Whimps complete whimps

IDontBelieveIt · Post by **IDontBelieveIt** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 2:48 pm

.. the British that is. A few inches of snow and the bloody country comes to a grinding halt. This is nothing back in the 50's it was far worse than this and we went to school regardless, we used things called legs and walked.

I suppose the problem is that poor mummys are unable to drive their bleeding great big 4X4's to school is snowny conditions

But I notice that all the kids that are away from school are very able to walk to the nearest hill with their seldge

And its seems I am not alone the rest of the world thinks we are whimps as well, and they are 100% right.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/w ... 650940.ece

Geewizz · Post by **Geewizz** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 3:09 pm

Do you mean "wimps"?

We've created a different infrastructure since the 50s. Much of the population has adjusted to a new way of life where they can live greater distances from work. Education authorities have centralised many schools meaning that some pupils come from further away and rely on transport.

So we live in an age where we improve for the vast majority of situations and find a balanced solution for the less likely ones.

While some pupils can get into school by walking, there is not much point in them being there if there is an insufficient turnout of teaching and support staff, resulting in them being sent home again.

Of course it must have been better in the old days. You can see the difference a good education makes.

EJJ150847 · Post by **EJJ150847** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 3:09 pm

I agree, we had to walk to about 4 miles school as there was no transport where we lived in Cornwall.

Mind you never saw many cars then either

Only 'rich folk' like farmers, doctors, vets etc had private cars.

I also think most of the school staff lived 'local' so could walk as well, and if they got there we had to!

John

Bludall · Post by **Bludall** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 5:48 pm

We got messed around this morning. My oh was phoned at 7.30 to say school was closed, at 7.40 to say it was opening at 9.30 then 7.50 to say it was closed!!

He was about to walk a hilly 3 miles with his rucksac, so good thing they rang back.

Schools have to have a certain teacher/ child ratio to open so if the teachers live far away and can't get in it has to close. Our school has a text system so we knew it would be closed at 10pm last night. We had 4" of snow and my two have been outside most of the day, making snowmen and women in the garden, the snow is the wrong snow for building, far too icy apparently.

Geewizz · Post by **Geewizz** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 6:00 pm

Bludall wrote:the snow is the wrong snow for building, far too icy apparently.

Put this in the Building forum and let's see if we can have a lively debate about suitable mortar mixes.

Bludall · Post by **Bludall** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 6:08 pm

Geewizz

Well my two girls, 11 and 8 went out armed with veggies, tools and instructions to make a snow woman for a change. They made a small one in the back garden and a couple in the front, they look rather small because the snow compacts and goes like freezer ice if tapped. Both disappointed but they had some fun and very red cheeks now.

Not like it was in 1976 when I made a good snowman with my brother! Terrible clothes sense in the 1970's and the youth of today think it's cool!

I wonder how many types of snow there are, must be something online about it.

Geewizz · Post by **Geewizz** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 6:19 pm

They say that eskimos have dozens of words for snow, each attributable to a different type.

I use a few choice adjectives for different types of snow myself.

That's such a seventies photo!

The colour, the clothes, even the resolution screams - 70s! Good snowman though

We used to build igloos in our gardens and at school. You start by rolling snowballs as large as the team can push and then you kick them apart into sizeable chunks. These are used for the base. The next layer is built up by using blocks that are created in pails. The skill is to cut an angle as you go so that the walls bend into the centre. It was all highly technical and set me up well for a career in stone walling.

jozeffo · Post by **jozeffo** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 6:24 pm

When I was a lad, we used to get up four hours before we went to bed....

Bludall · Post by **Bludall** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 6:27 pm

Geewizz

Were you in Scotland though? I'm sure the snow would be better up there.

Geewizz · Post by **Geewizz** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 6:29 pm

jeff : Simultaneously both blindingly obvious and grindingly oblivious. Go you.

Blu : Yeah, we do get blessed with much more opportunity for snow fun up here. 1997 was a real cracker. I trvelled for a week on a road that had been cleared with excavators and was basically 20 foot walls of snow on either side. About a month later as the last of it thawed, a car appeared from underneath.

Bludall · Post by **Bludall** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 6:31 pm

I'd move to the outer Hebrides at the drop of a hat providing I had a Lotto win. No neighbours, beautiful scenery and proper snow.

Steve the Gas · Post by **Steve the Gas** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 5:57 am

There's me thinking Penguins are gregarious Lou

Bludall · Post by **Bludall** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 7:13 pm

Steve,

I'm not a penguin though!

Steve the Gas · Post by **Steve the Gas** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 5:01 am

Oh, wrong forum

Stoday · Post by **Stoday** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 4:03 pm

jozeffo wrote:When I was a lad, we used to get up four hours before we went to bed....

Luxery! When I were a lad we got up four hours before we kipped down in an air raid shelter.