Wednesday, May 09, 2012
We have wifi.
My original intention was to go away on holiday and go back online when I got home. On other holidays I have had a break from the internet and I expected this one to be the same. Just in case I changed my mind and as our holiday is in Britain, I brought along our laptop. Okay, it is not my favourite machine as it runs Windows 7 rather than the Lubuntu with LXDE I have on the desktop at home but I can use it. Then we found out that you can buy 7 days unlimited wifi at Premier Inn for just £10 - I can surf on the laptop and Gail can use it or her tablet computer. It is great to be connected and catch up with things. The emails keep coming and Facebook is the usual diet of short updates and jokes.
Oh and what is this on my Google News feed...
Cows on the line
The cows, which are understood to have been on the tracks in a rural area between Oxford and Banbury, were killed in the accident, but no passengers were injured. Mr Benvie, managing director of Hotwire PR, said: “There’s blood all down the windows of the train. People in the front carriage were in tears, thinking we’d crashed or hit something. You don’t know what it is and obviously fear the worst. The main thing is that everyone is ok. The driver is very shaken and we’re all waiting, hoping we’ll be able to get home.”
Another traveller, Mike Hobson, 53, said: "We started to decelerate very quickly, with cups and bottles falling over on the tables, and felt a juddering." He added passengers in his carriage, towards the back of the train, had reacted in a "stoically British" manner after the accident, at around 5pm today. He wrote on Twitter: "Our train has hit a herd of cows outside Oxford. Soz for all those behind us, just about to tuck into some bbq ribs. Ps no one hurt."
...So, that was a nasty shock for the passengers but they reacted in a typical British manner. We get used to Network Rail making statements like "the wrong snow, rain or leaves on the line" but "cows on the line" is something new. I think the driver must feel dreadful as it is an occupational hazard for people to commit suicide in front of your train but nobody can expect a herd of cattle to stray onto the track. Very lucky that the train did not derail and cause injuries to passengers or staff. Unlike coaches, passengers on trains do not wear seat belts and a train derailment would have many fatalities.
Oh and what is this on my Google News feed...
Cows on the line
The cows, which are understood to have been on the tracks in a rural area between Oxford and Banbury, were killed in the accident, but no passengers were injured. Mr Benvie, managing director of Hotwire PR, said: “There’s blood all down the windows of the train. People in the front carriage were in tears, thinking we’d crashed or hit something. You don’t know what it is and obviously fear the worst. The main thing is that everyone is ok. The driver is very shaken and we’re all waiting, hoping we’ll be able to get home.”
Another traveller, Mike Hobson, 53, said: "We started to decelerate very quickly, with cups and bottles falling over on the tables, and felt a juddering." He added passengers in his carriage, towards the back of the train, had reacted in a "stoically British" manner after the accident, at around 5pm today. He wrote on Twitter: "Our train has hit a herd of cows outside Oxford. Soz for all those behind us, just about to tuck into some bbq ribs. Ps no one hurt."
...So, that was a nasty shock for the passengers but they reacted in a typical British manner. We get used to Network Rail making statements like "the wrong snow, rain or leaves on the line" but "cows on the line" is something new. I think the driver must feel dreadful as it is an occupational hazard for people to commit suicide in front of your train but nobody can expect a herd of cattle to stray onto the track. Very lucky that the train did not derail and cause injuries to passengers or staff. Unlike coaches, passengers on trains do not wear seat belts and a train derailment would have many fatalities.
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