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04-07-2009, 20:59
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#76
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Homer, AK is my home port
Boat: Skookum 53'
Posts: 4,042
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Boracay,
I tried driving around in Taz, one time, but everybody was on the wrong bloody side of the road. Damn near killed me.
__________________
" Wisdom; is your reward for surviving your mistakes"
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04-07-2009, 21:15
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#77
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Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Melbourne. OZ.
Boat: Dreaming
Posts: 69
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Boracay
We used to have silent cops here in Oz. They were the small (about 30cm dia.), yellow disks in the middle of intersections. You kept them on the right as you made a right hand turn.
Then some boffin realised that this put you right into the path of traffic coming from the opposite direction and also turning right.
So we got the "diamond turn". Seems to have now vanished from the collective consciousness.
Of course anyone planning on driving Oz should be fully up to speed on what is necessary. Much information can be found on various State Government websites.
List of State websites.
They still have hook turns in Melbourne. Very strange.
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Hi Boracay,
Not strange at all.
As much as I dislike trams in the suburbs, (if caught behind one),
The hook turn in the CBD works very well, and allows trams priority through the intersection.
You are obviously from that other Australian city.
Cheers
GW
__________________
"He has a Kangaroo loose in the top paddock":
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05-07-2009, 08:31
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#78
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Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: New Orleans
Boat: Nomoboat -- yay Gustav ;)
Posts: 248
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In Mexico they put speed bumps (called Topes) in the middle of 100kph highways. So there you are cruising along at 55-75 mph and about the time you can actually make out what the little yellow sign says BAM!! your suspension is screaming at you and you are clunking back down onto the pavement after watching everything in the cabin go airborne.
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05-07-2009, 08:32
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#79
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Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: New Orleans
Boat: Nomoboat -- yay Gustav ;)
Posts: 248
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Oh yeah, the signs for the speed bumps are right ON the speed bumps.
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05-07-2009, 19:15
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#80
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Registered User
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Nicholasville, Kentucky
Boat: 15 foot Canoe
Posts: 14,191
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Tao, did you say Southern California is as far southwest as you can travel?
Really?
JohnL
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05-07-2009, 19:29
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#81
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CF Adviser Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Montrose, Colorado
Posts: 9,845
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SkiprJohn
Tao, did you say Southern California is as far southwest as you can travel?
Really?
JohnL
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In the context of Mike Z's proposition that the people of the southwest say "y'all" and "all y'all," I pointed out that California was as far southwest as one could go, and you won't hear those terms here. I also pointed out that Hawai'i is the state further south than any other, Skipper John, so if you're heading down that path, I've already beaten you to it.
Interestingly enough, a great bar bet is to challenge someone to name the furthest north, south, east and west states, because the correct answer will easily elude the geographically illiterate. While Hawai'i is the state furthest south, the furthest north is Alaska, of course. But the state furthest west is also Alaska and the furthest east is . . . uh huh, also Alaska. These last two are by virtue of the fact that Alaska's Aleutian Islands straddle the International Date Line, the generally accepted line where east meets west.
Use that information, and have a beer (at someone else's expense) on me.
TaoJones
__________________
"Your vision becomes clear only when you look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks within, awakens."
Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961)
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05-07-2009, 19:35
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#82
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Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 82
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Quote:
Mike Z's proposition that the people of the southwest say "y'all" and "all y'all," I pointed out that California was as far southwest as one could go, and you won't hear those terms here.
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Actually, I heard those terms all the time living in the San Diego area. All those transplanted Okies, I suppose. (I am an Oklahoman by birth; Okie is not a term of derision.)
What I have NEVER heard is anyone refer to California as being part of "the Southwest."
Mike
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05-07-2009, 19:41
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#83
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Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 82
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Quote:
Originally Posted by drew.ward
In Mexico they put speed bumps (called Topes) in the middle of 100kph highways. So there you are cruising along at 55-75 mph and about the time you can actually make out what the little yellow sign says BAM!! your suspension is screaming at you and you are clunking back down onto the pavement after watching everything in the cabin go airborne.
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My experience exactly. And you can also be zipping down a highway and suddenly, with NO previous warning, there are sawhorse-type barriers across all lanes and the highway simply ends. Excellent reason to drive the "cuotas" or toll-roads instead of the regular highways. Expensive at times, but well worth the cost.
In Guatemala, by the way, the speed bumps are called tumelos.
Mike
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05-07-2009, 19:56
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#84
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Ohio
Boat: Now boatless :-(
Posts: 11,580
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SkiprJohn
It's too hard to describe the pidgin that is commonly spoken here. Its a smattering of different languages and very sloppy English all rolled into one. "Howzit bra?" and "Bumbye" are good examples. Of course how is it brother? is recognizable but by and by becomes "Bumbye."
J
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We did more than a few nights at friends houses when we lived in Hawaii. One morning after I was nursing a splitting headache. My wife thought it was the alcohol when in fact it was from concentrating so hard to keep up with the pidgin all night.
We had a good laugh and she told me what her office mate said as my wife was about to sit on a cardboard box in the office.
"Don't go stay there. That box got no more nothin' inside."
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05-07-2009, 20:20
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#85
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CF Adviser Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Montrose, Colorado
Posts: 9,845
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeZ
Actually, I heard those terms all the time living in the San Diego area. All those transplanted Okies, I suppose. (I am an Oklahoman by birth; Okie is not a term of derision.)
What I have NEVER heard is anyone refer to California as being part of "the Southwest."
Mike
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Whatever you've heard, Mike, Southern California is very much a southwestern state - geographically, certainly, and in terms of climate. It is that thin strip that pushes up against the coast that is a world unto itself. Without a doubt, that area contains the preponderance of California's population, and as one gets closer to the water, the prices go up exponentially and there are significant socio-economic differentiations over a distance of as little as a few miles. This doesn't even begin to address the Northern California / Southern California differences (which are profound), so it's foolish to try to compartmentalize and label California in any single way - it is simply too diverse.
It's good to know that an Okie doesn't regard "Okie" as a term of derision - you probably haven't heard it used in a sentence the way I have. My brother married an Okie, and when her family and friends gather and get comfortable, it's like being trapped in a Hee Haw rerun - but without the benefit of a mute button.
And, once again, I would point out that California, especially San Diego, is almost overrun with military personnel, many of whom are from the south. So while you may hear "y'all" and "all y'all" come from people there, you probably won't notice the non-southerners cringing as the Good Ol' Boys converse.
TaoJones
__________________
"Your vision becomes clear only when you look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks within, awakens."
Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961)
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05-07-2009, 20:39
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#86
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Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: New Orleans
Boat: Nomoboat -- yay Gustav ;)
Posts: 248
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Ok down boys, down
Either way, from a true linguistic stance California is just as full of accents, dialects, poor grammar, (and yes) y'alls as any other place in the country. California is another one of those places though where most natives will adamantly swear that people from there have no accent.
Now...'bout them thar fereners...
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05-07-2009, 22:21
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#87
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Eastern Tennessee
Boat: Research vessel for a university, retired now.
Posts: 10,406
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In Romania, when someone flashes their high beams at you it means there is a police radar trap ahead of you.
In Romania the light switches for a room are just outside of the room. It took me a while to get used to turning on the light switch before entering the room...which actually makes more sense.
__________________
David
Life begins where land ends.
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05-07-2009, 22:24
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#88
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Eastern Tennessee
Boat: Research vessel for a university, retired now.
Posts: 10,406
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Quote:
Originally Posted by drew.ward
Ok down boys, down
Either way, from a true linguistic stance California is just as full of accents, dialects, poor grammar, (and yes) y'alls as any other place in the country. California is another one of those places though where most natives will adamantly swear that people from there have no accent.
Now...'bout them thar fereners...
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Like, now wait a minute! You mean like Southern Cali...fer shure?
The first time I heard a valley girl accent was my girlfriends room mate in college. I asked her if she was from Australia. She had no idea what the hell I was talking about. My girlfriend later had to explain the accent to me. There is also the surfer dude accent, where "dude" is incorporated into every other sentence....which I just don't hear in Northern California.
__________________
David
Life begins where land ends.
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06-07-2009, 02:22
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#89
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Caribbean
Boat: Jeanneau 57
Posts: 2,269
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeZ
...There's y'all -- the correct singular form of the vulgar you.
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Reminds of the late great George Carlin describing the etymology and proper usage of the word "****" in American (the Irish would use "*****" [rhymes with "might"]).
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06-07-2009, 06:21
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#90
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Orlando, FL
Boat: PDQ 32 DogHouse
Posts: 608
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I happen to be left handed and have found out that some parts of the world aren't used to that.
In a Turkish restaraunt I was asked to leave for "offending the other customers" It appears that the right hand is for eating and greeting while the left hand is for cleaning yourself later.
In Jamaica I was informed by an old lady that I was "of the Devil" for writing with my left hand.
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