I hate

How good/bad flashing lights are can be context-specific and also dependent on just how bright the light is and what kind of flash cycle it has. I used to do regular long-distance night rides (as opposed to the TNRC/WNKR evening rides) and we'd always ask people to put their rear lights in steady mode, not flash. There were always a few people who ignored that request and those people were cunts.

Flashing lights are subjectively brighter even when they're not objectively brighter (and they're often objectively brighter at the peak of the flash cycle). The eye/brain of the riders behind don't adapt the same way they do to steady light, so the vision of those riders is impaired.

Us: "Please put those on steady."

Them: "But we want to be more visible!"

Us: "You're making everything less visible for us."

Them: "We don't care."

Cunts.

People who ride around this city with bright flashing front lights also cunts. Very bright but not flashing? Marginally less of a cunt. Bright/distracting enough to make oncoming drivers/riders squint isn't smart. There are combinations of brightness and flash cycle that don't do this.

I mostly agree, on group rides all our tail lights are on steady generally.
I ride with comparatively weak lights, especially on the front, so it’s always flashing unless we’re on a dark trail, in which case I have to ride slower anyway. And when we ride together we ride sloooow.

Bottom line for me, and IMO city riding generally, you need lights and reflective gear to be seen, not to see, so it’s not necessary to have space lasers on your bike - I haven’t ridden rurally in years.

Those are examples from a bike riders point of view knowing other bikes are around.
From a car drivers point of view flashing light=bike =not background clutter.

Indeed, my lights for a London commute were a very different setup to the lights I'd use on a long distance ride.

On Paris-Brest-Paris (1200km Audax) flashing rear lights were specifically banned in the regulations, and marshals would stop people leaving controls (and en route) if they spotted any. I think this was mostly due to the fact that it was easier to mandate "no flashing" than the ideal goal of "flashing but not obnoxious".

For visibility bright things that move about a lot catch the eye better than fixed lights (as in fixed mounting, they could be steady or flashing or both). It's one of the reasons I used to use Shimano Click'r SPD pedals on my bikes as they have built in reflectors (and are double sided, single sided SPDs are a pain). I'd also double up with some retro-reflective 'slapwrap' ankle straps as the retro-reflective bits on the backs of my SPD shoes weren't that great (but still helped).

Pedal reflectors are surprisingly visible and there are many times I've been driving out in the sticks and passenger/driver has said "what are those weird lights moving around way up ahead?". I'd instinctively marked it as a cyclist but plenty of non-cyclist drivers don't recognise them from a great distance and this can be a good thing.

Of course, there's nothing much you can do for someone in a car behind you that just thinks "Fucking wanker cyclist ahead, I'll close pass them to teach them a lesson." There but for the grace of the Sky Fairy go I.

My lights quite bright.
Both are on solid.
My hands and shoes are reflective and Ive put some handy strips on my bike too.

I confess the rest of me is black with small reflective details.

The strips on my frame have made the biggest difference.

I hate helmet lights, there was a law about not having them above 1.4m wasnt there?

I think the law is that the bike must have lights below that (or maybe 1.5m) but that doesn’t mean you can’t have extra ones above.

I think youre right, I remember looking it up triumphantly before realising (sheepishly) it disproved my argument, within the past year.

Fairy lights on bikes are very good though

Yes they are!

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That I can't seem to put the dishes away. Washing them isn't the issue, can't stand dirty dishes piled up or in a bowl.

Rather, they sit there on the draining rack I just can't seem to get the job over the line.

See also dishwashers I imagine but at least they're out of sight. Much wringing of hands and dish towels..

Save money on cabinets, get two dishwashers side by side. take dish from the clean one, eat, put in the other one.

Also Ken Block. And his Just Ain't Care chat. I'm sure he's a nice chap but I have a hate on for him of late.

I live alone and do this too, everything I need is always on the draining rack

Also live alone, wonder if it's a 'are you putting those dishes away thing?' you know because no-ones there to nudge, so you're all like, whatever.

Also, white dish towels. Fuck sake. They end up needing bleached to revive them. Dark grey from now on, like my empty soul.

I used to love doing that when I was single. One big bowl in constant cereal - wash - rack - dinner - wash -rack rotation. Beautiful efficiency.

I would like a 20 minute window in which to enjoy my clean kitchen before my wife wanders in and tornadoes shite all over the place.
You don’t know what you don’t have until it’s there.

That's the inverse of my house.
Come home to find MrsDeth has cleaned and tidied the kitchen.
I admire it and then proceed to unload pockets and bag over the clear peninsula and ruin the aesthetic.

you are my gf.

I go to tremendous lengths to ensure there's a place to keep everything in our place tidy and yet every time I enter the living room there's a coat on the arm of one sofa, a backpack in the middle of the floor, phone & earbuds chucked on the side table and laptop on one sofa, tray she eats her dinner off of on the other. cushions piled up in the prime spot for watching the tv. we have a giant ottoman (125cm square) and when she's done putting her feet up on it it'll be kicked away from the sofa pushed by one corner so it's askew enough to not line up with anything in the room.

every time I use that room I have to tidy it up before I can even sit down.

after 10 months of asking her continually to not leave her shoes directly in the way of opening the front door as I have to move them to answer the door every single fucking time, I got a small shoe rack to go in the closest spot that doesn't prevent the door from opening and the very next day there's a pair of fucking wellies stuck behind the door again. FFffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu... "well they don't fit in that rack". I then put them by the back door and said if I smash my arm into the door again trying to enter the house because it can only open halfway she'll be able to find them in the garden next time.

as for the kitchen, I setup a full size dish rack above the sink for plates, cups and cutlery with the rack on the draining board for large items like pans/tupperwares. can guarantee if i need something though it wont be on the easy to access top rack it will be buried by the mountain of shite on the draining board necessitating moving 3 pans, a cutting board, some precariously balanced glass object all ran through like some kitchen version of kerplunk with the utensil handles jabbed through the slightest gaps. I'll save the fact there's always a half empty bottle of water in the middle of the countertop and she doesn't wipe up the water after washing down the side so it's perpetually covered in puddles of sink water.

apparently I'm the messy one though.

I think you need help.

Do you reckon there's a chance you haven't processed the stresses of lockdown fully yet? 😬

fuck off, I put a lot of effort into making our home a nice place to live, I'm just asking to be met 80% of the way in return.

this past week alone I spent 4 mornings and evenings getting our place tidy, organised and decorated for christmas while my gf was on holiday because she's hosting 6 of her friends on the 10th for a "friends christmas", I replaced the coat rail under the stairs because my gf had jammed 12 heavy coats on there and it collapsed under the weight so I put up a nice freestanding one to keep our day to day coats on and made a space for a heavier duty rail in the wet room by the back door (about 5m away) to hold the rest, I got the shoe rack to tidy up the hallway and keep the door clear because it was literally stopping me from using the front door properly, I cleared space under the stairs to store bags where they don't have to be moved every time to sit down. I purchased a whole bunch of new things for the kitchen to improve the decor and handle the mess it generates based on our daily useage.

the place is spotless, tidy and well organised. pardon me if I think it's a bit shitty to just dump your shit wherever you feel like it ignoring the hard work your partner has put into making it look like that.

it's frankly quite fucked up that you're suggesting I have mental health issues because I'm asking for literally the smallest amount of consideration to help keep the house tidy so I don't have to constantly move random shit out of my way every time I want to sit down or use the kitchen.

M8. Are u dating my wife?

If you are aiming that at me, I wasn't suggesting you had mental health issues at all and I apologise if it came across like that.

But clearly there is an imbalance in your relationship about what constitutes an acceptable living environment and if your efforts to address that with your girlfriend are proving to be unsuccessful, then you need some outside assistance to help. Otherwise it will have a negative impact on your relationship that will continue until it is addressed.

Joshing aside, I massively feel you here. It’s not your mental health at all, it’s 100% normal to be cross when you don’t feel considered and respected.

It took us a long time and many teary chats to get to our compromise, but we did. I reckon your 80/20 is a good aim. We’re probably 70/30 now, I’ve managed to really not mind doing the 30% that doesn’t bother her and she appreciates that.

Don’t watch Marriage Story, it starts with a messy kitchen and ends badly.

Threads for complaining about the cold * being spam.

• favourite hobby of mine.