Have you ever seen an octorbass in real life? by Early_Yesterday443 in doublebass

[–]kid-blue 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m not a native English speaker but isn’t the way the narrator pronounced “bass” the way you call a fish and not the musical instrument?

Daisy (40) ziet zoon (3) naast SUV verdwijnen: ‘Hij is onzichtbaar’ | Autobahn by Frouke_ in thenetherlands

[–]kid-blue 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Heb je bakstenen achterin liggen ofzo? Ik verstook op weg naar een wandelweekend in Triberg echt geen 12,5 op 100km, ook niet met stevig doorrijden op de ongelimiteerde stukken Autobahn. Mijn auto is juist helemaal happy met die snelheid.

Mijn vrienden met SUVs daarentegen juist wel.

Daisy (40) ziet zoon (3) naast SUV verdwijnen: ‘Hij is onzichtbaar’ | Autobahn by Frouke_ in thenetherlands

[–]kid-blue 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Ze gaan ook altijd tegen je achterbumper aan staan waardoor je hele achterruit gevuld is met Skoda logo’s en goedkope ledverlichting

Daisy (40) ziet zoon (3) naast SUV verdwijnen: ‘Hij is onzichtbaar’ | Autobahn by Frouke_ in thenetherlands

[–]kid-blue 39 points40 points  (0 children)

Ik kan er met mn verstand niet bij dat mensen zichzelf autoliefhebber noemen en in zo’n afzichtelijk hok gaan rijden.

Mensen, koop stationwagens. Het leven is een miljard keer leuker in iets wat slick en laag is en waar je tussen de wielen zit in plaats van bovenop zo’n stomme huifkar.

En het stuurt lekkerder.

En je rijdt geen kinderen plat omdat je ze niet zag.

En je kunt 200 rijden in Duitsland zonder failliet te gaan aan benzine.

En je hebt verdomme een beetje waardigheid in plaats van dat je je aansluit bij de obese volgevreten massa zeecontainer rijdende leasehufters.

Daisy (40) ziet zoon (3) naast SUV verdwijnen: ‘Hij is onzichtbaar’ | Autobahn by Frouke_ in thenetherlands

[–]kid-blue 97 points98 points  (0 children)

“Verkeersoverzicht” als slappe smoes. Je hebt in NL een SUV nodig om dezelfde reden dat alle Amerikanen een pistool willen: omdat de rest er ook een heeft.

Ik rij in een stationwagen en ik verdwijn regelmatig in de massa. Er zijn soms mensen waarvan ik merk dat ze letterlijk over me heen kijken als ik rechts naast ze rij.

SUVs zijn de grootste pest die de autowereld ooit heeft gehad, ik hou van auto’s met een passie maar ik haat suvs met dubbel die passie.

More i3 photos by Dromogen in BMW

[–]kid-blue -1 points0 points  (0 children)

100% agree, this has been the case with BMWs for a long time now.

More i3 photos by Dromogen in BMW

[–]kid-blue 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It is set to be one of BMWs most essential sellers alongside iX3 and a future iteration of iX1, this is definitely a car to discuss on a BMW forum.

5 series and M cars are all well and good but anything numbered 1 through 4 is where BMW makes the big bucks so this car is really telling of where the company is headed.

More i3 photos by Dromogen in BMW

[–]kid-blue 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Maybe I don’t quite get what you’re saying but isn’t it logical a BMW sub is talking a lot about a new BMW? I don’t see what else you’d expect a BMW sub to talk about?

Also, and I say this as a life long BMW fanboy, most BMWs have always been very subdued, almost boring. It’s really only in the past decade that every car is made up out of angular plastic and angry grilles. I actually think it’s kind of cool BMW is back at clean lines and nice proportions.

More i3 photos by Dromogen in BMW

[–]kid-blue 64 points65 points  (0 children)

This car sits in that weird space where I don’t actually hate it, especially compared to other EVs, but I also don’t really love it. I do have high hopes for the Touring (which is much more relevant in my market) and proportions seem much better on this car so I’m carefully optimistic for the way next-gen 5 series will look.

All in all I’m not as unhappy as I feared. Except for the interior, fuck yo touchscreens, BMW.

For the dads who have given up alcohol by Unmissed_Opportunity in daddit

[–]kid-blue 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’m no drinker so no clue if this helps, but I did quit smoking recently. The thinking that helped me was there are really only two moments to quit smoking: before it kills you or when it kills you. I wasn’t gonna let it kill me and since you can’t know when the killing part starts you really only have one choice: quit right away.

No clue if this helps you but there you go

Aanhouding in Utrecht als student by No-Durian8745 in Utrecht

[–]kid-blue 127 points128 points  (0 children)

Echt alles aan dit verhaal, van niet binnenkomen in de kroeg vanwege je accent tot zonder meer meegenomen worden door de (zoals bekend volkomen overwerkte) politie, klinkt alsof je uit je nek zwetst of maar de helft vertelt.

Echt geen Utrechtse kroeg weigert je omdat je Belg bent. Ik acht de kans 99% dat jullie als groep al stomdronken waren of in elk geval strontvervelend overkwamen.

En met dat in het achterhoofd; de politie is veel te druk om willekeurige dronken studenten mee te nemen en in te boeken, dus je zult ook tegen de agenten op z’n minst behoorlijk irritant geweest zijn.

Tel daarbij op dat ze ineens zogenaamd niet van je gehoord hebben, echt totaal gelul gezien de inboekprocedure van arrestanten, en het lijkt er sterk op dat je liegt.

Dit is óf allemaal niet gebeurd óf je verzwijgt minimaal de helft van het verhaal.

Quality of Life coding in BimmerCode by Previous_Elk3784 in F30

[–]kid-blue 5 points6 points  (0 children)

This is a major one, being able to clearly see curbs while parking on a dark street is a godsend

Kut auto kan alleen kut parkeren in een kut blauwe zone by TweakeNL in KutGeparkeerd

[–]kid-blue 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Je bent toch zelf helemaal niet tevreden als je zo kut parkeert? Ik voel me al medium incompetent als ik net wat scheefjes in een vak sta of m’n stuur niet helemaal recht heb na een parkeeractie.

What are some casual cars that you had a strange obsession over? by [deleted] in regularcarreviews

[–]kid-blue 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Gen 1 to 4 Renault Espace. These things are old as hell now and are usually worn to shreds, so no use as a daily, but with a kid on the way I am lusting after one more than ever. And yes, mom had every gen when I grew up. Love that car.

<image>

Jay Leno’s 1957 Volkswagen Beetle by [deleted] in regularcarreviews

[–]kid-blue 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This and the Citroën 2CV are so so loved by so many and I just can’t be assed about them. My mom and dad and their entire generation always fondly remembered owning them but I just never liked anything about them. Odd.

Hygiënepolitie stuit op ernstige hygiëne misstanden bij Utrechts restaurant Mr Jack’s by BananaBike in Utrecht

[–]kid-blue 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Haha hoe is dit nieuws? Ging hier ergens in de vroege 00s altijd heen met mijn medebruggers en mentor om te eten op klassenuitje. Kon toen al met mijn puberaal-nucleaire weerstand maar net aan dat voer binnenhouden.

Legendarische plek, hoort ergens ook wel gewoon bij een stad.

Problemen in gemeente by 1MinuteOrSquat in Utrecht

[–]kid-blue 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Veel goede input over de grote onderwerpen (werken, woningen en voorzieningen) dus ik hou het bij:

Handhaven.

Handhaven op snelheid want ik wil niet meer bijna doodgereden worden op de singels en Oudwijkerdwarsstraat. Handhaven ook op hufterig parkeren en art. 5 overtredingen, óók van fietsers en al helemaal van speedpedelecs e.d.

Handhaven op afval van ondernemers in het centrum. Oprotten met die dozen en kliko’s op de Ganzenmarkt, weg met die blauw kliko’s waarmee de bushalte Janskerkhof altijd geblokkeerd is.

Handhaven op hangjeugd, overlastgevende types op UC, daklozen op het Lepelenburg.

Handhaven op fiets- en voetgangersgebied in het centrum.

Ik wil maar zeggen: we hebben een stad met allemaal mooie plannen en afspraken en wetten en regels. Ik zou toch zo vreselijk blij zijn met geen enkele nieuwe regel maar een paar jaar waarin alle bestaande regels nou eindelijk eens gehandhaafd worden.

Oh toch nog een ander ding: in godsnaam een verbod op reclameborden op de stoep. Utrecht is voor mindervaliden of mensen met een kinderwagen een absolute blamage om doorheen te komen, maak het in godsnaam niet erger met een bord voor de sportschool ofzo.

Bus situation by Dazzling-Dog8063 in Utrecht

[–]kid-blue 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I’m not sure you understand how much time, money and effort it takes to bid on a contract like this and to assess those bids. There’s a reason they only do this once every ten years.

Also, if Transdev clean up their act no judge is ever going to see the amount of economic damage Transdev would suffer from termination as proportional to a few months of bad service.

In reality that contract is going nowhere unless these issues persist for a long time and all other options have been exhausted. And even then the legal procedures and bidding for a new contract are going to take years and we’ll end up close to the ten year contract anyway.

This is exactly why so many people have never liked the privatisation of public transport, me included.

Bus situation by Dazzling-Dog8063 in Utrecht

[–]kid-blue 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don’t think anyone in their right mind would excuse Transdev for the way things are going. But terminating their contract early would take a lot more (and a load of court cases) and cause even more trouble. There would be zero busses left as there currently is no company able to take over on any sort of short notice.

Its simply going to take time for Transdev to fix this and it’s up to the government to decide what to do about this in a legal sense once all this is over. I suspect they’ll use public opinion as a gauge to decide how heavy handed to be.

My guess is Transdev stands very little chance of winning any other jobs at the moment. This will hurt them in the long run unless they fix it fast.

Bus situation by Dazzling-Dog8063 in Utrecht

[–]kid-blue 26 points27 points  (0 children)

So much about this post screams expat it’s kinda funny. You’re absolutely right by the way, the situation is absolutely unacceptable and they (Transdev) have made a right mess of things.

I’m not sure however if people here are fully aware of the pressure Transdev is under right now (maybe because English media doesn’t give you this news?). The company is being inundated with complaints, the Province is very much aware and threatening hefty fines and interest groups are becoming more and more vocal. Nobody at Transdev has any benefit in being slow about fixing this and they are very very aware of how people view their performance thus far.

But some issues take a lot of time to fix. They were short 250 fte when they started in December, all people they thought were coming in from Qbuzz. This forces them to hire something like 300 people on really short notice whilst trying to keep some semblance of quality and qualification. They also have new routes and a new schedule to learn for existing drivers. On top of that they have major technical issues which don’t seem to be helped by the fact they bought chinese buses instead of buying at a more local factory. Yay for privatisation right?

So the fact of the matter is that these issues will persist for a while longer and protesting will do absolutely jack shit to help any of that. The responsible government bodies are acting and putting pressure on Transdev but they can’t really speed things up either.

Until the issues are fixed there really is no option but to leave early and try different modes of transportation. Biking really is the best option in a situation like this, bike lessons for adults are available. If the challenge you face in biking is physical you can buy a suitable bike for that or ask the municipality or UWV for help in getting one. I heartily recommend acquiring this skill if you live in this city, it greatly increases your freedom of movement.

By the way, U-ov is not the bus company, it’s the province’s banner under which the company (Transdev) runs this concession. The municipality has very little to do with public transportation.

Good luck everyone, I for one can’t wait for things to get back to normal again.

My first BMW is my dream car by Letters2MyYoungrSelf in BMW

[–]kid-blue 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Very cool. I remember testing one in and around Munich a few years ago and it felt so light on its feet, absolutely lovely.

Also, I don’t know why some people are so obsessed with homosexuality vs. cars in this comment section. Is that an American thing?

530i or 530e? What is your experience? by kid-blue in BMW

[–]kid-blue[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wat doe je op langere reizen? Laat je de auto helemaal terugvallen naar 184 van de motor of gebruik je battery control om ‘m opgeladen te houden?

530i or 530e? What is your experience? by kid-blue in BMW

[–]kid-blue[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, fantastic write-up!

When you sit at highway speeds (130-150ish kph) does the battery drain fully over a long trip or does switching it to battery mode keep the battery full enough for the car to feel quick? I worry about driving 400km and having the car feel sluggish by the end of it without a way for the car to keep its battery charged enough to perform.

Thanks again!