Highlights of the Week

So as I commented earlier in the week, it's been snowing. This got worse towards the tail end of the week, with some heavier snowfall on the Wednesday night (about 6" or so) which settled. I was working from home on Thursday, and made it into work on the Friday.

As opposed to recapping the week on a day-by-day basis, I thought I'd instead change tacks and do some nominal awards for acts of comedy and blatant stupidity that I've seen the past couple of days:

... Worst Travel Updates
In hindsight it is quite clear that the website of the buses I use is not very well updated. On Thursday, they were allegedly running. Not a single bus went past. Prepared for this, on the Friday, it said they were not running - which sounded more believeable. Except that in both directions a bus went past me. So much for not running!

... Best Reduced Service
I was delighted by the news that the trains were suffering a reduce service and running a special snow timetable. This may sound confusing, but my typical route, the Hampton Court line, was down. Instead, they decided to take the slow train from Woking and give that additional stops. As I get this train normally and have to change at Surbiton, I got to work in the same time without having to bother changing trains. On the way home, the exact same was also the case. It was phenomenally lazy.

... Most Appropriate Emergency Call
This is a story you may have seen previously, but it deserves reposting. A woman from Chatham (where else?) phoned 999 to inform police that her snowman had been stolen from her garden. In her defense, it did have pound coins for the eyes, and £2 is a lot of money ... if you're from Chatham. For the full story, do check out this link, it's entirely worth it.

... Best Weather-Related Decisions
Two contenders for this award:

#1 is the cyclist I saw going down my road on Friday morning, a road not gritted and not fully clear, not covered in snow but very icy. When you consider that my road is a hill - and the part I saw him on was moderately steep at least - it's probably not the brightest move.

#2 and the clear winner is a woman I saw at Raynes Park after leaving work on Friday evening. As I wandered towards the station, I notice that she was wearing a dress with bare legs as she queued for the ATM - a smart move in the cold, but not stupid on its own. Until I then saw she was wearing high heels too, for added grip. I walked past the queue for the cashpoint and got to the traffic lights, and idly glanced back mentally calling her an idiot already, when I saw that the dress was one that had a deep cut down the back so she was mostly bare-backed as well. Not the most well considered garment choice!

... Surprising Common Sense
Shockingly I'm going to take this one myself for my intelligent choice when walking home on Friday evening. I was starting to take the route down the canal until I realised that it was horrendously icy, and as soon as I got out of the main street lights I realised visibility was very poor. Icy path and poor visibility right next to the canal? This was a terrible idea. I took a different route home. Sometimes I can defeat stubbornness.

That's it from me for now, more next week.