I think I may move to Greece

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3619425.stm

Two Greek villages that spend Easter firing home made rockets at each
others churches, hoping to hit the bell...

 

Got the usual 'whingers' though.. "my house might burn down"

 

dwb posted:

Someone whinging about losing all their things, their home, their
security and shelter?

Fancy that.

 

No, whinging about something that has been going on for a whole lot longer
then they've been living there.

Ergo, people who complain about the noise trains/planes/etc make after
moving into a house, despite knowing these things were there.

 

dwb posted:

I think you'll find they *are* whinging about losing their world, if not
their life. Even if they have just moved in last week, it's still
unsurprising that they'd voice a negative opinion about it.

Can you rephrase the above? I'm not quite sure what you mean.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Christofire

Well, in fairness, it would be a little surprising. After all, it's been
going on for years. I think dwb's trying to make the point that if you
choose to move somewhere where a tradition already exists, it's a little
unfair to then start demanding that the tradition changes to suit you.

In my village we've had a case of a new arrival complaining about noise
from the Village Hall. That would be the large building with "Village
Hall" written on the front. The one that was next door to the house they
bought. **** 'em.

 

Nigel Eaton posted:

You find it surprising that someone is voicing a negative opinion about
losing their life? Even though other people have been killed in
previous events?

BTW, I know what point dwb's trying to make. I wasn't disagreeing with
it, merely saying that I don't think it's *that* odd to complain about
it.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Christofire

Oh hell, yes. No sense of humour, some people.

 

We had some arseholes in the next village who bought a house near the church
.... then complained bitterly about the sound of the church bells. They said
kept their children awake. They tried to stop the weekly practice and the
occasional peals rung by visiting 'teams'. They were firmly told that the
church and its bells had been there for X hundred years, and would still be
there X hundred years after the arseholes had died. It was also pointed
out, none too gently, that this was something they really should have
thought about or checked before buying the house.

 

Here we have another case where the law is an ass. Whilst common
sense would suggest that the above viewpoint is reasonable - and every
time that I've bought a house, I've taken care to visit it at
different times on different days to assess the situation, but it
seems that a lot of people don't.

There are many cases of fuckwits in search of a quiet life who buy a
house where noise is inevitable, then jump up and down moaning about
it, to the chagrin of established locals, those making the noise and
anybody with half a brain. The couple who bought a house adjoining a
pub, for example, who complained about i) the noise from the jukebox -
then when that was removed - ii) the fruit machine, iii) people
talking and iv) noise at 11:30 when the last of the drunks rolled out.

Or the pair of old dears who bought a charming rural retreat that had
been built 300 years previously as a farm labourer's cottage.
Beautiful, it was, all tiny windows, steep slate roofs and whitewashed
walls. The fields full of cows were OK, as was the working dairy farm
the other side. However, the twice-daily return trip that the cattle
made from field to milking parlour and back was just too much to bear,
so they complained about it. Bitterly.

The lunatic who bought the cottage on the esses at Shelsley Walsh is a
prime case. Shelsley is a motorsport venue that has been in regular
use (except for the war years) since 1905. Matey moves in, then
starts complaining about weekend noise from cars screaming past his
new house. Restrictions on days and times of use followed.

The fuckwits who buy very expensive houses in Kent make me laugh, when
they realise that Brands Hatch is 100m away. They nearly had it
closed, though, and the same goes for just about every motorsport
venue in the country.

Strict constraints from councils apply to all of them now, reducing
days of operation (Oulton Park can only hold (iirc) 12 Sunday events a
year) and times of use - no engines to be run before 09:00 or after
17:00 even at Pembrey, FFS. A few of the smaller venues even have an
hour's break between practice and the start to allow church services
to be held in comparative silence.

The legislation dictates that no Noise Nuisance exists until somebody
complains about it affecting them, you see. This means that there
could exist an awfully noisy plant, or process, or activity and that
is fine. As long as nobody complains about it. Those who have lived
with it all their lives are unlikely to complain, as are those who
rely on it for their livelihood or entertainment.

However, as soon as somebody moves in to the area and complains about
it, their complaint must be investigated. If the investigation finds
that a Nuisance exists and that the complainant's enjoyment of their
property is affected, then swingeing action follows. No matter how
aware of the potential problem the complainant should have been, there
is no recourse to caveat emptor - no matter how plainly fuckwitted
they have been. Nuisance is established and shall be controlled - and
that is that. Arse.

 

<goes off to get the Great Western mainline closed>

 

<points out exemptions for Railway Undertakers in Environmental
Protection Act>

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Pip

Mate of mine flies a plane out of a small airfield in Yorkshire. A
fuckwit bought an adjoining house and made everyone's life hell trying
to get the airfield shut. He even erected 50' high poles across the end
of the runway. He was prosecuted for endangering an aircraft and got
off. The nutter used to walk past my mate's shop on a Saturday with him
and his wife both flicking vees. We used to go down specially, just to
watch and wave back.

It all died down after he played his trump card by claiming that the
runway was not in the place shown on the original plan. The fliers got a
surveyor out who took several zillion measurements before pronouncing:

"He's absolutely right. It should be two metres nearer to his house...".

 

I notice that even though Thames Trains is no more, their old stations
are still using that annoying bitch's voice for the announcements.

Last time I live next to a station, this is.

 

Thats nearly my parents except for the fact that a) it
wasn't expensive as it was "in need of renovation" and b) Dad
is quite happy living within the sound of Brands and can even
tell you the capacity of the bikes being raced by the noise they make


He also enjoys seeing the vast parade of bikes overtaking him
in his electric buggy.

Oh - and they get some free tickets every year..

Phil.

--
Phil Launchbury, Network & Infrastructure PHB
Triumph Tiger 955i
"I'm training the bats who live in my cubicle
to juggle mushrooms"
Remove sick person to email me

 

You'll stop hearing it soon. I used to live next to Plymouth station
and sorting office [0], in a wanky student house with ricky,
ill-fitted single-glazing well past its sell-by date. After a couple
of months I'd forgotten all about it.

[0] 21 Central Park Avenue. If any lurkers live there now - is there
any post for me?

 

Yes, FGW seem to have missed a trick there somewhere...
In some stations (like mine) announcer says "FGW Link" - but the trains are
all still green.

Other stations, eg Slough, they've re-branded the station, but the
announcement is still "Thames Trains".

That said, having travelled on one on Friday, there was a distinctly higher
level of service (ie there was someone on the train checking tickets) then
previously.

Didn't stop kids throwing rocks at the train though. Bless etc etc.

 

Twas slightly tongue in cheek

That said, we have the GW Preservation Society near us and for me, the sound
(and sight) of a steam train chuffing away is lovely.

However my area is high traffic it seems in terms of houses being sold
(people cashing in) so I reckon it won't be long before
somone complains.

 

It doesn't really bother me anymore. We always have the window open at
night (my farts can be evil) and the xx.40 goods trains act as a handy
aural clock. The 125s can be a bit noisy, though.

TT really ramped up the ticket inspections just before their franchise
ended. Screwing the last few quid out of the system, I suppose. Haven't
seen any inspectors at all since First took over.

Her Majesty's South indeed! ObOtherThread, saw four teenage girls
sitting on the bench outside McDoos in MH high street the other
day, the one on the end holding a baby. Chav Valley or wot!

 

Saw that on news 24 yesterday. Absolutely amazing sight.