Oh well this is just another opportunity to moan about my gratuitously noisy neighbours. They are clearing the small path from their front garden to their gate by scraping it very noisily, rather than applying salt/sand to it quietly. They're perfectly entitled to do it, of course, but the limits of my tolerance are low because:
1. I'm trying to work
2. They kept me up all night slamming doors and I'm finding it difficult to concentrate because I'm so tired.
3. They have two uncontrollable dogs which they never walk and who bark all the time
4. They hoover at midnight on regular occasions.
5. They have one screaming child and are about to have another.
They just can't seem to do anything quietly.
Phew. That's better.