Snow tips: how not to slip up in bad weather

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jan/0 ... and-safety" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

From gritting your path to what to use for a snowman's nose, here's how to stay safe and have fun

Snow tip 1: Grit your path

Postmen, elderly visitors (and, unfortunately, junk-mail delivery teams) will thank you for it. The obvious choices are table salt and cat litter. Don't use Maldon Sea Salt unless your postcode absolutely demands it.

Snow tip 2: Drive safe

If you have to drive, pack an emergency kit including blankets, water and some high-energy food. Forget the January detox and think chocolate and Kendal Mint Cake.

Snow tip 3: Charge your phone

Make sure your mobile is fully charged. Imagine the hellishness of being stuck in a snowdrift yet unable to tweet incessantly about it.

Snow tip 4: Watch the car

If you need to warm up your engine a bit before driving, stay by your car. Over the last three days, seven motorists in Milton Keynes have left their engines running and keys in the ignition while they wandered back into their houses. They returned to find nothing but a guilty set of tyre tracks.

Snow tip 5: Get your dues

Check whether you qualify for a winter fuel payment by calling 0845 915 1515. If you're over 60 and resident in the UK, you may be eligible to get between £125 and £400 depending on your situation. Just pray there's enough stored gas in the country to keep us all warm.

Snow tip 6: Feed the birds

Spare a thought for our starving and freezing feathered friends. The RSPB recommends putting out leftovers such grated cheese, porridge oats, soft fruit, unsalted bacon, cooked rice and pasta and the insides of cooked potatoes. Another good reason to dodge the detox.

Snow tip 7: Sledge

Transport yourself back to your childhood by going sledging. Do make sure your craft is fit for purpose, though, and remember that there are obvious safety reasons why hurtling down icy hills at breakneck speeds is not a nocturnal activity.

Snow tip 8: Build a snowman

Not only will this distract the kids, it will also make them appreciate how warm the house is when, after five hours of sculpting a lumpy figure of scarcely humanoid dimensions, you let them back inside. But do remember: carrots should only be used for noses.

[norbert]

and don't build a snowman like this one in Morecambe
http://www.flickr.com/photos/campdave/4205556989/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
& keep warm
http://www.private-eye.co.uk/sections.p ... n_the_back&" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Alaistair Darling's cosy fiddle for Pensioners ?

"ALISTAIR Darling’s pre-budget report included an extra £200m for Warm Front, the scheme to subsidise home heating improvements that left pensioners shivering last winter. But lack of funds was never the problem. Eaga plc, the company with a monopoly on the scheme, didn’t have enough engineers to carry out the work.

Warm Front funds were only available through Eaga, even if local tradespeople could do the work more promptly (and indeed, much more cheaply). In August, the public accounts committee slammed the scheme as poorly targeted, as many households that received help were not in fuel poverty, while many that were severely fuel-poor found themselves excluded by the grant criteria.
Eaga beavers
So how long is that waiting list now? No one knows. On 1 December the Lib Dem MP Andrew Stunell asked for the average waiting time for completion of heating improvements carried out under Warm Front. He was told the data was “not readily available”. Junior climate change minister David Kidney promised to supply a spreadsheet once the information was extrapolated by Eaga.

Labour MP John Mann said that in November one of his constituents had been charged £4,500 to put in one boiler and two radiators. “I can get tradesmen and tradeswomen to do that for £900 or £1,000,” he said. “My constituents are expected to pay £1,000 of that £4,500. We will ensure that they do not, but the taxpayer is still paying £3,500 for that simple little job.” "

[pondhopper]

....
and also DO NOT eat any yellow snow!

[norbert]

....
and also DO NOT eat any yellow snow!

http://www.tuc.org.uk/law/tuc-17391-f0.cfm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[noggin1969]

[smokerjim]

Snow tip 9: Do NOT leave your house under any circumstances if there is a severe weather warning in your area,.....unless your employer expects you to visit your nearest office before they will pay you ( btw, I know a lot of employers are like that, but how many of them might expect you to walk in the snow and ice for 4 or 5 hrs? )