And Now For Something Completely Different.

The Snow!

Yes it's all the fault of the Government. And the Railways and the Councils and the Airports! The Knobs we've now got in power (literally) should have seen this coming. We had a bad period in late winter of 2009, again in early winter, of the same year (at least where I am) and again early this year. Sufficient to provoke the then Government, to produce a report, about which stuff all was done. This lot are now having another one. We should have had more salt available, but we haven't, despite importing from as far away as, Peru? (You would think, that since we all stopped eating the damn stuff, we'd have a surplus).

According to many investigations, it would cost about £1.5 billion to have the country 'snow proofed', which is, well, not a lot. That would allow people who are vulnerable to at least get out of their house, such as the elderly or disabled without fearing for their lives. Yes it is that dangerous! People fall over in ice and snow and injure themselves. Those injuries can be life threatening, well there's a surprise! Perhaps that's why we have those big buildings, full of people in white coats, in most major towns and cities, d'oh!

Well maybe, if we spent the sort of money, we spend in one week in the NHS to prevent this annual toll of broken limbs, specially hips, in the elderly, and often less elderly, we might have more resources to expend on people who are genuinely ill, not simply the victim of short sighted Government and Local Authorities. Loss to the Exchequer, without computing in these costs, is alleged to be in the order of £1 billion a day! Surely the bunch of shiny faced twats in suits, in power currently, most of them millionaires, can see that! We don't need yet another report, from some 'tame' scientific adviser, who will no doubt tell the Cabinet exactly what they want to hear. We actually need someone to take action to curtail this misery by taking action!

Earlier this year, County Durham NHS, actually gave the Highway Authority a £1 million to carry out extra salting operations, in an attempt to diminish the toll of breakages they had to deal with. It was controversial, and prompted the resignation, of one of the Hospital Governors, but at least they were trying. We spend £2.5 billion to fix broken hips alone in the NHS each year. Surely any politician with even half a brain can work out that we could likely save a good proportion of that by judicious allocation of resources to prevent this or at least ameliorate it. That of course does not reflect the misery and death that ensues from broken limbs, often simply due to the trauma or the operation to fix the problem.

I personally, become extremely nervous, for my bone density challenged love, when snow hits the ground, because I know, one fall could be enough to end her days. And, those with prosthetic hips, break them more easily, because of the greater mass of the metal implants breaking out of bones, factor in the Diabetes and a potential exists for disaster. I therefore buy my own salt, and use it with profligacy, in my immediate vicinity. But, I can't precede each of her steps with a sprinkle of rock salt; clear a path with a snow shovel. I just have to live with the stress. I would like it to be diminished.