Posted: Thu 6 March, 2014 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: 1BEM, Cynicism, Domestic, Driving, Green, People, Thoughts |
On my walks round Milton Keynes, I regularly see electric cars plugged into the provided charging points. Just left there, charging.
Now, is it really childish that every time I see one, I want to either
- Unplug the car and/or
- Move/hide the charging cable/block completely ?
Actually, I know it’s really childish – it’s just I get annoyed by the palpable smugness of these ‘eco’ ballbags who think they’re ‘saving the planet’ by leaving their shitty electric cars plugged in for hours to an inefficient method of energy generation/accumulation…
Posted: Tue 4 March, 2014 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Commuting, Cyclists, Driving, Health, People, Stupidity, Technology, Weirdness |
As I’m now working in Cambridge, I’m seeing a lot more cyclists. And a question occurred to me…
If a cyclist has one of those flashing/strobing LED cycle-lamps at a high-flash-rate, and they ride towards a driver prone to epilepsy through strobing (which isn’t something one would normally/usually expect to encounter while driving) who is responsible for any damages etc. should that driver suffer a fit at the wheel?
I’ve seen four or five cyclists already with these super-bright LED lamps set to a *very* high strobe rate, and it just made me wonder…
Posted: Tue 25 February, 2014 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: A428, Commuting, Domestic, Driving, Travel, Work-related |
On my commute, there is one road that is always a pain in the tits – the A428 between St Neots and Cambridge. It’s single-carriageway (i.e. one lane in each direction) and thus is the main sticking point on the entire journey (the rest of which is dual-carriageway). Because it’s also the quickest/shortest link from Cambridge to the A1, it’s prone to use by a lot of heavy vehicles – trucks, lorries, and even cranes.
On the journey in this morning, there were a lot of cones by the side of the road, all laid out and ready to be deployed. Oh bollocks.
It turns out (not that you can tell from the Highways Agency website, which is unutterably fucking shit, and a nightmare to get information from) that there’ll be work going on there for the next month. They don’t say what’s going to be done, or whether it’s limited to non-stupid hours (it won’t be) but it may just make the commute a bit more interesting.
I’ll know more tonight once I’ve done the drive home, and see how it all goes. Alternatively, it’s going to be a case of finding alternative routes for the next month…
Posted: Mon 24 February, 2014 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Driving, People |
I saw this last night, and it made me laugh. I’m not usually all that fond of personalised number plates, but at least this one’s amusing…
Posted: Fri 21 February, 2014 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Change, Commuting, Domestic, Driving, Insomnia, Sleep - or lack thereof, Travel, Work-related |
At the new contract, my hours are somewhat different to usual. It actually works out pretty well – both for me, and for the business – but it’s rocking my body clock a bit in this first week.
Based in Cambridge, I’m working 7.30 – 3.30. We work with development teams around the East Indies, so when I’m starting work, they’re just finishing – it means we can do meetings without extra hassle. It also means I’m avoiding all the really crap traffic (although this week is somewhat non-standard, as it’s half-term, and I suspect it’ll be a bit different leaving during ‘school run’ hours in the afternoon)
However, starting at 7.30 with a 45-minute commute means I’m leaving the house at 6.30-6.45, and getting up commensurately earlier. It’s not a massive change, but it’s enough that I’ve noticed it this week. I’m sure I’ll get back into the swing of things though.
In fairness, I’ve left home at earlier times than that though, for far longer commutes (in both time and distance) and getting home much later as well – although I have somewhat got out of the habit of those over the last couple of years.
It suits me for now though. I’d rather do 11am-8pm or similar, which would actually suit my body-clock, but that’s not on offer this time round. We’ll see though.
Posted: Sat 1 February, 2014 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Commuting, Domestic, Getting Organised, Public Transport, Travel, Work-related |
This week I’ve been working in London, near to Farringdon station.
I’ve been commuting in by train from Milton Keynes, which is fine in general, although it’s a pretty busy route.
However, today (i.e. after the main bulk of the work has been done) I’ve had a look, and it turns out I could have actually been going from a more-local station, and getting in direct to Farringdon. It’s nearly £10 cheaper too – which is a bit of a bummer, even though I get the travel costs back anyway.
The actual travel time isn’t much different, interestingly. I assume this route stops at more stations, thus negating the speed of the MK to London express route, and then use of Underground etc. However, if it’s direct it’s a lot easier.
It’s something I’ll remember for future contracts, I think.
Posted: Thu 30 January, 2014 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Commuting, Driving, Getting Old(er), London, Travel, Work-related |
This week I’ve been commuting into London on a daily basis – and for some reason it’s left me knackered. More importantly and relevantly, I don’t know why.
As has been written about before, I’ve done a lot of stupid commutes (both distance and time) and in truth the current one isn’t actually that bad – a drive to Milton Keynes train station, train into Euston, and then tube to Farringdon. It’s about 75 minutes door-to-door each way, so nowhere near the worst I’ve done.
Maybe it’s just that I’ve become more used to shorter commutes over the last eighteen months or so, I don’t know.
I’m still doing OK, and I’m sure I’d be fine with doing it longer-term as I get used to it again, but it’s just a bit weird that it’s leaving me knackered at the moment…
