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So, the gods spoke this morning and they said thou shalt not cycle to work, Jo. When trying to open the padlock which leads from the back garden to the real world, what I thought was the lock turning was in fact just the key turning and it broke off inside the lock. And I couldn't even get the key into the padlock which keeps the bike safely shut in the shed. That seemed pretty unambiguous to me so I set off on foot.
I have to say that my impression from yesterday was confirmed; this was the worst kind of snow. Oxford must have looked pretty for all of about 5 minutes. Then it was straight to black slush on the roads and ice on the pavements. The cycle lanes were horrible last night - full of piles of slippery grey-black slush. On my way down the Cowley road I nearly slipped and fell about 5 times because the pavements are just packed ice. I made it up to the High Street and then decided that I was fed up with it. Fortunately, the view across from the Magdelen bridge had given me an idea and I detoured round into Christchurch meadow for the rest of the way. This turned out to be a very smart decision. Not only was the snow actually still powdery, thus affording some sort of grip, but the view across the meadow was actually rather pretty. Made it into work only about 10 minutes later than usual after what was in the end a rather pleasant walk. Unfortuatly, I don't think I fancy doing it in the dark, so it'll the the prosaic route home.
And does anyone know what on earth I should do about the key broken off in padlock thing? Hacksaw through it (the padlock, I mean)?
I have to say that my impression from yesterday was confirmed; this was the worst kind of snow. Oxford must have looked pretty for all of about 5 minutes. Then it was straight to black slush on the roads and ice on the pavements. The cycle lanes were horrible last night - full of piles of slippery grey-black slush. On my way down the Cowley road I nearly slipped and fell about 5 times because the pavements are just packed ice. I made it up to the High Street and then decided that I was fed up with it. Fortunately, the view across from the Magdelen bridge had given me an idea and I detoured round into Christchurch meadow for the rest of the way. This turned out to be a very smart decision. Not only was the snow actually still powdery, thus affording some sort of grip, but the view across the meadow was actually rather pretty. Made it into work only about 10 minutes later than usual after what was in the end a rather pleasant walk. Unfortuatly, I don't think I fancy doing it in the dark, so it'll the the prosaic route home.
And does anyone know what on earth I should do about the key broken off in padlock thing? Hacksaw through it (the padlock, I mean)?
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Date: January 29th, 2004 03:16 am (UTC)From:If you do (and being a New England Yankee, I'm cheap enough to assume you do), squirt what little you can get inside of the keyhole with WD-40 or another lubricant, and take pliers to what is left of the key and pull it out.