Funniest true story so far this year

[helen&tony]

Hi
I just read this and couldn't stop laughing:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35312492
Rumour has it that Jeremy Cor-blimey has been over there taking lessons in the vain hope that he "gets in", and can start flogging off the M1 and drive Britain back to the dark ages!
Cheers
Helen

[Bob]

Only a politician.

[BongoBongo123]

This snow clearing op in Russia would put the UK to shame. if we had 1/2 that snow we would have a national emergency in 2 days.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35304216

We are already way, way behind in many areas. You don't have to travel far to realize how bad our infrastructure is comparatively.

[helen&tony]

Hi BB123
Well.....You can go to many places on the Continent, and look at what you think is better than the UK, but travel into the outer areas and the boonies, and it's as like as not far worse than the UK. Russia might look good on paper, but living in an ex-Commie country, I don't see much difference to rural Russia...Moscow and the bigger cities have it all sewn up, same as a couple of cities over here, but the rest can go fly a kite. Greece...hell, the main roads are good, but don't stray off, or you might never get back to civilisation! Parts of Italy, France, or anywhere can tell the same story. People in the UK tend to see standards "apparently" drop from what they THINK it used to be like, but I never saw it!....The one thing that you do find a lot in the easternmost areas is the pong of Bullshine!...Apparently I live in one of Europe's poorest countries...hell's teeth, there are plenty of people in the UK who would like to possess the houses, cars, domestic contraptions that this lot own....
As for the UK being behind on technology...HUH....America and the UK INVENTED technology...take a long hard look at the internationally recognised standard listing of universities, and it's an eye-opener....plenty of these establishments are good at blowing their own trumpets, but go compare!....USA and UK have the top sewn up. A good clue to this is the number of foreign students going to the UK to complete their education.
Engineering....USA & UK....and don't forget Japan
Civilisation....depends on how you define it, but I guess that you'd have to go to the Brazilian jungle, where outsiders aren't permitted to find the true meaning!
Cheers
Helen

[Bob]

Good points, Helen.

The other problem is we could have all that fancy snow clearing kit but I can just hear the complaints about £squillions spent on it only to see it sit in store.

It does snow here, but that sort of kit would be used about every 5 years so hard to justify.

[helen&tony]

Hi Bob
The UK manages pretty well with what it's got...and....BELIEVE IT OR NOT...you remember the old British Rail excuse of the wrong kind of leaves on the line???...well, they had the "Wrong kind of snow" over here a while back ...That might apply to skiing, and it does, but I can't see a snow-plough having a hissy fit
I wouldn't mind a snow- blower in our garden , though..great toys!....When we came here, we stopped at our friend's house in Switzerland, and they had the worse snowfall in years....It took 5 people and a snow-blower 5 hours to dig us out, hook the Bongo on to the caravan and get on our way....I have pictures somewhere
Cheers
Helen