I wanted to see if Borders book shop was carrying a particular book — http://www.fishpond.co.nz was, and I was interested in comparing prices …
The Borders NZ website doesn't have a search facility.
There is a self-service catalog search facility in the store. But I'm sitting at home.
The Borders NZ website doesn't have a search facility.
Please note that our online catalogue only has a small selection of Borders huge range of products.
The Borders full range has over 200,000 titles, so if you haven't found what you're looking for, you may want to try your nearest store.
The borders.com website has search; it is actually just a skin over the Amazon.com service, which is an interesting way of outsourcing your web service!
But Borders NZ? You have the data; but you don't seem to want the Internet to even advertise for you. I can understand if you don't want to get in to the whole online ordering thing, but why not just advertise the titles that you stock?
<rant> We all know that car drivers think that they own the road; but road-using cyclists should understand that we all share the road … we are all vehicles traveling together, and have responsibilities to each other.
Yes, cyclists that ignore road markings and the boundary between the road and pavement annoy me. If cyclists wish to be treated like vehicles, they have to act like vehicles.
There's another thing; cyclists should not feed the car-drivers' feelings to superiority. We should not let car drivers think that their arrogance is acceptable. A recent article in the Hutt News local paper reported a test drive of a recumbent velomobile, with the quote
It's a little disconcerting being so low-slung, well below the bonnet level of most cars and I found myself wondering whether drivers could see me.
Here's a cyclist (the journalist is a mountain biker) allowing car drivers license to not see him. Expecting that the poor little darlings are blind.
Here's news for you … somehow, against all the odds, car drivers can see things no taller than 1 freaking millimeter on the road. They're called lane markings and they're made out of paint for crying out loud!!
Car drivers are like children; they behave the way you expect and allow them to. Don't expect them to disregard you – don't allow them to disregard you. Cycle responsibly and safely, prove that you are a vehicle, and show them that you won't be disrespected.
If you don't know how to do that, because of a lifetime spent scared, riding on the pavement and in the gutter, get hold of Cyclecraft by John Franklin, and read that. This excellent book explains how to share the road and integrate safely, even with fast-moving traffic.
Take back the roads. </rant>
I posted a less-ranty letter to the Hutt News editor :-
I have enjoyed reading the recent coverage given to Neville Whitlock and his velomobile, and occasionally spot him from the bus on my daily journey into Wellington. Good on you, Neville!
Jim Chipp's recent test drive report was quite fair, and as a rider of a recumbent bicycle myself, I quite understand his discomfort about being seated far below the position he is used to from his “upright” mountain bike.
However, I was unhappy about the way he worded his fears about car drivers, “wondering whether they could see me”. Somehow, car drivers manage to see painted lane markings on the road – these stand at a height of around 1 millimeter. There is absolutely no way that any driver, except for a criminally negligent one, can fail to see a recumbent bike, velomobile, or any other vehicle properly positioned on the road. The safest place to be, in general, is clearly on the road, often in between the headlights of the vehicle behind you. All cyclists know that pedal power is usually not as fast as petrol power, and try to ride to the side of the lane in order to minimise the disruption caused by passing vehicles; but when the road narrows, or traffic slows, the cyclist should reconsider this position with an eye to safety, remembering that they are a vehicle with a full right to their position on the road. Car drivers need to remember that cycles are vehicles too, and that cars are all too easily converted into lethally dangerous weapons as a result of simple inattention or intolerant actions.
I recommend the excellent book Cyclecraft, by John Franklin – see http://www.cyclecraft.co.uk/ for details. This explains how cyclists can share the road responsibly and safely, and techniques for integrating with fast-moving traffic. It is published by the UK's Stationery Office, recommended by our own Land Transport NZ, and should be available for around NZ$50 from a good local bookseller.