At 07:27 PM 11/12/2009, Jonathan Poole wrote:
>Although it is unsafe I've pulled the driver rotation off in westy's by
>letting folks sleep in the bed when they weren't driving which works great.

As Bob Stevens pointed out a while ago, taking responsibility for
your own choices is the key to happiness in many areas of life,
especially to a clean conscience.

Sleeping in the bed of a Westy, or riding in/on "the back shelf"
which my dad would install in our '52 Ford Tudor for traveling so
that four or five children would ride prone above the two Springer
spaniels and the cat, is undoubtedly much less risky than for an
extreme example hang gliding, and at very least within an order of
magnitude of the risk of being killed by a doctor or nurse, or
even-steven if you believe some people's numbers.

So weigh your risks deliberately, choose ones that seem worthwhile
and mitigate them as much as reasonable, enjoy the
resultsnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnqsxz
-- oops, fell asleep -- and don't whinge and sue everyone in sight if
your number comes up, because you've got no kick coming -- you
volunteered.  And healthy or maimed, sleep easy at night and enjoy
looking in the mirror.  I have to say that racing people of various
stripe are a great deal better about this than the general populace.

I do know there are social costs as well, but to me that's the burden
that society must shoulder in order to avoid a certain numbness of
experience.  As the Dirty Jobs man, Mike Rowe, said while crawling
around in a three-foot-tall brine tank while wearing a mandatory and
uncomfortable retrieval harness "I am *so* sick of getting hurt by safety!"

Yours,
D