h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm sure you've all heard about the cold weather and the ice storm we had in Austin and the whole of south central Texas this week, and most of you will know about the problems of driving in those conditions. You probably all know my views on Texas drivers... in fact drivers in general.

A lot of offices, businesses and schools were closed here yesterday so there was almost no traffic on the roads when I walked to the shops - it was so calm and peaceful But more than that, I saw something I don't think I've seen since I got here - Texans driving sensibly

I very nearly *fainted* ::THUD::

The temperature didn't get above freezing in Austin yesterday so the ice on most of the roads was there all day, and Texans simply don't know how to deal with it (a bit like London drivers really), so the few that ventured out were taking it very very easy. The road we live on is a pretty major road and the ice had been salted, but even so, people were driving at a sedately 30mph instead of the usual crazy 40mph+. It made the walk so much more pleasant

Today though it was pretty much business as usual. Not quite as much traffic out there as usual because it was still quite icy this morning, but the thaw was well underway by the time Mrs Gosho and I went to the store, and yesterday's relative peace and calm had been obliterated by the roar of the truck, the SUV, and the car

If they ever get used to driving on ice/snow, they'd *never* slow down!

With a subject line like that appearing in my conversations list, I just *knew* it had to be a Gosho journal!

Ever notice how you can start to tell whose journal it is before you even click on it the first time?

I had a feeling on this one, too!

I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing, or whether it's a thing at all

Speaking of drivers, Mrs Gosho goes to San Antonio on Firday to pick up her Grandad's car, and whilst it'll be good to have wheels again, it's been very nice not having them. No worries about the thing being stolen or broken into, about it breaking down and costing a lot of money to get fixed, about how much it's going to cost to get insured, about how much the price of petrol has gone up, about where we're going to park it when we go downtown at night, etc. No temptation to drive it half a mile up the road to the store when we can quite easily walk. Which also means only buying what we can carry instead of what we can fit in the back of the car and the boot.

But we'll be able to start going out again to see Shorty Long, and Guy Forsyth, and to the flicks