Live from Austin!

It wasn’t too bad when the wind stopped–only about -3 to -6 Celsius. When we arrived in Minneapolis, it was actually slightly above freezing.

I managed to screw up my back somehow en route. I’m not sure how. I think it was a combination of nasty airplane seats, improvised pillows, five hours of journey, and cold gray weather.

We managed to rent a Prius. The logic was that although it isn’t 4 wheel drive, on icy roads it’s better to know exactly how the car will handle and how effective the brakes are.

I can’t help wishing that the in-laws lived in one of the pretty parts of Minnesota, like the north east. Down in the south east it’s basically flat and empty.

There are quite a few Mexican businesses. What must it be like to move from Mexico to Minnesota?

On Christmas Day I was laying on the sofa at sara’s grandmother’s house. In my head was “Nation” by Colourbox. I remembered buying the CD in London, sitting on the train at Baker Street and unwrapping it. It must have been 20 years ago. Why remember it now? I have no idea.

I do hope that everyone else has noticed LRT’s big lie.

I’m talking about the big lie in flashing lights on every station platform… ”EUSTON 2 mins”, “HAMMERSMITH 4 mins”, and so on.

From asking people, I’ve come to the conclusion that most people believe that the electronic displays at LRT stations actually indicate the time at which the train is to arrive. This is not the case.

The indicators are remotely controlled by a system of switches. If a train is running late, then LRT slow down the rate at which the times change, so that the trains always seem to be reasonably prompt. For example, one board at Baker Street indicated that the next Circle Line train would be arriving in three minutes. I timed from the transition of the display from “4 mins” to ”3 mins”, up until the “*** NEXT TRAIN ARRIVING” message. It took seven minutes.

No doubt you think I’m over-reacting, but I’m shocked by this. It’s a bit like brainwashing; people see that the trains are on time; so they believe that the trains are on time. Unfortunately, the information which they use to judge their belief is being manipulated and fabricated in order to fool them. George Orwell would have loved it.