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.  :-(   
      
      
      
      
   --- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+   
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