I have been a member of the Hertfordshire 4X4 Response since its inception and we have really come into our own this week. We have been on standby to support the East of England Ambulance Service since last Sunday. But the phone really started to go off today with requests from Bedfordshire Ambulance service to help snow bound staff get in to work. If it hadn’t been for my Land Rover I wouldn’t have got into work myself this week, the roads out of the village not having been ploughed or salted.

The Hertfordshire 4×4 response unit was set up in 2007 to aid the Emergency Services and Local Authorities in the event of severe weather, flood or other emergency where four wheel drive vehicles were required for the response.

You have probably seen Alacritys blog messed up over the last few days this was because it had been Hacked…….

I am well on the way to sorting it out and we will soon be back to normal so please keep reading.

As I was looking through the February edition of Waterways World the advert for Kingsground Narowboats caught my eye.

Would you rather have your money floating around the rather ugly world of the banking system?

OR

Would it be safer floating round the beautiful canal system right here at home?

With the interest rates paid out by the banks and building societies I think I agree with Kingsground. At least you would be getting pleasure out of your savings rather than keeping them under the bed (even that would be safer than a bank)or at the mercy of a corrupt and immoral banking system.

The banks in my view brought on this calamity by sheer avarice with no thought to their social responsibilities just to their immoral bonuses. They still haven’t learned their lesson absorbing the government bail out money like sponges but not releasing any to hard pressed business and mortgages. Someone somewhere is making a lot of money at our expense.

“Vive la Révolution!

Patrick McGoohan (Number six) the creator and star of the cult 1960s series ” The Prisoner ” died yesterday aged 80 after a short illness.

The series tells the story of a man who finds himself trapped with no past memory in a place called the Village. As he explores he finds other inhabitants who are only identified by a number and have the same memory loss as he. Not knowing who to trust, The Prisoner seeks the truth behind the village and it’s controller Number Two.

I can remember watching the series and being only 10 at the time found it strange to see a man being chased by a large rubber balloon around a fantasy place. Which turned out to be Portmerrion in Wales.

The Centers for Disease Control has issued a medical alert about a highly contageous, potentialy dangerous virus that is transmitted oraly, by hand and even electronically. This virus is called Weary Overload Recreational Killer (WORK) If you recieve WORK from your boss, any of your collegues, or anyone else via any means whatsoever- DO NOT TOUCH IT. This virus will wipe out your private life completley. if you should come into contact with WORK you should immediatly leave the premises.

Take two good friends to the nearest supermarket and purchase one or both of the antidotes-Work Isolating Neutraliser Extract (WINE) and Bothersome Employer Elimination Rebooter (BEER). Take the antidote repeatedly until WORK has been eliminated from your system.

You should immediatly forward this medical alert to five friends. if you do not have five friends, you have been infected and WORK is controlling your life………………..

It was an early and very cold start this morning -6 degrees (too cold for even brass monkeys to be about) and freezing fog.

I was going to drive into deepest Essex to find “The Likely Lads” AKA Jim (on the left) and Steve (on the right), After a 1 1/2 hour drive I spotted them they were working near Southminster outside a rather dilapidated and deserted but still full of character house set back off the road surrounded by a jungle of garden.

The weather was no better where they were and having to work on a telegraph pole was no fun, but just being with Jim and Steve was enough to keep the cold out. The banter never stops, these guy’s make working fun, no one can ever fail not to be cheered up when with them no matter how bad you feel when you arrive.

With the help of a mug of Jim’s tea we thawed out and started work. The sun finally made an appearance at around 12 o’clock and the fog slowly cleared revealing some great views over the countryside. With the work done it was time for me to go back to the office and for Jim and Steve to go on to the next job.