Wednesday 29 July 2009

Splish, splash, splosh!

Photo opposite is the view from the dining room where I'm typing this!






Isn't the weather depressing? What happened to summer? I can't recall a day since about May when it hasn't rained at some point during the day. This morning started well with a little sunshine, then around 9.30am the skies darkened and down it came. Hasn't stopped since.

Hmm, an ice-cream van just turned up outside my house - who in their right mind buys ice-cream on a day like today? Talk about optimism!

Where was I? Oh yes, I was moaning about the weather which brings me to point out that I live on a smallish 70's housing estate with poor Broadband reception and drains that flood every time there's sustained rainfall...no, the two things aren't connected but seeing as I've had intermittent Broadband all day, I'm feeling a tad wound up about it! What with that and the TV signal being interrupted...

Anyway, remember the floods a couple of years ago? You were unaffected? Well, parts of where I live were underwater for over a week...some even longer. If this keeps up, it's going to happen again. The main road between our house and our business premises is particularly fun to navigate today, with fountains of water gushing from displaced manhole covers. Note to parents of children happily splashing around in it...THIS IS SEWAGE WATER! This fact is evident when the rain stops and the water subsides. The road is littered with...you can guess!


The photo opposite is of Bridge Street in Worksop at the time of the last flood. Photo taken from Worksop Guardian.





Several houses on this estate were flooded back then (thankfully not ours)and those worst affected were the ones lying below the road level. Not sure who took the blame, the council, the house builders or Severn Trent, but anyway, defense gates were installed which in the main were pretty ineffective. So for the next 5 weeks the road is being dug up to sort out the drainage problem once and for all. This means 3-way traffic lights have been installed to aide the flow of vehicles coming off the main A57 into Worksop.

PLEASE, please can the authorities leave these lights in place when the work is completed because for the first time since I've lived here I can get in and out of the estate with ease. AND more importantly, it would prevent parents parking their cars on the double yellows outside the school gates which snarls up traffic at peak times. And before you inundate me with angry comments about how parents need to transport their offspring by car because of danger from paedophiles etc, I'm not interested in your whining. The road in question is narrow, extremely busy, has yellow hatching and double yellows and is the only exit off the estate PLUS there are 2 car parks within 20 yards so bl**dy well use them!

Whew, I feel better already ;o)

6 comments:

Diane said...

Oh my goodness, you've had a bit of a facelift. Very nice. Love it.

Your estate sounds exactly like our village. First sniff of inclement weather, water gushes down the street at an alarming rate, broadband flicks on and off, and satellite pops out too.

And don't even get me started on the school run ... Oh, all right then. Paedophiles? Have they not heard of walking buses or organised school taxi/bus services, or car sharing? The school run is one of my pet gripes, whether I live in the suburbs of Birmingham or the sticks of Yorskhire. They'd be the first to complain if their child was hit by a car that can't see them due to the ILLEGAL parking, and what puts them above the law in any case?

Ahem, but as I say, don't get me started ...

The garden looks nice and washed. :o)

Sue Houghton said...

We're in danger of becoming Grumpy Old Women. Who am I kidding? I already am one!

Rain does make the garden look lush and the colours more vibrant, doesn't it? I'm not tempted to go outside to admire it though. Best enjoyed through a window...with the central heating on.

Teresa Ashby said...

True the rain is good for the garden, but it's even better for the weeds! How come they do so well when it doesn't rain and still manage to do well when it does? And it's not even the pretty weeds either like buttercups and daisies but the ugly great hairy ones . . . oops, sorry, didn't meant to rant on!
Hope they sort out the drainage problems!

Happy Writer said...

The blurry garden looks lovely Sue, now you'll have to take one on a sunny day too. Lucky you to have a such a nice view in your writing space.

Sue Houghton said...

I'm lucky in that I have a proper office space in what used to be the garage, HW, but I feel so isolated in there, plus it's quite cold even in summer - never gets the sun except very early morning when I'm not in there.
Don't get me wrong, I do like having my own workspace with bookshelves and desk etc but the view of the garden from the dining room table is better than the view of the car in the drive!
Come to think about it, I did write more when I was confined to the study! Too many distractions in the dining room - like access to the kitchen and the fridge!

Honeysuckle said...

Some parets would drive their offspring into the classroom if they could - so stupid. Like the goody-goody that I am, I always parked a street away on spare land and we walked a few yards, And it really wasn't a problem. So, I sympathise, is all I'm trying to say.