Battling the elements

I was one of the unfortunate few stuck on the A38 this morning. I have never seen so many car's abandoned at the side of the road that had either been involved in a crash or whose owners had found the conditions too tough to tackle. Sat in my car for two and a half hours was not a pleasant experience but I would say it was a lot less stressful than it was for the poor people involved in the many crashes that happened. I arrived at the race course to see the lad's already training, so I hot footed off to join them - still in the seated position due to minor displacement of a few discs!.
We managed to find a postage stamp sized plot of land to work on and, in true British spirit, carried on regardless. I was going to attempt another mercy dash to the shops after training today but Newton Abbott resembled a Donkey Derby this afternoon so I limped back home to a soothing cup of tea and a slice of melancholy instead.
I must quickly mention a topic of conversation that certainly raised a few eyebrows in the Rugby world this weekend. Many already knew, but more did not, about Gareth Thomas, the Welsh international and rugby legends private life. All I would say is that in a sport dominated by the macho psyche it takes a very brave man to reveal all. The last time a well known footballer did so the end result was the loss of his life. Times have moved on though and maybe the footballing world has a crueler way of judging it's own.

I will now sign off, my writing brain numbed by the remnants of a fourteen hundred word Christmas cracker I sent off last night. The fact that I am still batting the demons of 'man flu' down with a yule log, and that the Hargreaves house is filled with excitement at Biblical level, is also a factor in drawing me away from the old 'lappie'. I will now aim to beat the World record for the number of 'Chipsticks' consumed in five minutes combined with that, in no particular order, of Satsumas, Christmas cookies, and the obligatory medicinal vat of red . As they say, 'feed a cold and feed a flu'!.


CH