Fine and Sunny, But Cold

We visited Hobbycraft at Rooksley on Thursday morning because Carol was looking for something to keep all her crocheting bits and pieces in. Even though it's a Thursday and early it was surprisingly busy. People going slightly potty because it's almost Christmas. We looked in Smyth's, which replaced the Comet warehouse which used to be in that unit until they went bust. We'd seen a special English Heritage edition of the boardgame Cluedo, which we rather fancied, but is currently out of stock. I don't think it will be sold anywhere else except in an English Heritage shop at their properties, and we haven't seen it on Amazon or in Toys R Us, but we had to look in Smyth's. Then we walked along to Hobbycraft but we couldn't find anything worth having for Carol's crochet bits and pieces but we bought a couple of large balls of wool, one of which she will turn into a scarf for myself. We went into Costa's, a few doors along and part of Next Home. We had Billionaire's hot chocolate. I had to queue for some time to get served and when I reached the till I was told that they had no cream to put in our drinks. I don't think the manager (I presume that was his role.) didn't seem amused when I asked for a reduction of the price considering they had no cream. It was nice, hot choc with a layer of caramel at the bottom of the glass, although a bit sickly-sweet. Nevertheless, it was nice to get out of the house. We wandered around the Next store, which was all household items, furniture and accessories and a lot of Christmas decorations.

We drove back home via Watling Street and then came down Chaffron Way. It's clear why this section of road was closed off on Sunday when I went to Shenley Christian Fellowship on Sunday morning, because there were sections which have been resurfaced. It would have been difficult to do any work with traffic moving through. 

Impatient Drivers

Been to take Sam to work. Coming out of the industrial estate at Winterhill can be a bit stressful. You can cross the duel carriageway and back home that way, but it's generally safer to go up to the roundabout near ToysRus and go round and back onto the carriageway there. Which I did today. The traffic comes along Grafton Street at full-speed. It's like a racetrack. I really think there should be a speed limit of around 50 m.p.h. on the grid roads around Milton Keynes. We live off Saxon Street, which is next to  Milton Keynes hospital and Milton Keynes Academy. There is a 40 m.p.h. speed limit, no doubt imposed because of the hospital and the Academy.  I think it may be there because there have been a couple of deaths because people have to cross the road which is dangerous when they should use either a bridge or under-pass. A great many drivers seem unaware of this speed limit, even though there are clear signs as you come off the roundabout (known locally as Four Bridges, as there are footbridges over the grid roads at the roundabout.) But if you attempt to keep to the speed limit you are likely to get cars coming up behind you and trying to get you to go faster (as I've mentioned in earlier posts.) This morning I got to the roundabout after coming out of Winterhill and was waiting for the traffic to clear before going onto the roundabout. As I got there, no cars were behind me, but suddenly a car did appear as I could see it in my rear-view mirror. Just a few seconds of patient waiting and this woman began hooting impatiently. So, did she think I was going to pull into the road and cause a collision with another vehicle? Why are people so impatient? Is it perhaps because they don't like the idea of stopping at roundabouts? If so, I just hope they have good insurance. Along Saxon Street they have used a traffic calming device which tells you your speed as you approach, and if you are travelling at the correct speed (40 m.p.h.) you get a smiley face. If you are going to fast you get a miserable face. I think these are more effective than having speed cameras which can give you a fine, as sometimes they are there just as a way of raising cash for the local authority. Don't get me wrong, I'm not condoning speeding. It's just that speed cameras can have a rather negative effect- when you see them you slow down, but once you've got past you speed up again, rather negating their effectiveness.