Pinks, Blues and Trains.

According to a programme on the radio this morning, there is a hereditary reason why girls like pink and boys like blue. It goes back to the times of hunter-gathering: girls were the foragers and so are wired up to look for pink berries, whereas men were the hunters and the ideal hunting conditions was a clear blue sky. So now you know. This would also explain why generically men eat with their hands like cavemen, and women love pick-your-own strawberry fields.

As you might expect, the current ‘heatwave’ (a day and a half of sun) has led to train cancellations. Given that all extremes of temperature, relatively speaking of course, bring our transport infrastructure to a halt, surely it would be better to hedge your bets and make trains that run in the heat, but are fucked in the snow and the cold. Then at least summer would be unaffected. It seems at the moment that the margins are both unworkable, so just pick one end of the scale and make it work that way. I’m actually something of an apologist for the train networks, my experiences have been more positive than negative on balance. There are of course the odd blips, like being charged extortionate fees for a train ticket I’d already bought, the arbitrary and borderline mentally ill pricing systems, the irregularity. But I still have a soft spot for them. I suppose I’m like Network Rail’s battered wife. But then they do keep hitting their targets. Mainly because they set their own targets. You will often see signs up in stations boasting that they’ve reached their self-imposed target of 85% reliability. Well whoopee doo. Surely your target should be 100%? You don’t get that in other industries – imagine going to a restaurant and getting an uncooked, dirty plate of food and the waiter says – ‘you’re just unlucky I’m afraid, one in ten of our dishes is an absolute pile of shit, but that’s the targets we are aiming for’. The rail networks seem to think it’s unrealistic to have total reliability as a target. At least have a go, that’s all I’m saying.