2022 Stash & Grab Virtual Pub

[richardandtracy]

I had to travel to Stevenage on Monday for a major design review on a spacecraft propping system. It snowed here in Kent on Sunday night. We got 3" at home.

To save money, Kent County Council only put salt on the major roads, and even then, not really enough. I picked my colleague up from Wainscott, where the side roads and residential areas had 4", and that was marginal, but OK.

The M25 motorway up to the M11 junction was slow, grinding and slushy. 50mph being the maximum safe speed. The snow on either side was pretty and getting deeper. The M25 was closed by snow and abandoned vehicles between Junctions 23 and 25, as was the A1(M), so Doris (the company car's sat nav) suggested an alternative route. Through Harlow and Royton. It wasn't necessarily a good idea. The roads in these areas were barely passable using the company Toyota CHR. We saw 50-60 abandoned vehicles, at least half being BMW's or Mercedes, and a number of stranded jack-knifed trucks. At one point in Royton we were within an ace of being stranded ourselves, but we made it through, even though a Smart Car, Aston Martin, Ford Fiesta and Skoda Yeti 4x4 got struck at the same point. The snow was 10" deep there, and at points the direction we were going was only loosely related to where the steering was pointing.

Finally got through to the meeting, to find half the attendees living within 10 miles of Stevenage had been unable to get in and were on Google Meet. Pfft. One attendee had come in his son's car - his Mercedes AMG hadn't allowed him off his drive before the computer shut the car down and said it didn't like the weather and wasn't going out to play.

The return journey on major roads (including the M25, which had been cleared by then, after an 8 hour closure) was fine, and the 4" snow near home seemed so minimal by then I got a little blasé about it. Anyway, no real issues in the end. The CHR is a hybrid automatic where the driver has no control over whether the petrol engine is even running let alone the gear you're in, so I was deeply surprised at how well it coped. However, I'd have been much happier driving my Citroen 2CV in those conditions as I know I'd never have had the grip problems around Royton. The 2CV will chunter and grumble, but get through if there's enough grip for someone to stand up on the surface. I am less convinced about that with most modern cars.

Regards,

Richard.

[Serinde]

Well THAT sounded exciting. (Not) Our Prius is very well behaved, excellent traction and skid control through the ice, slush and snow we are experiencing. Our only problems are on back roads where the SUVs and tractors have been through and there's a high ridge of ice built up in the centre of the road. Not fun (all the ice was due to a broken pipe, probably a land drain of some sort -- there's been lots of building here). But we've not had 10inches of it; only about 4. But even here we heard about the state of the M25 at the start of the week. Why, oh, why didn't they make a decision on Sunday for everyone to use Google Meet? Space machismo? More importantly, I'm glad your expertise and experience got you safely there and back again.

[rcperryls]

Well THAT sounded exciting. (Not)

I remember those days all too well. As I said in a previous post, winter snow is fantastic until you have to drive in it. I am very glad to hear that you were able to get to your meeting and safely back home.

Carole

[Mabel Figworthy]

Brave man! Glad you managed to get There And Back Again, but really you shouldn't have had to.
I can understand why you would have preferred the 2CV - a few winters ago a friend of ours had to get out the Austin Seven in order to get to the paddock (several miles away) where his daughter's horse was, and his was about the only car actually driving. Except for one other: a police car, which followed him so the could use his tyre tracks for grip

[richardandtracy]

Yes, 70 miles each way was not a lot of fun.

I just don't know why so many modern cars are so bad in the snow. I feel it must be a combination of too much power, insufficient feedback from the steering to tell you how bad things are, and poor driving brought on by not knowing how bad the road is. Oh, and computers on wheels being inadequately programmed and taking the easy way out by switching off. If the computers on wheels (like merc's and beemers) actually had a 'snow' mode to reduce power, torque and reduce change in engine speed to a gentle minimum regardless of how fiercely the driver stamps their foot down, I'm sure it'd go a long way to reducing the problems. It wouldn't prevent the overall design flaw of rear wheel drive, but it could go some way to mitigating it.

The old Austin 7 gives the impression that it's great in the snow. None of the ferocity of power delivery that destroys cars.

Regards,

Richard.

[wendywombat]

Have to say that our Merc EV with 4 wheel drive acts impeccably in snow and ice.....
However it's remained in the garage throughout this blast from the North

[Mabel Figworthy]

One Austin 7 delivering hay to a snowed-in horse

[Serinde]

[richardandtracy]

Oh my. Not what I would consider perfect conditions for a convertible to go topless, but whatever floats your boat.

Regards,

Richard.

[Serinde]

Christmas tree is up! Eggnog on the go, too, plus some little spiced marzipan biscuits.

[wendywombat]

We are enjoying the pretty lights that our near neigbours have put in their front garden. Tasteful but jolly!

Still have some snow but it should be clearing by tomorrow in the forecast rain.

[Serinde]

Happy Christmas everyone. Good Yule to all.

[rcperryls]

Merry Christmas from Rosey and me!

Carole

[richardandtracy]

Merry Christmas to you and everyone.

We had MIL around for Christmas lunch. The poor terrified Maine Coon Ozzie spent the entire day hiding under Orianna's duvet. MIL appears to be terrifying!

Regards,

Richard.

[Roland]

So Midnight Skye is not the only scaredy cat. She hid under the sofa for two day. But, today she stayed in the spare bed, so we cuddled most of the day.

I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas meal as much as she enjoyed her tuna today.

[Mabel Figworthy]

Belated Happy Christmas everyone!

I succumbed to a bad cold last week and am still not quite quite, and DH caught mine and was not really in a fit state to enjoy Christmas yesterday (he's in bed today), which was a shame because Youngest cooked us the most elaborate Christmas meal, with stuffed rolled turkey (he boned the crown himself), sprouts with chestnuts and pancetta, charred chicory with blue cheese and walnuts, potatoes roasted in goose fat and a lovely celeriac-and-garlic puree. Not sure how many people he thought he was cooking for.... Fortunately I was able to do the meal justice,and I could even honestly say the sprouts were the best I've ever had. Still don't like sprouts, but definitely the best I've had

[rcperryls]

Mabel: You two need to get your acts together and get and stay healthy! Colds are such annoying things but hopefully you are the through the worst of yours and DH will get better soon. Definitely wish you both healthy for the New Year! Glad you were able to enjoy Christmas dinner. Sounds like Youngest is quite the chef!

Roland: Tuna is always a winner. When I open a can of tuna (which is about the only can I need to use a can opener for) Rosey comes running from wherever she is. Tuna water is a great treat. I only feed her dry food and she is fine with that. The fact that Midnight cuddles with you is soooo
important. Won't be long before the scary part will be gone and she will be (I think already is) well attached. I have read many places that cats communicate acceptance and love by blinking their eyes slowly at you. That communicates trust, acceptance and love. I don't know if that is true, but I've heard that many times. What is really great is when you blink slowly at them, and you get a slow blink back. Whether is is coincidental or not, I take it as positive reinforcement.

Carole

[Roland]

She does the blinking with me, and it’s natural to do it back. Neither blinking nor tuna was enough to lure her out from under sofa though.

[Serinde]

WELL! We are all ready in the Stash & Grab for our usual New Year Festivities. The smaller animals have been allowed in to enjoy the fire — the lions and unicorns are somewhere in the grounds — can you hear the bass backbeat thumping? The bar is stocked with whatever you’d like to drink, with or without alcohol; tasty snacks are available also, naturally. The crash room is available with fresh broken crockery (if you see what I mean), so you can release the last of 2022 angst.

And I had a message from Lyudmila last week wishing everyone a happy Christmas and New Year, so that’s a good place to start, I think.

Roll on 2023!

Anyone brave enough to have resolutions?

[Mabel Figworthy]

That's a very good place to start indeed!

Can Lexi come in? Unlike me and Mr Mabel she does NOT like fireworks, so if she can have a nice quiet place inside, we'll go out into an unfrequented bit of meadow and let off fireworks according to the best Dutch traditions, i.e. bonkers