Opinion: ‘Why did all city’s traffic lights fail?’

There are few certainties in life – death, taxes and that the traffic lights always work.

Oh, hang on, after last Friday evening in Peterborough we better scrub that last one.

In an ‘unprecedented’ incident every traffic light in the city failed sparking confusion and chaos.

Pity the poor engineers who were probably just on their way out of the office after a hard week at work when the SOS call came in.

Thankfully, all has been resolved and without any lasting damage to life and limb and fenders seemed to have remained, er, unbendered!

But now is the time for some questions and they have been put to the authorities but if you’re looking for answers I’m afraid you’ll still be in the dark (and, no, the street lights haven’t gone out now!).

The questions were not difficult ones. Why did it happen? Why were motorists just abandoned and left to sort it out themselves?

So here’s the answer from Peterborough City Council:

“The communications network became overloaded resulting in several sites shutting down across the city.’’

So, that’s clear (as mud) then. But what caused it to be overloaded? Did the cleaner at the Town Hall plug the Hoover in the wrong socket?

What is so difficult about giving a straight answer the layman (and taxpayer) can understand?

And what about traffic management? I’m not one for the ‘good old days’ but in the good, bad or indifferent old days the police would have been out in force keeping traffic moving and motorists safe. It’s probably not their role these days, but then whose is it?

Don’t ask, you won’t get a straight answer.

.....

I’ve seen a lot of talk from medical chiefs urging us to get the flu jab. As an over-60 chronic asthma sufferer I have a jab every year, pandemic or no pandemic.

I had heard nothing from my doctor’s so rang up only to be told I wasn’t in the first tranche of patients being offered the jab.

I expressed my surprise given my circumstances and because I knew a colleague (under-60 and with no underlying health issues) had been booked in for his jab at a different Peterborough doctors.

The receptionist told me if I was that concerned I could go and pay for one at the chemists. I’m so glad I’ve spent all those years paying my taxes to have my doctors play Russsian roulette with my health.

.....

It seems some words are going out of fashion and that the younger generation don’t even understand them.

While I won’t shed any tears at the disappearance from our lexicon of the likes of bonk, wally, henceforth or randy but I will fight to my dying day to preserve nincompoop and kerfuffle.

I personally have never ever got over the fact that gruntled is not in common usage.

.....

As part of my multi-tasking role I do some work on the PT’s sister titles in Lincolnshire.

I was taken by a story in the Market Rasen Mail about 85-year-old Bob Smith (pictured) who did a parachute jump for charity.

As if that wasn’t enough in itself there was a quote from Bob who said: “I came up with the idea, and my friends said I was mad but the doctor said it was OK, in spite of my heart trouble, diabetes, gout, and all the other things an 85-year-old suffers from, so I said I’d do it.’’

A little further on in the story and we found out just what ‘all the other things’ were....Bob has been diagnosed with lung cancer.

What an incredible man.

I don’t know what Bob’s drinking but I’ll have the same too please.