The Wrong Type of Insult!

On 09/10/2007 18:40, Mike the unimaginative said,

Quoted message said:

While trundling very slowly (and I do mean slowly) uphill on my way home
this evening, along a quiet suburban road, riding my 'Dutch style'
roadster, wearing my work suit with my choice of urban camoflage - an flo-
orange sleveless jacket, a bloke, mid-30's, steps out in front of me - the
conversation went as follows:

Look on the bright side - he might decide to do the same to the next
bright red van he sees :-) Darwin's theory in action!

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

"Mike the unimaginative" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

While trundling very slowly (and I do mean slowly) uphill on my way home
this evening, along a quiet suburban road, riding my 'Dutch style'
roadster, wearing my work suit with my choice of urban camoflage - an flo-
orange sleveless jacket, a bloke, mid-30's, steps out in front of me - the
conversation went as follows:

bloke:"You lot really [censored] me off"
me (grinding to a halt): "what have I done?"
bloke: "you lot - coming out on strike at the drop of a f**ing hat"
me: "I work at the royal" (local hospital)
bloke: "well.... wearing that (points at flo-orange jacket) someone in
your
house must be out on strike"
me "I bought it"
bloke "where?"
me "Aldi I think"
bloke "Well yer all f**kers"
I ride off
ROFLMAO

Beware all ye orange jacket wearers, it might be worse than being a
cyclist!!!!

Wonderful anecdote

Reminds me of the time I was employed by British WasteofSpace, and we were
suspended without pay by the management (?)*. All the local media,
including the BBC, refered to us suspended persons as "strikers". And it
didn't matter how many times you put them right, the next edition said
"strikers".

*the current joke during this time was that if intelligence could be
measured in height, management would be a hole in the ground.

Mike the unimaginative said:

While trundling very slowly (and I do mean slowly) uphill on my way home
this evening, along a quiet suburban road, riding my 'Dutch style'
roadster, wearing my work suit with my choice of urban camoflage - an flo-
orange sleveless jacket, a bloke, mid-30's, steps out in front of me - the
conversation went as follows:

bloke:"You lot really [censored] me off"
me (grinding to a halt): "what have I done?"
bloke: "you lot - coming out on strike at the drop of a f**ing hat"
me: "I work at the royal" (local hospital)
bloke: "well.... wearing that (points at flo-orange jacket) someone in your
house must be out on strike"
me "I bought it"
bloke "where?"
me "Aldi I think"
bloke "Well yer all f**kers"
I ride off
ROFLMAO

Beware all ye orange jacket wearers, it might be worse than being a
cyclist!!!!

Excellent, thats made my day 🙂

Reminds me of the time I was yelled at for riding two abreast while
riding immediately (3"😉 behind my mate, oh how we laughed as he drove
off in frustration.

Mike the unimaginative said:

While trundling very slowly (and I do mean slowly) uphill on my way home
this evening, along a quiet suburban road, riding my 'Dutch style'
roadster, wearing my work suit with my choice of urban camoflage - an flo-
orange sleveless jacket, a bloke, mid-30's, steps out in front of me - the
conversation went as follows:

bloke:"You lot really [censored] me off"
me (grinding to a halt): "what have I done?"
bloke: "you lot - coming out on strike at the drop of a f**ing hat"
me: "I work at the royal" (local hospital)
bloke: "well.... wearing that (points at flo-orange jacket) someone in your
house must be out on strike"
me "I bought it"
bloke "where?"
me "Aldi I think"
bloke "Well yer all f**kers"
I ride off
ROFLMAO

Heh.. I'm a postie but before you flame me over the strikes, I ride a Royal Mail issue bike and ride to my delivery route despite it being the furthest route away from my office, I live in the hilliest city in the UK, my bike has only 3 gears and that nearly all other posties in my office use their own car and nearly all the Royal Mail bikes are left rusting in the shed.

Anyway. Being a postie meant that I came across a spare orange hi-viz jacket which was worn, and when I got my replacement, my partner liberated the old jacket from me, as her hi-viz bike vest was not breathable and cheap and nasty, and a good quality hi-viz jacket cost a fair bit. Since taking the jacket from me meant she kept getting stopped and asked for directions, or got asked where their letters were and others! I guess I better warn her that something like what happened to you might happen to her 🙂

Cheers - Piers

In article <[email hidden]>, Piers
Kittel
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Heh.. I'm a postie but before you flame me over the strikes, I ride
a Royal Mail issue bike and ride to my delivery route despite it being
the furthest route away from my office, I live in the hilliest city in
the UK, my bike has only 3 gears and that nearly all other posties in
my office use their own car and nearly all the Royal Mail bikes are
left rusting in the shed.

I think the strike makes people realise just what an important job the
posties do, and that they should probably be more appreciated than they
are (apart from the [censored] ones, who mostly seem to be casuals anyway -
more proof it were needed that we need to treat proper posties better to
encourage the goood ones to stay in the job).

Quoted message said:

Anyway. Being a postie meant that I came across a spare orange hi-viz
jacket which was worn, and when I got my replacement, my partner
liberated the old jacket from me, as her hi-viz bike vest was not
breathable and cheap and nasty, and a good quality hi-viz jacket cost a
fair bit. Since taking the jacket from me meant she kept getting
stopped and asked for directions, or got asked where their letters were
and others! I guess I better warn her that something like what happened
to you might happen to her 🙂

Maybe if you write 'EX' in front of the RM logos with a marker pen? :-)

Piers Kittel said the following on 10/10/2007 16:19:

Quoted message said:

nearly all other posties in my
office use their own car and nearly all the Royal Mail bikes are left
rusting in the shed.

Perhaps you can answer something (totally avoiding any strike issues!).
Do RM employees use their own cars to carry mail? If so, does RM pay
to insure the postie's car for business purposes or does the postie have
to pay that? (Or do they not have business use insurance at all!?!?)

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

Paul,

Quoted message said:

Perhaps you can answer something (totally avoiding any strike issues!).
Do RM employees use their own cars to carry mail? If so, does RM pay
to insure the postie's car for business purposes or does the postie have
to pay that? (Or do they not have business use insurance at all!?!?)

Officially it's not allowed. Most posties do though, mainly because Bristol is hilly and the Royal Mail issue bike only have 3 gears. Some delivery offices covers a large area, but they sometimes get their own van. I just grin and bear it. I don't know about other cities though. Royal Mail do not refund the postie for petrol, wear & tear, insurance or anything. If the car breaks down, it's the postie's problem. If the car is involved in a crash, it's postie's problem. No-one bothers with taking out business insurance for their cars.

I choose not to use my car for the following reasons (in order)

1) Environment (although my bags gets delivered by van but then again the van do other deliveries)
2) Get fitter
3) My car's old and short journeys wears cars out faster. I'd have to buy a new car if mine wore out!
4) Don't want to risk crashing while working as my insurance would be void
5) Royal Mail has said all posties are "Underworked and overpaid". Thank you very much for calling me under worked where I've been coming in early, not taking any breaks, carrying overweight bags and using my car occasionally. I now come in on time, take my breaks, split up my bags and use the bike. I also now claim a lot of overtime 🙂

Cheers - Piers

On 10/10/2007 18:47, Piers Kittel said,

Quoted message said:

4) Don't want to risk crashing while working as my insurance would be void

Thanks for the comprehensive answer! It was the above bit that I was
specifically wondering about - postal workers, and others, effectively
driving un-insured! I wasn't sure if RM were expecting the postie to
use their own cars or not.

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

"Paul Boyd" <usenet.is.worse@plusnet> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Piers Kittel said the following on 10/10/2007 16:19:

Perhaps you can answer something (totally avoiding any strike
issues!). Do RM employees use their own cars to carry mail? If
so, does RM pay to insure the postie's car for business
purposes or does the postie have to pay that? (Or do they not
have business use insurance at all!?!?)

My brother was unfortunate enough to be involved in a collision
with a Royal Mail van, about 10 years ago. It was then he
discovered that RM were "self-insuring" - that is, they don't pay
any premiums to an underwriter, but they cover the risk
themselves with a bond.

--
MatSav

Piers Kittel said:

Paul,

Quoted message said:

Perhaps you can answer something (totally avoiding any strike issues!).
Do RM employees use their own cars to carry mail? If so, does RM pay
to insure the postie's car for business purposes or does the postie have
to pay that? (Or do they not have business use insurance at all!?!?)

Officially it's not allowed. Most posties do though, mainly because

Bristol is hilly and the Royal Mail issue bike only have 3 gears.
Some delivery offices covers a large area, but they sometimes get their
own van. I just grin and bear it. I don't know about other cities
though. Royal Mail do not refund the postie for petrol, wear & tear,
insurance or anything. If the car breaks down, it's the postie's
problem. If the car is involved in a crash, it's postie's problem.
No-one bothers with taking out business insurance for their cars.

Quoted message said:

it is allowed, i used to as did others. you have to show others, and RM
is suposed to cover the car during work hours.

Quoted message said:

I choose not to use my car for the following reasons (in order)

1) Environment (although my bags gets delivered by van but then again the
van do other deliveries)
2) Get fitter
3) My car's old and short journeys wears cars out faster. I'd have to buy
a new car if mine wore out!
4) Don't want to risk crashing while working as my insurance would be void
5) Royal Mail has said all posties are "Underworked and overpaid". Thank

you very much for calling me under worked where I've been coming in
early, not taking any breaks, carrying overweight bags and using my car
occasionally. I now come in on time, take my breaks, split up my bags
and use the bike. I also now claim a lot of overtime 🙂

Quoted message said:

Cheers - Piers

roger
--
www.rogermerriman.com

Quoted message said:

Reminds me of the time I was yelled at for riding two abreast while riding
immediately (3"😉 behind my mate, oh how we laughed as he drove off in
frustration.

Some silly trout inadvertantly squeezed me onto the pavement once - good job
there was a lowered kerb at that point.
Her reason / excuse was that I "was riding two abreast".
I was the only cyclist there.

John

John Clayton said:

Quoted message said:

Reminds me of the time I was yelled at for riding two abreast while riding
immediately (3"😉 behind my mate, oh how we laughed as he drove off in
frustration.

Quoted message said:

Some silly trout inadvertantly squeezed me onto the pavement once - good job
there was a lowered kerb at that point.
Her reason / excuse was that I "was riding two abreast".
I was the only cyclist there.

If it was inadvertent, why did she offer such an "excuse"?

"John Clayton" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Reminds me of the time I was yelled at for riding two abreast while
riding immediately (3"😉 behind my mate, oh how we laughed as he drove off
in frustration.

Some silly trout inadvertantly squeezed me onto the pavement once - good
job there was a lowered kerb at that point.
Her reason / excuse was that I "was riding two abreast".
I was the only cyclist there.

Perhaps she was counting her own breasts as well?!

"Piers Kittel" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Paul,

Officially it's not allowed.

Not only is it not officially allowed, it's illegal. If you ain't got
insurance, it is illegal to drive on the road. Have the management not
mentioned this? If they are turning a blind eye, knowing that it happens
and tacitly accepting this practice, they could also be liable at law.

If the car is involved in a crash, it's postie's problem.

It's also the person you hit's problem as well. If you ain't insured, how
are they going to claim for the damage you caused, possibly running into
millions of pounds?

No-one bothers with taking out business insurance for their cars.

Then they are incredibly stupid. I'll repeat that in case there are some
posties reading this who didn't get it first time. Then they are incredibly
stupid. Not to mention illegal, and they could lose their licence. Anyone
who does this is showing such an arrogant disregard of the law that loss of
licence should be automatic.

Quoted message said:

4) Don't want to risk crashing while working as my insurance would be void

And they are behaving illegally, irresponsibly and arrogantly.

Quoted message said:

5) Royal Mail has said all posties are "Underworked and overpaid". Thank
you very much for calling me under worked where I've been coming in early,
not taking any breaks, carrying overweight bags and using my car
occasionally. I now come in on time, take my breaks, split up my bags and
use the bike. I also now claim a lot of overtime 🙂

Reminds me of the terrible joke about the crossword clue "overloaded
postman"

Piers Kittel <[email hidden]> wrote:
| Paul,
| > Perhaps you can answer something (totally avoiding any strike issues!).
| > Do RM employees use their own cars to carry mail? If so, does RM pay
| > to insure the postie's car for business purposes or does the postie have
| > to pay that? (Or do they not have business use insurance at all!?!?)
|
| Officially it's not allowed. Most posties do though, mainly because
| Bristol is hilly and the Royal Mail issue bike only have 3 gears. ...

That's be why so many of the Oxford rounds seem to come out of the back of
private cars these days, then!

Paul Boyd said:

On 10/10/2007 18:47, Piers Kittel said,

Quoted message said:

4) Don't want to risk crashing while working as my insurance would
be void

Thanks for the comprehensive answer! It was the above bit that I was
specifically wondering about - postal workers, and others, effectively
driving un-insured! I wasn't sure if RM were expecting the postie to
use their own cars or not.

I have a feeling that as well as not having valid insurance (*), it may be
an offence under the laws which specifically govern the delivery of the
Royal Mail. Unless its been repealled, I think the law used to require the
use of vehicles carrying official livery.

(* in itself a serious problem; the posties doing it need to be told to stop
both for their own protection).

- Nigel

--
Nigel Cliffe,
Webmaster at http://www.2mm.org.uk/

burtthebike said:

"Piers Kittel" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Paul,

Officially it's not allowed.

Not only is it not officially allowed, it's illegal. If you ain't got
insurance, it is illegal to drive on the road. Have the management not
mentioned this? If they are turning a blind eye, knowing that it happens
and tacitly accepting this practice, they could also be liable at law.

royal mail will cover the car for insurance, i certinaly as did others
when i worked, get my car covered by them for work use.

there are many reasons why it's a bad idea but being illegal is not one
of them, at least if you get the car signed on.

snips

roger
--
www.rogermerriman.com

Roger Merriman said the following on 10/10/2007 21:44:

Quoted message said:

it is allowed, i used to as did others. you have to show others, and RM
is suposed to cover the car during work hours.

If you had a collision in your own car whilst using it for business
purposes (carrying of mail), would you be able to produce a certificate
in court to show that you were insured to use your car on business?

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

burtthebike said:

Not only is it not officially allowed, it's illegal. If you ain't got
insurance, it is illegal to drive on the road. Have the management not
mentioned this?

My workplace provides business use cover for our private cars (including
reimbursing us at 50p a mile).

However, I have to wonder - there's probably a significant number of
cars being used for class 1 business use (I think that's what it's
called) insured as social, domestic and pleasure only.

I wonder in the case of a crash, how many of the drivers of these cars
write on the claim form that they were using it for SD&P? After all, if
they realise what they are doing is illegal, they are hardly likely to
incriminate themselves when it's likely that they can get away with it
by claiming they were driving the car for private use.

--
Yes, the Reply-To email address is valid.
Oolite-Linux: an Elite tribute: http://oolite-linux.berlios.de