Be Careful What You Wish For

28th Jan 04, 09:30 Nobby laments lack of snow. Wishes that there were a couple of inches -- enough to build a snowman and cluster bomb his work colleagues.
16:52 Snow blizzard starts in High Wycombe.
16:58 Nobby leaves work.
17:00 So does everyone else.
17:01 High Wycombe -- and all roads leading out of the town -- is gridlocked.
17:40 Nobby has driven 200 yards -- 200 yards more than most people driving from the Cressex Business Estate.
18:45 Nobby has driven 1 mile and is queuing to get on the road to Lane End.
19:00 Nobby hasn't moved more than two feet, so turns car around (random woman gives Nobby a V-sign) and drives back into High Wycombe, cuts off corner of town and drives out along West Wycombe road and then towards Princes Risborough.
19:01 The road is clear of serious traffic -- Nobby curses his luck -- he should have gone this way in the first place.
19:20 Nobby grinds to a halt outside Saunderton at the back of a 2 mile long traffic queue that's going nowhere. He considers ditching car and walking in the snow to Saunderton railway station to catch a train back to Thame. Instead, he drives up winding country road towards Bledlow and Chinnor.
19:40 After a couple of minor skids, Nobby stops car for a wee. Spoils field of virgin white snow. Cannot try to write his name in snow due to lack of light. Whilst relieving himself at the top of a rise, Nobby can see that all the major trunk roads in the area are clogged. Car headlamps twinkle forlornly in the distance.
20:00 Nobby arrives back in Thame. The town is an ice rink of compacted snow. None of the roads have been salted.
21:10 Vicster arrives home after a four hour trip back from Marlow. Her 30 minutes journey took four hours, my 25 mins journey a mere three.

Sorry everyone, it was my fault and I didn't even get to build a snowman...
Be careful what you wish for.

Bad Day For Students

I feel let down by Tony Blair over the "won" vote on university top-up fees. He's broken one of his manifesto promises, and I don't think the policy's knock-on effects have been properly assessed.

I wouldn't have gone to university if these fees had been in place when I went and I fear that they will put off many lower-income and middle-class kids from going in the future.

Bad judgement call Tony.

I won't be voting labour next time.

Journals, Journals Everywhere

I used to work in industries that had trade journals that were worth reading:

Music Week
Billboard
New Musical Express

Casino Monthly
Slots
Electronic Gaming

I now have the chance to read the following exciting publications [all taken from my Marketing Directors' magazine stand]:

Journal of Microscopy
Surface World and Product Finishing
World Cement
Microscopy Today
Microscopy and Analysis
Finishing
Materials Today
Scrap
Chemistry and Industry
Materials World
Chemistry in Britain
Onboard Technology
SCI News
Spectroscopy

This is why I read random blogs at lunch time...

But can you imagine being the chief editor on World Cement?
Well, thanks to the web, here's your chance: A brand new world.
Subscribe today!

Round Up Before The Details

I've not had the time to update recently:

We went to Tenerife for a week of winter sunshine.
Came back to the funeral...
...and a dust bowl dining room: we had it replastered while we were away.

I'll give you the details when I have the chance...