iPods can kill

[skategoat]

"Isaiah Otieno, a 23-year-old student, was killed when he was struck and dragged by a helicopter that crashed to the ground as he was walking to the mailbox.

Eyewitnesses reported that Mr. Otieno seemed completely unaware that he was in danger and a friend told reporters that he often listened to music through earbuds (in-ear headphones) with the hood of his sweatshirt pulled up over his head."


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...Story/National

When wearing your iPod, remember to look up once in a while.

[pebu]

It's the people driving cars with headphones on that pisses me off. I can guarantee your '04 yukon has a radio in it, use it!

[Allee]

One of my pet peeves. I'm sure there's going to be pedestrians killed because they don't hear warnings that get shouted at them, with their earphones on and their brains off.

I'm annoyed because my training partner and I were at the gym this morning, doing supersets on 2 pieces of gear that were at opposite ends of the gym, so we have to run back and forth. Usually when we do this, we leave a drink bottle on the seat so people can tell it's being used, but you can't do that with the squat rack. So this guy comes along and starts unloading my partner's weights off her rack. So I called out to him to leave the weights. He ignores me. WTF? Yep, ears full of Ipod. So I have to finish my set, rack the bar, walk over there (by which time he already has the weights off) and tap him on the shoulder to say hey, excuse me, we're using that. He just gives me this pi$$ed off look, to which I said "I called out, but you obviously.didn't. hear.me". (subtext - take the damn earphones off, or at least turn it down so you can hear people talking to you!)

This happens frequently in the gym, and it annoys the cr*p out of me.

Grrrr.

The other one that annoys me is the Bluetooth headset. My old boss had one permanently grafted to his head, and he'd walk into my office yammering away - you'd stop your train of thought and look up, only to find he wasn't talking to you at all, but now he's talking really loudly in your office while you're trying to work. I still find people walking down the road talking to apparently nothing really irritating and more than a little off-putting!

[skategoat]

Can you imagine though, a helicopter falling out of the sky and landing on you as you're walking down the street? Right out of a Monty Python skit.

[rwcow]

yeah i'd say the more important question is - how the hell did the helicopter crash??

[carvedog]

yeah i'd say the more important question is - how the hell did the helicopter crash??

A better question is how the **** do they get off the ground in the first place, when even helicopter pilots call it a miracle that they fly at all.

The person hit on the ground was a student from Kenya, 23 yrs old and apparently something like 6 feet nine inches tall. Also apparently decapitated by a rotor blade.

RIP Isaiah Otienne.

[trailertrash]

This happens frequently in the gym, and it annoys the cr*p out of me.

i bet there's a guy posting on a forum somewhere about people hogging machines at the gym!

[scotts.Scheinman]

One of my pet peeves. I'm sure there's going to be pedestrians killed because they don't hear warnings that get shouted at them, with their earphones on and their brains off.

I'm annoyed because my training partner and I were at the gym this morning, doing supersets on 2 pieces of gear that were at opposite ends of the gym, so we have to run back and forth. Usually when we do this, we leave a drink bottle on the seat so people can tell it's being used, but you can't do that with the squat rack. So this guy comes along and starts unloading my partner's weights off her rack. So I called out to him to leave the weights. He ignores me. WTF? Yep, ears full of Ipod. So I have to finish my set, rack the bar, walk over there (by which time he already has the weights off) and tap him on the shoulder to say hey, excuse me, we're using that. He just gives me this pi$$ed off look, to which I said "I called out, but you obviously.didn't. hear.me". (subtext - take the damn earphones off, or at least turn it down so you can hear people talking to you!)

This happens frequently in the gym, and it annoys the cr*p out of me.

Grrrr.

The other one that annoys me is the Bluetooth headset. My old boss had one permanently grafted to his head, and he'd walk into my office yammering away - you'd stop your train of thought and look up, only to find he wasn't talking to you at all, but now he's talking really loudly in your office while you're trying to work. I still find people walking down the road talking to apparently nothing really irritating and more than a little off-putting!

I know, its like you know people are trying to talk to you ,so take the damn earbuds out. I love my music as much as anybody but, come on.

[Art]

Had two people killed in one week within a few miles of each other, both on cell phones, both walking on/across train trax.

[KingCrimson]

Can you imagine though, a helicopter falling out of the sky and landing on you as you're walking down the street? Right out of a Monty Python skit.

Except, the animator would suffer from a massive heart attack, and the victim wouldn't be killed.

I...am an enchanter.

By what name are you known?

There are some who call me....Tim?

Greetings, Tim the Enchanter.


For a relevant post- Allee, that's a real pain to have to run for a superset anyway. When I'm doing bicep supersets with my brother, we find a nice corner and drag everything over. We've had to switch to a different corner though, as he's dropped a weight, and had it bounce up and break one of the mirrored walls. 6 feet, 8 inches, solid objects, gravity, and glass don't mix.

[davekempmeister]

I'm with Trailertrash. If your not using the machine............. Not a chance I'm leaving a machine alone if no one is using it. If someone were yelling at me from the other side of the gym to leave it alone while they finished up with the medicine ball or whatever? Maybe one of those belt type machines that vibrates violently about the waist.

[Allee]

I've worked out in gyms for 20 years, and I'm really diligent about letting other people work in when I'm supersetting because I expect the same. It's just a hassle on the squat rack because I'm so much stronger than my partner, and it takes a lot of time to pull the collars off, put the weights on, then reverse it and pull them all back off again in a 45 second break. On a machine where you can just move the pin, it's not an issue. Normally we do only use one rack, but as it was a very quiet morning, we took the opportunity to use both the racks and get done faster. Really, I do try not to be a gear hog, because gear hogs are annoying.

But Ipods in gyms are a PITA. I've lost count of the number of times I've tried to ask someone how many sets they have left, can I use the bar by your feet, or please move as you're blocking the doorway, and they're staring off into space completely oblivious...

[ncermak]

just as an interesting aside to this conversation...and perhaps to pull it "on Topic" - How do ou all feel about Ipods on the slopes? Personally, I don't wear one...I like to hear my board onthe snow, and what is going on around me. And if I am aleting someone that I am passing them, I want them hear me rather than turn into me...

[carvedog]

just as an interesting aside to this conversation...and perhaps to pull it "on Topic" - How do ou all feel about Ipods on the slopes? Personally, I don't wear one...I like to hear my board onthe snow, and what is going on around me. And if I am aleting someone that I am passing them, I want them hear me rather than turn into me...

Tried it out the first time this winter and I loved it. I had so much fun. But I do have to say that here in SV you can wait a minute or two and have the run completely to yourself.

In more crowded conditions I don't think it would so much fun.

[pebu]

I've got a smith helmet with the dualtip skullcandy. It's great to have music for riding up the chair, but I keep it low enough that I can still talk to people on the lift and I don't even know it's there when I'm going down the hill.

What's with this... Back in the day (WAY back) headphones were large and cumbersome. Then they started making them smaller and smaller and the small earbuds were the coolest. Now all of a sudden it seems like the bigger the better. You see guys snowboarding with these huge princess leia looking muffs on the sides of their head... Aren't those things throwing you off balance or something???

[Allee]

How do ou all feel about Ipods on the slopes? Personally, I don't wear one...I like to hear my board onthe snow, and what is going on around me. And if I am aleting someone that I am passing them, I want them hear me rather than turn into me...

Totally agree with you. If I'm coming past someone on a cat track and they're weaving all over the place, it would be nice to know that they can hear me when I call out to them.

I also like to be able to hear what's coming behind me. Too often the first warning you get of a straightliner or someone out of control is the sound of their gear on the snow, and their warning yell. I'd hate to think what might happen if you couldn't hear that.

[b0ardski]

I've got a smith helmet with the dualtip skullcandy. It's great to have music for riding up the chair, but I keep it low enough that I can still talk to people on the lift and I don't even know it's there when I'm going down the hill.

What's with this... Back in the day (WAY back) headphones were large and cumbersome. Then they started making them smaller and smaller and the small earbuds were the coolest. Now all of a sudden it seems like the bigger the better. You see guys snowboarding with these huge princess leia looking muffs on the sides of their head... Aren't those things throwing you off balance or something???

Riding to music is awsome, ignoring fellow snow or gym enthusiasts is rude, ignoring traffic behind you/falling choppers is dangerous, just turn it down a little.
Sound quality is not created by 1cm membranes, even if they are titanium. I love my Koss titanium mini phones (amazingly crisp) But they're closer to 5cm not 1.

[Petrol]

Simple Evolution...

I use my buds, on the slope, on the chair and in the gym, Interesting enough, never while on the mtn bike.
Anyway, I just keep the volume well within reason. I can hear the music AND folks talking around me.






As an aside Alle, Perhaps you had better request that your gym do a little rearranging of the equipment, bring in some more equipment, or perhaps you & your partner need to re-think your super sets, your schedule and/or find a private gym.

I've been a gym rat for over 25 yrs and while I'd think it rude that the last person using it didn't unload it, I wouldn't hesitate to reload and use an abondoned squat rack.
Also, I would likely move your water bottle aside and carry on with my set if was ready to do some leg extention or curls and found it left behind to 'save/hold' the machine while you went off and did a set of squats...

Not out of spite and not to be an arse, but simply because I gots work to do too.