22 Dec 2010

Interglacial Spell

Three inches of the white stuff and the world grinds to a halt...well it does in Wimpville UK! Walking to work this morn, in a balmy 0C I may add, so no scarf or hat needed, I see from walls, fences, car roofs, etc that we had between 2 and 3 inches of snow last night, and judging by the lack of traffic that was enough to keep most people at home, the poor mites. Gawd knows how they cope in Russia or Scandinavia!

On the stroll to my office I witness a fine example of illogical impatience from a driver turning right into the main thoroughfare. To his right there is one car approaching with nothing behind it for some distance. So, instead of waiting for it to pass, he cuts across it, and skids and slides up the road, with the car slowly approaching behind him on the main drag almost running into him because he could nor brake fast enough owing to the slippery conditions. If this angsty twat had waited a mere 10 seconds, he could have pulled out slowly and no doubt be let into the slow flow of thinly scattered traffic on the far side of the road. What exactly he gained from acting the tosser only he can tell.
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Online weather site weather.co.uk informs us all on its calendar and with no trace of irony that on the Winter Solstice December 21st "Winter Starts". Seeing this a week or so ago was rather amusing given the ongoing sub zero temperatures we were, and largely still are suffering. Last night's snow in the Midlands of the UK may have actually lent some credence to the website's claim. Here in Shoesville we very rarely get more than 3 inches of the white stuff no matter how badly surrounding localities suffer. It is all to do with nestling in a very wide shallow river valley. However, in Milton Keynes and surrounding areas, not half an hour away, they have seen over 6 inches and they have been snowed in for days. Last night the Midlands to the west of us suffered a similar deluge. So. if you hate snow, come and live in Northants! Mind you it is effin' cold, with Xmas night temperatures predicted to plummet to minus 8 at best!
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I loathe those antiseptic soulless cattle sheds commonly known as airports, and even when there are no delays I am driven to distraction by the endless waiting around necessitated by kowtowing to paranoid petty so-called "security" measures that a 10 year old could circumvent is he or she so wanted. I cannot imagine why anyone in their right mind would chose to fly at this time of the year, but the sight of hundreds of sleep deprived bodies wrapped in bacofoil like Christmas turkeys waiting to be roasted on the floor of Heathrow departure lounges the other night beggars belief. If I had been mad enough to pre-book an Xmas flight I think I would not have bothered turning up. Surely it would be far better to wait in the comfort of your own home than freeze your extremities off on an airport floor for 72 plus hours?
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Now for some (almost) good news, completely unrelated to the weather. Firstly the Liberal Democrats finally seem to be acting like a grown up political party instead of playing a bit part as the Tory party fag. Ironically all courtesy of a cack-handed piece of subterfuge by The Daily Telegraph of all papers. By posing as two constituents, what sounded like two giggling schoolgirls got Business Secretary Vince Cable to admit that he was "declaring war" on Rupert Murdoch. This had the effect of removing his responsibility to decide on Murdoch's proposed takeover of BSkyB thereby almost guaranteeing it will be rubber stamped by Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Cable's replacement in the decision making process.
This has had the knock on effect of making the LD's actually stand up for themselves in the face of yah-booing from their toff allies and name calling from the gravitas-free Millibrand. Too little too late methinks.

The second piece of good news is the imminent downfall of uber-clown Rafa Benitez at Inter Milan. In a piece of breathtaking arrogance. El Camerero Gordo has made a "back me or sack me" speech to his club President, a man who oversaw a team that won, well, everything last season, with the predictable result that he will be shown the door post-haste. Another multi million Euro payoff for a manager who makes Graeme Souness look like Bob Paisley. Perhaps unsurprisingly there are quite a few dunderhead Kopites leaping to Rafa's defence on various web comments pages in the face of undeniable and copious evidence for the prosecution. Well, they do say that love is blind! Unlikely it may be, but in the words of Kevin Keegan, I would love it, really love it to see Benitez back at Anfield where his comedy value can be truly appreciated!
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My eyesight is deteriorating with age, and as a result of spending a working life (well the last 15 years or so) spent staring at a computer monitor. Every three years or so I have to have new glasses, which can be quite expensive. Spectacles that are not bought for a specific purpose, ie, safety specs for builders, and have an element of personal use are not tax deductible in the UK, so, even though it could be argued that the deterioration of my eyesight over the years is directly linked to my job, because I need the specs for every day use I cannot claim them against tax. An old friend works for the tax office, and she tells me that not only do they pay for her eye tests, but also some of the actual optical prescription. One hopes it is declared as a taxable benefit, otherwise it's a case of one rule for them, and another for us poor sods!

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