Be Careful What You Wish For

Well, I admit it - I was wrong, it did snow like a good un at the predicted hour of 3pm and hasn't stopped since.  It's been blizzarding and getting into near white out conditions and everything.  Seems some errant snowflakes decided not to join in the big bash in Central Southern England and decided to have a little snowy soiree all of their very own in the South East Corner.  Seriously though guys, please follow the advice of the emergency and motoring services - if you don't need to travel stay indoors or risk being trapped or even stranded out in this weather.  Our local media were even reporting that people are going out in trainers and high heels, short skirts and no coats - and that's just the men!  (that's a joke right there, just in case you thought I was serious) but they have a point though, not being prepared for the severe cold this weather brings can be fatal! 

Remember to always have the following in your car:-

Shovel, sleeping bag or blanket, coats.

Flask(s) of hot drinks and/or even soup.

Boots/snow shoes/wellies (if you're not already wearing them).

An up to date road atlas (in case the sat nav conks out).

A torch and spare batteries for it.

Anti-freeze.

A fully charged mobile phone. 

If you are able, please tell someone where you are going (if you do have to go out) with an expected ETA and the route you hope to take.  That way if you are delayed and possibly stuck in snow then people will have a good chance of finding you.

All the usual hotspots (or cold spots) in this weather have started playing up and are now closed, one of which is hubs' main route to work via Detling Hill on the A249, closed in both directions since around 5.30pm with police advising motorists to stay in their cars overnight, oh what fun that must be for those poor souls and I really hope they are safe there and get home ok tomorrow.  Hubs' boss said he could have his parking space tomorrow and was met with a blank stare.  Said boss didn't realise that although it's not snowing where he was at the time, it is snowing at peoples destinations, and said boss must surely realise how bad roads are going to be in the morning.  I doubt most will get into work tomorrow if todays travel nightmares were anything to go by.  Overnight we will have freezing temperatures again and so ice will form on snow, very pretty to look at but not to drive on!  Present snowfall is meant to cease operations at midnight tonight whereupon it will freeze - so nothing will be moving tomorrow, and not a gritter in sight despite the council assertions to the contrary.  Apparently there are only 8 gritters out for the whole of Kent, and ok, so maybe most years we don't get this much snow, bit of rain, odd day or so of snow perhaps but on this scale they have been well and truly caught out.  The rationale of thinking that it will never happen and so 8 is probably a good number WHEN YA DON'T NEED THEM GUYS!!! is not so good after all is it?  Local radio reports that the council have been out gritting continually but hubs coming home via Sittingbourne tonight and getting stuck behind cars unable to cope with an ungritted road would disagree.  As I've been banging on about in many a blog or ten, a gritted road will not let cars slip and slide all over the place and they don't get stuck!  An ungritted road does allow slipping and sliding all over the place and cars do get stuck, ergo, proof is in the seeing - no matter what the councils say.

On top of all this I am in the middle of writing all this the first time around, hubs signs in to his email account on his laptop and the whole system goes down, he comes upstairs and rather stupidly says 'don't get upset' and 'I'm sorry' and thinks that's all alright.  I asked him how he would feel if he'd just lost work which he'd been typing for the last 15 minutes and see what he'd do to someone who rather lamely says 'I'm sorry' yeah, you get the point?  Well he did, from the toe of my boot up his erm .. well you know.

Doggie HAS been out trying to eat ALL the snow in the garden, he did try making a snowman but then he can't really pat it down and he gave up when it fell over.  He didn't have any spare carrrots for its nose (because he'd eaten them all on the way out) and he wasn't going to pick coal up in his mouth for its eyes; mind you I could tell you the thngs he will put in his mouth but then I don't really want to gross you out, specially if you haven't had your tea yet!.  I do think doggie is a reincarnation of a six year old child because he just cannot contain himself when it snows.  He goes absolutely beserk.  His eyes are wide with excitement, his mouth is in that perpetually happy doggie smile, he's running up and down, tongue lolling out the side of his mouth, yipping and crying in equal amounts with glee and an almost uncontrollable desire to get out by any means.  That, and supreme sulking if he can't get out at the exact minute he wants to get out (oh, you haven't seen anything till you've seen him sulking - trust me) - I mean he's got four legs and he travels faster than I can on two, so like I always say to him - no point rushing to be first there, you still have to wait for me.

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