h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I always remember as a child listening to playgroud science about how a fly hitting a fast moving train would cause the train to stop moving for a fraction of a second. Although now, I have heard every other type of excuse for the late running of the trains from the wrong type of snow, or the wrong type of leaves on the line, I have yet to hear that the train has been delayed due to a concerted effort of a rather determined swarm of flies... but I guess, it's only a matter of time.

A VIA Rail conductor once told me about a colleague who was hit by exploding pigeon fragments, as he opened the door of a train entering a station.

Well... I guess that's still better than exploding commuter fragments!

I saw a boy who had inadvertently become a part of the fly experiment. He did, in fact, stop the train; but not for half a mile or so.

That's not so good. The company I used to work for did a lot of work on railway bridges... and on one occasion were working at a point where they could see the platform of a nearby station. They watched in horror as a man took off his jacket, and placed it over his briefcase, and then as a non-stop high speed train came past.. threw himself before it...

Yow! What must be going through someone's mind to make them do something like that! There was a case in Toronto recently , where somebody with a squeaky wheel walked up behind a young girl, total stranger, and pushed her in front of a train.

Happens on the London Underground from time to time too. You get announcements saying there's been "an incident on the line"...

There are a lot more of these type of incidents than the authorities let on, I think.

I think you're probably right - my dad's just been on a health and safety training course for the railways... and heard loads of nasty stories... like one engineer hammering a steak through a high voltage cable...

It's a dangerous world we live in. As they say, it only takes a second to ruin your day.

And you know what that second normally turns out to be? Getting out of bed .

I am beginning to suspect that, given a choice, "morning person" would not rate highly on a list of ways you would choose to describe yourself.

p.s. I 've not ben having much luck with the smileys and such.

What gives you that impression? I'm one of those late night creatures... which explains hy mornings are such bad news

ps. how do you mean trouble?

Cause or effect?

ps they were, for a while, duplicating text. Now they simply don't appear.