At a guess I would say that back in 1981 Mr Health and Mr Safety along with their nephew Risk Assessment weren't so powerful. Back then there wasn't such a compensation culture.

Can I also point out that not only teachers (and going off the comments on here, is it any wonder the kids have no respect?) that work in schools. And not all people that work in schools have a huge pay packet and a nice pension to look forward to. Many of the teaching assistants have just been told they are taking a pay cut!

thats all we hear now.health and safety..what a load of cobblers...you cant do this you cant do that..i know lets all stay in and hibernate till this clod snap is over

Mr Angry Pirate is quite right. The roads and particularly the motorways, are, at the moment are a joy to drive on. They are almost completely deserted and free of all the BMW driving idiots who are a far greater threat to my safety and that of any other sensible road users than a bit of snow and ice.

My morning run to Preston took only 10 minutes longer than usual.

Mr Tache is correct too. Mrs Witless is a teacher (deputy head) with 20 years plus experience. I would defy anybody who suggests that teachers are not extremely hard working and dedicated. Even though her school is closed to pupils because of the weather, she is actually in work today.

What is more, she can see no reason why her school is closed. If it were up to her and her Head, rather than the LEA, her school would be open as usual.

Could Mr Stinky Turner, who seems to me to be an odious individual, kindly note that I am surfing the web, rather than running my business, during a short lunch break and that my 10.00am post yesterday was made whilst having a well deserved cup of tea with the rest of my colleagues. Giiven your fascination with my working day I trust that this meets with your approval.

Your posts annoy me Kol Witless.

"My morning run to Preston took only 10 minutes longer than usual." - That's because not many other people are stupid enough to make that journey in the conditions.

"The roads and particularly the motorways, are, at the moment are a joy to drive on." - No they are not. They may be clear but they are certainly not a joy. I can only assume you are an abysmal driver yourself not to note the conditions as hazardous at best.

"BMW driving idiots" - Jeremy Clarkson isn't always right. You do realise that don't you? It would be interesting to hear what vehicle you drive around in for the roads to be classed as "a joy". I will guess at either a Range Rover, Porsche Cayenne, or a SMART car or some earth saving hybrid 'do-gooder' mobile?

Also, why did you feel the need to tell us that you get to work 2 hours early everyday, did anyone ask?. Honestly, some people really do believe they are a cut above the rest.

so why did it take me an hour and 10 mins to get to birchwood this morning then... when it normally takes 25 mins max?

Wirefan,

The fact that my posts annoy you won't cause me to loose any sleep. It would, after all, be a strange and dull World if we all shared the same opinions.

I do however take exception at you referring to me as "stupid" for making a journey to Preston. Today millions of people up and down the country will have made a motorway journey similar to mine for all sorts of reasons. By your definition all of these millions of people are "stupid". Think hard, is this genuinely what you believe? Because if it is, those millions that you have labelled as stupid, and which undoubtedly will include some of your friends and family, probably won't appreciate your opinion of them either.

Given your protestations and taking into account that you don't want to be "stupid" like the rest of us, it is fair to assume that you cannot have been anywhere near a motorway, let alone Preston, in the last few days (if you have you are a hypocrite sir). How therefore can you possibly be qualified to tell me that the motorways are not pleasant to drive on? If you have not driven on them you simply have no evidence to the contrary and it is impossible for you to make this judgement - so I suggest that you keep this comment and that regarding my driving ability (30 years without a single conviction or accident) to yourself.

I am neither a fan of motor cars or motoring programmes, and if you are under the illusion that my that my opinions are in some way shaped by self important television presenters then you are sadly mistaken. My reference to "BMW driving idiots" was an intended rhetorical criticism of a lot of high powered vehicle drivers who have little consideration for other road users, which because you took it literally seems to have gone over your head.

Why you should be so interested in what car I drive? God alone knows. As I alluded to above I have little or no interest in what car I drive providing that I arrive at my destination safetly and in relative comfort.

Since you ask the question, nobody did ask, so it was perhaps wrong of me to inform other readers that I always (irrespective of the weather) arrive at work at around 7-7.30am. The point that I was making, which you might have missed again, was that there are alternative ways of getting to work on time even in the most inclement of conditions - one of them being leaving home at the crack of dawn if necessary.

As for me being "a cut above the rest", I'm not sure how or why you have drawn this conclusion. I am a regular, hard working family man from a poor working class background who just happens to have strong opinions and ethics. I make no apologies for these, I am only sorry that you have misinterpreted them to make me seem something that I am not.

School Closures for Friday www.warrington.gov.uk/News/2010/ ... res.aspx#0

School Closures for Friday www.warrington.gov.uk/News/2010/ ... res.aspx#0

What conditions??...The motorways are generally clear, with just the sliproads onto and off them, being the only concern.

As long as you can safely negotiate your way onto the main roads, then driving is pretty much a joy because the volume of traffic on the motorways and other main roads is about a third of what it normally is.

It does make me giggle when people seem to describe all roads as 'hazardous'....Yes, some are quite treacherous at present, but with sensible driving can certainly be negotiated....I think hazardous can more accurately be used to describe some people's driving, rather than the roads themselves.

Oh here we go,going on about a stressful job.12weeks hols,nice salary + big fat pensions.As i stated before you can't have your cake + eat it.

I didn't use the word "stress". But I value teachers highly and wouldn't like to do their job. Not easy. Salary is good, yeah, leave is good yeah. But the job is very hard.

The motorways are probably alot clearer snow wise than the roads in Warrington. I would love to know what the priority roads are as it seems only the A49 has been cleared. I decided not to risk it the last two days and got two buses into work this morning. My insurance is a fortune anyway without having a smash!

Also, if your child fell over on ice in the playground and broke a bone, who would you blame? The risk is too great to schools at the moment.

club shop

Well let's be honest here the job wouldn't have a good salary aswell as the other benefits if it was easy would it!

Although the salary isn't THAT good.

Teachers are just an easy, lazy target for people and it bugs the life out of me.

The salary isn't that good you say!£32,200 for the average classroom teacher for 9mths work.Suppose you think they should be on more.Your living on a different planet if you think they do.