Speed cameras & SatNav systems (part two)...

This is a follow-up post to the one below regarding Waze.

OK, as I got no response on the original posting on the forums, I posted a brand new thread in another section of the forums, and this time, got a response within about a day of posting, which was nice :-)

The bad news is that there is no way to suppress the pop-ups.

This leaves a massive problem, as while I like Waze, and find it incredibly useful, I cannot use it during the dark hours, as the pop-ups are a massive distraction - imagine a bright light coming on as you look down a dark lane, in the rain. NOT good, NOT safe, and, in fact, blooody dangerous. Someone at Waze would not appear to have thought this through fully.

The problem of the bright pop-ups in Waze is not that they're bright enough to dazzle - they aren't that bright. No, the problem is a distraction issue. The human eye instinctively moves to view bright light. As a result, your eyes move off the road, and you could miss that car pulling out in front of you, and BANG. T-Bone time. Not good, by any stretch of the imagination. The lack of the facility to stop or suppress those pop-ups is regrettable, to say the least.

So, it's back to using my paid-for application, Sygic. Don't get me wrong: There's absolutely nothing wrong with Sygic, or their business model: They produce a truly excellent SatNav package for Android, but I LIKE the concept of some of the features of Waze, such as the ETA notification, or even the progress tracking, that you can sent to others via text or email as you set out on a journey - it provides real-time reassurance that you're (1) on the way, and (2) of your progress along the route.Those are both very handy features that simply don't appear to exist in other SatNav applications that I have. But, without the ability to suppress the appearance of the pop-up warnings that waze gives, I personally find the application hazardous to safe driving at night, simply because it can distract you from looking at what's on the road to your front, which is potentially disasterous.

So, with regret, I'll not be using Waze at night; likely as not, I may wind up not using it at all, as it's far simpler to regularly use one navigation application on longer drives, especially if ypu're gping to drive past dusk into the dark hours. Which is when I prefer to do my longer distance driving, as there's generally less traffic.

So, if Waze introduces pop-up suppression, then I'll go back to using it at night. But not until then.

Got a Vocational Driving Licence? Then don't have a heart attack.

Now, while I was very much aware that my family has a problem with cholesterol and hereditary heart problems, I wasn't expecting my ticker attack to come much before I was fifty or so. So much for that theory, as you already know (if you don't, try reading from the first blant entry, eh?!).

So. I've had to notify DVLA(DMG) (that's the Driver Vehicle Licencing Centre (Driver Medical Group) at Swansea in Wales), who sent me a massive questionnaire, the only question missing appearing to be relating to inside leg measurements. Now my employer, a national-level bus operating company, has got in on the act. I got hauled in (on my sick leave) to see the depot governor yesterday; they're sending me to see the company doctor, some thirteen miles away from where I live.

This takes the wotsit a bit: I have to drive or take public transport PAST my depot, and then go the same distance again on top of this to get to the surgery where this company doctor operates out of, making it two hours by public transport, or an hour if I drive (which I shouldn't - DVLA say you must leave it a month before driving your car after a heart attack). So, I'm stuck with public transport.

Now normally, this isn't a huge problem, since as a London Bus Driver, I get free travel on the Buses, Tubes, Trams, and 'London Overground' brand trains. However, where they're sending me, there's very little in the way of public transport going past the surgery in question, and according to the TfL journey planner, a ten minute or so walk from the nearest bus stop - presumably at commuter pace, or "QUICK MARCH!" rate; that means I better double the walking time required, to be safe. Wonderful. What are they trying to do, give me another heart attack?!

Add to this, I have to bring all the paperwork I've accrued since my heart attack, including copy letters from the heart specialists at Kings, prescription notes, all my medication, Uncle Tom Cobbly and All.

Am I impressed? Not one bleedin' bit. I wouldn't mind so much if they'd asked me to go to the depot for the company quack to be able to poke and prod me on Monday, but no, they want me to naff off over to south west bleedin' London for said poking and prodding. They really are taking the bodily fluids here, lemme tell you.

What is it about Company Doctors? Are they like Ship's Doctors, one cruise away from a malpractice Suite, or what? Do they not make house (er... Company Premises) calls?

Oh yeah... almost forgot... they want me to fill in yet another bloody medical questionnaire!

Talk about adding insult to injury!