Posted: Mon 27 November, 2006 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Cynicism, Sweary, Travel, Work-related |
Yes, I knew I was cursing it by banging on about it being the last time I had to do that fucking train journey.
Life, you utter, utter bastard.
I got up at the usual time, did all the normal domestic gubbins – preparing breakfast, letting Hound out into the back garden, blah blah – then checked the local news for travel. Uh-oh. “Severe problems on the Reading – Waterloo route, due to over-running engineering works”. Arses. Check the train times on the XDA (I love useful little services like the train times via Kizoom) and yep, my normal train isn’t just delayed, it’s fucking cancelled.
As are lots of others from earlier in the morning. So I could get the (still delayed) 8:02, but that’ll be rigid with epically pissed-off people, and I just can’t be bothered. So I leave the house at 8:10, get the 8:30 train instead, which was (initially) a bloody good plan. You see, the 8:02 had actually been delayed by twenty minutes, so it was absolutely stuffed with people. Thankfully, not one of them had the brains to say “Hang on, there’s another one in ten minutes, and that’ll be just about empty, as everyone and his Uncle’s on this one” So the 8:30 was pretty quiet for the most part.
However. The engineering works were still over-running, so we ended up fucking about, getting to Twickenham, then re-rerouting through Kingston (wherever the shit that is) and Wimbledon in order to get to Clapham Junction – and because everything was going that route, we travelled at a snail’s pace.
Eventually, at 10:30 we got to Clapham Junction. At which point the service was cancelled, because someone had collapsed on the train, and needed medical attention. Now, I’m not a ghoul, and it was obviously pretty severe – put it this way, it’s the first time I’ve ever heard the guard put a call out for “any medical personnel on the train”. I just can’t believe the number of self-centred smug fuckers who just tutted and sighed at this news, like whoever had collapsed had done it just to spite them, you know, because the train was already late, so why not collapse, and put their day right in the shitter? Cunts.
Anyway, eventually got to Kings Cross, and a quiet train direct to Cambridge. Four and a quarter hours for a journey that normally takes two and a half at worst.
Posted: Mon 27 November, 2006 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Getting Organised, Travel, Work-related |
I’m pleased to say, I’m now on my final train journey between Bracknell and Cambridge. While next Monday is still going to be manic with moving, and travelling, this is the last time I do the journey on the train.
And I have to say, I was right a while back, when the old company moved to London, that I couldn’t handle doing the daily journey to London on these trains to get you into London for 9am. Getting on at Bracknell is OK, there’s normally seats, anyway. A couple of stops down the line, though, and there’s no seats left, and the train is just getting more and more packed.
I hate it.
The one between London and Cambridge, by contrast, is at least always fairly empty, and there’s always lots of seats, which is no bad thing.
But I’d hate to have to do that journey on a daily basis.
Posted: Sun 26 November, 2006 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Domestic, Getting Organised, Thoughts, Travel |
Currently, the living room is a maze of boxes. So’s the kitchen. So’s the office.
Why is it that as soon as you pack everything into boxes, it all seems to expand to fill all available space? You wonder how you’ve managed to accumulate so much crap – and yet when it all comes out at the other end, it’ll all revert to it’s normal space allocation.
Bizarre.
But it does have the side-benefit of making me realise (again) how much stuff we have accumulated, while also working as a bit of a rationalisation exercise (again) to reduce those levels of stuff, or at least re-allocate them off to
- a local charity shop
- recycling places
- a skip
or
- the local tip, as a last resort
Posted: Sat 25 November, 2006 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Customer Services, Cynicism, Travel |
Why is it that the following phrase has so many problems being understood?
A Diet Coke, please, with no ice or lemon
Over the last two months, I’ve been eating in restaurants four nights out of seven. Some places have become regular haunts, some have been one-offs, some are just irregular “when I feel like it”s. But the commonality with all of them is that it’s incredibly rare to get what I ask for.
- Drink with ice, but no lemon. Common
- Drink with no ice, but lemon. Equally common
- Drink with both. Worryingly common
- Drink with neither – i.e. what I ordered. Depressingly rare
I just don’t get what the issue is with that order…
Posted: Fri 24 November, 2006 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Travel, Work-related |
So yes, this will be (hopefully) my final journey back from Cambridge to Bracknell by train.
This is, without a doubt, a Very Very Good Thing.
I don’t mind the travelling itself – but I find that it does knacker me, and I’m just really looking forward to not having to do it any more. I don’t mind the bit where I’m on a normal train (well, not too much, anyway) but it’s the underground bit I hate. Even though I’m fairly careful/lucky and haven’t had to deal with many packed carriages, it’s still not something I enjoy. Yes, it gets me through London quite quickly, but all the same, I’m just as happy to be not having to do that again after today…
Posted: Thu 23 November, 2006 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Domestic, Getting Organised, Travel, Weirdness |
I’ve just gone through the process of sorting out a rental car for next weekend, which should make life a lot easier.
Basically it means that on the Thursday, I can pick up the car, sort out stuff in Cambridge, then I either go up to Norfolk on the Thursday night, or I can get up to the new house directly on the Friday morning.
The bizarre bit, though, is that it is only costing me about £5 more to rent the car Thursday – Monday than it is to rent it Thursday – Friday. My brain can’t quite process the logic of that one, I’m afraid…
Posted: Wed 22 November, 2006 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Domestic, General, Travel, Work-related |
I was thinking today, I’ve only got one more week after this of staying in the B&B, and of generally being away from home. And after two months of this, that is definitely a Good Thing.
In all it’s been OK, and I could (and would) do it again if I had to, but I’m definitely looking forward to a) not having to do that 7am train from Bracknell to London any more (well, after next Monday, anyway) and b) being able to go home in the evening.
In some ways I’m actually quite annoyed with myself, because I haven’t taken as much of an advantage with my time in the B&B as I could have done. There’s been a lot of work (and resolution) bits I could’ve done in this time, but I just haven’t for one reason or another. I’ve mislaid a lot of my motivation in the second half of this year – although that seems to be coming back, slowly but surely.
It’s looking like 2007 will be an interesting year, and now we’ve only a month of ’06 left, things are perking up a bit. So it’s all coming together again, thankfully.
But I’ll still be happy to not be in B&Bs all the time…