Santa ditches reindeer

I found this whilst scrolling through the Top Gear website, and it did make me laugh – especially as it hits home about range anxiety on an electric vehicle. 

Enjoy. 

Karen   

Music plays 

In my head 

Heard that song before  

Met some people in my life 

But they weren't the real deal 

Santa ditches reindeer for electric sleigh, now stuck at broken charge pointSaint Nick’s pledge to go net zero backfires as e-sleigh now inoperable 

Santa Claus is stuck at a broken electric charging point at a service station somewhere in the Midlands, sources have revealed. 

The jolly, bearded present-giver recently made a pledge to reduce his carbon footprint after his traditional, reindeer-powered sleigh was deemed to have fallen foul of Euro 6 emissions standards. 

However, his replacement electric sleigh featuring a quad-motor powertrain and best-in-class 1,000kWh lithium-ion battery is now stuck at a defective charge point in an undisclosed location just outside Birmingham. 

 ‘Get an electric sleigh’, they all said. I went for the fastest, most powerful one I could find, able to go from 0-60mph in 2.9 million wishes time, which – I was assured by the manufacturer – made it the fastest electric sleigh ever built. 

“I’d done most of the North of England in one swift hit – the acceleration off the line was really quite breathtaking! – at which point it showed 1,000 miles of range left. 

But then I hit some cold weather and despite going easy on the throttle, the range suddenly dropped to 34 miles. I stopped at a charging point but of the four installed, three had those godawful SUVs parked in the bays. All of them were fully charged. 

“The fourth charger was a 7kW lightweight that didn’t even work. Now I’m stuck with nine different charging apps on my phone, a flat sleigh and a boatload of presents. 

“Ho. Ho. Ho.” 

Onlookers later reported Santa attempting to exchange a number of boxed gifts for a service station meal deal, though he was turned away for insufficient funds.

 

Taking a swipe at an author...

It’s not often that a book review in a national newspaper annoys me... But this review from The Guardian on Tuesday has managed that. 

I’m currently reading The Secret of Secrets, and yes – I had it on pre-order. It’s light and fluffy, with enough action to keep it ticking along. But  weapons grade nonsense? 

That’s harsh. I admit, like my previous read – Robert Galbraith’s The Hallmarked Man, it does help if you’ve read the other books in the Robert Langdon series, otherwise it’s a tad confusing. 

But, if you've read the other books, then you know what Dan Brown's writing style is, and if it's a style you enjoy?  Good luck to you.

Personally, I like Salman Rushdie’s comment... 

If you don’t like a book, read another book. If you start reading a book and you decide you don’t like it, nobody is telling you to finish it. To read a 600-page novel and then say that it has deeply offended you: well, you have done a lot of work to be offended. 

And that is the best way to look at a book - *not* describe it as weapons grade bollocks. 

Time to call this quits – I want to learn what The Secret of Secrets is.... 

Karen 

Music plays 

In my head 

Heard that song before 

Met some people in my life 

But they weren’t the real deal