2015.06.06 01:00 - training wheels

The Guardian for this meeting was Wol Euler...

Qt Core: Good morning Wol
Wol Euler: buongiorno, qt
Qt Core: today started good, awoke at 6am, on my bicycle by 7:10, did a 53 minute ride... and my gps say i did an outstanding distance of 0.1 km...
Wol Euler cheers!
Qt Core: funny things today i was really interested in the distance, while i'm usually interested only on time
Wol Euler: poor GPS got confused in the heat
Qt Core: :-)

--BELL--

Qt Core: in these past days tech (in many form) failed me
Wol Euler: at that speed snails would have been going past you. How did you keep your balance on the bike?
Qt Core: invisible training wheels
Wol Euler: ah :)
Qt Core: i vividly remember the day my dad took away the training wheels from my bicycle... how fastesr i could go... so much that my last brake was so strong my rear wheel exploded
Wol Euler laughs.
Wol Euler: oh dear
Wol Euler: that would be memorable
Wol Euler: were you hurt?`
Qt Core: no, it is an happy memory
Qt Core: (even if i was a little angry with him as he didn't ask my opinion ;-)
Wol Euler: I remember being afraid when my bike lost its training wheels
Wol Euler: unsure whether I would be able to control it
Qt Core: i think mine were a little bended as sometimes they didn't touch the street, so i was already not using them in the last weeks
Wol Euler: perhaps your father was being sneaky?
Qt Core: to be honest i never got hurt on my bicycle, i risked it often and big, but never got hurt
Wol Euler: nor I, fortunately

--BELL--

Qt Core: but those risks made me decide not to try/own a bike of any kind/size, even if the new three/four wheel models... (one of the few teens that never asked for a moped :-) )
Wol Euler smiles.
Qt Core: for years there was one guy working at a firm near my office coming from the same area than me using a quite old moped, i noticed that we passed each other a few time each day and in the end arrive at the office at the same time
Wol Euler nods.
Wol Euler: you were on a bicycle?
Qt Core: I was on my car, we spent the same time but he was always on the move, while i was stuck in traffic
Wol Euler: ah
Wol Euler: and yet arrived at the same time!
Qt Core: yes, i may be a little more stressed, but thinking about january and august temps...
Wol Euler nods.
Qt Core: he was always on that moped (while there are many people around using their motirbikes of every kind and size only from may to november)
Wol Euler: as sensible people do. Fancy riding a bike in midwinter

Qt Core: now if people on motorbikes and bicycles (me included) would remind that the street laws apply to them/us too... ;-)
Qt Core: there was a poll, now at least 20 years old, here in italy that showed that 80% of people using bicycles thought that street laws did not apply to them
Wol Euler smiles.
Wol Euler: well, there is a popular belief outside Italy that Italian car drivers think that too :)
Qt Core: ;-)
Wol Euler: it seems to be universal, actually
Wol Euler: given the ads in German papers and internet for lawyers specializing in challenging speeding fines

--BELL--

Qt Core: that hasn't happened yet here in italy, as these challenges go to "lawyer-free" courts, the so called "Giudice di pace" (Peace judge)
Qt Core: i wonder about all those people challenging speed tickets and how i never got one even if deserving many
Wol Euler: I really cannot see any honest person challenging one
Wol Euler: what, was somebody sitting beside you holding a gun to your head?
Wol Euler: if not, then you chose to speed. So put on your big-boy pants and pay the damn fine
Qt Core: and that make me wonder about how effective the fight against it (and the myth of one of the street i speed almost daily being heavy surveiled)
Wol Euler: surveillance doesn't solve it. Radar speed control -- with photo that clearly shows the face of the driver -- is what these lawyers specialize in challenging
Qt Core: (the only reasin to challenge a ticked is... it wasn't my car there at that time)
Qt Core: i think we don't have that issue, it goes to the owner of the car, he may say someone else (stating who) was driving... don't know how we avoid them telling random names)
Wol Euler: I assume that the name is checked`?
Wol Euler: and if there's no such person, then the owner lied to the court and faces a huge fine (or would in Germany)
Qt Core: probably, but then who to believe ? the owner or the supposed driver ?

Wol Euler: fine them both! heheheh
Qt Core: ;-)
Wol Euler: says the lifelong pedestrian
Wol Euler: this is what's so good about the German radar cameras. The photo is crystal-clear, there is absolutely no possible doubt about whose face is at the wheel

--BELL--

Qt Core: it was my evil twin!
Wol Euler: oh really? Where's his birth certificate? His drivers license? His school records?
Wol Euler: nope
Wol Euler grins.
Qt Core: but still if i had one...
Wol Euler: hehehe
Wol Euler: if you had one, and if you could prove that he was in the same city at that time, and if nobody else could prove that he was elsewhere at that time, then maybe :)
Qt Core: ok, i have my sister reminding me we have to go out to spend (a lot of) money today
Wol Euler: heheheh
Wol Euler: enjoy the day and the money, qt
Wol Euler: and no speeding!
Wol Euler grins.
Qt Core: ;-) i'll try, bye Wol, have fun
Wol Euler: thanks :)