Foggy Morning

We woke up this morning to thick fog. I suppose a visibility of around 20 yards. It was quite an effort to see along Saxon Street as we came out of Eaglestone. The Academy appeared to have disappeared as we approached. The car is due back at the garage this morning at 9.30 to have new tyres fitted, so I hope the fog has lifted. If other drivers would only moderate their speed as they rush to work things would be a good deal safer. I think, once the sun makes an effort to come out it will heat things up and the fog will melt away. I have some quite nasty memories of fog on the Motorway from when I was touring with DaSilva's puppets during the 1970's. Also, cars speeding along the A1 and crashing into the roundabout near Peterborough, at  Norman Cross , and seeing their mangled remains. The A1 now goes over the top of this intersection, which makes it a good deal safer. Once you've seen that sort of incident, and heard the sound of crashing, it does tend to alter your driving habits. Really quite scary and the memory does make me rather reluctant to drive in fog, however thick.  I'm not sure how many people were injured, but you would think people would have the sense to slow down when there's fog and they can't see clearly what's ahead on the road. Just crazy.

Later.

I took the car to the O.K. Garage at Peartree Bridge. It turned out they didn't have the tyres to put on the car so they had to order them from somewhere in Bletchley. These didn't arrive as quickly as they might have done. Don't ask me what happened, but probably someone wasn't doing their job at the supplier's end, so I had to wait around 2 1/2 hours, but it's now done and we can drive off on holiday in two week's time with a car fully MoT'd and with tyres in a far better condition than they have been in quite a while.

Later still.

I could have started a new post, but decided to write this as a sort of post-script for the day. As I said when I began, the day started off foggy, but by midday it became sunny and really spring-like. There is plenty of blossom on the trees along the grid roads and opposite the house in Eaglestone. There are crocuses beginning to appear at various points around Milton Keynes but the daffodils are beginning to come to the end of their time, particularly those on the roundabout on Standing Way where it meets Saxon Street. We usually go to the Brother's Fish Bar in Eaglestone for fish and chips on a Friday but this week we went to get Kentucky Fried Chicken at the drive-in branch near the football stadium. They have changed the entrance from Saxon Street, it's a good deal wider and made into two carriage-ways. There is also another entrance further along the road, which goes into the site right next to the new complex which houses the Odeon cinema which has an IMAX screen in it.
We didn't actually use the drive-in as it was far to busy with many cars queuing so we parked in the carpark and went inside the restaurant to order our food and then went home to eat it.

Another Visit To Whipsnade Zoo and Loud Music

We went swimming early at D.W. Fitness yesterday morning. Unfortunately there are roadworks along the road near the foootball stadium. There were crowds of people going into the campus which is where the gym is situated (the opposite side near the shopping mall which houses Next, Marks and Spencer as well as the new cinema and a parade of restaurants which opened recently with an IMAX screen.) We couldn't turn right where we usually go as there was a man there making sure we didn't turn in so we had to drive on to the large roundabout near IKEA and come back on the other side of the road. There were even more people going into the stadium and a great many vehicles parked. We couldn't work out what was going on, but it turned out to be something to do with Jehovah's Witnesses. I'm not going to say any more about it, but presumably it was some sort of convention or something. Must have been a fair-sized meeting if they were using the football ground which has a capacity of quite a few thousand. We did eventually manage to get into the gym and park in the normal place which is reserved for members, but we have to now give the reception our car's registration number because some people are parking there who have no right to as they aren't members. From the gym we went to Marks and Spencer's and did some shopping before leaving for home

We had to endure the most appalling noise for most of yesterday. From something called the Electric Daisy Carnival, which was taking place at the National Bowl in Milton Keynes. There have been a few concerts held there over the past few years. Last year we had a really loud concert and a few years. Last year it was 'The Kings of Leon' and the year before that it was 'The Prodigy' and the language that came over the loudpeakers was quite appalling. I'm not a pop fan particularly, although there is some music I enjoy, but I see no reason on earth why we have to endure such loud music. We must live between 3 and 4 miles from the stadium, but the sound carries all this way. At some point in the evening, presumably when it's warm and the air is still, it's like having those speakers in the next garden to us. But yesterday you could hardly call it 'music.' Just his loud thump, thump thump! The noise was just awful and when it's so warm we had to have the windows open to sleep in our bedroom. It started mid-morning, when presumably they were running sound checks, and it didn't finish until 11 p.m., by which time we were tearing our hair out and wishing, in all truth, that we'd gone out for the day. The only problem is, had we done so, we might not have been able to get back into Milton Keynes because of the traffic. 

Today, Sunday, we visited Whipsnade Zoo again. After yesterday's traumatic experience regarding the loud music from the so-called Electric Daisy Carnival, we just needed to get out of Milton Keynes for a few hours. It has been a good deal cooler today, thankfully, but just the right temperature for a day at the zoo. We watched the 'Sealion Splash', which was highly entertaining. We have seen this before when we have visited in the past, but it's always worthwhile. We saw the 'Birds of The World' presentation a few weeks ago and when we come again we want to see the elephant presentation. We had something to eat and drink in one of the restaurants which I must say have improved considerably since we came a few years ago. In general they have managed to improve the facilities, such as the toilets and the shop.