My father told me that for the most part coincidences could be safely ignored: they were merely that chance discovery of one pertinent fact from a mi… - Jasper Fforde

"You need to delay the train."
"How do I do that?"
"Your head on the rails?"
"Seriously?"
"I don't know. But put it this way: if you don't delay the train, I will punch you five times hard in the head."
"Once would probably be enough as a punishment."
"You don't need to be punished, you need motivating. And not getting punched five times is a terrific motivator. Take my word for it."

More welcoming were a couple of Welsh Tourist Board posters. One was advertising the local area with the now-universal slogan “Visit Wales – Not Always Raining.”

Friday nodded and took a deep breath. “Has anyone noticed how short attention spans seem to have cast a certain latitude across the nation?”
“Do I ever,” I replied, rolling my eyes and thinking of the endlessly downward clicking of the Read-O-Meter. “No one’s reading books anymore. They seem to prefer the mind numbing spectacle of easily digested trash TV and celebrity tittle-tattle.”
“Exactly,” said Friday. “The long view has been eroded. We can’t see beyond six months, if that, and short-termism will spell our end.”