On 2005-11-10, Brian <briank@itnz.co.nz> wrote:
> That sucks! It's bad enough getting blamed for damage, but to print
> pictures from a different site is bordering on criminal. That sort
> of reporting pisses me off.
It's the most common kind of reporting that goes on regarding
off-roading in this supposedly "Just and Tolerant" society that I keep
hearing we live in. They don't bother to mention the tiny amount of
land we have at our disposal and that the majority of lanes are in
good condition, most of the lanes I've ever driven show either farm
damage or are overgrown.
I'm intending to move overseas to escape this kind of thing one day
but most people from overseas who I've met have told me that they like
England because it's so unrestrictive! I wouldn't be surprised if I
moved somewhere else to find that after a few years I'd noticed
irritating restrictions in other areas of life that caused me to move
back ;-)
> I never realised things had got so grim up there. You might as well
> go out there and live up to your reputation, making as much mess as
> possible. They are going to ban you soon anyway........
I'm not really into making mess, but if they do ban us completely then
it's just going to make those of us who know what really goes on
decide to screw the lot of them, take the number plates off and just
drive the lanes anyway.
I don't think that a total ban is likely though, the government in
most areas does make sure that we get our say, however the way with
governments is that if there are laws that force them to do something
they don't want to do then if the laws get used too much they pass
amendments to bypass them. For example, it used to be the case that
if you were caught speeding by a speed camera, you had to be notified
by registered post otherwise it could not be assumed that you received
the notification of charges. That was too expensive though so an
amendment was passed to state that all the police had to do was say
that a letter had been sent and it was assumed that you had received
it. Cost is more important that justice provided that the people who
are being wronged are unpopular, e.g. people accused of speeding
(wether justified or not), or hairy fat blokes in muddy trucks.
> Don't let them get to you and i hope you get offroad soon. (Do a few
> laps around your house, and roll in the wheel tracks, you'll feel better
> immediately)
I'll just roll around in my lounge, that's good enough, must finish
that decorating!
> Only three months by sailboat .......We had an old Morris Oxford
> turn up in Oxford (NZ), that had driven down from Oxford (UK) (with a
> couple of sea crossings), so nothings impossible.
There's an article about that in this month's Classic And Sports Car
magazine, I've not read it yet, but there can't be too many Morris
Oxfords making that trip so I assume it's the same one!
--
For every expert, there is an equal but opposite expert