Quick Quiz
Posted: Mon 27 June, 2005 Filed under: Travel 4 Comments »OK, now here’s a thing. At Waterloo Station (I’m talking about the Underground Station, as opposed to mainline trains, I should point out) I discovered there was an Underground line I’d never used before.
It’s nothing special – in fact, it just runs between Waterloo and Bank stations, and is called the “Waterloo and City line”. It looks like this (courtesy of a badly hacked map from Transport for London)
Now, what I want to know is this : why is it there? And what is its history?
I suspect I know who will know, but any answers will be appreciated.
Train Miracle
Posted: Mon 27 June, 2005 Filed under: Travel 1 Comment »Sit down. There’s a shock on the way. Well, today all told there may be a couple of shocks on the way – but for now, this one’s a biggie.
After all my many rants about train travel, of which there are too many to link to, (although this link does a fairly good job, I have to say) Friday’s journey from Wokingham to Norwich went – I warned you, sit down – bloody well. No delays, no hassles. Busy trains, yes, but I got a seat, and there were no irritations. Yeah, you heard that right – no irritations. I had problems believing it myself.
If pushed, I would point out that the London Underground is still a nightmare, and on Friday it was hotter than a sweaty desert-dweller’s jockstrap (and, on one memorable section, smelled like it) but that’s summer in London for you. And if I ever say “I’m going to be working in London for the summer”, slap me.
But yes, the journey itself was fine. Oh, and a quick thanks to the very nice man on the London-Norwich train, who I discussed laptops with, and who then donated his last can of beer to me when he got off the train. You, sir, are a bloody star.
See – told you you should be sitting down!
Away again
Posted: Sat 25 June, 2005 Filed under: Travel Leave a comment »I’m away in Norfolk again this weekend. Fun stuff like parties, celebrations, and the like. Had to take a train to Norwich (£45 later…) which was a bit painful, but at least we’ll be driving back, which isn’t too bad.
Have a good weekend, one and all.
Getting There
Posted: Wed 22 June, 2005 Filed under: Health, Travel Leave a comment »On the ride to work (which hasn’t changed much, as I’m still in Wokingham. I just go a different direction at the train station) just after I leave the house there’s a nightmare road. Partly the nightmare is because it’s always half-full of parked cars, and avoiding those (plus idiot schoolchildren who don’t know the difference betweeen path and road) makes for a hairy ride on occasion.
The main reason it’s a bastard though is because the entire road is uphill. It’s only a gentle(ish) slope, but Jesus, it’s a killer. It always leaves me knackered – still determined to go on, but knackered all the same – and chuffed. This isn’t helped by being very soon after leaving the house, so I’m not warmed up or anything.
Anyway, I’d always said I’ll know when I’m getting to some point of fitness when I can do the road without being bollocksed at the end of it. And today was that day!
Of course, we’ll have to see how I do tomorrow with it (and then next week, as I’m travelling to Norfolk straight after work on Friday, and there’s no point cycling in at that point) but I do feel pretty good that I’d managed to complete that road without being knackered.
Taking the Piss
Posted: Tue 21 June, 2005 Filed under: Customer Services, Thoughts, Travel 3 Comments »Just as an aside, this is the post I was writing, and lost earlier. A re-write, not a recovery
Do you ever wonder whether certain other people are actually on the same level of sanity as yourself? Today’s story about the potential for a “congestion charge” for rush-hour rail travel created this kind of doubt in my mind.
The real questioning came about when it was revealed that it was that Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) who were banging on about this. They’re obviously not aware that “peak” travel is already a shitload more expensive than travelling later in the day. And that’s the policy of every train company. If I were to decide to work in London, and had to commute from Bracknell to be in London before 9am, a daily Travelcard would cost me £22.60. If I can go in later, leaving Bracknell after 9.30am, that Travelcard will only cost me £13.30.
So the “rush-hour” congestion charge already exists. It’s just the train companies working to screw even more money out of people – and mainly out of business people and workers, who are the ones they’re forever saying are the “bread and butter” of the trainlines, which is why maintenance work is done on bank holidays and weekends, so that these super-important “bread and butter” passengers aren’t inconvenienced. Great, they’re just ripped off more and more each year.
The final insult came in the quote (and I’m going to paraphrase it a bit)
In the next 10 years the objective will be to run as many trains as we sensibly can, and as long trains as we can, to carry the maximum capacity.
…
The strategy document – entitled Looking Forward: Contribution to Railway Strategy – also said scrapping under-used trains and stations could help operators handle growth.
Now, let me get this right. Effectively, what they’re saying is “the trains are going to get busier. Therefore, what we’ll do is reduce the number of trains and stations, so that all these extra people will be crammed on the over-used trains at a smaller number of stations. Hey, what’s convenience, when we can ram ’em in like sardines?”
Flowers from Dublin
Posted: Fri 17 June, 2005 Filed under: Photography, Travel 2 Comments »Not quite “Tulips from Amsterdam”, but I’ve now uploaded a set of flower photos that got taken last week in Dublin Botanical Gardens to flickr.
In particular, the orchid house was stunning, but there’s a few others in there as well that I’m pleased with. Specifically, the bougainvillea and the foxglove.
Enjoy.
Pedestrians – again
Posted: Wed 15 June, 2005 Filed under: Thoughts, Travel, Weirdness 3 Comments »I wish I understood people who walk. Bearing in mind that I’m one of them, you’d think that gaining an insight on the mindset wouldn’t be that difficult, but no, it is.
So far as I can tell, a great majority of pedestrians are – frankly – fucking stupid. Or suicidal. I haven’t quite figured out which yet. For instance, I completely fail to understand the way people – particularly couples – have to walk side-by-side and/or hand-in-hand, and block an entire pathway. Especially when it’s a subway or similar, and there’s no alternative way past. Why do it? Are they “so in love” </vomit> that they can’t bear to be seperated for even 3o seconds?
Equally (and I know I’ve mentioned this before) I don’t understand why some fuckwit cunts idiots have to walk on the cycle-path when there’s a perfectly good footpath right beside it. It makes life really bloody awkward, and even more so when they don’t have any spatial awareness of what’s going on around them – although I do tend to yell “Get out the fucking way” when they’ve also ignored the bike bell. Sometimes I don’t bother with the bell, and just yell at them anyway…
I also simply don’t get how people can walk out into a road (and in one recent case, a dual carriageway) without looking to see what’s coming. Do they believe they’re invincible? Or that all road-users will simply stop for them?