A leaky gutter on my house, dripping water onto the path outside my home has created such an icy patch. When I came home on Tuesday night it was particularly bad. I thought to myself that if I did not take action to stop passers by (it's a public footpath) slipping on it, I would be sued for "failing in my duty of care to the public" or something like that. So I threw some rock salt down.

I mentioned it in passing at work, and it just so happens that the corporate legal guy was listening in. He informed that far from facing prosecution for "failing in my duty of care to the public" by failing to grit; the fact I had taken the time to grit a public path automatically makes ME responsible for that. Thusly if anyone DID slip after I put salt down, I would be prosecuted for failing to do the job properly. Whereas if I had not bothered at all, nothing would have happened as the path is not my responsibility. The lesson I learned form that? It's just not worth giving a damn about anyone in this day and age.

Either way, sadly we get none of the fun of the cold (snow), just the danger that goes with it.