Or is it East Coast trains formerly known as National Express, also formally known as GNER. With so many companies trying and inexplicably failing to turn a profit on one of the country’s busiest routes its hard to keep up with who is running the trains still. When I last caught this service the take over had been so recent that the branding hadn’t caught up yet.
I’m not entirely sure on this but from what I recall, the tracks are owned by the government, who farm out the right to run the business for the next decade or so. Naturally the contract goes to the company who will claim to make the most profit so bids are angled in that way. But heres the catch, the profits don’t go to the government but to the shareholders of the company. So once a company has the contract, they have the keep the shareholders happy. So the fares go up while the amount spent on track maintenance goes down. In the end the taxpayer looses out, paying more for less service while the profits are taken out of the railways.
Despite all the companies coming and going some things haven’t changed. The toilets are still dank, dark pits only ever to be used in moments of sheer desperation. The guards are the usual mix of hopelessly surly and unhelpful at one end, or manically cheerful types who seem on the brink of snapping. The ‘wide range of snacks and treats’ from the buffet bar are still just packets of crisps and soul-sapping soggy sandwiches.
Some things have changed in the past few years though. The trains have been wired up so you can connect to the internet, something which is very popular judging by the proliferation of laptop bearers elbowing for table room. The heaters work – far too effectively for such a mild winter day in fact. And very importantly the trains can still be cheap enough to be a viable alternative to flying.
My train ride from London to Glasgow will take 5 1/2 hours for the princely sum of £65. A flight would take about 40 minutes for £140 (more if you want to check in a bag full of Christmas presents or even just use the loo). On that basis flying seems to win out. But then you have to factor in the time taken to get to one of London’s satellite airports, checking in and getting through security, and then getting into Glasgow from the airport at the other end. All of which can mean the journey time for flying starts getting up over the 4 hour mark.
Or I could nip up to a central London station a few minutes early then sit at a table surfing the internet or watching a film for an extra 90 minutes and arrive in the middle of Glasgow – without having to strip down for airport security.
Train travel in Britain could easily become the ‘way of the future’ but it would need a serious overhaul of the current industry – toilets and all.
Filed under: Holidays
A quick browse through my websites showed me that this is not the only sadly neglected site. My Flickr site was bare of new offerings and I found my photos from our September holiday still hadn’t been uploaded.
I don’t flatter myself as much of a photographer, but perhaps I can set an example as to how not to do it?
In the last week I’ve stepped back from full time employment to concentrate on finding a role in wine tasting and education. This is the part of my recent and previous roles that have given me ‘the little buzz’. Still to do so during a recession – is that not a little mad?
Only time will tell; but a pleasant side effect is having the time to attend wine tastings again. Of late my wines have tended to be solely Pinot noir and Riesling – a consequence of working with dedicated specialist. So when a friend invited me to a Rhone tasting, I jumped at the chance.
The 2008 vintage is not reputed to be as exciting as the previous years in the Rhone, but in this day and age one must be careful of judging the wine before it has been tasted……
With several altercations with cars and motorbikes this summer – why oh why are motorbikes allowed in bus lanes with us – I’d been starting to fall into the ‘Us vs Them’ mentality of cycling in the city.
So I was biking along the inside of stationary traffic this afternoon – oddly with the lyrics of ‘Go West’ whirring round my head – when the car directly in front of me cut across the cycling lane and up on to the pavement narrowly avoiding my front wheel as I screeched to a halt.
With the radio blaring, he didn’t hear my indignant cries of “Hey” nor the less polite cries from the two cyclists behind me. He also didn’t seem to see the shocked look from the man pushing his pram on the pavement. Unfortunately, the traffic picked up and he moved off before the three of us could do anything more than fume at his rear window.
But London being London, I caught up with him two minutes later at the next lights and knocked on his window – yes I am that type of cyclist, cut me off and you’ll know about it.
At the sight of the 6 foot guy in the drivers seat, turning off the loud rap and winding down the darkened window to see me, my courage did wobble as I realised how nasty this could get. Still I had to go on….
“Excuse me, but did you realise that when you cut up on to the pavement back there, I was on the inside of your car?’
‘Oh god really? I’m so sorry’ as a look of surprise flashed across his face.
‘Yeah, so just a reminder to have a quick look ok?’
‘Sure, yeah and sorry.’
Faith in drivers slightly restored.
Its August in London, the weather varies between thunderous downpours and scorching blue skies, England is being thumped in the cricket, the population is consuming Pimm’s at an incredible rate – so it must be time for the ‘Worlds Greatest Classical Music Festival‘!
So it was off to the Royal Albert Hall with a few like minded music lovers to take in a matinee performance what proved to be a super Sunday afternoon. As I arrived too early for the prom, but had plenty of time for a stroll in the sun round the Prince Albert Memorial in Hyde Park. Armed with an icecream I meandered while avoiding the rollerbladers, cyclists, horseriders and melee of families out enjoying the sun – lovely start to the afternoon.
Soon the time came to gather together and file into one of my favourite buildings in London – and we had a pretty good view. With a fuller certified piano player in the group it was a concert filled with Piano duets. The final piece ‘Carnival of the Animals’ even and a lovely cello solo for me – (though the cello is sadly neglected and has had only 3 strings for at least a year.)
One summer tradition fulfilled for the year, now its time to look at a trip to the Globe.
Filed under: London
A lot of people will be fed up with hearing how cold it is over here. Tomorrow is going to be sunny and warm up a few degrees … to 5°C. I can’t remember the last time the day warmed up to more than that and I’m fairly sure it was before Christmas. But equally I’ve been listening to the people in NZ complaining about how hot it is and how hard it is to sleep when night only gets down to 22°C….
Enough, I cry. Enough of the complaining about weather, as Billy Connelly said there is no such thing as the wrong weather, only the wrong clothes. (I realise how hypocritical I’m being as I shivered in the office today in 3 layers of wooly clothing.) But still it must be time to stop complaining and to pick ourselves up and have another cold beer, or in my case a hot bath.
Admittedly that will be my third bath this week, but so far its the best way for me to cope with the cold. Plus the real reason for so many baths is Lush bath stuff. I’m working my way through the set, favourite so far is the Rainbow Worrier but its only occasionally available in their Retro line. Tonight, in honour of Valentines, I think it will be this pink frothy number, wish me luck.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Well I find myself at home in the warm after football training was called off. I’d been hoping the forecast snow would hold off until after 10.30 when practise would be over and I could warm up on the under ground with a sneaky cream egg. At it is the snow came early enough for the training to be cancelled before I’d even left the house, second best option for the night really.
Football seems to be going well so far and I’ve lost much of my apprehension in the previous blog. Either I’m fitter than I thought (not likely) or the coaching staff are going easy on the team in the cold weather. Still I’m keeping up at training, next step is to not wheeze like an asthmatic elephant while doing so.
January disappeared suddenly but not before the brother had taken James and I out with his lovely Swedish dentist as an anniversary treat. We went to see Avenue Q, and I can highly recommend it. A dirty and hilarious Sesame street and well worth a laugh. With such little dittys as ‘Internet is for porn’ and ‘If you were Gay‘ (video not great) you’ll be sure to offend someone when you hum them on the tube.
February has proved to be an action packed month so far. My last day of study before my diploma exam on Spirits was a long day. 7 Vodka’s at 9am anyone? Followed by Tequila, Gin and Pernod before lunch. I just have to try and remember it all for my exam in March. I must cut an interesting figure on the Tube in my Spurs kit reading up on the distillation of rum.
The biggest change of the month has been upheaval at work, the biting credit crunch has meant needing to say goodbye to a colleague and friend. Very sad and something I don’t wish to do again. I also said farewell to working from home and have resumed my trudge back and forth from the train station, thanking Dona with every step for the fur coat. (Still holding on with the odd mending now and then, but an absolute lifesaver in the snow). First week back and with only one day left I’m looking forward to the weekend eagerly.
Filed under: Uncategorized
This really is for Susie; who has been complaining, with fair cause, about the destitute state of my blog. Plus I don’t imagine anyone else would bother to read it. I was going to to an epic tale detailing life here with foot notes and diagrams…. but that would never get posted.
So here (in handy instalments) is what’s been going on in our wee corner of London town…
It’s been damned cold that’s for sure. Saturday the high was minus 1, we couldn’t even reach zero at mid-day it was that cold. Ordinarily this wouldn’t worry me as the obvious thing to do at those temperatures is to stay on the couch with a good book and a cup of tea. As I’m a third of the way through ‘War and Peace’ you can guess what James and I were up to.
But in the last month or so I’ve taken a step which may or may not be a super move, the jury is still out. I’ve signed up as goal keeper with Tottenham Hot Spurs ladies football team (yes that’s right the ladies version of the team in the FA Cup.) Well, technically I’m in their reserves but lets not split hairs.
Only problem is, I’ve yet to actually play for them. The weather has been so cold over here, with -5 frosts in the centre of London and what not, that our last three games have been called off. The reason given was ‘Frozen Grounds’, not a problem I ever imagined possible. But hard frosts on the grass which never thaw, even under direct sunlight, are a bit dangerous to play on.
So hence the indecision, I still haven’t played for the new team so don’t know how its going to go. My broken hand seems to have mended well, I’ve not had any trouble at practises – not that there have been many of them either.
No, the bit making me hesitate is Tuesday night practises. Thursday night practise, when I get to meander off and do some real keeper training, is great and is the only one I’ve managed so far thanks to work. But Tuesday is fitness night, and apparently its very tough.
Very.
As in ‘don’t eat for four hours before hand or else’ tough.
Tomorrow night will be the first night so fingers crossed.
Filed under: London
My garden has been thriving of late, with the tomato plants growing so big their bamboo stakes were useless and I resorted to propping them up with chairs. Flowers have been appearing on the sweet peas and the two gigantic tomato bushes (calling them plants is doing them an injustice). Aphids were plenty but so were the wee ants which seemed to be keeping damage to a manageable level and I was day dreaming about the salads I could make with my home grown lettuce and toms.
But disaster has now struck. This week has been a pretty punishing one, with several late nights and early starts thanks to work so the plants had been forgotten. This morning I opened the door to the outside world and found the neglect had taken its toll.
The once flourishing deep green lettuce has wilted to brown limp shreds, the coriander is yellow and my one producing tomato plant was unhealthy and limp. There was frantic splashing as water was hurriedly applied and I hope some of the damage may yet be undone.
Maybe it is too soon for a puppy……
Filed under: London
After visiting Dona (James’ mum) in April and eating the fresh veges from her garden, I decided it was time to grow my own. A fine idea, but more difficult to put into practice when you don’t have a car to carry things back in. Especially as the small outside area in my flat is fully tiled, meaning for the first time in my life I would have to buy soil. I seem to have spent most of my childhood moving it, growing in it, shaping it, forming it and even rolling in it (football). But never before have I ever been so short of soil that I needed to buy it.
I did look at getting plants delivered and found you can basically have an entire kitchen garden delivered to your door (link). But decided it would be better to start small and actually have room to move outside. So a trip to the local DIY superstore beckoned – well I say local but the main aim was to find one near a Tube or rail station. I roped James in and we braved odd looks in the carriage to return with bags of soil and some very small seedlings to plant – tomato and lettuce plants at about 5 cm high.
Now about 1 month later I have a flourishing garden to defend from the local slugs and snails, and lovely cherry tomatoes which actually have taste! My ‘beefsteak’ and ‘italian’ tomato plants have flourished from 5cms high to about half a metre and have flowers so hopefully not long till we have some large toms too!
