Ticket Barrier
Posted: Thu 6 April, 2006 Filed under: Charm School, Customer Services, Travel 2 Comments »Bracknell train station has automatic ticket barriers. In general they’re no bad thing (we’ll gloss over the fact that half the time they’re left open while the ticket inspectors sod off somewhere else) and just make getting on and off the platform into a bit more of a bottle-neck than usual. Could be better, could be worse.
I’ve got a season-ticket for using the trains on the way to and from work, and again, in general this works fine. However, somehow this month the ticket’s magnetic strip has been blanked, so the automatic barrier won’t accept it, and I have to go and deal with the Numpty Bint on the gate, who lets through people with knackered, or non-standard-size tickets. I don’t care that this person is female, but I do care that she’s a fucking numpty with, on current evidence, more feet than IQ points.
Last week I made the cardinal sin, while going past her, of having my ticket upside down. Now, bear in mind it’s got “12th April 06” on it in friggin’ huge letters, the fact it’s upside down shouldn’t really matter a toss. But oh no, to Numpty Bint we’ve got to have the “I can’t read upside down, turn your ticket round” episode. Is it really that difficult to figure it out? Obviously so.
Today, though, was the last straw. After a week where I’ve been face to face (and generally fucked off) with Numpty Bint every day, twice a day, today she says “Oh, you’ve got to prove to me that your ticket doesn’t work. I’m not supposed to let you through until I’ve seen your ticket doesn’t work.” So I’m supposed to walk back down to the other end of the ticket barriers (through a shitload of commuters all flooding off the train that’s just arrived) to have the fucking ticket barrier beep at me, tell me to ‘seek assistance’, wade back through the commuters, and get back to her.
Instead, I opted for
If the fucking ticket worked, or had worked in the past fucking week, I’d be through the bloody barriers, and going to the platform, rather than dealing with you
She let me through.
Massive Attack – again
Posted: Thu 6 April, 2006 Filed under: Getting Organised, Music Leave a comment »Back at the start of this year, I said to Herself that of all the bands I wanted to see again, Massive Attack were one of the few where I wouldn’t even need to think about whether I wanted to get tickets, it would just be a foregone conclusion.
Last week, they released a new single “Live with Me” (which is awesome) and a greatest hits album – a limited release of which also had an extra “dual disc” with rare/unreleased tracks and on the flip side a DVD of all their videos. All for £12.99 – which counts pretty high on the “value for money” scale to my mind.
Anyway, I looked on the website, and it also turns out they’re doing a concert at Westonbirt Arboretum in Gloucestershire at the end of July. And so yes, I’ve got tickets. Can’t wait!
Herself
Posted: Wed 5 April, 2006 Filed under: Domestic 2 Comments »Happy Birthday today to Herself.
I’m taking the day off work, and we’re off out.
So there.
Another Snapper Snaps
Posted: Tue 4 April, 2006 Filed under: Depression, Photography 1 Comment »RIP Bob Carlos-Clarke, one of the more influential photographers of the last few decades.
You might not know the name, but his images were fairly well known.
Uninspired
Posted: Tue 4 April, 2006 Filed under: D4D™ Leave a comment »Hmm, today is a rather flat day. I just can’t be chuffed with most things – work, writing, thinking, the normal kind of thing.
As such, d4d™ may be rather shorter of content than usual for the moment.
Sorry ’bout that.
Sunny
Posted: Tue 4 April, 2006 Filed under: Thoughts Leave a comment »Today I’ve (re)discovered a problem with reactolite lenses.
When they go dark, you can see every speck of white dust on the lenses. It looks like you’re walking through a snowstorm.
Of course, it’s easily fixed. But all the same, gah.
Hosepipe
Posted: Mon 3 April, 2006 Filed under: Green, News, Thoughts 2 Comments »There’s something that seems distinctly bizarre about the hosepipe bans that are coming in to force today across a lot of the south of England.
For one thing, it specifies that you can’t use a hosepipe to wash the car, or water the garden. You can still use one to fill a swimming pool, or a hot-tub. In theory we could get away with using one to play with Hound, who loves being zapped with the hose, and runs round the garden like a mad thing as a game. No idea why she likes it so much, but she does. Bizarre creature.
And despite the fact that it’s necessary for the hosepipe ban in order to preserve levels of water, I bet that every golf course is still allowed to use sprinkler systems etc. in order to keep the greens all beautiful. They seem to be exempt from every other water conservation method, so I bet they don’t get hit by this one. Fuckers.
If the water boards were serious about water conservation, the first thing they’d do is sort out their own leaking pipes. Yes, I know that Thames Water (and others) say they’re doing their best, and that they’re spending more than ever on repairing leaks, but they also said that ten years ago when I worked for their customer services department. They haven’t changed their story in a decade, and will continue to get away with doing as little as possible for as long as they can.
Oh, and the second thing the water boards should do is offer discounts to people who conserve water, who have water butts to store rain water for garden or domestic use, and perhaps even subsidise the purchase of those water butts. Now that would be doing something to help the situation…