Dull Men’s Club

[JNLister]

22 minutes ago, SuperBacon said:

Some of those are so dull they haven't embedded. They must be TOO dull.

Would it be too dull to point out most of those links are to channels, which don't embed, rather than to specific videos?

[Gus Mears]

Geoff is a great man. The original videos where they go to every UK station on a single trip is wonderful pre-sleep viewing (RIP Felix the cat).

The Dull Man YouTube series I would record if I ever won the Lottery or something would be staying at every Premier Inn round the UK - reviewing each room and doing some local tourist stuff, even if it's somewhere dismal. No one steal this licence to print money now I have posted it.

 

[SuperBacon]

4 minutes ago, JNLister said:

Would it be too dull to point out most of those links are to channels, which don't embed, rather than to specific videos?

Ah apologies. 

[TheBurningRed]

One video series my mate wanted to do was visit every service station in England but someone has beat him to it. He does have a top three favourite service stations as well as least favourites. So perfect for the dull men’s club. 

[JNLister]

28 minutes ago, Gus Mears said:

Geoff is a great man. The original videos where they go to every UK station on a single trip is wonderful pre-sleep viewing (RIP Felix the cat).

The Dull Man YouTube series I would record if I ever won the Lottery or something would be staying at every Premier Inn round the UK - reviewing each room and doing some local tourist stuff, even if it's somewhere dismal. No one steal this licence to print money now I have posted it.

 

https://www.youtube.com/@WalkWithMeTim has a bit of a headstart. He's unfortunately got the budget now to do fancy foreign hotels, but for a while it was just him going to British budget hotels, plus a period where he'd go to the worst rated Tripadvisor hotel in a city.

[JNLister]

An interesting/dull thing I've done recently is walk every street in my council ward (not all at once.) It's fairly easy to find which streets (see below), but there are rules, namely you don't have to literally walk every inch of pavement, but you do have to walk past a street sign (unless there isn't one), and you do have to walk far enough to see every house in the street. I've done my own ward and an adjacent one and am starting on a third. I did have a vague idea to do every street in my parliamentary constituency before it gets abolished at the next election, but that's a lot of streets and a big chunk of countryside/farms.

To find your ward's streets:

Go to https://maps.walkingclub.org.uk/admin/county-list.html

Find your country and then click on your council (could be a county area, could be a town/city).

Click on "Wards Map"

Find your ward on the map (if you don't already know it), then click on the name in the list just above the map.

You'll then get an OS map with the ward boundaries, though you can also switch to show them on Google Maps, Bing Maps or Open Streets.

[SuperBacon]

Now counting this as the only Dull Mens Club. The Facebook pages have gone to shit. 

[Keith Houchen]

4 minutes ago, SuperBacon said:

Now counting this as the only Dull Mens Club. The Facebook pages have gone to shit. 

We are the dull man’s dull man club. 

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

1 hour ago, JNLister said:

I did have a vague idea to do every street in my parliamentary constituency before it gets abolished at the next election, but that's a lot of streets and a big chunk of countryside/farms.

That's my council ward John. The ward has Rural in its name. Its not getting abolished, but if this flooding keeps spreading it might change to "On Sea"

[DavidB6937]

Train travel.

I have to commute to London twice a week. Much better than the five I used to do pre-COVID and yet somehow it still feels like a struggle.

Anyway I'm curious to know people's personal preferences.

I'll always stand in the same spot on the platform. It took a few weeks of trial and error in terms of working out:

a) a quiet part of the platform

b) a quiet carriage to get on so I always get a seat as you can't reserve them

So I've got that down and 99% of the time I do get a seat.

Curious on opinions here: if someone was there before you and the train door ends up in front of you and not them, do you let them on first or every person for themselves?

And then the most important thing.. which seat?

Ideally I get the seat against a wall in a set of 2 going backwards leaning towards the left. I sometimes sleep as it's a pretty early journey (I get up at 5am) and walls are more comfortable to lean on that windows.

Plus it minimises my chances of falling asleep on someone else. No one wants that. And if you sit in the aisle seat then if your head falls over enough you just get smacked by people walking through.

The left/backwards positions aren't essential but I'm very much a creature of habit so I try to go for the same seat every morning. And yes I'll be mildly annoyed if someone has sat in it despite there being no reservations. They should know better.

I actively avoid 4 seaters if I can. 6 seaters are the stuff of nightmares if you have to sit in the middle so I think I'd rather stand at that point. And I tried sitting in the luggage rack once but couldn't feel my arse after 15 minutes so I'm not doing that again.

I never work on the train. It's my quiet time. Occasionally I'll watch stuff but that's usually on the way home. I don't like to risk sleeping that way in case I miss my stop.

I used to even have a personal preference for type of train when they were running more than one, but now they've standardised it across all their routes.

And there ends my dull thoughts on train travel. Obviously this is all only relevant when the bastards are working properly and some days I'll just be grateful to get on one and get somewhere. Shitty infrastructure.

[BomberPat]

My girlfriend is an absolute savant for knowing where on the platform to wait so that we'll be nearer the exit when we arrive at our destination. Personally, I just try and find a bit of the platform that has fewer people waiting, and hope for a quiet seat.

I always aim for a two-seater, maybe three or four rows from the door. Near enough to allow for a quick exit, but far enough to hope that people are less likely to sit down next to me, as that's the main thing. I'll take a crap fold-down seat near the toilet if it's my best bet to be sat alone.

Likewise never work on the train. I'm all for working remotely, but commuting is commuting, and if anyone expects me to be working during that time they'll have to pay me for it., or count it as part of my shift. 

[MungoChutney]

In Helsinki they have screens on the platform that shows exactly where each carriage will stop as well as how many seats are available for the train coming in. Meanwhile in the UK, we're sharing tips on wrestling forums. 

[mim731]

11 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

I'll take a crap fold-down seat near the toilet if it's my best bet to be sat alone.

I initially read that wrong and agreed it's definitely one way to stop people sitting near you. 

[Carbomb]

7 minutes ago, MungoChutney said:

In Helsinki they have screens on the platform that shows exactly where each carriage will stop as well as how many seats are available for the train coming in. Meanwhile in the UK, we're sharing tips on wrestling forums. 

A friend mentioned that someone had created an app for London that gave you information on which carriage to sit in so as to be closest to the exit when you got off, which you got by entering the station name.

[Chris B]

Tube travel tip: There's a white paint line at the edge of the platform in most places. Look for where it's lighter or even white. That's where the doors are.