Lights Out

Cambridge often strikes me as the least pedestrian friendly town in the world or, at least, in Nowhereshire. As if it wasn't bad enough that you can't so much as step into the middle of a (one-way) street without being mowed down by a cyclist zipping illegally down the wrong way in order to get to that 9 o'clock lecture, there are the problems that arise crossing Jesus Green on foot. I have to do this twice a day on my journey to work and if it weren't for all of the crazy cyclists, this would actually be a pretty nice route, alongside the river and with a nice view of St John's College Chapel Tower.

My main problem, however, is in the evening when it is dark and about one cyclist in two doesn't consider having a light on their bike to be a helpful navigational aid (not to mention a legal safety requirement), it does mean I have to be prepared to jump into the mud given half a chance, especially when listening to my iPod (although if the Mayor of New York City had his way, I probably wouldn't be allowed to listen to my iPod while crossing Jesus Green so I should be grateful for that at least).

Luckily, the council has put up five whole lampposts across the 400m path along the edge of the common, which provide slightly more light than the torch I got out of that cracker last Christmas, on a good night. Even better is the motion-sensitive lamp, which is a great, energy-saving device (who says I don't care about global warming?) and never fails to extinguish itself as I come within about 15 metres, leaving me in total darkness to be attacked by Americans and their pet dogs that have flashing collars.

And I'm someone who enjoys walking! I guess I just picked the wrong town...