There is no such thing as an accident in Switzerland.
A car 'accident' is a criminal offence!

For this reason - after a round of hydroplaning on the motorway - I am spending the month of September without a driving license.

I can highly recommend hydroplaning or aquaplaning, as it is called here. It is fun! It is an amazing feeling to feel the wheels of the car lift off the ground and to have the vehicle float around as if it were weightless ...
... just don't try it in three lanes of heavy traffic - do so at an abandoned airfield or a race track.
Luckily no-one was hurt!

So now I'm spending the month at home and getting used to public transport.
I've still not quite got used to the fact that I can't go out when I want to, but that it makes more sense to go out when a train is due.
And staying out late at night is expensive; a taxi-kilometer cost CHF 2.50.
That makes CHF 45 for the ride home!
Either that - or hitch hike.

The closest railway station is two kilometers away. It's downhill all the way and I can do it in ten minutes, thanks two a public path across one of the meadows en route.

Yesterday evening, just after dark, I decided to take a ride to St.Gallen and meet some friends. I left a little late and was worried I wouldn't make the train. I trotted down the hill in the dark and was relieved when I found the gap in the fence and the steps leading down into the meadow with a few minutes to spare.

Stumbling down the uneven steps, something brought me to a dead halt.
Out of the corner of my eye, I had caught a glimpse of something in the dark.
I strained my eyes and stared into the darkness to see what it was I had seen.
The farmer had obviously moved his cows. He had strung up an electric fence!

What should I do?
Turn back up the steps, go the long way round, miss my train?
This was a public footpath, you can't just rig up an electric fence across it ...
I followed the fence cautiously. Staring at it directly was of no use, in the dark I could only see it out of the corner of my eye.
After what seemed an age, I found what I was looking for. A plastic grip, allowing you to unhook a section of the fence and pass through it without electrocuting yourself!
Hard to do in the dark, even though I've done it numerous times in daylight.

With the fence hooked up again, I stumbled down and across the meadow, trying to imagine where the other half of the fence would be.
My calculations were correct . I found the other plastic grip with surprisingly little trouble, passed through the fence and was just in time to board my train - my hair standing on end!

An electrifying experience!