I was out with friends last night near Manchester, we went to see a very good comedian - anybody heard of Adam Hills? He's very funny and very handsome... what a combination... anyway, I was getting the train there, the plan being we were going to have dinner at a restaurant near the theatre, then go see the show. They were driving over together because they all live near each other on the other side of Manchester to the direction I was travelling from.
In the end my train was so delayed I missed dinner completely and only made it with twenty minutes to spare before the show... and the reason my train was delayed? Sunday engineering works? Livestock or leaves on the line? The wrong kind of snow? No.
Somebody had stolen the points at one of the minor stations between Leeds and York, so all the trains trying to go anywhere that involved either city were all to pot - the station was chaos!
I really didn't know whether to laugh or cry! It was very annoying I was so late I missed dinner - but it was a wonderful reason! I mean, how do you steal the points out of a railway line? What would you do with them having stolen them - can you fence points? Is there a black market? I can't condone the theft, but I have to give it marks for imagination!