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Does it have to be so cold in London?

Sunday, February 5

No, I am not whinging, I am singing. Does anyone remember The Cranberries?

They have this song called " So cold in Ireland" which I loved. In fact I love all their songs, and in various stages of my life, I have bought (again) , all 5 of their albums. They have a new album coming out this month, so naturally I am quite excited. I got introduced to The Cranberries by a friend when I was 17, in Cameroon, and had just gone to university. The album I borrowed from my friend was their second album "No Need To Argue". By the end of my first year at Uni, all my neighbours at the hostel were Cranberries converts. Yes, I played it everyday on the loudest volume. I know that sounds unfair now, but back then i was young, and carefree, and MAD!!!



I have had that song in my head all morning because I woke up to this :


I had a pretty scary time last night. Mr.Dibs and a friend went to watch the England-Scotland rugby game yesterday and since it was in a Pub, there was no hurry to get back home after the rugby match. Oh no, there was ale to be drunk and banter to be exchanged. Unfortunately for Mr.Dibs, there was also snow quietly falling outside. Now for anyone who uses public transport in London, it is always preferable to be snowed-in, as opposed to snowed-out. At the merest whiff of snow, everything comes to a standstill. Trains stop moving, cars get stuck in the roads, flights get cancelled, everyone goes into panic mode.

 It becomes national news....poor journalists ordered to stand in the windy outdoors, groaning into frozen microphones

"Breaking News: The Snow is Here, it is finally here, "

Like always, I digress....

So, last night, as I lay under my duvet and 5 layers of clothing, reading James Clemens' Wit'ch Star, I got a call from Mr.Dibs, who calmly informed me his train had stopped halfway home, and so he had no way to come home. I tried ringing a couple of taxi companies so I could send a cab to go pick him up, and they all said they had waiting times of  2 hours and above. Drat!!!So I called Mr.Dibs with the bad news, and poor soul said he had no other option but to walk home, as he could not even get a cab from where he was.

So I checked on google maps to pinpoint his location, and see the distance from home....9 MILES.

Poor Mr.Dibs walked home last night, calling me every so often to update me on his progress, until his phone battery went down, at which point I almost had a heart attack. I occupied myself by watching back episodes of 1 Born Every Minute, and spooking myself out. I have a very crazy imagination, and it did not help that I had just been reading a book about dark mages, witches, griffins, mermaids, dragons and other terrible creatures from the void. What if Mr.Dibs was eaten by an ogre? ....unlikely in 21st london, but still......

3 agonising hours later, a weary looking Mr.Dibs entered the house.

Alls well that ends well!!

25 comments:

  1. I love the Snow ! guess its be causes its rare for me

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  2. Although, to be honest, flights were cancelled before the snow yesterday.

    May I quote the "snowed-in" sentence? My Mr T thought it was hilarious (and, you know, true) when I read it to him.

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    1. lol...sure Laura. you can quote it. So at least the airlines got something right, and cancelled the flights in advance this time.

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  3. Ah, got to love The Cranberries!! In a strange twist of fate, it's not cold in Ireland today at all! I'm in Belfast, and (according to my computer) it's a practically topical 6 degrees!! Not a snow flake in sight. :O

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    1. Lucky you. its 0 degrees here in my part of london. I am in bed munching on some carrots and listening to Cranberries.absolute bliss.

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  4. Poor you! An over active imagination has a lot to answe for sometimes! Glad Mr Dibs got home eventually.

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    1. he got home alright Tamsin, with the his feet stained yellow from the dye in his shoes. lol

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  5. oh gosh what a worry!!
    It does bug me that we have the smallest amount of snow and everything comes to a stand still, yet in places like russia and finland they cope perfectly well. Thats the joys of living in Britain I guess haha!

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    1. Exactly. i think its because we don't have it often, whereas they have it all the time so they have learned to function with the snow.

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  6. What a horrible experience. I hope he is now warm and enjoying the indoors! Considering this is the third winter in a row where it has snowed you'd think London would get hip to prepping for it! Sheesh.

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    1. nope. We are too busy increasing train tickets to prepare for snow disruptions.

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  7. Oh poor Mr Dibs! Cold AND Dark and 9 MILES???? ack. what a trooper! Looks really cold there...Stay warm!!!

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  8. Yikes. Glad he got home OK in the end!

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  9. Oh...I am sooooo sorry for Mr.Dibbs..Proud he got home safely..9 miles in snow..is a very dangerous walk.. [Probably wasnt dressed to walk 9 miles in the snow ,either..eeek.]
    I live in USA, in Ms.. We dont get alot of snow either, and when it does snow..we TOTALLY shut down..The roads close..It is awful....... And if you get out and try to drive some where, if the other folks don't run over you and kill you.. then you will run over them.lol
    Maw Judy says...........Pregnant mama dibbs needs to stay in out of that snow..Just look at it throught the window.hahahaha. SO pretty...
    Tell Mr. Dibbs to stay in and stay warm...

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    1. He did Judy. Though he had to go outside with Junior mr.Dibs to clear the driveway.

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  10. A Canadian here. From what I understand from my relatives in England, they don't even sell snow tires there, and driving without snow tires is a recipe for disaster. And as anyone here knows the worst snow to get around in is the wet slushy stuff like you are most likely to get in England. Give me -5C or colder and snowing over snowing @ 0. Way easier to get around in.

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    1. Elle, I think the reason we don't have snow tires here is because we don't get snow often, so there'll be no market for the tires.

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  11. I couldn't believe what I was hearing on the radio this morning about the snow in the south east and further 'up country'. Down here in the south west we have no sign of snow, it's much warmer than it's been lately with about 8 degrees daytime temperature today. 9 miles in the dark in the snow sounds awful, I hate walking to work when it's icy on the pavements and I have less than a mile to go! Glad Mr Dibs got home safely and make sure you stay indoors until it's thawed and safe to walk around.
    Debbie B

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    1. I followed your advice Debbie. The snow has finally melted. Just in time for my pysio appointment tomorrow. Yay!

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  12. Bless him! I bet he slept like a log though :)

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    1. Yep he did. Scared me silly when he wouldn't wake up.

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  13. Oh my! That's a long walk for Mr Dibs if he's not used to it! Thinking back to my London days, I had a few long walks due to TFL strikes, but they were always in the heat of summer and in daylight! Hope you made him a hot chocolate when he got in!

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    1. Hot chocolate? ha! I never sent him out drinking. lol

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  14. Oh, no! So sorry for your rough night! Glad Mr. Dibs made it home safely!

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