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Tiles on Walkways

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Sergei82
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Post by Sergei82 » Wed, 14 Nov 2012 9:46 pm

Guys, to make you feel happier I'll tell you that my grandfather once slipped on ice, fell, hit his pelvic bone hard, that caused cancer, and he died suffering from pain 6 months later. 3 years in SG, I'm very careful - never slipped so far!
But once here I sprained my ankle stepping down on the road from a small ledge. I had it swollen for 2 weeks...

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Post by iloverice » Wed, 14 Nov 2012 10:02 pm

I used to think that I'm the only person that terrified with the tiles in SG. :lol:
Now rainy season has arrived in SG, I have phobia to go out when it rain. :(

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Post by JR8 » Wed, 14 Nov 2012 11:57 pm

Sergei82 wrote:Guys, to make you feel happier I'll tell you that my grandfather once slipped on ice, fell, hit his pelvic bone hard, that caused cancer, and he died suffering from pain 6 months later. 3 years in SG, I'm very careful - never slipped so far!
But once here I sprained my ankle stepping down on the road from a small ledge. I had it swollen for 2 weeks...
Rather a sprained ankle than a limp wrist.

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Post by Sergei82 » Thu, 15 Nov 2012 12:12 am

JR8 wrote:
Sergei82 wrote:Guys, to make you feel happier I'll tell you that my grandfather once slipped on ice, fell, hit his pelvic bone hard, that caused cancer, and he died suffering from pain 6 months later. 3 years in SG, I'm very careful - never slipped so far!
But once here I sprained my ankle stepping down on the road from a small ledge. I had it swollen for 2 weeks...
Rather a sprained ankle than a limp wrist.
Really? You still can stand and walk with a limp wrist. Sprained ankle - what to do? Use a kick scooter?

Yeah, that's why I'm thinking about brachiation - it's not slippery or bumpy up there in the leaves...

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Post by sundaymorningstaple » Thu, 15 Nov 2012 6:53 am

some oblique references don't make it through translation well..... :lol:
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

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Re: Slippery Tiles

Post by Mi Amigo » Thu, 15 Nov 2012 7:34 am

the lynx wrote:Ahem that post was a year ago. The spammer posted on the same day he signed up.
Oh yeah, I must have mis-read the date. Anyway, at least the spammer failed.
Be careful what you wish for

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Post by sundaymorningstaple » Thu, 15 Nov 2012 8:15 am

So far, the only thing I've found that is slip proof are "cringe" Crocs. I swore I'd never own a pair of them but now, since I've gotten two pair of the upmarket deckshoes (moccasins) and I no longer worry about slippery wet tiles (they are really bad in our estate). I also don't have to worry about being limp wristed either! :wink:
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

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Post by nakatago » Thu, 15 Nov 2012 9:00 am

sundaymorningstaple wrote:So far, the only thing I've found that is slip proof are "cringe" Crocs. I swore I'd never own a pair of them but now, since I've gotten two pair of the upmarket deckshoes (moccasins) and I no longer worry about slippery wet tiles (they are really bad in our estate). I also don't have to worry about being limp wristed either! :wink:
Salomon shoes--at least the pair that I have--are pretty non-slip as well. It just happens that it will rain later in the day when I've decided to wear different footwear in the morning.
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Post by JR8 » Thu, 15 Nov 2012 5:29 pm

sundaymorningstaple wrote:So far, the only thing I've found that is slip proof are "cringe" Crocs. I swore I'd never own a pair of them but now, since I've gotten two pair of the upmarket deckshoes (moccasins) and I no longer worry about slippery wet tiles (they are really bad in our estate). I also don't have to worry about being limp wristed either! :wink:
Funnily enough those are my staple footwear, even over here. They still seem scarce enough that no one guesses they are made by Crocs. And what with leather uppers they look pretty smart and funky. The big vents down the side are perfect for out in the tropics too...

Similar to this ... http://www.crocs.com/tideline-sport-lea ... n-footwear

p.s. I have slipped in standard Crocs in SG, on wet cobbles on the condo driveway. Really skinned the hell out of a knee. Think that was the last time I wore the leather-upper clog variety.

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Post by sundaymorningstaple » Thu, 15 Nov 2012 5:48 pm

Yep, got a pair of the Cove Sport Tan & eggshell and also the Blue & white. The only thing I don't like about them is that the soft sole tends to wear easily. They are not sold over here in that style and I've had to use Amazon to get 'em from the US. They are actually a pretty smart looking moc.
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

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Post by RimBlock » Mon, 26 Nov 2012 12:20 pm

Standard Crocs are really slippy on the wet tiles. I have had a few near misses and so have the kids.

We used to own a ground floor 3 room HDB which had a few steops up to the front door (around 5 IIRC). When we did the reno we ended up with having some tiles put on that turned out to be slippy even though they were patterened and not just smooth. The lesson on not using slippery tiles was hammered home when after my loving wife through a bucket of water on them in order to rinse them off I went out bare footed and one foot decided to do some ice skating down the stairs with no possibility of stopping... in slow motion as the other foot, still with traction stayed where it was and my knees were left to fend for themselves. Added to this a toe got caught in the door grill as the foot with traction twisted. Ended up with a sprained knee, a toe the size of a large sausage and my legs in positions I have never been able to manage since being 1 year old no matter how hardI tried :D .

Our next place was laminated flooring in most areas with rough textured tiles in the wet places.

First though when I went skidding along on wet tiles under HDB blocks and the surrounding areas was that the Town Council leaders obviously had a stake in hip replacement suppliers.

Clearly residents should be issued with rollerskates so they can get used to their legs wanting to go in different directions independantly of any central control before the rains come.

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Post by Brah » Fri, 30 Nov 2012 5:38 pm

The story of your grandfather is tragic.

Reminds me of a back-and-forth I had with SMS a few years back about people inconveniencing other people while the bus is in motion to get close to the door while under the spell of kiasu for fear of someone getting off before them.

I see old folks do that every time I'm on the bus, and always worry that one of those herky-jerky bus drivers are going to make one fall and break a hip.

As if kiasu is worth that.

I wait until the bus stops and always pass them in their dazed and confused walking in the streets, just more of the big rush to nowhere as with getting on / off trains and elevators

I much prefer the Japanese way, orderly, polite and the microsecond lost is classiness gained.
Sergei82 wrote:Guys, to make you feel happier I'll tell you that my grandfather once slipped on ice, fell, hit his pelvic bone hard, that caused cancer, and he died suffering from pain 6 months later. 3 years in SG, I'm very careful - never slipped so far! But once here I sprained my ankle stepping down on the road from a small ledge. I had it swollen for 2 weeks...
Just did this to myself. I stopped snowboarding a) because I started surfing in the winter as well as the summer and lost interest, and b) because I sprained my ankle on an icy patch trying to slow down, and it's been glass ever since, easy to return.

Last week I took out my longboard skateboard and somehow aggravated it the first time in years, that never happened before skateboarding.

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Post by earthfriendly » Sun, 02 Dec 2012 12:46 am

If you don't make it on time to the bus exit, you can miss the stop. The bus drivers do not wait for the passengers as they need to keep to their time schedule. The Japanese public transportation is known for its efficiency and punctuality. I wonder how they balance that with being accomodating towards their passengers. Not every passenger is going to be going in and out of the train/bus in a jiffy. How do they make allowance for that and still make it to the next stop according to schedule?

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Post by JR8 » Sun, 02 Dec 2012 12:54 am

earthfriendly wrote:If you don't make it on time to the bus exit, you can miss the stop. The bus drivers do not wait for the passengers as they need to keep to their time schedule. The Japanese public transportation is known for its efficiency and punctuality. I wonder how they balance that with being accomodating towards their passengers. Not every passenger is going to be going in and out of the train/bus in a jiffy. How do they make allowance for that and still make it to the next stop according to schedule?
By driving markedly slower than they could and so padding the timetable. No I'm not kidding. Train operators in the UK get penalties for running late trains - the result is train companies producing timetables that they are sure they can always meet, even if there is a delay on the journey.

Result: the majority of journeys take longer than they need to. An example of the Rules Achieving the Opposite to that Desired?

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Post by Brah » Sun, 02 Dec 2012 1:12 am

So are you saying that old people being conditioned to get up when the bus is moving and risking injury to themselves and their fellow passengers is a good thing?

Or disrespectful people squeezing past or making respectful people like me stand up while herky-jerky drivers make abrupt stops, pump the brakes, make wild turns, is safe or even right?

I never saw anyone not make the door and the bus leave in 6 years of riding buses here. If people don't make it to the door on time, and I've seen this a few times, people press the button again and the doors stay or re-open. I've done that myself when lost in my reading and nearly missing my stop. Drivers here seem pretty ok with that and don't seem to rush off so fast. I've seen a couple of people yell to the driver to hold the door a couple of times as well.

This is not rocket science.

Re Japanese buses, it's pretty simple - same as here, ring the bell, the bus stops, everyone who is getting off stands up and gets off, and there is never a problem, old or young or disabled for not getting off or the bus leaving before everyone's had their time. Plus there's none of that selfish and annoying shuffling around past other people or making the person sitting next to you get up before the bus stops.

The latter I get pretty POed about here and sometimes refuse to move until it stops, or politely say I'll get up when the bus stops, or pretend I'm getting off at the same stop, turn my back to the person in mock motions to that intention.

The simple differences are, that in one of these societies, respect for the other person exists; in the other, that respect is sidelined by the same Pointless Race To Nowhere as getting on/off elevators and trains, which is selfish to fellow travelers, and for no real reason.

Re the Japanese efficiency - you can almost* set your watch to the bus time tables posted at the stops, and it seems to work pretty well in all different kinds of traffic conditions, so they must have done their studies to get those estimations right.

As far as I know there are no timetables for buses here, just IRIS.

*not quite like you can with the subways but it's usually very close.
earthfriendly wrote:If you don't make it on time to the bus exit, you can miss the stop. The bus drivers do not wait for the passengers as they need to keep to their time schedule.

The Japanese public transportation is known for its efficiency and punctuality. I wonder how they balance that with being accomodating towards their passengers.
Last edited by Brah on Sun, 02 Dec 2012 1:36 am, edited 1 time in total.

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