I mentioned a while ago that when a council has to perform roadworks, that keeping drivers as happy as possible is all about the timing. It would appear that in the last seven months, the Gold Coast City Council haven’t learnt a whole lot.

This morning on the way to work, I was traveling North on the Gold Coast Highway into Surfers Paradise at about 7.30am. I was shocked to find the traffic at a stand still at the Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre, when it is normally flowing smoothly at about 70kph. I looked down the road in a hope to see what was going on and couldn’t see any flashing lights or cars frantically changing lanes to avoid the obstacles. After being forced to sit in traffic for about 45 minutes and moving about 2km, I was greeted with a sign informing me to merge right. I was shocked to find that the roadworks which the sign was warning everyone about, started nearly immediately after the sign.

I would have thought it fairly important to actually give the motorists notification of the changed traffic conditions. I’m fairly sure that if that sign had of been displayed somewhere near the Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre, that most people could have formed a single lane in an orderly fashion. Instead, no one was notified of the changed traffic conditions until it was too late and the start of the peak hour traffic hit a choke point; within minutes the traffic was backed up 2km down the road.

I don’t think anyone has any real issues with councils performing the roadworks, they are essential to keep the roads in great condition. However, a little bit of grey matter from the council workers on duty would go a very long way to keeping the motorists much happier.

In September last year, I posted about The Uplate Game Show and noted that it was possibly one of the worst shows that has ever hit the TV.

I had secretly hoped that with Big Brother 2006 ending, that The Uplate Game Show would have died a swift and quiet death; unfortunately I was wrong. As of last night, Simon Deering aka Hotdogs, has returned for another season hammering. The last ‘season’ of The Uplate Game Show was painful and forced, where Hotdogs babbled on and on. In an attempt to ease that pain somewhat, it appears that Channel 10 have slotted in a co-host. If you’re up to the challenge, try and imagine a female version of Hotdogs that has even more of the superficial fake enthusiasm; I know, it hurt.

I was shocked last time around but I cannot believe that Channel 10 are that desperate for a showing that they’d put it back on. Then again, with the advent of everyone’s favourite ‘please little teenager, SMS and make us millionaires’ tactic, it isn’t really that surprising.