Monday, December 21, 2009
The wrong kind of snow ... 2009 style
It's a long time since we heard that phrase - first uttered by a hapless British Rail spokesperson some years ago, trying to explain the failure of Britain's rail services in adverse weather conditions.
Well, as I write this, people travelling between England and France via Eurostar in the pre-Christmas period have had their journeys interrupted, postponed or cancelled due to snow getting into trains' engines. It seems that normal snow doesn't cause this kind of problem. If "the wrong kind of snow" wasn't such a loaded, redolent phrase it would undoubtedly have been used again in December 2009 to describe the troublesome weather we are experiencing presently.
I don't think we'll be checking out Eurostar's services until the weather warms up a bit. In the meantime, I think we have just cleared out our local Waitrose's stock of Colomba, Corsica's delightful wheat beer, and most of its stock of Corsica's better known beer, Pietra. If there are people in the Southampton area who find empty shelves when hoping to purchase a bottle or two of either before Christmas, you have my sincere apologies.
Well, as I write this, people travelling between England and France via Eurostar in the pre-Christmas period have had their journeys interrupted, postponed or cancelled due to snow getting into trains' engines. It seems that normal snow doesn't cause this kind of problem. If "the wrong kind of snow" wasn't such a loaded, redolent phrase it would undoubtedly have been used again in December 2009 to describe the troublesome weather we are experiencing presently.
I don't think we'll be checking out Eurostar's services until the weather warms up a bit. In the meantime, I think we have just cleared out our local Waitrose's stock of Colomba, Corsica's delightful wheat beer, and most of its stock of Corsica's better known beer, Pietra. If there are people in the Southampton area who find empty shelves when hoping to purchase a bottle or two of either before Christmas, you have my sincere apologies.
