Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Hey, That White Stuff is Snow!

So, we get a few days of snow, in some places lying a foot deep but in most places sitting under the six inch range, but it’s noticable how TV reporters won’t let the truth get in the way of a good story. I saw one reporter the other night walking across a churchyard through six inches of snow and, since the stuff was barely up to her ankles, can only assume she’s one of those who has a problem with decimalization. That would be six centimetres dear.


One would think, by the news, that the home counties have become an extension of Hurricane Alley, during an earthquake, and probably with a Biblical plague or two on the way. All this freaky weather is causing ‘traffic chaos’ as cars fail to negotiate a bit of snow turned to slush by gritting lorries; schools have been closed and many people aren’t turning up for work; London buses weren’t operating and, apparently, it’s been snowing underground since the tube closed down.


It seems that our society is now completely geared to cater for the lowest common denominator: the prat in his car who has failed to comprehend that ice is slippery so crashes and snarls up the road, or little ADHD Jasmina who’s fall in the playground will result in her bloated scrounging mummy suing the school, and that this is then taken advantage of by those perpetually looking for an excuse for a day off work.


We are warned, should we need to brave these terrible conditions, that we should load up our cars with hot drinks, warm clothing and a selection of igloo-building tools. With the complicity of the hysterical media, it appears the people of this country have been nannied into a permanent state of infantilism. I’m guessing that we won’t be turning out any Shackletons in the near future.

11 comments:

Jebel Krong said...

oh but don't let 6cm of snow fool you - it caused the entire c2c trainline to fail yesterday (i only waited 45 minutes for a train to work) because they obviously don't pay anyone to spray de-icer or even salt on the points in london.... "extreme weather conditions" you know!

well that at least provides a nice excuse to exclude the delays from their reports so they won't get fined because the train punctuality figures would suffer otherwise....

in the 21st centurey and a little bit of snow causes the whole south east to grind to a halt. pathetic.

Unknown said...

I did notice the meeja reporting like it was a scene from "The Day After Tomorrow".

I also saw some suicidal driving when on the road in the snow. Keep your distance, drop the speed, drive smooth and snow really isn't much of a problem.

In fact snow is only really a problem in London where everyone seems to panic and everything shuts down. A shortage of chocolate for the meeja producers cappuccinos caused the problems.

Still my B5 box set has just arrived so bring on the snow!

Live for films said...

It is so sad the way our country is getting constantly dumbed down and wrapped in cotton wool.

Bob Lock said...

An on-line gaming mate of mine lives in Sweden where it's nearly always below freezing during the winter.
Temperatures of -37.7 degrees Celsius were recorded on Thursday night in a small town in northern Sweden, making it the coldest night of the winter so far.
The reading was taken at Åsele in the province of Västerbotten, 630 kilometres north of Stockholm.

He has to plug his Saab into the mains to keep it warm overnight or it won't start. We are so molly-coddled here it's unbelievable.

BTW, here's a link for Vaude:

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p85/Bob_Lock/nagata.jpg

That's my Nagata waiting to be read on my windowsill :)

We've had quite a bit of snow down in Loughor which is unusual as we are next to an estuary, but it was fun taking the dogs out to frolic around in it. There's a slideshow over on my blog.

Bob Lock said...

An on-line gaming mate of mine lives in Sweden where it's nearly always below freezing during the winter.
Temperatures of -37.7 degrees Celsius were recorded on Thursday night in a small town in northern Sweden, making it the coldest night of the winter so far.
The reading was taken at Åsele in the province of Västerbotten, 630 kilometres north of Stockholm.

He has to plug his Saab into the mains to keep it warm overnight or it won't start. We are so molly-coddled here it's unbelievable.

BTW, here's a link for Vaude:

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p85/Bob_Lock/nagata.jpg

That's my Nagata waiting to be read on my windowsill :)

We've had quite a bit of snow down in Loughor which is unusual as we are next to an estuary, but it was fun taking the dogs out to frolic around in it. There's a slideshow over on my blog.

packrat54 said...

Here in my spot on the planet (Maine, USA) where it's suppose to snow the freakin' media gets all in a lather dramatizing what's normal to point of people rushing to the store to stock up on bottled water, can goods and toilet paper. It's what passes as news so they don't have to come up with anything interesting to report.

vaudeviewgalor raandisisraisins said...

its xmas all over. blacklist, avoid, ignore, and keep away from children/english.

Hugh said...

Never fails to amaze me.

We lived and worked in West Berlin in the 70's/80's, defending the bars and imbiss's against the Red Terror (if they invaded, we would make sure all the beer and sausages were gone).

I never once missed a day's work due to snow, and it was often 3-4 feet deep. The plows were out, the roads were gritted, people drove (for West Berliners) sensibly - no worries.

Here, half my work is off because of no trains, no buses, can't get the car out the driveway (use a shovel, you lazy tossers).

Excuse me whilst I go lie down and hope the throbbing vein in my forehead subsides.

Neal Asher said...

Incidentally, the more ranty poster here has moved to:
http://toadstomper.blogspot.com

Alex Cull said...

I was one of the courageous few who battled the snowflakes and made it into London for work on that fateful Monday, the Day After the Weekend. Now I'm regarded as some sort of hero by some in the office (or a freak, by others, depending.) To tell the truth it was quite a nice drive in - there seemed to be none of the usual idiots on the roads. Another Mini Ice Age on the way? Bring it on!

Swainson said...

Sorry to hi-jack a post

to the more ranty poster

http://markbrinkley.blogspot.com/2009/02/bankers-say-sorry-brown-doesnt.html

do you feel your eyeball ticking yet??