Cities fit for Cycling : Comments to the " TIMES " , difficulties abound !

This may not surprise you ! During the period of the " Cities fit for Cycling " campaign , i have virtually daily tried to find the way to leave " comments " on The Times particularly encouraging people to read my blogs which are a series of articles on " Cycling and Road Safety matters " !

So far i have " pledged Support for the Campaign and even put the " Logo " on each blog , in the prime position ! Further i have commented to other well known Blogs to give the " Logo detail" so that they can copy and Paste to their blogs !

Reading : http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyclesafety/article3309117.ece i see that it is not updated since the 4th Feb !

Some occasions whilst attempting to reach the " Comments " or the intro point to leave a Story , i get a box asking for £ 2 a month , guess what !
the times are seeking to turn this Campaign to their financial benefit !

Another time i saw that only those registered with the Times can access the " Stories " !

Perhaps someone will assist me to get my Point of View across since i am in Austria on a low Broadband access ( 16bits/sec ) and seeing the same story in a round the houses series is totally frustrating !

My blogs can be found by Googling : " Parrabuddy & Skippydetour " as can my Twitter.com/skippydetour and Farcebook " Skippy Mc Carthy "!

Please recommend my blogs to others since i am a supporter of " Adaptive Sport " and wish to see the roads become SAFER for ALL !

In conclusion i would add that  only 77 MPs attending the debate is an OUTRAGE !

Where and WHY were the remaining 500 + that were in good health and no doubt claiming " expenses " for their " Duties " yesterday ?




TO THE “TIMES ” , this is the normal situation i experience !

Visiting your paper to add comment results in frustration !

Visited the following page:

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyclesafety/article3327435.ece

On there is a box that says : “ Follow stories about “ Cities fit for Cycling” , clicked on and arrived at :

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/

Went to “ Most read “ clicked on :

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyclesafety/article3329890.ece

Went there and clicked on :

“ Post your Comments “ and arrived at :

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyclesafety/contact/

Back to the start so to speak , but then got to a box which announced a demand to pay £ 2 for access to “ The TIMES “ ! cancelled that box and went to :

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyclesafety/

From there I went to :

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyclesafety/contact/

Around and around the houses we go , where we are going , nobody knows !


WAKE UP " TIMES " personnel , Smell the roses !

YOU ARE RUNNING A SAFETY CAMPAIGN for Cyclists !

Not selling your On line services on the back of others misfortunes are you ? If you are , then , SHAME ON YOU !

This is one of the “ Box Ads ” !



The Times and The Sunday Times on your terms

Join and enjoy access to:
Latest news, comment and analysis from
The Times and The Sunday Times
The Times and The Sunday Times Tablet
editions and smartphone app
Times+ benefits worth over £100 every month


Cost me a couple of Megabytes to discover this , but I did not get to the story I had clicked on !

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/thunderer/The Times,

Do they really think I or others , are going to PAY for their opinion ?

Indistinct under the “ Sell Box ” was a newsy page , something other than the item I was seeking ! You think I want to look at something other than the item I clicked on and THEN PAY ?

PAPER.Li the self Publishing Nightmare

WANT to start your own Newspaper ? Paper.li claims to be the answer ! From my point of view I thought it would be similar to the blog setup . Not so , it has frustrated me for over a month . I originally thought to combine all the blogs from Paralympian , Olympic , Sports and Occupy Movement areas into ONE all inclusive destination , so that when I clicked on I would have a plethora of stories to choose from .

All I have achieved to date is source a variety of items from the “ Occupy Movement ” ! whilst I am happy that I get something , I called this creation “ PARRABUDDY ” for a reason and not “ occupy ” which is what it appears to be at present .

Many weeks ago I put a comment on the front page requesting help well after I had appealed to “ ATL ” the cycling item that occasionally tweets me to say that he has used an item from my many sources and to date there has been no response . Of course I have been to “ paper.li’s help centre ” but even there they refer you to “ tutorials ” that appear not to work ! Now I readily admit that I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer BUT I rarely have trouble with running my blogs . All my knowledge there comes from “ blogger help centres ” and whilst I get no comments and followers in recent times I am able to successfully post whatever I create .

Here are a few of the comments I have sent into paper.li :


Original Comment

“ My blog.paper.li http://paper.li/f-1319968699
When setting up a month ago i was able to get " Occupy" items but all the Paralympic Sports and Ski , Cycle , Rowing , Olympic are despite huge amounts of effort not getting into the paper !
At 66yo i am prepared to learn new tricks BUT with 6 blogs working quite well THIS has been an exercise in frustration !
Should you be able to sort the issues i will persevere BUT it looks like the " CAN " if there is much more of this aggro !
From this set of comments i have been able to open favourites and on my paper there is the RHS box saying rightclick and then i left click on " add to favourites " and so up comes a box with " Parrabuddy" in it , so far i do not see “ parrabuddy" in the list but when i repeat the procedure this box then tells me " do i wish to overwrite "
Whilst writing this comment the computer has used 30MB , yours is the only site open so one comment has cost me the day’s allowance , I know it’s NOT YOUR FAULT but this has happened whilst I am on 16bit/sec D/load ! And the comment has not gone through because of the low usage rate !
Tried various options to comment thru :
http://blog.paper.li/2011/10/publish-it-new-way-to-publish-articles...
NONE WORKED and lost many more days of MB ! Thanks ! Do I Need THIS AGGRO ?
NO WAY JOSE !
Fact is GOOD RIDDANCE !!
Dec-05 2011 21:42.


Again !


SO far i see no reply to my comment even though i have refreshed this page several times !
Had this been my product i would have gone out of my way to solve some of the issues !
Obviously YOU CHOOSE NOT TO HELP ! NO point my thinking any other than this is a rubbish product that those working with it wish that i and the " Disabled Community " go away ! ”
Dec-06 2011 12:55.




2nd comment from me

“ SO far i see no reply to my comment even though i have refreshed this page several times !
Had this been my product i would have gone out of my way to solve some of the issues !
Obviously YOU CHOOSE NOT TO HELP ! NO point my thinking any other than this is a rubbish product that those working with it wish that i and the " Disabled Community " go away ! ”
Dec-06 2011 12:55.



Reply by Paper.li staff

Hi all,
please excuse the delay of our response. Could you please all submit a ticket (http://support.paper.li/tickets/new), we can better help you then for your individual issues.
Thank you in advance and best regards,
Birgit
Dec-06 2011 13:09


3rd comment from me :


“ WELL Birgit i have tried that !
MORE WASTED MB s , so you can BE PROUD of AVOIDING WORK !
Intellectually disabled ? I AM TRYING to help the " Para Athletes ! THose that aspire to the " Paralympics in London 2012 " , not sure where or when the " Special Olympics are taking place . Wasted too many MB on paper.li to google this for YOUR BENEFIT ! ”
Dec-07 2011 10:47.



Can’t say that I have endeared myself to them BUT it appears they do not wish to help . That being the case I will let the matter lapse and who loses ? Spent 15 seasons trying to get the word out to help “ Para Sports Athletes ” get sponsors and I know that there are many creating their own blogs BUT unless people tell the general public about them , those authors will be talking to their family , friends and fellow competitors rather than outside parties discovering them and asking their contacts to assist in creating more “ Sponsorship ”!

Recently I came across www.637daystogo.blogspot.com and I have mentioned him on Fat cyclist a couple of times to see if those 55k+ readers worldwide would find an interest in helping an Irish Paralympian . As yet I haven’t heard from Colin Lynch but when I try to leave comment on his blog the Blog tells me that it can not post as I have no connection to my own blogs ! Could be that my readers are having the same problems in leaving comments to my blog . Those wishing to contact me can use email skippi@ausi.com which will help me show “ blogger ” that there is a problem .

FRIENDS ON FACEBOOK !

Helping others is so far down the priority list of my 700+ friends that I have only seen one response to the request to visit the blog post of June 2011 where I tried to stimulate interest in the 2012 Para Games in London !

Conti 4000s Road race tyres cost Euro 44 or so each and are perhaps the best available on the current market . Now I can see that asking people to take the time to look at the blog post is a bit of an ask but with only 500 characters allowed in the “ What’s on your mind “ I thought there would be many “friends “ that could find the link therein and then after a read even do me the courtesy of telling me how to make the proposed “ Competition “ more interesting . Not something I have done before so willing to listen to constructive comments and suggestions !

What I had hoped to achieve by this project was generate a list of “ Para Athlete Blog Sites “ from a variety of countries which would allow those interested in the Paralympic Games to follow their progress as they prepared to represent their country and achieve success in their chosen sport .

Having hoped for a better response I now will delay for another week activating this project . Had there been better response I would have spoken about this with the media at the “ World Championship Road Races “ in Copenhagen .

NOT EXPECTING 700+ visits to the blog post BUT

DON’T

leave it until tomorrow or neglect to tell your “ Friends “ to visit ! Of course I could use more support on Twitter also @Skippy detour !

WHEN A COP SAYS STOP !

Spent the last three days reading a “ Bicycling Magazine ( http://www.bicycling.com/news/advocacy/when-cop-says-stop ) ” article about an Ohio case where two cyclists were stopped and one was “ Tased “ ! Over 11 pages this article went into some detail as to the happenings on that occasion . Suffice to say that the L aw E nforcement O fficer started off by acting incorrectly and now this matter will be finally settled in a Civil Court Action which will cost the Ohio State a LOT of money !

Some interesting points were raised about the way that Ohio Law operates and the behaviour of the people involved in this case but I am sure that the story could have been told more concisely . What is clear is that a L E O can order you to stop and the best result is that YOU STOP ! The grounds they have to Order you to stop may be a “ figment of their imagination ” but you won’t know this until after the interview has concluded . Whether there was a justification for the order does not matter since they are in the uniform and as citizens we are obliged to respect the uniform and the Laws of the Land . In reading the article it is clear that this particular L E O had not ordered a stop but he thought he had and thus an unfortunate incident occurred .

Considering my own behaviour as to the Police I have always found that complying with their requirements and going along with their assessment of a situation has resulted in minimising the incident . Confronting the L E O only digs them into their corner and thus they can become self righteous and seek to add justification for their behaviour and the outcome then becomes more abrasive for all concerned . Copping a ticket/citation is never a pleasure but then there is the opportunity to contact the authorities to have the matter resolved in a straight forward way rather than having to adjourn elsewhere either voluntarily or otherwise .

When on occasion I have been injured riding the bike I have had to refuse “ Hospitalisation “ because there was no provision for transporting the bike . How can you leave your property on the side of the road somewhere and expect to recover it later ? No way Jose ! Whatever is not “ Nailed down “ will get up and walk away since there are so many charming people out there only so willing to offer a new home to ANYTHING they chance upon of value ! In the article the two bikes were abandoned by the L E O ‘s and only chance saved the day ! So there is another reason to avoid creating a situation where you could lose control of your property .

Over the years of riding the various Cycle Tour routes I have come across so many different attitudes of the L E O ‘s involved in Policing these events . Generally they behave respectfully towards those who are out to ride the route but there have been cases where Juniors have been rigidly officious and I can think of several cases where when stopped I have been told the bike will be impounded if I try to leave the point where stopped . In most cases when stopped I will walk on till out of sight but when confronted with a “ Stand Here ” order it is hard to overcome . Usually I then look to enjoy the hospitality of those on the scene since they have seen the unreasonable behaviour . One occasion on the Tour de France I was given a sumptuous lunch with wine and when the Gendarme involved approached for water ( hoping for better) he was sent away to the local shop . One of the hosts chortled about his getting one back for me but as it turned out we were delayed beyond the “ 15 min prohibition period after the passing of the “ Broom Wagon “ regulation ! A bit of “ tit for Tat threre I think .

Reading the comments attached to the article it was easy to see that this was not there first time the article had been run and there was a series of exchanges in 2010 which could well have been left out since the two parties were too busy slanging each other to contribute value to the debate . From the initial comment by “ NoMoreSlowFiveO ” on 3/09/2010 to 14/09/2010 he responded repeatedly to comments by “ BadBadLeroyBrown ” . Hopefully when this article next appears these nonsenses will have been removed .

Tour de France does the Gendarmerie no favours by having these L E O standing in the same spot for most of the day , rarely in the shade on hot days and exposed to the elements in inclement weather . As to turning Public roads into “ Private Roads ” for the passing of “ Le tour ” one wonders why they cannot follow the example of the “ Tour de Suisse ” and thus not create the problems for the community that result at present . Whilst the Policing forces are busily occupied the criminal elements are having a field day not only badgering people and enterprises to “ BUY ” their nougat and plastic Drapue but perhaps other crimes such as burgularising empty homes and stealing bikes and bike parts and breaking into unattended cars . Of course these activities take place elsewhere but then the response is so much quicker and positive investigation and not a “ incident no ” that will be the outcome when you report to the Insurance Co. your loss in an area where the “ Le Tour ” has visited .

POSTED by Posterous as Blogger continues to give problems !

CYCLING NEWS FORUM

AFTER posting my comment to Cycling News Forum I received a few comments which I immediately sent through to the Blog Posting WITHOUT interference. Some of those posting to CNF suggest I interfered with these comments , they were of two types ,supporting me for an attempt to participate and another suggesting I read all 46 pages of the comments before joining in their discussion.

My comment went in on page 42 , below is the link:

http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?t=11579&page=42I copied the following comment because when you read it carefully you see that the phrase “Friends like these, who needs enemies” certainly applies !

Originally Posted by skippy 
So many comments to my attempt to join the thread that i felt it necessary to do a blog entry:
Some of you will enjoy reading my input others will take issue, please use the email address offered if you wish to debate.
Those that wish to pour more vitriol carry on as you usually would:

http://parrabuddy.blogspot.com/2011/01/laf-cnf-comments-and-statistics.html
I tried reading your blog entry. I'm not trying to deliberately insult you, but I found it painful to read. You start making a point, fail to finish, and then just move on to the next unfinished point. To put it mildly... You ramble.

I can see that you think that former Armstrong employees that sue are merely in it for the money. I can only think of one employee who sued Lance, and it was actually a countersuit. And the only reason he became persona-non-grata is because he found some "secret sauce" in Lance's cabinet and then failed to offer him an "All's cool". Perhaps Ms. Crow also discovered the same.

You probably are not aware of it, but the company you're keeping here is a diverse group. And by diverse, I mean people who have raced WITH Lance, worked FOR Lance, been friends OF Lance, etc. Not to mention the hordes of individuals here who personally have decades of experience in the peloton. We're not exactly idiots. We're not blind and if you think we're merely a bunch of angry losers, you're quite wrong. This is the best educated group of people I've ever encountered on the subject of doping, and I've been closely following the topic for 15 years now.

Perhaps the membership on this particular forum is a bit elitist for your tastes. I can understand that. But you'll have to do better than "Landis is a proven liar", because, quite Frankly, Landis' revelations are only news to us in the sense that an insider finally came clean. Everything he's said since May are things that we've long known about. And the case being built against Armstrong today? Quite Frankly, it probably will not depend on the credibility of Floyd Landis.

You've got a LOT of homework to do if you want to seriously challenge this group on the facts.



BotanyBay
View Public Profile
Send a private message to BotanyBay
Find all posts by BotanyBay


##418
##Today, 16:50 #






Not good at transferring material so hope this item has come out clear enough.

Page 46 had a few amusing items









These guys certainly have a sense of humour.

Last days there have been no further comments on this thread but i guess they have started up on another with the same old same old or "SSDD" !


Regrettably I am still awaiting emails from these people on how to comment to the threads that do get the job done.

Tried not to Ramble in this post !