Salt and Grit

Are two things this nation apparently doesn't have enough of.

Is it just me, or does anyone else find themselves wondering at the fact that often the people rushing to blame the government for failing to foresee the worst winter weather we've had in at least a decade and lay in sufficient supplies, are often the same people who themselves didn't buy any grit, salt or shovels, and are now complaining that they can't get out of their houses? What happened to self-reliance?

In other news, the giant icicles on top of my house are now melting. I've half-sad, half-relieved. They were very pretty, but at the same time they did add that certain element of danger to popping out to buy some milk at Tesco. I can see the front page of the Chronicle now: "Woman Buying Groceries Killed By Falling Ice". Not my chosen epitaph. (Then again, my chosen epitaph has already been taken: "Bugger this, I wanted a better world". Top marks to anyone who gets the reference.)