I hit Liverpool st this evening c. 16:30 with the intention of some political leaflet distribution in Colchester sadly a line side fire in Romford meant no trains were leaving the station....
Usual panic begins, everyone on their phones "hi darling sorry I'm delayed not sure what time I will be back" / "all the trains are fucked" / "can you find out whats going on", and plenty of people pugnaciously questioning NX front line workers and Transport Police. A seasoned veteran in train delays it seemed this one was out of everyone's control and so there was no point in being angry with anyone so I turned to my phone to see who might be around for a pint. Annoyingly my phone was dead because today was the big day my number was being transferred over to Vodafone and my new phone was back home sat next to the kettle.
Without a laptop on me and with little energy to do any 'work' I decided the best option was a can of beer, sat on the steps of broadgate, and some good old fashioned people watching. I then got quite excited at the prospect of spotting someone I knew there was every chance I could go and have another brew or maybe even a bricklane - sadly the random lottery of friends resulted in nothing. About an hour after this I went back to platform 9 to see if there was any train to norwich action...... the tannoy kicked in with 'the next departure to Norwich will be on platform 9' - bingo I was in and quite in front of the masses so I got a seat.
I struggled to get past a couple of pages of my book and became sleepy in the heat, people were standing throughout the train. I woke at one point to see people passing a note down the line - no idea what it said but everyone seemed to be smiling.
Three and a half hours from my initial arrival at Liverpool St I spotted the allotments of Mile End (in amongst the new town houses/flats) and an evening of catch up on work began... political propaganda tomorrow.
Wednesday 28 July 2010
Monday 19 July 2010
Gourmet Dining Options, First Class & Queue Jumping
Its been a while since I've posted but I guess that may be down to the fact I'm no longer doing 5 consecutive days commuting at peak - so the need to note down is perhaps less needed....
I have however some good memories of the last few weeks.
Friends Mat and Clare at Liverpool lured me to drink wine at Liverpool St, once we'd finished I agreed to go seek out the food while they went to find more wine. I was on limited time in the fine dining yellow arched establishment so I had to sacrifice the plain option when it comes to the double cheese burgers....
With seconds to go I boarded the train with Mat and Clare only just making it also... We had a burger and a little (chicken) taster each. Crucially we didn't go for the fries option as I had plenty of home grown salad. The man sharing the table chairs with us found this most amusing - I tho thought it was a great way of balancing the meal.
The summer had most certainly arrived when I realised I was dripping in sweat before I'd even stepped onto the train let alone hit London - with this and with the confidence that I'd be working much that week I purchased a First Class train ticket. I didn't take advantage of it completely (as previous tale happened by sitting in standard) but on the days I did it was most enjoyable. Air con. Space. Peace and Quiet. But at a big premium.
Days ago a well spoken chap sporting a ruck sack and shorts decided he was going to push into the queue. I might normally let this go but time was tight and it was afterall in Colchester. 'Excuse me mate I think I'm next' was met with an obnoxious 'well i didn't know' - what sorry I was standing in line with a debit card in my hand. When I got to the machine it said ' no debit cards ', i turned around to advise the queue jumper and he swiftly walked to the portable ticket dispensing conductor - once again queue jumping. I gave up.
I have however some good memories of the last few weeks.
Friends Mat and Clare at Liverpool lured me to drink wine at Liverpool St, once we'd finished I agreed to go seek out the food while they went to find more wine. I was on limited time in the fine dining yellow arched establishment so I had to sacrifice the plain option when it comes to the double cheese burgers....
With seconds to go I boarded the train with Mat and Clare only just making it also... We had a burger and a little (chicken) taster each. Crucially we didn't go for the fries option as I had plenty of home grown salad. The man sharing the table chairs with us found this most amusing - I tho thought it was a great way of balancing the meal.
The summer had most certainly arrived when I realised I was dripping in sweat before I'd even stepped onto the train let alone hit London - with this and with the confidence that I'd be working much that week I purchased a First Class train ticket. I didn't take advantage of it completely (as previous tale happened by sitting in standard) but on the days I did it was most enjoyable. Air con. Space. Peace and Quiet. But at a big premium.
Days ago a well spoken chap sporting a ruck sack and shorts decided he was going to push into the queue. I might normally let this go but time was tight and it was afterall in Colchester. 'Excuse me mate I think I'm next' was met with an obnoxious 'well i didn't know' - what sorry I was standing in line with a debit card in my hand. When I got to the machine it said ' no debit cards ', i turned around to advise the queue jumper and he swiftly walked to the portable ticket dispensing conductor - once again queue jumping. I gave up.
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