Here In London Town

The big freeze is settling in for what the weather experts are telling us is going to be some time. This morning I left home early, about six or so and drove over icy roads with my car telling me that it was as low as minus six outside.

Driving is precarious fun. Last night it took me an hour to do a fifteen minute journey. At times my car was wheelspinning from rest. That is, I'd accelerate just to move off and the wheels would spin wildly as they failed to get any traction on the road.

I remembered the tips my old Danish Uncle taught me when I was about seventeen; try to brake as little as possible, use the gears to slow down and stay in as high a gear as possible. They actually take a fair bit of discipline but make a big difference. To a driver it's instinctive to slam the right foot on the brake in times of panic, sometimes these things have to be unlearned. And, when I say stay in a high gear, I mean be in third when you'd normally be in second, that kind of thing. I'm never really sure if third gear is a higher or lower one than second, but I understand the theory.

It's getting so cold that they tell us grit on the roads won't be much use, schools are closed and the rest of our infrastructure is struggling to handle the situation, like a tree sagging and struggling with the weight of snow.

As I sit at my desk and write this I'm feeling a bit like a batsman facing Murali. The balls coming at me are varied, from one colleague texting to say she can't make it in through the snow, another ringing in sick to a customer calling to see if they'll get their collection today. Which, come to think of it, is not really anything like a batsman would have to face, but it's just a simile, there's no need for you to split

It's only just gone eight in the morning and the fifteen year old has called to excitedly inform me that their school is closed. Her and her sister are going to be out with the toboggan today. That makes me smile, it's an old wooden one that was given to me and my brothers in 1981 when we went to Denmark one Christmas. I was fifteen then and we had the best snow filled Christmas you can imagine. The divorced Dad in me wishes I could close the office door and go and play in the snow with the girls.

I'm wearing my new DM shoes, the perfect footgear for the conditions, practical yet stylish too. There are extra warm socks on the RD feet and I even have a hat and a scarf.

It's funny to read the Lankan blogs, to see the facebook pictures and statuses of people there. Our respective climatic conditions couldn't be more contrasting and they're both fun in such different ways.

Then, in other areas, I've got three new songs to learn by Monday. There's Sunflower by Paul Weller, a rocked up and stripped down version of Poker Face, as done by You Me At Six and Uprising by Muse. Three really brilliant choons that will be quite challenging for me in varying aspects.

My birthday yesterday was one of the best ever, surrounded by the people that mean the most to me. Thank you for the wishes.

That my friends, is the latest from auld London town.