all that glistens
The cold snap of the last few days is about to get worse, we are gloomily informed … it’s going to start snowing around the northerly parts soon. Right now, it’s stupidly cold outside, despite the weak sunshine … and we had a few assorted hail storms. Oooh, the fun. The biting winds (all the way from the Arctic) aren’t all that fun either. If this keeps up, I’m going to have to start thinking about batches of mulled wine in hip flasks to prevent my freezing to death on the roads. Gah.
In case anyone hasn’t gathered, I cope with the lousy weather by complaining loudly to all and sundry. It actually does seem to help.
On a slightly more positive note, today marks the first day on which the new relaxed drinking laws go into effect … pubs can now apply for a 24hr license if they so choose. I’m ambivalent about all this, really. On one hand, I’ve seen the city center descend into a near warzone on Saturday nights, especially after the footie… It’s probably accurate (although a touch oversimplified) to say that regulated pub early closing helped avert more binging.
On the other hand, people who want to binge were going to do that regardless of the regulated hours, so I presume its not going to make a great deal of difference to many. I still haven’t discovered if my two local pubs have applied for later closing hours. One thing I can guess with a remarkable degree of certainty is that they won’t keep their kitchens open later… which means that if I want hot food late at night, my choices are still delivered pizza or Indian food. Yep, heretic that I am, I actually go to the pub to grab nicer food than I would get from takeout places… and the pubs are on my way home.
In other news, it seems that the Venetian city council has thought of a not-so-novel means of raising some cash to cover up its budget shortfall. They are planning on flogging some of the historic palazzos to all those interested. This is supposedly a legitimate offer, no scam involved. The catch ? Well, there are quite a few… For one thing, the buildings apparently aren’t in the best of repair. Another problem ? Venice is not the safest of places to plan on having anything that isn’t aquatic in nature. The city is awash, and not just with debt… it’s sinking.
On 25-Nov-05 at 1:51 am,
Sin wrote:
Yeah, it’s supposed to snow in London this weekend. I’ve already prepared my snow outfits, just in case…
On 25-Nov-05 at 7:24 pm,
Splee wrote:
I hope it does snow. Since I prefer cold weather to hot, I have an assortments of winter coats, a myriad of scarves, and a plethora of gloves to keep me all toastie warm.
I’m more inclined to complain when it’s bloody hot because there’s bugger all you can do about it. At least you can wrap up against the cold.
On 26-Nov-05 at 12:06 am,
drac wrote:
People around here say I’ve been preparing for winter since about September or so …
And splee, unless I dress up like a bank robber, the frozen tip of my nose and my cheeks tell me that they prefer the summer temperatures, thank you very much 
On 26-Nov-05 at 2:06 pm,
Splee wrote:
Don’t knock it mate, Bank Robber Chic is “in” this year.