The People In My Neighbourhood

Today I made 3 train trips - and had 3 good conversations.

Met a guy who's down from Darwin, working with a local school. Naturally, he was dressed very much for winter. I don't think he'd ever experienced a day as cold as a Brisbane winter day.

Found a guy who seemed to know more info about sport than i do - which doesn't happen too often. And i probably wouldn't have talked with him - but he complimented me on my tie (which is my favourite) so that broke the ice - and we had a good chat about footy.

After an evening function in the city, Stuart was leaving at the same time as me was also catching the train. I didn't see much of him at the function, but we got to catch-up as we caught and rode the train.

Good Call

So if you've been watching the Tour de France, you've probably seen an ad for Bike Exchange. I checked out their website, and came across a nice line that summed up cycling...

In an increasingly obese and polluted world where the roads are congested, cycling tackles all three issues.

A Person A Day

You may have seen the Stateline report on Queensland's road toll. As at July 3, it's 185 (27 more than the same time last year). This quote from Queensland Transport Minister Rachel Nolan:

More than 300 Queenslanders a year die on our roads. And for every death, that's a whole family and a group of friends who have experienced a real tragedy. For all of those people, their lives will never be the same.

The report noted that 28% of deaths are caused by speeding and 24% weren't wearing a seatbelt. But that still leaves at least 48% who doing normal speed and buckled up - plus the people who were killed by someone else speeding. As police superintendent Col Campbell puts it,

People believe that it will happen to someone else that it won't happen to them.