A new experience

Yesterday, the country did not so much grind to a halt because of the snow as fail to get started. Brighton did eventually have buses running, but not to the outskirts and areas such as where we live. Gatwick airport sent out its first flight at 5.30pm, and most trains had stopped running by 8.00pm (those that had been run in the first place). Because we get these conditions so rarely it would be quite uneconomic to do any more than we already do in an effort to overcome the situation. Snow chains, for example, would be used maybe one year in ten, and even then we would be for ever putting them on and taking them off as some roads are covered in snow and ice while others are clear. But to my new experience - putting a lady's clothes on. On her, that is - not on me. Madam, unfortunately, tripped while cleaning the lounge, hurt her wrist so badly it felt as though it was broken, and banged her forehead against the wall. The lump that came up was so big, and the pain in her wrist so bad, that in normal circumstances I would have not hesitated to drive her to hospital. But I couldn't get the car out. So I decided that if Madam couldn't go to the hospital, the hospital had better come to her in the form of a couple of paramedics in an ambulance. Apparently, two ambulances were despatched, a normal one and a 4x4. They both tried to access our road from the far end (which is not so steep as this end but still uphill) only for both of them to get stuck. Nearly half an hour later, the normal ambulance was parked as close as they could get and the paramedics made their way on foot. They thought there was nothing broken, just soft tissue damage, but wanted to take Mrs S to hospital to be checked over and have her wrist strapped. The problem would have been getting back home again - nearly a physical impossibility for her - so we declined the kind offer. Meanwhile, Mrs S needs help with such things as putting on socks, doing up her bra etc. As I pointed out to her, I have had much more practice taking ladies' clothes off than putting them on.