| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10] | Off topic: Have you given up flying? Thread poster: Tom in London
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:35
Member (2008)
Italian to English
TOPIC STARTER
Baran Keki wrote:
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Like it or not, active travel just doesn't seem to work in the corporate world. But hey, we (stay-at-home translators) are housebound and doing our bit to the planet!
It works well here in London (a) because there is specialised clothing for cyclists - in all seasons - that deals with the sweat problem (which is worse in winter than in summer because we wear more clothes that absorb sweat). Anyone who is serious about cycling will be well informed about this (b) most employers in London now welcome and encourage cycling to work, and provide bike storage spaces, showers, and changing rooms where cyclists can change into their work clothes.
This is very common in most big (European) cities now. The only downside is that you don't want to be on the road when those thousands of cyclists are going home; they tend to be aggressive because they've been accumulating energy during the day and are full of ire about their sad, frustrating office jobs and have to burn it away.
As a translator who spends most of my time sitting on my a**e there's nothing I look forward to more than taking an hour off, getting on my bike, and going for a spin. It's elating - gives you a high - gets your adrenaline pumping and your endorphins humming and if you're lucky to be self-employed you can choose a quiet time of the day when there's less traffic. Cycling is good for your health!
[Edited at 2023-10-04 10:20 GMT]
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Daryo wrote:
You're confusing gimmicks and what really works.
Obviously, you have never seen how many tools (and the quantity of various materials) there is in an average tradesman's van.
I'm sure you would be thrilled to have a plumber coming on a bicycle to fix a flooding in your property and then having to go "back to base" (while your property keeps getting more and more flooded) to get the right tools because what can be carried around on a bicycle is very limited?
I imagine any self-respecting plumber would just turn the stopcock off if they didn't have the necessary parts in their basket. Anyway, I thought the average tradesperson's van was 90% filled with old coffee cups and sandwich wrappers?
It seems to be human nature to reject any change that might in the slightest way inconvenience us. It takes a real effort to look at the bigger picture.
We recently had many urban speed limits cut to 20mph in Wales to save lives. My favourite arguments against it were "our takeaways will get cold" and "it'll take me twice as long to drive to the gym".
Similarly, interpreters don't NEED to travel to umpteen states or countries. Nobody NEEDS to fly. We can choose not to. Just as we can choose to cook our own food or walk to the gym. Or not.
I would never have written "tradesperson" a few years ago but the world changes. Maybe the collective mindset on flying and driving will change in time, but it has a looooong way to go.
In the meantime, I think grand gestures and hectoring put people off rather than encouraging them.
| | | | Baran Keki 
Türkiye
Local time: 18:35
Member
English to Turkish
| That's a perfectly valid argument | Oct 5, 2023 |
Ice Scream wrote:
We recently had many urban speed limits cut to 20mph in Wales to save lives. My favourite arguments against it were "our takeaways will get cold".
Before you go all 'David Graeber' on me, hear me out: People gotta eat hot din-dins, and more importantly (and being a former kebabman meself) kebabmen gotta eat. It makes the world go around, you see... There's no sense upsetting the balance based off some unwarranted hipster notion of 'saving lives' (give us a break!) Plus there's something to be said about microwave ovens and global warming as well.
Good to see you alive and kicking mate.. I thought you was dead.
| | | | Maciek Drobka
Poland
Local time: 17:35
Member (2006)
English to Polish
+ ...
Ice Scream wrote:
(...)
We recently had many urban speed limits cut to 20mph in Wales to save lives. My favourite arguments against it were "our takeaways will get cold" and "it'll take me twice as long to drive to the gym".
(...)
Out of pure curiosity, were these also the most frequent arguments against the speed limit cut?
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| Rehabilitated | Oct 5, 2023 |
Maciek Drobka wrote:
Out of pure curiosity, were these also the most frequent arguments against the speed limit cut?
Lol, no. The most frequent objections were more pollution, more congestion and children who run out in front of cars should have been brought up to know better. Oh, and stuff about killer cyclists.
Baran wrote:
People gotta eat hot din-dins, and more importantly (and being a former kebabman meself) kebabmen gotta eat. It makes the world go around, you see... There's no sense upsetting the balance based off some unwarranted hipster notion of 'saving lives' (give us a break!) Plus there's something to be said about microwave ovens and global warming as well.
Imagine the guilt I felt earlier this morning when replacing the heating element in our oven. Well, I say oven. I should say one of our ovens. We have two. Three including the microwave. Imagine what Greta would say if she came round for tea.
Baran wrote:
Good to see you alive and kicking mate.. I thought you was dead.
Thank you. Alive but muzzled up like an American Bully XL for your safety.
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:35
Member (2008)
Italian to English
TOPIC STARTER | What do you mean? | Oct 5, 2023 |
Baran Keki wrote:
Before you go all 'David Graeber' on me.
What you you mean ? (I have attempted to read several things by David Graeber but found them full of holes and not interesting) - wasn't he some sort of cult leader?
[Edited at 2023-10-05 11:27 GMT]
| | | | | Anyone for Shrewsbury? | Oct 5, 2023 |
I am reminded of a passage from "The Machine Stops" a dystopian novel published by E.M.Forster back in 1909:
"Few travelled in these days, for, thanks to the advance of science, the earth was exactly alike all over. Rapid intercourse, from which the previous civilization had hoped so much, had ended by defeating itself. What was the good of going to Peking when it was just like Shrewsbury? Why return to Shrewsbury when it would all be like Peking? Men seldom moved their bodies; all ... See more I am reminded of a passage from "The Machine Stops" a dystopian novel published by E.M.Forster back in 1909:
"Few travelled in these days, for, thanks to the advance of science, the earth was exactly alike all over. Rapid intercourse, from which the previous civilization had hoped so much, had ended by defeating itself. What was the good of going to Peking when it was just like Shrewsbury? Why return to Shrewsbury when it would all be like Peking? Men seldom moved their bodies; all unrest was concentrated in the soul." ▲ Collapse
| | | | Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:35
Serbian to English
+ ...
| Show the way? | Oct 6, 2023 |
Ice Scream wrote: Daryo wrote:
You're confusing gimmicks and what really works.
Obviously, you have never seen how many tools (and the quantity of various materials) there is in an average tradesman's van.
I'm sure you would be thrilled to have a plumber coming on a bicycle to fix a flooding in your property and then having to go "back to base" (while your property keeps getting more and more flooded) to get the right tools because what can be carried around on a bicycle is very limited? I imagine any self-respecting plumber would just turn the stopcock off if they didn't have the necessary parts in their basket. Anyway, I thought the average tradesperson's van was 90% filled with old coffee cups and sandwich wrappers? It seems to be human nature to reject any change that might in the slightest way inconvenience us. It takes a real effort to look at the bigger picture. We recently had many urban speed limits cut to 20mph in Wales to save lives. My favourite arguments against it were "our takeaways will get cold" and "it'll take me twice as long to drive to the gym". Similarly, interpreters don't NEED to travel to umpteen states or countries. Nobody NEEDS to fly. We can choose not to. Just as we can choose to cook our own food or walk to the gym. Or not. I would never have written "tradesperson" a few years ago but the world changes. Maybe the collective mindset on flying and driving will change in time, but it has a looooong way to go. In the meantime, I think grand gestures and hectoring put people off rather than encouraging them.
Similarly, interpreters don't NEED to travel to umpteen states or countries.
And how would you know that? From personal experience of interpreting?
BTW, you surely know that it's perfectly possible to survive without electricity or running water? You volunteering to show the way?
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Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 17:35
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
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