Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Getting ready for Big Freeze 2

After the recent thaw we have another big freeze on the way, or so it would appear according to forecasts though in Ireland the only accurate weather forecast is looking out a window before you go outside.

My fiancee is Canadian and she cant understand why we aren't doing some simple things to help reduce the impact. First shops should be selling sacks of salt. The government might not be able to grit paths and drives but if shops could secure a supply of salt they could make a fortune. The government is running out of stocks but lets be honest, if shops are making money they will find a steady supply separate to the governments. Second in St Johns's, where Lauren comes from, every house holder is obliged to clear the paths in front of their houses. People in Ireland are afraid to do it in case they get sued, people over there are afraid to not do it because they will get fined. You have to do it by a certain time as well. Leaving it for a few days just makes it worse and you end up with compacted ice on the paths just like we did last week.

Finally people get fined if they park their cars along the road outside their houses blocking the side of the street. Over there it means snow plows cant go down the road but over here I noticed that people just parked their cars outside their houses where the snow wasn't too bad, which was on the road. One busy road near me was down to one lane in places, sure people need to park their cars but if they cleared their driveway they can park properly. How their cars didnt get damaged with trucks going by I dont know.

Hopefully the big freeze wont turn out to be as bad as forecast or as bad as last week and maybe people will be better prepared this time.

Danny Williams Resigns

The Premier of Newfoundland Danny Williams has resigned and in the wonderful Newfoundland relaxed manner he went on a comedy show and they took the piss out of him for resigning. They brought in some famous Newfoundland characters to help say goodbye. Can you imagine doing the same with Cowen? Maybe the waving a gun, tying to a chair and holding hostage part, but I doubt the stars from any Irish crime series would show up to help our Taoiseach. Then again Williams turned Newfoundland into a Canadian Celtic Tiger and leaves it with what looks to be a bright future especially when compared to the bleak economic wasteland left to us by Cowen and Ahern.