it was a bit colder in dunkeld than glasgow today

the idea was that i would go for a lunchtime meeting in dunkeld and spend some relaxing time getting there and back. first flaw in the masterplan was that i didn't know the line is closed north of perth. second flaw is that i didn't know that it's been very cold in perthshire (although i have been admiring other people's frosty photos) so didn't wear a coat on the principle that i'd be making a short journey from train to lunch and back again.

..so the 40 min wait in the car park of dunkeld station in the hoar frost came as something of a surprise...

luckily i met a nice young fireman who shivered in his lycra cycling kit - he a) distracted me from feeling annoyed by chatting about being a fireman and staying in a bothy on his days off and b)was patently colder than me which made me feel comparatively warm.

the extra hour and a half spent in perth station waiting for missed/delayed trains came as a bonus. i particularly enjoyed talking to the strange couple in the glass box on the platform with its one bar electric fire (which is apparently a waiting room) - she had a cyrano de begerac nose and was shivering uncontrollably, he couldn't stop telling a very long story about getting stuck in perth.

when the train came, i skulked away as soon as possible

apart from that, the day was notable for me totally missing overhearing an apparently very funny story on the underground:-

man "i've got a really funny story to tell you"
woman "great"
Fx: VERY LOUD TRAIN NOISE FOR ABOUT 2 MINS DURING WHICH I CAN HEAR NOTHING....
man "so that'll cheer you up for the day"
woman "that's exactly the kind of story you want to hear first thing in the morning"

the bloke got off and i so nearly asked the woman if she could tell me the story but i resisted