I’m supposed to be seeing Nils Frahm in Glasgow tonight but it’s been cancelled due to the weather. Which is a relief as there’s no way I’m getting into the city from my snow-bound suburb. I’ve also been unable to get to work for the last two days, which is less upsetting.
Is there anything you’re meant to be doing that the beast from the east has prevented.
Wilson Wilson says
Edith! Obviously there’s meant to be a question mark at the end of that sentence…
Wheldrake says
What snow. Only a light sprinkling here in Shropshire. It is however bloody freezing. But hopefully will still be able to see Dara O’Briain in Birmingham on Saturday.
bigstevie says
Beast from the east.
Gatz says
We have two tickets for the Marriage of Figaro at the Hackney Empire on Saturday but it’s icy in Essex and rail replacement busses are planned due to Crossrail works. What should be a short hop overground from Hackney Central to Stratford, a train to Chelmsford then the Light driving us home would turn into overground to Stratford, Central Line to Newbury Park, rail replacement bus to Ingatestone, train to Chelmsford, arriving some time after midnight, then a taxi to as close as we could get to mine, ice allowing – all in all it would take more than 2 hours in freezing temperatures.
They’re cheap balcony tickets, so unless the weather perks up pretty quickly we will have to write them off. The tickets will be waiting for us at the box office, so if anyone fancies a little opera and can make to Hackney PM me and I’ll let you know then name to ask for (last time we went they didn’t need any more identification than that). Offer subject to the absence of a sudden thaw.
Vincent says
No, it got me out of a grotty meeting this AM. I am very grateful. Just wish I’d known it would be cancelled before i got out of bed and drove half-way there.
the californian says
I normally take my 95 year old mum to her bank, various supermarkets and then lunch on Wednesday but major amounts of snow (about 20 miles south of Glasgow) prevailed. She called me at about 9am to instruct me to stay at home. I wouldn’t have been able to get the car out of the street in any case. My dentist also called me at 08:30 to postpone an appointment for later in the morning.
I’m planning to venture forth this afternoon to check out the situation with the roads. I will also pop in to my local to ensure that the Guinness has not been affected by the weather conditions.
bungliemutt says
I was supposed to spend the whole day at work, but tragically I’ve had to come home several hours early, open a bottle of wine and curl up in front of a roaring book.
hubert rawlinson says
Had to take my wife to hospital this morning to replace the dressing and have the sutures removed from the hip operation wound. As she is on sticks I had to lay Walter Raleigh style a carpet of old towels so that she could reach the car.
Worked wonderfully.
Got home to find I do not have to work tonight, (Hurrah)
Colin H says
I went to a friend’s art exhibition opening in Banbridge last night – about 30 miles from Belfast – through howling wind and snow. Amusingly, the show was titled ‘The Inaccessible Land’.
Blue Boy says
Would that be at the FE McWilliam Gallery @colin-h? Happened on it last year when we were in the area and very impressed – bit of a discovery and, to be honest, not what you expect to find in Banbridge
Fifer says
I was going to go way, way back in time and spend this evening with Chris Barber and his Big Band. It’s been over 20 years since I last saw him live and so this was intended to be a real trip down memory lane. Sadly, he has cancelled owing to the weather. However, the good news is that he has rescheduled for May. A pleasure deferred not denied!
pawsforthought says
I’ve had the week booked for some time, so I have missed out on one or possibly two snow days. I had planned to work on the garden, take the family out to celebrate a wedding anniversary and have Mini paws stay at her Granny’s house so we can have a night out. All cancelled.
90 minutes ago the boiler made a loud, funny noise and is dribbling a little from the front (older male readers will understand what this may be like). We are now holding on to the last of the warmth whilst we await a gas engineer. Pizza for dinner, so mustn’t grumble.
minibreakfast says
We had a reservation for lunch tomorrow at The Unruly Pig, to celebrate the birthday of the unruly Mr B. Alas, we’ve had to postpone. A takeaway curry tomorrow night will have to do as a substitute.
Oh, and my hairdresser rang early this morning to cancel today’s appointment. She only lives 8 miles from the salon but has a terrible fear of driving in the snow, so hasn’t been in since Monday.
Weather for booting on Sunday looks positively balmy at 3 degrees centigrade.
fentonsteve says
Mr B, Lou Reed, Twang and I all share the same birthday. Or shared, in Lou’s case.
I wonder if Lou ever said “you’ll never guess who I share my birthday with?”
pawsforthought says
I share one with Stevie Wonder. He always sends a card, generally with a fiver in it.
Moose the Mooche says
Only a fiver? He’s so (up)tight!
fentonsteve says
Does he ever call to say, you know, happy birthday?
pawsforthought says
Nah, he’s very superstitious about that sort of thing, apparently.
minibreakfast says
It’s actually his birthday on Sunday, when he’ll be treated to a couple of boot sales 🙂
Happy birthday for tomorrow Mr F.
Moose the Mooche says
A boot sale at silly-o’clock on a Sunday morning in the freezing cold*… yum yum! I have to make do with being tucked up in a warm bed with a big-breasted woman. Life’s not fair!
(*If you’re really lucky it might still be dark!)
minibreakfast says
Having just looked on Faceberk, I’ve had to break it to Mr B that he must have a lie-in on his birthday, as both car boots have been cancelled.
androo1963 says
Thursday is Salsa dancing class night – cancelled.
Friday – I booked a full body massage as a birthday treat to myself. Not hopeful I’ll make it. Currently a blizzard is blowing & it’s up the hill in East Kilbride, which I try to avoid if it’s snowing.
Friday – Salsa social evening in Princes Square, Glasgow. Again, not looking good. No public transport today. Tomorrow, who knows?
Saturday morning – 5 a sides cancelled.
Saturday – Birthday dinner in favourite restaurant in Glasgow city centre. Fingers crossed.
What should have been fun packed weekend is now relegated to books, music & telly.
Luckily I had Thursday & Friday booked off so haven’t been stressing over getting to work.
Gary says
It’s everybody’s birthday this weekend! A full body massage? Is that the one where… you know… is it?
Moose the Mooche says
That’s “Extras”. Haven’t you seen the price list? It’s between “Pummelling” and “Palm Springs”
I have to say, it’s a good range.
androo1963 says
Gary, no. It’s all perfectly innocent. On reflection it should be called a 95% body massage.
Moose the Mooche says
5%? Mother Nature has clearly been kind!
androo1963 says
I wish.
Moose the Mooche says
I wish too! I’ve just calculated that five percent of me, by weight, would be nearly eight pounds.
Schwinggg!
androo1963 says
Lightweight.
Leicester Bangs says
Central heating is on the fritz. Can’t get a plumber until Tuesday. Grr.
pawsforthought says
I know the feeling. If my boiler wasn’t out you could pop around and use my shower.
Moose the Mooche says
Don’t fall for it Leicester!
Beezer says
Not really.
I’m lucky enough to be able to work from home when the need arises. A commute into London via Paddington was vetoed without any sorrow earlier this morning.
I shall do the same tomorrow.
I’ve been landlocked indoors looking at powdery snow spin about in the wind.
Mrs Beezer and I may head out for a bracing half hour walk round the locale for a bit of ‘fresh’ air later . Or at least until one of us says ‘fuck this’
Kid Dynamite says
Had a longstanding night out with friends planned for Saturday. One of said friends lives on Dartmoor, so his attendance could well be iffy. It’ll be disappointing if it doesn’t happen, but on the plus side, if it all falls apart I could go to the Phoebe Bridgers gig that I only just found out about and was mightily vexed to realise I was double booked for. Unless that’s cancelled as well, of course….
davebigpicture says
Not so far but I’m hopeful. I’m supposed to be rigging an event in a marquee tomorrow, show Saturday. Please let them cancel!
Moose the Mooche says
It hasn’t scuppered my plan to claim for more hours than usual at work this week, therefore bringing my summer holiday very slightly closer. So I’m happy.
paulwright says
Apparently I was on about the last train North out of that there London yesterday. And I don’t have to go back till Sunday week.
Kids are off school, GLW is working from home, I’ve no urgent deadlines, freezer is stocked.
Was able to walk to Docs and Physio for minor stuff today.
Working out rather well for me.
Even better news – I’ve found the Afterword CDs my beloved tidied away in the kitchen so that is tomorrow sorted.
Harry Tufnell says
Well I had to cancel my car service yesterday.
It’s also doubtful that i’ll get to Barnsley v Norwich on Saturday. Every cloud, etc.
attackdog says
Up on my hill, where I just don’t care I have now been snowed in for two days.
Out of sheer boredom I have today replaced a kitchen sink mixer tap. Successfully. For two years we have tolerated half the output spraying into the sink and the other half spraying elsewhere.
Tonight I washed the dishes without looking like I’d pissed myself.
Reports say the blowing winds are likely to be worse tomorrow, hence snowdrifts so no driving anywhere.
I may just sit and stare.
Uncle Mick says
My dental appointment on Saturday may be cancelled….”glum face”
fentonsteve says
The lad’s footy match on Saturday morning has been cancelled. His team are bottom of the division this season, having ended second and promoted last year.
They’ve only played one match since December, what with either rain or snow, against the team at the top – and lost 15-1.
Not having to watch them being pasted again this week by the #2 team is a snow-related bonus.
salwarpe says
Flight cancelled from Stansted tonight, so another evening with my parents – eggs, chips, beans and beer for supper, followed by card games and whisky – a lovely bonus, making up for an early morning drive to the airport tomorrow and the delay in getting back to my own family. This trip was fine, but the snow and house clearing duties meant I never made it to Chelmsford – the only trips out were to the town dump. Lifestyles of the rich and famous, eh?
Moose the Mooche says
Don’t people have short memories?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_of_2010–11_in_Great_Britain_and_Ireland
Sewer Robot says
où sont les neiges d’antan? On Wiki of course!
This one’s historic, though: the first time since records began that Ireland has failed to rise above 0 degrees for a whole day in March..
retropath2 says
Yeah, but they only ditched wax cylinders in 1988.
fortuneight says
Paid back for.a week of joking how it’s colder at home than here (Buffalo) by flight being put back 15 hours, rendering my plan to escape jet lag null and void. I might just make it home for around lunch time Saturday, fit for nothing other than a shuffle on part in the Walking Dead (the GLW would argue same as usual but with more snoring).
And just to up the ante, the forecasts here are for 12 to 18 inches overnight. And not in that way.
Junior Wells says
Well down here in Melbourne, my rainwater tank is dry, we’ve had the driest Feb in 30 years and I’m heading for the beach this weekend.
mikethep says
Our tanks are full, thanks to a wetter x 2 than average Feb. January was brutal, however – hottest January on record, and hardly any rain.
Pictures of snow seem to have stopped me working though.
IanP says
Apart from the usual midweek naked sunbathing in the back garden which has been scuppered, I’m due to get up,in half an hour to head off to Gatwick for a long weekend with old chums in Madrid.
EasyJet flightchecker says we are cleared for lift off, so fingers crossed. After all, I wouldn’t want to miss the relentless torrential rain they are currently enjoying.
Vince Black says
A couple of posts on here about boilers packing up. It would be worth looking at this, as frozen condensate outlet pipe is apparently a major cause of failure in combi boilers. Mine has frozen up (missus) 3 times in the last 48 hours but setting about it with a watering can full of hot water has done the trick https://www.worcester-bosch.co.uk/about/news/frozen-condensate-useful-information The video is small, on the right hand side, and expands to a full Youtube
pawsforthought says
Thanks for that. Unfortunately we have lost pressure too, which probably indicates something has broken. Still waiting for my (emergency) man. Or woman, or whoever to come and assess the bad news.
fentonsteve says
Our boiler (a Worcester, as it happens) has been giving us grief for a couple of weeks. On the third visit in 8 days, the repair man diagnosed loss of incoming gas pressure. During periods of peak demand, the mains gas pressure drops. Of course, by the time the gas board came out to measure it, all the neighbours had gone to work, demand had dropped and pressure was restored.
Currently in a 3-way standoff between Worcester engineer and Cadent (gasboard contractors). What joy.
Boiler man came back yesterday to replace my downstairs actuator. It happens when you get to my age.
MC Escher says
My physio session was called off yesterday. We discussed the snow at my last session. “Oh, don’t worry, the session will go ahead: I haven’t missed a day in twenty years, and I have a 4WD Audi”.
In normal circumstances I would have found this amusing, but for a) I didn’t find out till I had driven five miles on icy roads to the hospital, and b) it was at half seven in the morning.
Tony Japanese says
Unfortunately I have successfully managed to make it into work every day so far, without hiccup. This morning wasn’t very fun, especially trying to drive up hills with three HGVs in front of me.
Neela says
You people are very cute.
“IT´S SNOWING! WE´RE ALL GONNA DIE! CLOSE EVERYTHING DOWN! NO ONE IS ALLOWED TO LEAVE THEIR HOME EVER AGAIN!”
Kind regards,
Sweden
Moose the Mooche says
But it hasn’t snowed properly in the UK for seven years. Getting a load of grit and snowploughs would be a waste of money – and, unlike you lot, we don’t have any.
Triple-glazing is the dog’s, though but.
Neela says
We usually don´t get “proper” winters anymore either, usually just a couple of days of snow and cold. A rainy Christmas is now more common than a snowy. Almost as if the climate is, like, changing or something.
I live in the south of Sweden though. Someone from the north wouldn´t think much of the -15 we experienced earlier in the week.
Moose the Mooche says
I remember standing in my mate’s car port in Kalmar (having a fag, as it goes) and asking him why they bothered putting a triple-glazed window in the side of a structure that was completely open to the elements at one end.
“They don’t make single-glazed windows. You’d have to go to fuckin’ Poland for one”
When I was Ljungby in 99-00, the winter “troughed” at about -23 and that was enough for me. You also have this bizarre idea over there that buildings should be warmer inside than outside… it’s called “insultation” or something. Wouldn’t catch on over here.
Sewer Robot says
When your scrotum temperature is lower than your QI score, you’re in the wrong place…
Moose the Mooche says
At the beginning of that winter, a Danish friend was trying to describe to me the physical effects of the cold. He said: “If you stay outside too long, they go behind your ears”
“What go behind your ears?”
“You know what!”
Gatz says
Until April last year I didn’t even have double glazing, and the windows in my flat a huge, floor length numbers. I certainly picked the right year to upgrade, and I’ve only had to use any heating for a total of a few hours all winter.
bigstevie says
We go to a Matt McGuinn tribute concert every year, run by Linlithgow Folk Association. It’s held in the high school, but since the school has been closed since Wednesday, it’s been postponed. Couple of bottles of wine and a DVD on Saturday night instead.
Happy Harry says
Leisure Centre closed until further notice so couldn’t have my morning swim today.
Had a day off booked so I could take the GLW to that London for her birthday treat – Stereophonics at the Empire Pool. Wiltshire gridlocked and the one snow plough not up to the job so advice was to stay at home. Given wider transport problems it might be reasonable to expect the gig to be postponed. Not a chance, it’s going ahead as I type this post. Apparently the venue took ‘advice from local authorities’ and deemed to appropriate for the show to go on. I understand that the food outlets in the vicinity are all closed so staff can get home and the rail networks are also seriously disrupted. I remember now why I’ve avoided gigs at big venues for so long.
retropath2 says
In passing, and on reading this, Stereophonics were taking big shit on Midland Today for similarly failing to cancel wheresoever in Brum puts up with them
Wayfarer says
Was hoping to drive to Cambridge tomorrow to see Alden, Patterson & Dashwood at the Junction but after a slushy, slpppery drive to Tesco this afternoon (along with the rest of the town) and snow still coming down, it’s probably another night in.
Blue Boy says
Just about every Parkrun in the area and the 10k I was due to do on Sunday have been cancelled so it’s a lazy weekend for me
atcf says
My wife is 8 and a half months pregnant. We are praying junior doesn’t decide to make an early appearance this weekend. It’s not far to the hospital but I don’t fancy driving up the road in this snow. 😐
fentonsteve says
It snowed heavily the day before I was born. The ambulance couldn’t get through, so my mum was taken to the maternity ward on a tractor driven by a local farmer. And I was breech. So I’ve been awkward since before I was born.
Best of luck to Mrs atcf.
Moose the Mooche says
Good luck Mr & Mrs @atcf (and the heir apparent). I would say “God speed” but I will substitute “God take it easy mate”.
I was born in a blizzard, if that’s any recommendation …
*twitches*
Johnny99 says
Is that better than being born in a cross fire hurricane ?
Mike_H says
Different sides of a single coin, if you ask me.
NigelT says
Having been on the edge of the ‘red’ zone here in Exmouth, we were lucky to get to and from the Steve Knightley gig in Exeter on Wednesday night before all the white stuff arrived…and, boy, did it ever! Supposed to be going to a local panto on Saturday evening but that’s been cancelled…shame, will have to stay in with a few beers. Not sure whether I will get to the radio station for my show on Sunday afternoon yet as the car is covered in ice!
Johnny99 says
Here in Reigate it’s been bloody cold all week but with very little snow – just little waves of that powdery stuff that blows about all over the place. However yesterday it snowed pretty much all day with a sum total of about two/three inches (which in terms of the rest of the country is pretty much bugger all). Luckily it’s thawing this morning so I should be able to get to football at the Albion tomorrow and then to do my radio training tomorrow night. Looking at the rest of the UK we have been exceptionally lucky (unless you like snow of course !).
Mike_H says
It appears that tonight’s funk & soul gig is cancelled “because of the snow”. Even though there’s none of the stuff on the roads locally. Might well freeze later on, mind you.
No other local gigs of interest (to me). Perhaps I’ll open a bottle of Rioja and delve deeper into “Renegade: The Lives and Times of Mark E. Smith”. Or listen to that free Erased Tapes compilation.
Beezer says
It’s all gone, where we are in Berkshire.
It had gone by the early afternoon. Yet friends of ours in a village outside Banbury remain properly cut off by snowdrifts blocking both access roads
We were mincing about town pointing at luxury goods and poncing about in an artisan bakery while they were doing Ernest Shackleton impressions.