We were having a snowball fight and decided to venture out of our courtyard to find more people. There was a bunch of boys having a fight down the hill and we saw something they were obviously using as a sledge, so we asked them if we could have a go. They said, "Yeah, but be careful - it's the door off our fridge!"
I can't imagine how they ever planned on getting it back on...

[B'master] We had that here - in the very 10 minutes that I chose to walk from my house to the pub. Blizzard AND thunder & lightning - Oh, how we laughed!
[Googol] You're beginning to be a complete pain in the arse. If you don't like the chat, just don't join in.

[BM and Chalkywhip] That is quite amazing! I cannot recollect ever having heard of such an odd combination, although undoubtedly it happens (not that I'm all that well versed in meteorology.) It must have been a weird experience.

We've had three tropical downpours and some light drizzle in the last few days. Some lovely rain, flooding, lighting, the works. Another due for this afternoon, wheee! The rest of the days have been bright, sunny, stinking hot and muggy.
Oh, and I'm still here for at least another week. Or two. Or more. This is getting ridiculous.

Hello, flerdle, still stuck? You must be going bananas. (sorry!) Good to see that the Sunshine State has finally matched the rest of the country and installed lighting - it's about time. ... just stirring!
I wonder whether or not you saw the map produced (I think) by the met. bureau showing the lightning strikes over a 24-hour period during that series of storms which ran over us both? For those who have not, it showed a time-line of strikes - they didn't expand, so I'm not sure if these are only the groundstrikes or cloud to cloud stuff as well. There was a number of 48,000 odd quoted! Regrettably my little patch of dirt received only a few millimetres of precipitation although we did have lots and lots of the light effects and noise.

(Breadmaster) Anything more depressing than melting snow? Yep. Non-melting snow. Couldn't get to where I wanted tonight because of it. Snow and thunder is rare - I've only seen it 3 times, Jan 1966, April some time in the 80's, and now. Trust me - I'm an ex-meteorologist, don't drink, don't smoke, make all my own frocks . . .

School, that is. Having fought my way here through the 5 mm of snow, I find I'm alone in the place... one other teacher, and not a sign of a snowball-throwing student... Good thing we don't have real snow here!

Last night was brilliant, except for driving down the M4 in a blizzard, with lightining. It snowed for no more than 20-30 minutes but that was enough for the boys. When I arrived home they were at the window, all three were excited broad grins on their faces. So in the dark is was snowball fights and snowman building, wonderful fun.

4 flippin' hours to get home (25 miles) in about an inch of snow last night. This may come across as somewhat curmugeonly, but:
If you know (because it's been trailed on the news for about a week) that there's snow on the way, put some petrol in your car.
If you don't like driving in the snow, don't do it. People will give you lifts, there are trains and buses and so on; don't hold the rest of us up by trundling around at 5mph.
If you're sliding, stop braking!
When you see a hill, don't stop. Don't speed up. Don't change gear, revving furiously all the while. If you can't get going again in 1st, stop making ice patches; try 2nd.
Honestly, we must be the most pathetic country in the world when it comes to dealing with a little bit of snow. (Of course, when I say 'we', I mean the southern English. Those of us who grew up in places where it snows quite regularly in the winter were the ones overtaking everyone else this morning - it was wet, not frozen, you... *spontaneously combusts*

I had to drive from Cumbria to Stratford-upon-Avon yesterday. Via Birmingham. Set off 4pm. Home at 11.00pm. I managed to avoid the B'ham gridlock, although I was delayed for a couple of hours on the M5. In the circumstances, I think I was lucky. But how I wish I'd seen the lighting storm!

And the poor chickens! They hate the snow and have remained tuck-tucked up in their hen-cot. I gave them extra portions of porridge this morning.

Ah, let's not get into the old "is snow a good thing or not?" debate, which as far as I can see generally splits neatly along the line that divides drivers from non-drivers. As a non-driving aesthetic type I naturally love snow and get very miserable when it goes. And I couldn't appreciate it last night for the 20 minutes that it existed because of a flatmate-related crisis (as usual). One day I shall live all alone in some kind of Arctic permafrost country. With a reliable Internet connection.

*sobs quietly at the thought*
36°C here today, and the storm blew out to sea before it could do anything interesting.

[BM]Are all your flatmates attention-seekers? You seem to have a lot of trouble with them.

I do, don't I? Ghastly stuff. They're not attention-seekers though, honest. This one suffers from depression and rather unwisely allowed herself to run out of medication last week, with predictably awful results. Add to this the remarkably unhelpful support for mental health in this country - I took her to A&E (she was really in a bad way) on, I think Friday night, but they were unable to give her anything and insisted that she see somebody on Monday. Quite what she was meant to do for the weekend, on a downer from lithium cold-turkey, was not made clear. In other news, my other flatmate is surviving at the moment, despite being in the throes of an increasingly nasty court case with a certain major organisation currently in the news for its arrogance and intransigence. My other flatmates are moving out and I have to find replacements for them. It's at times like this that I'm glad I work nights sometimes.

[Bread] Not guilty, m'lud. I like snow. I like to look at it. I like to go out in it (sometimes in my slippers); I've even once been out in it wearing less than my slippers. I like watching it fall, and I like driving in it - it's peaceful, and (if you're in a country where they know about driving in the snow) there's a general feeling of "We're all in this together, isn't it fun?" I just don't like driving in it in the Home Counties. I'm currently overhearing a conversation about last night, in which one of my colleagues, who clearly has an automatic car, is relaying how she kept phoning her husband every ten minutes because she was stuck in a snowdrift or halfway up a hill, and she didn't know what all those 'other gears' might do. *sigh*

I, too, buck your trend, Bm, but from the other angle, being a snow-hating pedestrian. This makes just as much sense as hating it from behind the steering wheel, if not more: I went skating several times this morning quite unintentionally. But my views on the Englsih Winter are well-known from Dunx' Room 101 game, so I need add no more this year.

I am willing to put up with snow, but having to walk over ice at 8:00 in the morning is a bit much.

I had to run! That was amusing, not!

Wheeeeeeeeeee!

You slide across it for a metre or two into a neat crouching position ready to make the next snowball. Thus speaks the voice of experience.

I've just come back from 4 days in Prague (*quiet gloat*). The Czech people really know how to deal with snow and cold things in general, but they do have the advantage of not having so much ice. They just get on with it. Yes, its cold, Yes, snow is a pain in the arse but you can't help it so just get on with things (and drive a bit slower and more smoothly whilst you're at it). Sorry if I'm grumpy, think I've spent too much time with my mother!

You don't seem to be grumpy :-). I'd LOVE to go to Prague and I wouldn't mind going with my mother either. She provides possibly the most enriching and uplifting moments in my life. She is also very reliable. I am indeed fortunate.

(Chalky) Prague is wonderful. Please visit! I did have a lovely time there and normally things are great between us, just occasionally she gets on my nerves. But I've had a nap and now have things in perspective, I am a lucky littel cresenter to have had a holiday. However being away means I feel a little confused about the Hutton stuff.

IN a brief chat with Chalky just now, we discovered a new music genre ('Church Hall Rock' - obvious rhymes, twee love themes and heavy guitars) and a new word ('saccentuate', being over-saccharine). And in our Saturday morning flush of creativity, we also thought it would be nice to have some anarchy hit the chat room on Monday night. Just remembering how great rab looked in that long-haired wig from two or three pilgramges ago made me wonder if you lot might be up for a Heavy Metal Night? MC meets Spinal Tap...

[pen] Oh, yes, that wig, are there any pics?

Pen] Yeah, yeah, yeah! Sounds good - but can I put in an early request for a Animated Cartoon themed epilg someday soon?

[Raak] I sent Dunx some a while ago, but they have yet to appear.

[All] I may well not be in the chatroom on Monday due to a visitation from my brother; on the other hand, it may not last alnight so I could make a late entry into the charts.

[Tuj] Indeed you do.

[Bob the dog] Now I understand why I had no idea as to wether you were being sarcy in the "Lying Game": I thought it was some offshot of the "Advice" game on MCiOS. Sorry 'bout that.

Googolplex the Amazing Balancing Goat from Luxembourg] Hooray!

[Bog the dob] Take your pick. What would everyone else like to do? Can I be Musky from Deputy Dawg?

I'd would come along as Klunk, from Stop the Pigeon, but my Viavoice seems to be having some trouble.

A return to the top for ffiish , thanks to this weeks special celebrity I'm Jordan Get Me on the Front Page

Well done, ffish. I have to admit that this last week I simply cashed in and sat. Not being in the U.K. it can be difficult at times - unless one wishes to spend inordinate amounts of time trawling news pages - so my apologies if I have let down the team.

Pen] I can see us getting into a "no, after you!" scenario. But I would like to be Touché Turtle. Or Boo-boo. Or...

Dujon] I can understand your reasons, and there is no need to apologise, please play a while longer. If you need a rest buy into a couple of long term stocks that will be steady but will hit the headlines occasionally like the Queen or one or more of the Princes, perhaps J-Lo or a movie star like Russell Crowe. Maybe even a portfolio of three or four blue chips, even on a quiet week there will be a payout. Don't do what I foolishly did I bought a solid earner when they were too high, then their stock plummeted.

I'm all for a cartoon e-pilg tomorrow!

I've just woken up in the middle of my only lecture of the week to discover that while it is taking place in the confines of the institute at the campus, I have been 'happily' dozing back here at my flat. I am going to be in sooooooooooooooooooooooooo much trouble! How did this happen?!

Only lecture of the week? What nonsense is this? Actually, come to think of it, when I was a student I had no compulsory lectures at all, but I still went to them. I'm not sure why.

Gah, I only turned my back for four years and Mornington Crescent Not At York Anymore is gone! This just will not do...

Say you were ill. Ring up and apologise, and go in tomorrow (or this afternoon) and get what lecture notes you can. You'll be fine!

So, did anyone else notice the product placement in last night's Auf Wiedersehen Pet?

Yes, but I've forgotten it. There was something where I thought "they can't mention that on the BBC!" but, er, no, it's gone.

Nope, missed it. What did they show? (BTW, hello Jenny! Have you found MCiOS yet? In case you haven't, just click here to find it. Also tonight from about 8 or 9 pm there is an e-pilg so you can join in if you click on the "Real time chat server" link just under the clock on that page.)

Among other things, Moxey was resplendent in an MC5 t-shirt.

Oh, no, that wasn't it.

I dimly remember Parslow actually. Blimey, it looks like Kevan is still around. I have a couple of OMD albums that once belonged to him...

Oh, so you're one of those naughty people who don't return albums! (I'd have nagged you to death myself, but maybe Kevan went off OMD) So where have you been for 4 years?

[ZK] Were you supposed to be teaching it or attending it?

[ZK -- how it happened] I'm not supposed to tell you this, but you ought to know. If you had attended that lecture, you would have met the love of your life and lived a happy life together. However, the son you would have had would eventually grow up to be an evil despot worse than any seen before in human history, responsible for the annihilation of 90% of the human race. Therefore, time travellers from that blighted future came back to last night and laced your drink with large quantities of tranquiliser, ensuring you overslept and missed the lecture, thus averting the creation of that timeline. You may be in trouble now, but think of the far greater calamity that has been relatively painlessly averted.
Seriously, hope you don't get in too much bother over it. (Assuming an "Attending" answer to Raak's Q:) Do they take a register or is it a small enough class that absences are noticeable? What are you studying that only has one lecture a week?

I deny it! I paid for those albums fair and square. I could have had his old Modern Romance 12"s as well, but passed.

[Jenny]Oh, that's alright then. :) Do you still listen to them?

{Breadmaster, snorgle, Raak, Brendan] They take a register every week - I have lots to do but it only takes the form of a lecture once, the rest is done in classes (language etc.) I'm doing a Classics BA. As it was, I wasn't feeling well, and told my friend to apologise to my other tutor later today and get everything from that class for me. I caught up on some (apparently) much-needed rest until my flatmate decided that the whole of Birmingham wanted to hear Evanescence and Avril Lavigne at such a volume that you could almost tell what the record producers were eating on the other side of the booth when they were making the song. Yippee.
But I'm still not happy as my lecture is the only historical input they get every week, and one of our lecturers said that the lecture register is one of the first things that alerts them to the fact that you're having problems with your course...ie that you're a layabout. [Brendan] Thankyou, I needed that. :)

Not that often, but then the same goes for most of my collection really. I'll probably dig them out now.

[rab] Er... yes, you're right, aren't you? Note to self: pull finger out.

[ZK] My best excuse for not attending Uni lecturers was to claim I was boycotting them. This did not perturb my tutors in the least, acclimatised as they were to student politics. They didn't ask the reason.

And really, you know, it's about time they started using webcams to narrowcast the lectures anyway. I've attended several sessions at the University of Washington (where I'm not even a student) via this method.

Something went wrong with my connection to the epilg again last night. Was it a good-un?

Not sure how it compares to others, but I enjoyed my brief visit. I'm a bit worried about some of the late night tv programmes that snorgle watches, shocked I am!

I was bored, ok? I don't do that everyday, oh no. Not at all. ;-)

Sorry about my non-participation. I had a chat going on that required all my attention, but I think there *might* be a positive outcome :o)

Oh good! It sounded like something was going on..

*Mimes well done penf - keep us up to 'date' ;o)*

Didn't make it back from Birmingham in time to join you - maybe there's a transcript to read?

[penfold] Sorry I ran out the second you appeared, wasn't really s'posed to be there. [snorgle] I saw bits of that programme too - my housemate was pretending to be 'reading some academic research papers with the telly on in the background' when I came in from the pub. Incidentally, a present from DrQ has arrived, so could you drop me a line so we can organise duplication and distribution (rab at angrycake dot com).