Snow motion ...

Everyone and everything seems to grind to a halt in this weather. Not that I have a problem with that, the world moves too fast anyway; in fact I think that’s why everyone loves it, for a day or two they can work at a different, slower pace.

I would never normally stop and take a picture on the walk down to the Weybridge office from the station in cold weather but this caught my eye. It’s an abandoned church with an unusual dome-like structure at the back, like a mini me of the Hagia Sophia, beautiful in the snow with the sun on its mammarian curves.

The office was half empty because of the snow and the heating had broken down; we limped on wearing coats and scarves and had a warm interlude across the road in the wonderful Vicki’s coffee shop, where I had a soya latte and a vegan breakfast bar. Some people went to work at home, I lasted until 2.30 when I had to go to the dentist. Took a taxi from the station in Woking and had one of those chatty drivers who empathised with me and bemoaned the cost of dental care.

There was one of those intrusively gregarious old people in the waiting room who started banging on about how difficult it was to get a GP appointment because there were too many people using the NHS. “I’m too old to be politically correct” she said “but you know what I mean”. This got my back up. Age doesn’t deserve respect when it’s talking racist bollocks.

“Do you mean immigrants?” I asked.

“Yes” she said defiantly “I do”. We then had a rather terse difference of opinion during which she trotted out a number of facts, none of which were true enough to even make it on to the side of a Brexit bus, although they probably could have slipped easily between the covers of a BNP manifesto.

“I think you’ve been reading the wrong newspaper” I said to which she replied “I don’t just read one newspaper. I make my own mind up. I read The Mail, The Telegraph and The Express. They can’t all be wrong”.

Fortunately I was rescued by my dentist at this point although not until after a number of fellow residents of the waiting room had expressed their support for my point of view.

I had a quick rebuild of my two broken teeth, paid the piper (£95 - could have been worse) and stepped out into another blizzard. I walked halfway back and was then picked up by TSM who bought me safely home to thaw out.

More of the white stuff forecast for the next two days. Take it easy out there ...