June 2004
Played with toy trains in my maths lesson today. Did the shunting problem:
Two trains are travelling along the same stretch of single line track towards each other. Each train consists of a locomotive and two carriages. There is however a siding that can take one locomotive and one carriage. How is it possible for the two trains to pass each other by using this siding?Right you avid diary readers.. who'll be first to solve this one?
And the first solution comes in from Nick:
Both trains un hook the last carriage..............then train on right drives into the siding.............train on the left goes forward, hooking the carriage in front to its front.................train in sidingreverses out then goes forward hooking next carriage to its' front............when they get to the destinations, claim the passengers in the carriages that have returned to their start point have slept through a return journey!!!
Talking of trains, guess who was first to ride on Bangkok's new Underdround system? Well it wasn't me; but in a proportional sort of way, compared to all the millions who will eventually ride on it, I came very close to being first. A free ticket provided me with a sort of test pilot ride. The stations are huge when you see them without any people in them. The trains are the same design as the sky trains though I imagined they would be gadget packed just like the Tokyo underground trains.
Unusually strong winds and torrential rain cause damage to trees and tents on the school grounds. Bangkok traffic come to a standstill more..
Here's a novelty (well it was for me), I ordered an iced lemon tea at the Conrad hotel when I was there for the Graduation planning meeting. It was served on a tray, with the iced tea, lemon juice and syrup in three separate carafes. The glass was already loaded with ice cubes; not frozen water though, they were frozen tea. That way, when they melted, they would not dilute the drink!
I may have mentioned this before but the guards on the happyland estate ride around the houses at night keeping us all safe. On every hour from 1am to 5am they strike the number of the hour on a dull tubular bell which hangs from the handlebars of their bike. If you wake in the night you can just about hear it. The other day when I was walking past the guards' century box place, I smiled as usual and in an attempt to make conversation, after I noticed the bell hanging up, I remarked that I can hear it at night. In my best Thai I tried to say something chirpy and upbeat. "I like it very much" is what I ended up saying.
From that day forward they now stand right outside my house when the strike out the hour... hmmm
Nick's current hobby: Pass your time away with this
http://fun.from.hell.pl/2003-11-24/bubblewrap.swf
Nice to receive emails from folk, here's one received today"
IT'S ONE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING ... I'VE SPENT THREE SODDING HOURS ON THE TRAIN PROBLEM. I'VE GIVEN MYSELF A HEADACHE. I KNOW THE ANSWER MUST BE STARING ME IN THE FACE. WHAT'S THE ANSWER? PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPLEASE!!!!
Please send any reply to Andyshepherd@Bigfoot.com
If you are reading this on Saturday 5th June, click here to see live video of the school's graduation ceremony.
NASA were interviewing professionals they were thinking of sending to Mars. The touchy part was that only one guy could go and it would be a one-way trip, the guy not ever returning to Earth. The interviewer asked the first applicant, an engineer, how much he wanted to be paid for going. "One million dollars," the engineer answered. "And I want to donate it all to my alma mater--Rice University." The next applicant was a doctor, and the interviewer asked him the same question. "Two million dollars," the doctor said. "I want to give a million to my family and leave the other million for the advancement of medical research." The last applicant was a lawyer. When asked how much money he wanted, he whispered in the interviewer's ear, "Three million dollars." "Why so much more than the others?" the interviewer asked. The lawyer replied, "You give me three million, I'll give you one million, I'll keep a million, and we'll send the engineer!"