0/00
Wednesday 17th 54-70F, 12-21C, calm with bright sunshine and a bit of thin, high white cloud. Walked around a loop out on the harvested prairie. I should have gone for a ride in such perfect weather but didn't. Most of the day was completely cloudless. Late afternoon ride for essentials. Only 8 miles.
In breaking news:
Round 1: "Green" Denmark has been ignoring warnings of inner city traffic pollution for ten years in Copenhagen. Their solution? Move the sensors away from the traffic! Woohoo! The EU is warning Denmark of a breach of the EU [diesel] Tractate to which Denmark is a signatory. The reason for the pollution is allowing diesel lorries and cars in the city center. Remember how diesel car owners were subsidized by fuel tax reduction? It's happening again with a reduction in NO2 targets and charges despite the VW software fraud on diesel pollution tests. Woohoo! Diesel heads 10: Poor human beings 0. <cough-cough>
Round 2: "Green" Denmark's Motorist's club FDM has criticized "Green" Copenhagen's desire to have 500 parking places reserved for electric cars while simultaneously providing them with charging facilities. It seems these special parking spots are underused when Copenhagen is absolutely desperate for parking spaces. Yeah, right! You can never have enough handy parking spots for the poor old car commuters. How do you encourage electric car ownership? Provide parking spots. How do you encourage the status quo? Give motorists enough parking spots to continue their antisocial behaviour. Woohoo! Petrol Heads 10: Poor human beings 0.
Round 3: It is official: "Green" but poverty stricken Copenhagen cannot afford a single Car Free Sunday this year. So they are going to close [only] 5 roads to traffic for [only] a few hours of the year to coincide with the city's half-marathon. Ideas are being sought for events to fill these [only] FIVE traffic-free roads for [only] several hours on [only] ONE Sunday in September in the entire year. No doubt the cost of policing these FIVE road closures, for [only] just a few hours on [only] one Sunday in the 365 day x 24 hour year [8760] is the major expense. Petrol heads do have their basic human rights to speed drive, at will, after all. Woohoo! Petrol Heads 10: Ordinary human beings 0. Many Copenhagen inhabitants do not own a car. They prefer to walk or cycle in their 364½ days of traffic congestion and pollution.
Round 4: Cyclists can be heavily fined for <cough> cycling in pedestrian zones in "Green" Danish city centers. Meanwhile vehicles may freely use these same "traffic free" streets for "business related" loading and unloading. How can you tell them apart from ordinary motorists cheating? Answers on a postcard, please, to The PM of "Green" Denmark.
Many pedestrian streets are literally blocked by parked cars and vans and lorries. Even by articulated lorries! But cyclists must always dismount? Woohooo! Cheating petrol heads 10: Cyclists and other nice human beings 0.
It's great fun walking my laden trike along a pedestrian street and having to continually pull to the side between parked vehicles to let another vehicle pass. The police often have "stings" on pedestrianized streets where those nasty "outlaw" cyclists fail to dismount. The fine for riding a cycle exceeds that for illegally speeding in a car! Woohoo! I keep thinking I might get away with racing around the pedestrian zones by pretending it's a mobility trike and being a Johnny foreigner that I no understandee dee Danisk, isn't it? Fat chance! What's Danish for "I'm 69, you know!"
Many pedestrian streets are literally blocked by parked cars and vans and lorries. Even by articulated lorries! But cyclists must always dismount? Woohooo! Cheating petrol heads 10: Cyclists and other nice human beings 0.
It's great fun walking my laden trike along a pedestrian street and having to continually pull to the side between parked vehicles to let another vehicle pass. The police often have "stings" on pedestrianized streets where those nasty "outlaw" cyclists fail to dismount. The fine for riding a cycle exceeds that for illegally speeding in a car! Woohoo! I keep thinking I might get away with racing around the pedestrian zones by pretending it's a mobility trike and being a Johnny foreigner that I no understandee dee Danisk, isn't it? Fat chance! What's Danish for "I'm 69, you know!"
Round 5: This rant was brought to you by a cyclist who would really like a very small electric car but Denmark heavily taxes every new car sale by 180%!!! The fledgling electric car sales in "Green" Denmark were killed overnight by the reintroduction of the 180%!!! registration taxes on imported electric vehicles. Denmark doesn't make any vehicles as far as I am aware.
When we moved to Denmark nearly 20 years ago we brought our ancient Volvo with us. It's street value in the UK was a couple of hundred quid with a following wind. But we still had to pay the minimum Danish car import/registration tax of well over a £1000 quid in real money! Plus hundreds of pounds equivalent making it MOT worthy for Denmark. This was despite it having a brand new British MOT just before we left! The Danes have a saying. "Own one car but pay for three." I have another saying about daylight robbery but I'm not telling it here.
I wonder how much the politic-ooze classes pay towards their chauffeured limos and worldwide Ist class jet "business" trips to "important environmental gatherings?" I'm still waiting for one of them to deny AGW exists. Any day now as the electorate leans ever further to the right to combat the previous decades of open door immigration. They wouldn't even let me in these days and I really can't blame them! Talk about biting the hand which feeds me! It's a good job I'm an unpaid, walking talking ambassador for gorgeous rural Denmark. I'm probably worth my weight in JPEGs by now! ;-)
When we moved to Denmark nearly 20 years ago we brought our ancient Volvo with us. It's street value in the UK was a couple of hundred quid with a following wind. But we still had to pay the minimum Danish car import/registration tax of well over a £1000 quid in real money! Plus hundreds of pounds equivalent making it MOT worthy for Denmark. This was despite it having a brand new British MOT just before we left! The Danes have a saying. "Own one car but pay for three." I have another saying about daylight robbery but I'm not telling it here.
I wonder how much the politic-ooze classes pay towards their chauffeured limos and worldwide Ist class jet "business" trips to "important environmental gatherings?" I'm still waiting for one of them to deny AGW exists. Any day now as the electorate leans ever further to the right to combat the previous decades of open door immigration. They wouldn't even let me in these days and I really can't blame them! Talk about biting the hand which feeds me! It's a good job I'm an unpaid, walking talking ambassador for gorgeous rural Denmark. I'm probably worth my weight in JPEGs by now! ;-)
This one is for my brother. Who likes to read a good rant over his Danish bacon and MRSA.
0\00
No comments:
Post a Comment