Out and About

Dear blog, today I went outside.

Running critically low of dog food, I finally plucked up the courage to travel the Arctic wastes in search of supplies.  

First came digging out the car. This took half an hour as I had to dig out the driveway and half the road, where passing cars had squished the snow into huge ruts that had frozen overnight into concrete-hard tank-traps.  I rapidly regretted my long standing glove-boycott when I lost all sensation in my delicate pink fingertips.  I regretted it a hell of a lot more when the feeling started to come back.

Next came getting into the car.  This turned out to be a problem as the locks were frozen solid. I couldn't remember whether or not pouring hot water all over the locks was listed in the manual under "ways to make your car not work anymore", so I compromised by using warm water instead.

Anyway, I eventually got in and started 'er up. Reversing off the drive was fine until I got to the icy pavements of wheelspin city.  I managed to creep back onto the drive and then reverse with a bit of momentum across the pavement and onto the road where I blocked the non-existent traffic for a while until I wheel-spun my way out of perpendicular with the road and into parallel.

My first port of call was the local DIY superstore for some Compression-fit Stop End plumbing goodness, along with plenty of Teflon tape. As I rumbled onto the car park, I passed a huge sign saying "NO GRIT, SALT OR SHOVELS!"

Next came some proper shopping. Plenty of dog food for the idiot dogs, plenty of idiot food for the resident idiot, some shampoo, some deodorant (Old Spice, because I was feeling sassy) and a big bundle of socks.  

I got home just in time for a sit-down and a cup of tea before a Telephone Interview with a potential employer, which went quite well.  Next came the plumbing.

A couple of minute's wrestling with an adjustable spanner and some pliers, and I had the burst pipe for the garden tap all fixed!  Well, fixed if you just count "not leaking" as fixed. The tap itself no longer works, but now I don't have to fill the kettle from upstairs and the washing machine works, so tomorrow should be Clean Clothes Day!

And that was that.  The only notable thing to report is that the BBC and other news sources keep blathering on about how last night was colder than at the South Pole, without pointing out that it's the middle of summer in the southern hemisphere. Seasons are wacky like that.

On the plus side, BBC 24's Wilds-of-Scotland correspondent is exactly the sort of lassie I'd be wantin' to curl up with on a winter's evening.