooks and animals, keep the woodpile stocked and doing the lawns. I had a pair of rather lazy sisters (not that I was any slouch in trying to get out of work either) so often I'd get roped in over protests to do dishes or other housework. Kids these days are rarely expected to help out and many parents are little more than slaves that pander to the every whim and demand the little monsters might have.
Those 3 boys I mentioned earlier - I gave them jobs to do and for weeks I would go inspect what they had done every time I went around there. I didn't punish them for stuff not done, I'd just give them a look, and if it needed doing, do it myself. Next time it would be done.
They were holy terrors when I first met them, the youngest had been expelled from kindergarten - a bit of attention and expectation and they were great kids when their mother and I broke up. The oldest and youngest went to Uni and the middle kid got himself an apprenticeship and last I heard had his own company.
We have rules governing how our pets behave and how we treat them, but any dumbarse can have kids and foist monsters onto the world and everyone thinks they all have a right to do this as many times as they want. It's almost an unwritten rule that those who can least afford kids have the most of them. Then the kids don't get the attention they need to become decent human beings and we wind up with bashings and brawls on the streets.
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Really getting this off topic thread off topic, but it's a holiday...
When I was a toddler there were no prams, cars were a rarity, and shopping centres had not been invented. I walked two hours on my little feet over hill and dale from our town house (that's a house in the town, not a trendy name for a house in a town) to our farm, a in the country, and two hours back at night.
Yes, things have advanced, and so they should have, and I do not begrudge convenience . Just parents who don't bother keeping their toddlers under control. One thing not being able to control them....but at least make an effort to.
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Sounds like you had it easy. Bill Cosby's father walked to school 4 o'clock every morning with no shoes on, uphill, both ways, in 5 feet of snow.... Can't wait till my pubes turn grey so I can belittle the future generations.Originally posted by Journeyman View PostI grew up with an army belt on the wall - if the old lady got angry enough I'd get the buckle ends. We had the cuts at school, either strap or cane or sometimes blackboard ruler.
I like to park next to the pillars in covered carparks. More room to open the doors and get the little one in/out of the carseat.
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I should apologize for making that crack about your user ID... it's just that the name really rubbed me the wrong way. The reason for that is because I was a UN Peacekeeper (Canadian Armed Forces) in Sarajevo way back in '92 and I was the officer in charge of counter-sniper operations around the Sarajevo airport. I saw far too many civilians (primarily women, children and the elderly) gunned down by psychopaths with Dragunovs hiding in the surrounding hillside and my team and I were the ones tasked with doing our best to stop this from happening. As you could well imagine, this experience left a very bad taste in my mouth for anything to do with snipers, specifically those with Dragunovs.Originally posted by Dragunov21 View PostIt means I used to play Ghost Recon when I was a kid. Had the username for about ten years and it makes it easy to keep track of
As it happens I also shoot recreationally. Problem?
As to you question about coffee on the Peninsula, I have responded via PM.
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I grew up with an army belt on the wall - if the old lady got angry enough I'd get the buckle ends. We had the cuts at school, either strap or cane or sometimes blackboard ruler.
In my view there is a world of difference between a disciplinary smack and physical abuse. And touching a kid when the temper is blown is a crime. But I also think many kids these days would be a lot more pleasant to be around if the parents would discipline them consistently - and by discipline, I don't just mean smack, I mean set limits and consequences for breaking them and stick to your promise - if you say, "don't do that or...." and they do it, the or... must happen.
I had no problem with 3 boys under 7 in a shop because they knew I wouldn't put up with it and I never had to lay a finger on them. Those same boys gave their mother hell if I wasn't there. I think it was because they knew there would be no consequences - when I met her she was one of those who would repeat never-to-be-implemented threats to try to control them and they just ignored her.
It's not at all difficult - most kids WANT limits and all you have to do is be fair and consistent. And things like, if you say, "wait a minute I am talking to this person" then as soon as there is a break in conversation you ask them what it was... amazing how well that works in getting them to be polite.
The lack of difficulty is why it annoys me so much to see them behaving like miniature thugs and spoiled brats - I don't see why a parent who can't be bothered raising a decent human being should be allowed to foist their problems on the rest of the population.
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I'm thankful that we don't have 'tantrum issues' with our kids (because I did have a parenting specialist do some home visits) do remember that the well-behaved kids of days gone by were often belted (physically abused) in public or in private & nobody batted an eye. Memories & threats of 'the strap' kept young greengarden (me) in line when shopping.Originally posted by Journeyman View PostI don't mind the special parking spots for people with problems, be it disabled, elderly or with prams. But I'd REALLY like it if people had to actually learn to park before they are allowed to drive around. Some of the efforts are nothing short of mind-numbing. And there should be a law that says a driver has to be able to see over the steering wheel - watching people too short for their car trying to guesstimate where the edges of their car are, (and usually relying on Donald Duck parking techniques) makes me want to be very politically incorrect.
And while I do appreciate the issues parents have trying to take kids around a shopping centre, perhaps for many of them a short course in how to raise a child might be of benefit? Shopping would be far less stressful with well-behaved kids than with the little horrors you see throwing tantrums in the middle of an aisle because they got the wrong lolly.
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I feel I'm qualified enough to answer. Yes, it can be really exhausting pushing a pram. I consider myself healthy, but pushing a pram or trolley with kids, fully loaded, (being a small woman) gives me a whole body workout. I now have a double pram (kids aged 3 & 1), and am pregnant, pushing the pram is quite a workout. Added that kids can have short attention spans for shopping &/or high needs (food, nappy change, developing immune systems). I have quick-marched back to the car many a time due to kids crying despite careful planning of lunch, naps etc. Add to that a mummy brain (aka sleep deprivation) or possible weak bladder from natural delivery or post-cesearean or overall muscular tiredness from iron deficiency as the foetus takes his 6 months post-delivery iron supplies from mum while in-utero...(that's all I can think of right now). Do you love your mum more as you read this?Originally posted by robusto View PostYou've noticed the signs in shopping centre car parks. Parents with prams.
I am willing to be corrected and educated, because I can't see why a parent pushing a pram needs priority parking. Implicit is that the parent is a young and healthy adult..
Is it really such an exhausting feat to push a pram? Moreso than it is for, say, the same adult or even an older one, manoeuvrering an unwieldly shopping trolley?
Fortunately, we're not all 'Toorak Mums' who have nannies, woolworths delivery & demand free babycinos lol. I'm not being judgemental, sorry, just that my kids are with me 24/7, they go where I go. If my thrifty husband agreed I would dearly love to order groceries online & get delivered.
As mentioned above, I've seen many a grandparent pushing prams at shops (good on them)!
Saying that, there's nothing wrong with a bit of exercise - had by parking at the end of the lot - to work off any extra baby weight
All money saved from gym memberships can go towards espresso machine upgraditis.
I do think there is a need for 'shared special needs' parking areas for elderly, parents with prams, temporary walking disabilities/health issues etc. We have elderly parking, before pram parking, at our local Woolworths. Aldi don't discriminate
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May I suggest the "I need the toilet park" is close to the door.Originally posted by Yelta View PostSo that would be the (I'm a more valuable than you car park) guess we could have a (having a haircut park) (picking up fast food park) and using the toilet park.
I imagine we could all come up with a reason why we deserve a better spot in the local shopping centre car park.
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I've got one of them in my local shopping centre, it's right down the back in the shade of some trees about 200 metres from the entrance.Originally posted by Rocky View PostI deserve a better spot in the parking lot because I really look after my car and I shouldn't have to park near people who open their doors onto my blemishless duco!
It's called the (get some exercise and don't get your paint scratched car park) works a treat, most people nowadays simply refuse to walk any further than absolutely necessary.
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Yelta puts his finger on a salient point here. Once you start dividing society up into discrete categories (privileged groups) the good ol Aussie egalitarianism starts to go out the window and we start to resent others who are perceived (rightly or wrongly) as getting some benefit we don't. We need to keep it real - and the number of 'special groups' to an absolute minimum.
I deserve a better spot in the parking lot because I really look after my car and I shouldn't have to park near people who open their doors onto my blemishless duco!
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I don't mind the special parking spots for people with problems, be it disabled, elderly or with prams. But I'd REALLY like it if people had to actually learn to park before they are allowed to drive around. Some of the efforts are nothing short of mind-numbing. And there should be a law that says a driver has to be able to see over the steering wheel - watching people too short for their car trying to guesstimate where the edges of their car are, (and usually relying on Donald Duck parking techniques) makes me want to be very politically incorrect.
And while I do appreciate the issues parents have trying to take kids around a shopping centre, perhaps for many of them a short course in how to raise a child might be of benefit? Shopping would be far less stressful with well-behaved kids than with the little horrors you see throwing tantrums in the middle of an aisle because they got the wrong lolly.
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