Stop with the Traffic Lights

Why are there so many traffic lights these days? Is there an actual person who is employed to determine where traffic lights go? I'm sure there is. I actually think that this 'someone' is trying to justifying there own existence by placing them where ever they can.

Over the last few months I've been driving around the outer suburbs where new estates are popping up, why is it that the traffic lights are the first things to go up. Right now, when one car sets them off, it stops the whole traffic flow, when entering cautiously would have been a better idea. Why can't they just leave them turned off until there is significant traffic to deem it necessary to become operational?

Another place of annoyance is around shopping centers after hours. Why not just turn them off at these times. If cars need to enter the road they can do so as they would if they were entering on a stop sign.

Red arrows piss me off the most I think. If there is nothing coming, then lets get on with it! Go!

I have seen some places around Europe where lights are turned off i think between 11pm-5am. Great idea.

I have had an idea where; after hours the lights could flash red or green depending on the main flow of traffic and if you are entering from the red flashing you can give way to traffic on the green flashing lights.

I also love the American system where you can turn on a red light if there is no on coming traffic. Just a note here, you can turn right in the States, but would be left in the UK or Australia on the red light. Why can't we also do this? Are we too obsessed with traffic fines and generating revenue? Me thinks so.

There has fairly recently been talk in London about perhaps starting to remove some of the traffic lights and going back to basics. You stop, you look and if its clear you go. How simple is that?

I know I'm probably being a little simplistic and sure there are places and times when granted traffic lights are needed and they work. But someone needs to get there hand off it and get real, and get the traffic flowing.

This is my rant.

Adam

Tiger (give me more money) Woods

At some point you just need to ask why? Why, why, why?

I have nothing against Tiger Woods, his personal life is his own and I have no issue with him on his life choices, but...

This week it was announced that the average Australian wage had reach around AU$1,250 per week. Not bad really. If you work it out its about $60,000 per year. That seems like a fair wage. And you know that their are many many people who earn a lot less than that!

Last week Melbourne hosted the Australian Masters and the Victorian Government paid a large portion of Tigers appearance fee to participate. He was paid about $3million dollars to appear. This money has nothing to do with his potential golf prize money earnings or other company endorsements which are massive to say the least.

When you work it out, it would take the average Australian 50 years to earn that amount of money, pretty much their entire working life.

Surely Tiger doesn't need that money, and surely the tax payers shouldn't have to folk out that money either. I do get the fact that the Government and the wasters of our money would say that he brings money into the economy, well fair enough he probably does, but get real.....its a massive amount of money paid to someone who doesn't need it. It seems like excessive greed at its best.

To the Brumby Government stop wasting our dosh, and Tiger get real, you earn enough without asking to be paid to turn up. Perhaps I should send an invoice in for my work appearance fee?

Adam and his Rant.

The reason I've started this blog

After a discussion with colleagues at work the other day, we each found ourselves becoming increasingly frustrated and annoyed at the crap that we all seem to be putting up with lately. I'm talking about things to do with the banks, oil companies, supermarket chains, gas and electricity companies, insurance companies, cigarette companies and associated government policy, people who are paid (or should I say, pay themselves) exorbitant wages, government policies that seem to be choking us with rules and laws that are ridiculous and costly not to mention the shear wasteful spending that goes on.

Perhaps for my own therapy and wellbeing, I have decided to start a blog to air my views with whom ever is interested. My hope is that people will add comments and even give constructive ideas of things we can do either individually or collectively to help the ordinary men, women and children who seem to be copping it from every direction.

This being my first entry, I will need a few days to get my format right before I start with my rants....I hope you can post something / anything to add to this dialog.

Adam