Stir crazy

My sixth consecutive day with no lessons. I half-heartedly tried moving my car last night, but it is too snowed-in to move without a shovel or a crane.
Filling the time is the problem. There is only so much dog-walking, tea-making, hare-casseroling and snow-shovelling one can do. Actually, this morning's walk with the dogs was especially enjoyable: The fields bordering our house are caked in a thick blanket of snow on which has formed an icy crust. This crust is too thin to support Jilly (our Retriever) or I, but it will hold Doris (our Parsons Terrier) and Daphne (our Whippet). Daphne, when she can be bothered, is easily the fastest and, while Doris is faster than Jilly, Doris will usually slow down to let Jilly catch up. Whenever I throw a ball for them, Doris tends to reach it first, but will politely let Jilly return it to me. Today's conditions however, brought out a slightly sadistic side to Doris. Because her weight was supported by the icy crust, Doris would have no problem reaching the ball before Jilly with time to spare. But seeing Jilly struggle to plough through the snow, rather than relinquish the ball to Jilly, Doris seemed to delight in skipping just a few strides ahead of the lumbering Retriever, often giving cheeky, teasing glances behind her with a look that said 'eat my (snow)dust, Fatty'. Eventually, Jilly's torment was ended when Doris and Daphne spotted a large bird of prey perched on a post and foolishly set off in futile pursuit.
Predictably, I have been spending more time on my lap-top than usual; sometimes working, but mainly browsing. I like the various forums. As I have mentioned before, BSM instructors have their own forum for discussing all aspects of our profession, asking/giving advice and having the odd moan. And there are other, independent, driving instructor forums which can be illuminating at times. But what has entertained me at times over this enforced break is the forums that follow a newspaper column or review. Around this time of year the media is filled with 'The Best Films/Albums/TV (etc) Of The Year' (and, no, I don't know why each word is capitalised). Obviously I am not alone in finding them entertaining, especially when they sometimes unearth the odd gem of an album, or film, that I had missed. Increasingly, these lists, when published online, are followed by forums so that we may have 'our say'.
What tickles me is how some people seem to take them so seriously. One 'Top 20 films of the Noughties' review (which contained a slightly safe list, containing only one non-English language film - Amelie) provoked a furore of rabid, blood-spitting posts. One respondent then provided his own top 20, none of which had heard. Ok, it may well be my loss that I have not seen any of his films, but I sensed that it more likely to be 'cleverer-than-thou' snobbery. A 'TV review of the year' briefly mentioned 'reality tv' and 'celebrity tv' in it's lengthy review. The forum that followed was then peppered with anti-reality/celebrity television posts, of which the following is perhaps my favourite:
Who is gripped by this purile rubbish? I have only seen brief glimpses of reality TV shows and must admit that I'm not gripped at all. I know very few people who do watch them. Advertisers beware: the people who watch this rubbish are too thick to earn decent money and can't afford to buy your products. Alistair Scott.
Don't you wish you could be like Alistair? Earning 'decent money' (unlike you) and far too superior to deign to watch such common programmes. Unfortunately, not superior enough to spell 'puerile' correctly.
 
I know I have moaned before about News priorities in the media, but New Year's Day took the biscuit. Not content with bombarding us with David Tennant over Christmas, the BBC 1 News actually devoted several minutes of its running time to the 'news' that the tenth incarnation of Dr Who would die that night IN A FICTIONAL TELEVISION PROGRAMME. You can forget the Afghan war, the Credit Crunch, world poverty and global warming, it seems that the television news editors believe it is far more important that we learn whether Dev is going to raise the price of his Peach Slices in Coronation Street, or whether The Chippendales are going to make a surprise appearance in Cranford.
 
I am so glad I have finally got some lessons tomorrow. For a minute there I was beginning to sound like dear Alistair.