Comments by "Halfdan Ingolfsson" (@Halli50) on "IWrocker" channel.

  1. Icelander here: I suspect you, a Swede, have a slight misconception about "glacial water" Where I live (Iceland), glacial water comes from actual glaciers emitting water that includes a lot of ground-up mud and rocks. The water is yellow and muddy and, while unpalatable, is not unhealthy to drink - it just contains excessive minerals. Most Norwegian water is simply pure rainwater trickling down a pristine rock-face, a "waterfall" you mistakenly call glacial, but is still of the quality that 'Muricans pay a premium for in bottles - what we Nordics simply call tap water...
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  2. The UK has an incredibly mild maritime climate. Snow and icy conditions are so rare that most UK drivers are clueless when it comes to driving in such conditions. I'm Icelandic and REALLY familiar with winter conditions, and I spent almost a year flying out of Aberdeen in 2006 and NEVER encountered anything that even approached true winter conditions!
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  3. I worked for a year in Aberdeen, Scotland (I'm from Iceland where we drive on the left side of the road). I found it surprisingly easy to drive on the "wrong" side of the road, as long as the car had the steering wheel on the "wrong" side as well! You just mirror everything... Surprisingly, the min problem I ran into was entering the car on the right (wrong for me) side: This is the passenger side where I come from and I found out, the hard way, that entering left foot first as usual invariably wedged my leg under the steering wheel! I had never realized how we enter the left/right front seats of a small car differently. On the steering side it is arse first, then the feet, on the passenger side it is one foot first, then the arse, followed by the remaining foot. This becomes so automatic that we do not even notice until we "change sides" and run into the problem I did.
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  4. That Dutch girl that clarified "2 languages fluently and 4 others where I can get by" absolutely nailed the important bits! To "speak" a language means that your skills are useful, you get by, even if you might not be able to have an academic discussion about a complicated issue - that is reserved for the languages you are fluent in.
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  5. Fahrenheit makes more sense? When is the freezing point of intensely salty brine really relevant for everyday use? For some inscrutable reason, that is the 0°F definition. What is relevant in practice, at least at northern latitudes, is the point at which water becomes solid, driving becomes treacherous and a host of other problems befall everyday life.
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  6. The no-nonsense any-terrain vehicle around 2:30 is clearly marked NOTARZT (Not-Arzt, which literally means Emergency-Doctors), clearly a vehicle intended for carrying medical specialists to the scene of any accident, even off-road.
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  7. the firs statement: America is more diverse than Europe is not too far off if we're talking about the American Continents (North, Central and South) - BUT, knowing this statement comes from inside the 'Murican bubble, it just emphasizes how isolated the 'Murican Bubble actually is!
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  8. I live in Iceland, one of the Nordic countries, where we have strict rules about the condition of the vehicles allowed to be on our roads. The environmental (emission) part is incidental and disqualifying if found wanting, but the important bits are the safety features of the vehicles: Brakes, steering rods, suspension, seat belts and the general condition of the vehicle is under scrutiny. Bottom line: You will NEVER find unsafe rust buckets driving around on European roads! That may be the norm in 'Murica, but we Europeans have found that properly trained drivers AND properly functioning cars do wonders for road safety! Simple things like not toleration ANY fluid leaks, be it brake fluid, oil or fuel, will do wonders for the safety of your vehicle. You 'Muricans may not yet have figured this one out, but hopefully you will, within a generation or two. Maybe you will also figure out that a "well regulated" gun culture will do wonders for the acute lead poisoning epidemic that is plaguing 'Murican society these days, but that will probably take a number of decades for you slowpokes to figure out...
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  9. The good news for 'Muricans: You are NOT as stupid as some of you appear line in videos like this. The bad news: You are actually as IGNORANT as too many of you appear like in videos like this.
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  10. I'm not 'Murican, but I find the "Stupid 'Muricans" label to be unfair. You have a lot of really smart people, but the general public seems to have been "dumbed down" to this level. "Ignorant 'Muricans" is more appropriate than "Stupid 'Muricans".
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  11. I believe 'Murica's reluctance to go full metric is twofold: 1) 'Muricans are CONSERVATIVE (not only in the political sense, they simply don't like changes). Going full metric would have to be mandated, which brings up case #2: 2) 'Muricans HATE being told what they can, cannot or should do. Period.
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  12. Fortunately only a fraction of 'Muricans are this ignorant (not stupid, just ignorant). Ignorant 'Muricans rarely travel which might, in part, explain their ignorance - but they certainly stand out wherever they go!
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  13. French roads must have been awful in the past: The best thing about French cars is not only their soft and fluid suspension, the STROKE length of the suspension is like on a dirt bike! The opposite is true for most low-end Asian cars that have unbelievably short suspension stroke! I owned a KIA Picanto that had a stroke of only 38mm (1.5 inches) on the front end and 42mm (1.65 inches) at the rear - EMPTY! Put 4 skinny people in it, and the suspension bottomed out. They must have REALLY smooth roads in South Korea...
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  14. Most European countries have speed cameras instead of grumpy cops all over the place, which explains why number plates MUST be front and back. If your Danish car is caught speeding in, say, Austria, the registered owner will be responsible for paying the fine. If the owner had lent the car to a friend that did the speeding, the owner will have to settle the fine with the friend and can request copies of the speed camera pictures that will include the face of the driver. Privacy, normally highly protected in Europe, goes out the window when you break the law!
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  15. I found driving in the UK surprisingly easy if the driver seat is on the appropriate side for the UK - you just mirror everything and keep the driver seat near the middle of the road. On the flip side, I actually have driven a car built for right-hand traffic in the UK, and it is TERRIFYING!
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  16. According to the comments this is not a car, it is just a 4-wheel scooter, licensing-wise. Come to think of it, this is a nifty and economic solution to economic local transportation. Weighing around 1000 pounds, the overhead for hauling 1 or 2 regular arses around is minimal. Assuming a regular adult arse being 180-240 pounds, you are only hauling around an overhead 4-5 times your own weight. Now, compare this to a typical 'Murican Redneck, weighing up to 250 pounds (the slim version?) riding around alone in his 6000+ pound pickup truck, hauling around 25 times his own weight. That takes a LOT of excessive energy (gas = pollution) but, then again, you 'Muricans have never given a flying f#*k about the environment, have you? I'm European and in the last 3 decades I have been hauling my 180 pound arse around in small cars weighing 700-1100kg (1500-2500 pounds), my overhead being in the order of 4-13 times my arse weight - not nearly as efficient as the AMI or even the MyAMI, but only half of what a typical Redneck is hauling around.
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  17. On an autobahn-like road, they sometimes have mirror services for each traveling direction, hence a McDonald's on the southbound side and another on the northbound side. It is not universal, many of these rest stops allow you to switch sides, in which case there would only be one McDonald's (or whatever).
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  18. Auto vs. manual? Fact: Auto is heavier, more expensive and less efficient. Another fact: Manual is lighter, less expensive and more efficient. Moreover, once you get the hang of it, it is great FUN to drive!
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  19. The citizens of the United States have hijacked the term "American" when they should really be called "United Statians". A recent term for them is 'Muricans, while the rest of the people living on this huge continent simply use the name of their country (Canadians, Mexicans, Brazilians etc.).
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  20. Can we non-'Muricans agree that the US has been dumbed down to the state of 3 levels below being imbeciles?
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  21. Arguably, religion, in it's incredibly various forms, is our most vile invention - FAR worse than, say, nuclear weapons or mindless plastic pollution or genocides or whatever misery we inflict on each other. The Spanish inquisition is a case in point, an example of how Jesus's humanitarian teachings have been perverted into something sadistic - but CHRISTIAN! Something to make the Pope proud? And don't get me started on the Muslims! They make even the worst Christians look good! Religion in it's many variations has been, for thousands of years, the polar opposite of what we currently consider "humane" interests. The day the last religious zealot dies (to meet his maker in their own imagined Hell) will be the day mankind goes to a higher level of existence. I will be long dead before THAT happens, but one can always hope...
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  22. The main point: No one is on an ego trip! The officers probably had a long workday behind them but could not help being tickled by this drunk's shenanigans. We Nordics have all had an uncle or cousin that did not behave properly when drunk, and tolerance is the key to a peaceful society. Bottom line; For all the abuse the Drunk heaped on the policemen, all they could do was to laugh it off rather than taking a personal offense. Drag him into the clinker to let him sleep it off and quietly laugh about it afterwards...
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  23. The opening scenes where some supercars are recklessly overtaking on either the left or right of slower vehicles would result in a flurry of complaints, LOTS of flashing lights and severe fines or suspended licenses. On the Autobahn, you DO NOT overtake on the right!
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  24. Make no mistake: For people in the Southern part of 'Murica to have a cold snap" can be a disaster! You are not used to it, you are not prepared for it and, seeing how many neglected people you have, there WILL be people dying for no reason at all! Shameful. People in the Nordic countries, the Alps and e.g. in Iceland (where I live) this is a problem akin to your average heath wave! You usually manage the heat, we manage the cold and the snow. Operation Normal! This Alpine scene reflects that this snow usually falls as powder, it is NOT hard-packed and compacted (until you get above the treeline or in the north-Nordics). One fact remains: How frequently have you heard of professional snow-removers like this to end up in trouble? Never? On the rare occasions they do, they have procedures in place to recover the mishap immediately, and then it is operation normal again... By the way, these Unimogs are small equipment, designed to effective and nimble on single-lane roads. For the heavy stuff, heftier equipment is called for...
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  25. In Germany, the land of the Autobahns, the cars simply HAVE to be in good working order.
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  26. Re. the apparently slower German trains: All the clips showed the trains passing through an urban area, so they probably WERE quite bit slower on that stretch to reduce noise levels.
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  27. Mind you, this is Austria - a land of mountains, yodeling and wonderful people. They have plenty of pure water falling downhill, used to produce renewable energy BEFORE they drink it. Yet, they need more energy and, instead of burning coal or oil, they prefer to use another renewable energy source, the eternal winds found in their mountains. There is yet another energy source they have yet to exploit: Mountains that are above cloud level most of the time, with nearly eternal sun shining, summer and winter. When mega-projects like this are considered in Europe, there are years of discussion and arguing before an agreement is reached. There is rarely total consensus, but a majority agreement is usually reached (democracy at work). There is obviously a lot of behind-the-scenes lobbying and political bribing going on, but nothing on the scale of the overt political bribery that is considered "normal" in 'Murica.Just look at how slick the windmill blade transport is: Impossibly long, they can be raised to up to vertical when transversing difficult and curvy, tree-lined roads. There is an old saying, dating back to the Icelandic sagas: "The King wants to sail, but the wind will prevail". You can bet that the weather forecast will determine when a blade is raised above the trees, NOT greedy "stay-on-schedule-at-any-cost" capitalists. Most important: You can also count on the "end-of-life" of these windmills will have been planned for, their eventual demolition already financed. In 'Murica, the practice is to run such installations until they grind to a halt, the owners squirreling away the profits and then letting the operation to go bankrupt, leaving the cost of the cleanup of the wreck to the communities involved.
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  28. Are 'Muricans bad drivers? One metric would be: Can they drive normal cars? The answer is simple: NO! As to the high gas prices in Europe: Just check out the quality of European vs. 'Murican roads! The high gas prices pay for the road maintenance.
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  29. Walmart failed spectacularly in Europe on two basic issues: They failed to pervert the European Labor Laws AND they failed miserably at their attempts to introduce monopoly practices to a group of countries that still enforce what you 'Muricans call anti-trust laws. European workers refused to be abused, illegal business practices to murder competition were, well, illegal AND, most important, European consumers refused to be hoodwinked. The only European country that Walmart currently operates in is the UK, but under the label ASDA - and they have to follow UK business practices there. Cheating and exploitation is strictly curtailed.
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  30. The actual appearance of the various emergency vehicles is one thing, they have one thing in common: Being as conspicuous as possible, the point being that the general public will bleedin' well RECOGNIZE them as priority traffic in an instant. The important issue (not being discussed here) is how the general automotive public REACTS in cases like this. By happenstance we see perfect responses (give way immediately), but the epitome of such responses is to see bogged-down German Autobahn traffic melting away to create an emergency lane by general consensus. I believe this is an issue they actually TEACH and TRAIN when a German applies for a driver's license.
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  31. I find it hilarious how a typical 'Murican believes EVERY girl should carry pepper-spray or a Taser and EVERYONE should know to run in a zigzag when under gunfire. This might apply in 'Murica, the "best" country in the world, but it certainly does not apply in the vast majority of other developed countries!
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  32. The difference in the approach of "handling-of-lethal-devices" between 'Murica and Europe is evident. An improperly used car at 130mph on an Autobahn is obviously a potentially lethal device, hence the requirement for strict and regular competency and medical certification for the operators of such devices. The European requirements for owners/operators of devices actually DESIGNED to extinguish life (GUNS!) are even more strict! Any Tom, Dick or Harry cannot apply unless they have undergone serious personal scrutiny, training and inspection of their weapon storage facilities.
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  33. The 'Murican Kinder-egg scare is hilarious; seven child deaths GLOBALLY for billions of eggs sold in decades is too much for the 'Murican mindset, because "safety of our children is our primary concern" - while 4590 US child deaths by guns in 2022 alone does not move the needle towards stricter gun laws, let alone banning guns outright. Oh no, Kinder-eggs are dangerous for children in 'Murica, guns are not! Are we non-'Muricans REALLY the only ones to spot the irony?
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