I have just driven the Wife through thick fog to Berwick Station on her way to the Big Smoke. Fortunately traffic is not a problem in these parts but it was astonishing to see what drivers there were (on the A1) driving too fast and without lights. It may be that like the Norn Ireland motorists they are reluctant to turn on any devices which might drain the battery-even in pouring rain the windscreen wipers are on the intermittent setting which means they can only see at all every 8 seconds. This is counteracted by the habit of especially of farmers never to take either hand of the wheel-a greeting is one finger flicked off the wheel and a quick inclination of the head. One Ulster woman quite startled us by poking her two forefingers up either side of her head as she came towards us-we were very puzzled as to what message she was trying to convey until we went around a corner and were confronted by a herd of cows! If you did that here you would be nicked for driving without due care and attention and be subject to the penalty appropiate for driving and using too mobiles simultaneously- a habit common in the Gulf. Arab Gulf drivers have the additional handicap of having to hear through quite thick headdresses- I once asked a Kuwaiti friend why he did this-'I have two businesses to run' he explained.
With the wife away, albeit for not much more than 24 hours I have all the housework and shopping to worry about. Can I get away with not having to go to Safeways? It is a question I will ponder whilst emptying the washing machine. How nice to be so constantly intellectually stimulated.
