Dreaming of a Wet Christmas. And silly news items.

The weathermen are expressing their amazement at how mild it is all of a sudden. As for me, I am simply expressing amazement at how soggy it is. Because it is so mild, there has been no frost to speak of and the ground is trying hard to soak up all the water that keeps on falling. The net result is MUD. And if not mud, then very soft and soggy grass. The ladies who teeter around on spiky heels must be having a difficult time of it. 

As the rain was falling steadily this morning, instead of running to the market in Uppermill, I walked, under my trusty, huge, spotty umbrella. It is not the most convenient to carry around with you as an insurance policy to prevent the rain from starting. Once the rain has started, however, it is big enough to keep me and my rucksack reasonably dry. 

When I reached Uppermill, I found the stepping stones across the river submerged and converted into some kind of rapids. Beautiful in its way! 

I walked along the canal towpath, past a barge that has been moored there for a good while. I am almost convinced I could hear music coming from the barge. Is someone overwintering in their barge on the canal? If so, what do they do for drinking water and washing water and so on? There is plenty of water around but I wouldn't fancy using the canal water to do anything other than water the plants in the pot on the roof of the barge. Do they have to pay mooring fees if they plan to stay there? Life is full of these questions. 

I imagine the canal barge people are quite pleased the weather has become so mild. It must not be fun in a boat on a canal if the temperature plummets to blow zero. Others might dream of a white Christmas but I suspect that these would prefer it to remain simply soggy. 

Having bought fish and fruit at the market, I caught the bus home in time for a second breakfast and took a look at the newspapers online. 

After all the bad news stories of awful events going on around the world, which I am not commenting on at the moment as it will only make me angry, I found some silly stories instead. 

Here's an underwear story, A Japanese lingerie maker is recalling more than 20,000 brassieres after complaints that underwires suddenly poked out, sometimes while women were wearing them. You will be pleased to hear that no-one has been injured in this lingerie catastrophe. A spokesman for the company commented: "It would be terrible if it happened again and somebody's skin was scratched." Well yes, I suppose it would. But does this make it world news, even with a headline about faulty wiring in underwear? Especially as none of the faulty items were sold outside Japan. 

What really intrigued me was reading that the company concerned made a name for itself with concept lingerie such as a solar-powered bra. What is that exactly? (Come to that, what is concept lingerie?) Why does a bra need to be solar-powered? Would such an item be wireless? It's all too much for me. 

And then there is the French railway company SNCF which has been giving advice to its staff about personal presentation. A document was leaked onto Twitter (what else?) and the train operators have been accused or sexism because they advise their female staff on use of lipstick and mascara and keeping their hands looking nice. They defend themselves on the grounds that they also advise their male a staff about beards and deodorants and aftershave. Here's a link to the article. 

Personally, I think SNCF don't have a leg to stand on. They highlight the advice to ladies in PINK and the advice to the gentlemen in BLUE. That sounds like sexism to me!