July 22, 2006

Horse 596 - Progress

I am in the city currently chowing down on a very nice croissant and cup of tea. To get here I've got off at Martin Place Station - interesting observation:

There is an escalator here which is actually open and there's a plaque which proudly proclaims: Out of Service - 18-7-89, In Service 24-6-06.
Now I think that this says something about how difficult it is to get stuff done in this country. We now know how long it takes to fix an escalator - nearly 17 years.

In that time we've had the Berlin Wall come down, Nelson Mandela freed from prison, been to war with Iraq... Twice, Communism dismantled, several Eastern Bloc countries dissolve and reform, the setting up of a common European currency, the World Trade Centre attacked, Afghanistan attacked, the construction of two railway lines in Sydney, the building of Petronas Towers, the selling off of Japan Post, and most importantly the rebuilding of 4 Railway Stations in the CBD with no less that 24 escalators between them.

I guess it must be on another request form or something.

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