MSGID: 1:153/716.0 fda7d718
REPLY: 2:221/6.0 5fce1c4c
CHRS: IBMPC 2
Hi, Alexander!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

AK>  So we see why the cavaliers could not afford

AK>  the right road traffic. If the queen got off

AK>  the horse/carriage from the left side going to

AK>  the Buckingham palace,
         |AFAIK residences which have names... such as
          Buckingham Palace, Clarence House, and Windsor
          Castle... don't usually involve "the".  But I
          have heard talk of the Smith residence or the
          old Johnson place (e.g.) when the building is
          not generally known by any other title.

AK>  it was a strong example. ;)


          Interesting thought.  Not all European countries accepted the idea
of driving on the right at the same time... and I don't know when Russia did. 
But IMHO what teamsters & other working class folks preferred may have carried
more weight in countries where a lot of folks wanted to get rid of the
monarchy too. In feudal times... when only the upper classes could afford to
ride horses they personally owned on thoroughfares available to everybody
else... I reckon there was less competition for space.  As times changed, a
lot more may have depended on how her subjects felt about their queen.  And I
imagine countries which were next door to one another would have found it
inconvenient to have people switch sides every time they crossed the border,
just as we did in North America.  :-)



AK>  You should not rake your brains and think which variant is
AK>  better.  That's why they still follow the rule in England.


          Because my experience with horses is almost nil, I found it a
stretch to get my mind around the various reasons some folks prefer one over
another... especially now that we no longer have knights who use swords &
lances, and most farm produce is transported by truck &/or by train.  I am
reminded of a story I once heard to the effect that the distance between
railway tracks is equivalent to the width of a horse's rear end, since that's
how the ancient Romans did it. This strikes me as being akin to folk
etymology, but I can't help noticing that the gauge is narrower in coal mines
where Welsh ponies are used... [chuckle].

          WRT the way things are done in the Old Country, I can relate.  If
the Brits drive on the left it doesn't matter to me.  I just have to remember
(as a pedestrian) that the kindergarten rules I was taught work in reverse
Over There
... and that the pounds, shillings, and pence in our school math textbooks
have been replaced by a system which took Dallas & me a bit of getting used
to.  The first time we travelled to England as a couple, we got some coins
labelled "ten new pence" in change & had to ask a relative what on earth that
signified.  :-Q



[re the British roundabouts]
AK>  But we also have a circular motion in the places where several
AK>  roads are connected with a doughnut style road. It works, too.


          It works in England & I think we could make it work.  What we have
in this neck of the woods, however, are the so-called "traffic calming
devices" on residential streets.  We saw them in England as well.  But what
tends to happen Over Here is that people cheat when they want to make a left
turn & there is no other traffic on the road, and larger vehicles such as
ambulances & fire trucks are at a disadvantage because in such situations the
circle is very tight.  :-(




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