happy st georges day

the sombre tone of a defeated man met with moans and growns no this wasnt our unelected prime minister nor his darling but the train driver on the 20.30 to norwich. You knew it was bad when u could see people standing on the train, apparently the 20,00 had been cancelled. When first on the train we were advised that vandalism to the overhead lines had caused delays yet now in the marks tay area its just been announced that there are severe delays due to signalling issues. The tension in my carriage isnt good, i need a wee- yet i saw my nearest toilet is out of order, and most worrying the man in the purple shirt sitting next to me is getting increasingly anxious with increasingly determination in his page turning off the ft- as well as his sighs of displeasure.

delayed, delayed and a snoring man

last night there were overhead line issues near stratford, i only know this as i asked a women in a high vis jacket what the problem was. Usual drill one arrives at liverpool street to see the board displaying delays all over the show but no comforting tannoy announcement to advise you what the problem is. I got home 45 minutes later than planned which ruined my intended local council leaflet delivery plans. Currently on board the 05 48 the earlier train was delayed due to a freight train failure. Despite my desire to sleep im currently sat opposite a man with a large hole in each shoe a massive portable cd player and an ogre-like snore. Not a great start to the working week.

Back to normal & The Chinese

So this morning back to normal with a seat on the floor outside the toilet as everyone has returned to London for work from the Easter break. Last Night was a different story tho. With only a few minute to departure (oh and the fact it was the 8pm) meant I got a seat. The only problem was sitting behind me were four Chinese women and I swear you have never heard human's talk so loudly before. I kept looking around as if to say, 'guys please keep it quiet' but this didn't work.... so there was no chance of me catching some Zzzzzzz's and I proceeded to use the 'dead time' to clear my text box in box.

football fans and a mac d's milkshake

saturday 28th march was a day of work (filming for the home office in preston) while the likes of whitman and jonny g went to see england smash slovakia 4,0. I met up with the lads at liverpool st and it was looking like we would be travelling at 10pm to billerichy where a chariot of coach form would take us to colchester. There was an announcement that a techical fault on a train just outside the station was delaying the train. With this half the guys went to mac d's. This decision meant when the technical issues had been resolved we werent in a position to board so we had to get the 22.18 but thanks to whitman i had a bannana milkshake. Sunday was a day of walking with team quince-vaughan-eaton-arnold with a cameo from wastell. Following this a reluctant trip to asda and some gardening followed by 8mile on dvd. Monday's strike had been called off but for some reason the 07.33 had been cancelled which meant the 07.37 train was to stop at virtually every train station in essex to compensate. With this i got to work later then whats social acceptable-not that i embrace corporate 9-6 culture. Last night i learnt how to recharge a scooter battery/i also learnt how to make it flat booo.

Dancing Girls and an Agitated Man

On Monday evening all was quiet on the 19:00 train to Norwich, the ticket inspector passed but then a conversation broke out which the whole carriage heard. A couple of youngsters had ticket issues. A classic line came from the teenage lad "I've lost my ticket and my wallet". He was issues with a pay later ticket.

Yesterday morning I stood outside the toilet of first class on the way in to London - amusing for most of the journey two 12-14 yr girls were dancing to their i-pods - an unusual sight so early in the morning. On the way home I got a seat but the man whom choose to sat next to me was seriously wrong. Constantly huffing and puffing and looking at his watch as well as falling in/out of sleep. I suspect he's had one too many VK blue's but he might have just have train rage who knows....

After a ruby on bricklane tonight I got on the 20:18 train to Harwich, wrapped my scarf around my eyes and took the opportunity to get 40 winks.... I was awoken at Chelmsford by a bubbly drunk women - I think she thought she was doing me a favour in waking me up should I wish to bail but a las I didn't...

Dash to the last train, slowness and no seats.

The title sums up the week for me. It seemed whatever train I got on was congested, slow and jam packed. A week previous I was so tired it was painful so when the 07:33 to London had no seats at Colchester I sat in First Class and had resided to the fact I would probably be asked to pay but this price was worth it for an hour's sleep..... a las I didn't get asked which my bank balance will be grateful for.

Thursday night I saw Nik Kershaw in Putney which meant getting home was a huge mission. Putney to Waterloo then a mad dash to Liverpool St. I stupidly assumed the tubes might still be operational at midnight to enable me to get the last train back at 12:48 but you've guesses it they weren't. The good news however was that I was on the same train as an old friend, Dream Team's Art Director - Mills, whom also was wanting to get to Liverpool St. I forced her to run with me and we jumped into a cab, had a chat with my mate Jonas whom phoned me concerned I might be left stuck at Liverpool St and then parted company before one more final dash accross the Liverpool st concourse...

I was in luck tho it was 12:35 and amidst the sea of staggering twenty something women, Macdonald munching city workers, queues at Burger King and a couple having an argument I could see the neon which said the last train was at 12:48. I'd made it, boarded the train and enjoyed the whiff of fast food all the way back.....

5 hours later I was back on the train to London for a drink free Friday (off the booze til Friday 3rd April). For the third week in a row there was a gigantic police presence at Liverpool st, I know that flash mob's can be annoying and have H & S implications but I'd rather teenagers have a rave than get up to the kind of things they may otherwise do........

likewise I'd rather have more police on the streets of Tottenham making sure my mate Ant is safe than preventing teens from having a dance in a well-lit public space.

Just for those of you whom aren't convinced about my broken record moaning about a lack of seats at rush hour on our trains:

(wife) give the banker a break

it never fails to amuse me the way in which middle aged men speak to their partners when making a phone call home on the train/ very quickly into my journey on the 18.48 i could detect this guy was having to justify his lateness to the wife (i rarely get on anything less than the 7pm train)/this chap must have been at a conference/event/meeting or something as he had had to travel from victoria at a time later than his normal 5.30pm finish. He was completely loosing the battle with his lady and he even gave me a smile knowing so. The killer line to his lady was "i can get another job if you want but it pay less" at which point he hung up/