Maffi, the rant and the dog sh**t
I get bored of rants and people harping on about the way things should be and aren’t, particularly when they sit there complaining and doing very little about it. I also get fed up with the self justification and diatribe people come out with when you suggest, for example, that perhaps wearing black on their push bike isn’t the best option, especially when I am only mentioning it because their wife makes nice puddings and I nearly ran them over.
I have a rant filter… it is linked to my hackles and then I go deaf. I was born with it and then developed it over decades– I have a similar response when people shout at me, although the hackles don’t always come out and I tend to just go deaf (that is when I don’t get the giggles).
Maffi rants. We all know he rants. Last week in his Meldrew-Syndrome post he suggested we should all change the world by starting with the little things. I thought I would wait and see what he actually does. Too many people rant and don’t do anything. It is all very well ranting about something on a blog, but that is not the proper median. To be fair to Maffi he does actually drop a line to BW, or to the council about things, and the council (or even BW) do do something about it and he doesn’t even shout at them.
So, he said he was going to do something about the dog poo bin. I asked him what he did with his day yesterday, and he said he popped into the council offices to mention that that bin was being left out. (when he puts it like that, I am almost inclined to join the association for protection against the loneliness of dog poo bins). Last night we were walking home together and I was wondering whether I would take Boot’s latest offering home with me, or balance it on the top or around the side of the bin. As it happens there was no need. The bin had been emptied.
I could almost join in on this grande campaign, but as I have a spokesman so close to me I wonder whether I could put my bid in for a couple of things
1. arnco piling between the jolly boatman and the highwayman
2. flood prevention under the railway bridge so I don’t get my shoes wet when I forget to take my wellies on a walk.
3. A system whereupon a generator spontaneous combusts when run after 8pm and before 8am
4. soundproofing between the road and my moorings
O.K. so I am being silly, but it goes to show that asking sometimes makes it happen. I wonder where Maffi got all the contact details of those who represent this area.
posted by MortimerBones at
1:14 PM
10 Comments:
So why not "actually drop a line to BW," (which is honourable) & drop the rant too? (Which is horrible).
1. Armco pilling would bring forth a plethora of boaters with generators.
2. Already written about that one http://www.fixmystreet.com/P/BLnNTmAZmAHUEEGXwD
3. Agree but there would be more if No1. was imlemented.
4. Speak up I cant hear you!
If you use the link in No2 above it ends with a capital 'D' after the lowercase 'w'
HEth - I wasn't aware I was ranting.
Bones, I don't believe you were ranting, you appeared to be defending Maffi who like you said does frequently rant. Maybe I should've made that clearer...
My first comment included a fair question for Maffi himself, who was the subject of your post...
It hasn't been answered, just avoided, but never mind, apart from the info I've been asked to "Speak up I can't hear you!" I'm not afraid to give my opinion & have done so in a reasonable way, but I won't get involved in a point scoring argument.
Heth
Bones, I enjoy reading both your and Maffi's blog.
While I rant frequently on Pippin's blog about things that really annoy me, I do so in order to let off steam, not to get involved in a debate......
That said, I will defend Maffi's Right To Rant to the death, even though I rarely, if ever, agree with him.
Heth, Thank you for making it clear. I was sure I wasn't ranting - but now I understand! I wasn't defending Maffi at all, I was simply referencing his post as an example of how he did actually do something about the 'little things'. I decided to quote his post because I was rather surprised to find that he did anything about the dog poo bin AND that the council had paid attention to it. Whether I agree with him or not is not clear in the post I wrote, but I was pleased with the emptied dog bin.
I didn't realise that your question was directed at Maffi, which may explain why he didn't answer it as he may not have realised it was directed at him either. If you look at his comment here, he is commenting on my post, and the numbers relate to the things I said I wanted... number 4 refers to the soundproof barrier I would like between the road and the boat - and his response is 'speak up I can't hear you' implying the old joke about something being too loud... and in reference to my post.
His comment was not directed at you, but at my post!
I'm intrigued to know what "dog Sh**t" is. Shirt? Shunt? There aren't that many possibilities.
Hi Bones,
Phew, glad we got that sorted then, talk about wires crossed lol.
I really hope you can, between you sort out the problems you've highlighted in your area, but maybe the soundproofing issue may go unheard! (Groan).
I try to do the same for our area on my blog sometimes, I mean if I think it's worth it. I don't know if anyone at BW listens at all.
To be fair they are working on a lock near our marina that I'd highlighted as being unsafe (it was) & a week later they were here assessing it.
The way I did it was to take photos of all the probs with the lock, post them & make sure I typed "British Waterways" in full a couple of times in the post itself.
It's just a thought that highlighting issues at their worst with photos might be a good idea.
It's a sad fact at the mo, with all the under funding, last year they worked on locks 1&2 here, but didn't sort a major problem with the paddle gear, hence one side is still chained to the ground & unusable! (Of course it would be a deep lock too). So unfortunately we don't have much confidence in the work they're carrying out at the mo.
Bones, it's been nice talking to you (directly) for the first time!
H
I know this is very old news, but I feel that people are entitled to rant if only they actually DO something. If you're not going do anything but sit & make a fuss, shut up, if you complain AND do something about the problem, go ahead, and can I make a list too?
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