daveydave

Now then... I've never made the dizzy heights of commercial pilot, but for 6 years I buzzed around as pilot-in-command of small aircraft. I'll be honest with you, I get annoyed with people who whine and moan when their flight gets canned for good reason. I've just been reading an article on the BBC News website about passengers complaining that an easyJet captain took the decision to bin his flight back from Prague due to bad weather. Now, I may not have ever flow big things with 300 people on board but I have taken the decision to cancel a flight and disappointed friends before - we don't do it for a giggle you know, that decision is made for good reason. When you have been in the position of making choices that affect peoples lives then you can moan; until then, shut it. I'd like to remind ground-hugging-types that the weather can be unforgivably harsh, and if you arrive at your destination 1 day late then kindly accept that as a better result than never reaching...

Yes, I have a Suzuki Jimny and yes, I quite rightly get stick for it: it is after all by far the gayest car in the village. However, I'm having a bit of a chuckle about it today after driving into town last night. Probably not the best idea given the conditions, but then I wasn't expecting the local councils to be quite so incompetent with regards to their gritting abilities. Basically, the city centre (and most of the surrounding area) was sheet black ice. Always such a pleasure to drive on. Two hours it took to drive to town and back, but the Jimny was always sure-footed, with no unwelcome slippage. More than can be said for the brand new BMW 5 series I overtook because it couldn't get up a slight bank and, more surprisingly, that X5 that went sliding merrily down Durant Road. My 9 grand Jimny stayed firmly glued where 2 35 grand bimmers did not. Smug, me? Never.... Well, maybe just a little.