Green heron

[Teep]

Dutch rail is a joke. It used to be taken seriously, but not anymore. It used to be punctual, but not anymore. Dutch trains used to run, on time, nomatter what.

Today has been a hot day, for the time of the year. I'm standing at the Haarlem railwaystation, planning to ride to Amsterdam for college. The Haarlem-Amsterdam line is one of the oldest railway lines in Holland. Haarlem and Amsterdam being the two most important cities in the area, in the time. Today, at least, the line is no more. Apparently I'm standing in the midst of railway chaos as there is a defunct railway crossing one way and a derailed train the other. Ofcourse we're only being told this after sitting in the heat in a stationary train for about half an hour. So we leave, me and all the short-skirted girls (thanks for the observation Aadil ) and try and find alternative transportation. For dutch rail, of course, is of no help ("We don't know how long this is going to take and what measures are going to be taken (if any)").

Bus.

Why not?

I check the sheets and notice there is one line, 176, at least going in the direction of Amsterdam.

I can get pretty worked up about the railway problems. It just gets frustrating after a while. I mean how hard can it be? A couple of years back there was a huge fall-out of trains during the fall. Apparently, the falling leaves made the tracks slippery, causing the trains to slide, flattening the wheels. This was, and I'm not kidding you, the official explanation. First of all. Leaves have been falling for as long as man has existed (and probably before that, but who was there to check?). So how can this suddenly turn into a problem a couple of years ago?? Secondly, if the trains slide because of the slippery tracks, how can there be more wear on the wheels than when they come to a grinding halt on dry tracks? *sigh*

Oh well. The weather is good, a bus ride to Amsterdam is a nice change of scenery, and I will not be clubbed to death for being late this time. So why not sit back and relax?

Apparently there is a green heron breeding in Amsterdam.

Oh. Wow! A green heron! It must look someting like this:



alas...

[cold]

Your post was moved. It was off topic and not related to idbeholda's news. Have a good day! =D

[Teep]

the picture of the green heron is nice, though, isn't it?

[cold]

Yes. That PS'd picture looks really cool =D