Woodcarvings and Christmas Shopping

The weekend, the last but one before Christmas, was dominated by Christmas Shopping and the woodcarver. The woodcarver sets his, in my opinion fairly crude carvings up at the side of the road in a large lay-bye on the Newton Road. This is the busiest road in the area and is desperately in need of a bye-pass. Rumor has it we are going to get one some time this century. Or maybe next. Who knows? Anyway people driving along the road see the carvings and lift of the accelerator to have a look. Personally I think it is so they can say, "Oh look. Someone has done some woodcarving with a chainsaw." The carver used to be here much more often, now he just turns up at Christmas. The police say they can do nothing as it would be hard to prove he is causing an obstruction. Teignbrige Council say he isn't breaking any laws setting up at the side of the road selling his goods. One thing he is doing is slowing down all the traffic each time he appears. Actually there is an other thing he is doing. He is blatantly ignoring parking restrictions that are supposed to be in force in the lay-bye. Some years ago a trader used to park a large van with a smaller van bolted to the roof to advertise vans for sale. He would leave them here for weeks and the Council brought in a parking restriction of two hours parking with no return for 24 hours. That got rid of the vans. The woodcarver arrived at 9 am on Saturday and didn't leave until 3:30pm, that's more than two hours but no parking ticket. He then turned up at 9 am on Sunday, less then 24 hours after he left. That should have been and other ticket. He then stayed till 3:30 pm. More than two hours so yet and other ticket. That's £180 it should have cost to park there over this weekend. He is likely to be there next weekend and I am sure an other £180 worth of parking tickets will go unissued while the traffic winds it's weary way past him. No great problem for a motorist who goes past once and never returns but us poor bus drivers who might go past 3 times in both directions on both Saturday and Sunday and be delayed every time it is a big pain. I did mention this problem to the depot union rep. He didn't seen the least bit concerned but then he doesn't actually have to drive a bus along this road very often.

Christmas shopping went on as usual. Passengers staggered onto the bus laden down with enough shopping to make Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer go slightly pink and proclaimed how much they hated Christmas shopping.

Well, don't do any!

Subscribe to a religion that doesn't believe in Christmas.

Ignore it completely.

Burn the Christmas Card List.

On the night of December 22, the Winter Solstice go out in the back garden and dance naked round a burning candle.

Just have a quite meal, don't invite all of your 127 known relatives round for a meal that will take 4 times as long to cook as to eat and make a fortune for who ever it is that owns Tesco's or what ever your local supermarket is.

Tell everyone you are still paying of last Christmas and are going to save the money for a nice holiday in Torquay next summer.

Or if you just can not do without Christmas then try and do all the shopping in September and not the last weekend before the big day.

Actually I don't care if everyone in Torquay decides to get on the number 12 and go shopping next weekend. I don't even care if the woodcarver sets up at 7 am and brings the Newton Road to a stand still by 9 am. Why? It's my days off on Saturday and Sunday.

Did I mention how cold it's been? No. It's been very cold round here with a wind coming in from the East, direct from Siberia; which obviously hasn't heard of Global Warming yet.