London Underground

I had intended to sit down and scribble a brief update when I got home last night, following the booze session at the Royal Oak.

Unfortunately, thanks to the vagaries of London Underground, it was getting well towards 1.00 am when I finally got home and, understandably I feel, couldn’t be arsed.

Overall, it was a good evening rather spoiled by the bizarre intransigence of the Underground. They had had problems earlier in the day, with at least two lines either closing down entirely for a period, of suffering severe delays for one reason or another. This was compounded by the temporary closure of Angel, King’s Cross, Warren Street, Mornington Crescent and Camden Town stations because of power failure. This didn’t stop the Tubes from running, but did severely restrict access at those points. Nonetheless, given that the Northern Line was not showing delays (in fact with the station closures, it should, arguably, have been a little faster), there was no apparent reason for the strange scheduling.

On arrival at Borough Station, we find that with the exception of the first northbound train (1 minute away) terminating at Finchley Central, the next six were all for Edgware. Normally that would have been annoying, but with the closure of so many stations, the opportunity to change to the High Barnet branch were severely curtailed. Anyway, with a combination of a little luck and some deft footwork from Jez sans LJ, we managed to get the Finchley train. Except, of course, that it terminated at Archway, instead. Still, that’s on the High Barnet Branch, so not too bad, if providing further annoyance.

That is the stage when you realise that the world is taking the piss. The next four trains were set to terminate at Mill Hill which is a spur off the main line, which has only Mill Hill station on it, as opposed to the half dozen stations further up the High Barnet branch.

It does nothing for the old blood pressure or good humour.

Happily, earlier in the evening, I had had this played to me: so I could hum it to myself and appreciate the accuracy.

Beware: NOT REMOTELY work safe.

London Underground

I had intended to sit down and scribble a brief update when I got home last night, following the booze session at the Royal Oak.

Unfortunately, thanks to the vagaries of London Underground, it was getting well towards 1.00 am when I finally got home and, understandably I feel, couldn’t be arsed.

Overall, it was a good evening rather spoiled by the bizarre intransigence of the Underground. They had had problems earlier in the day, with at least two lines either closing down entirely for a period, of suffering severe delays for one reason or another. This was compounded by the temporary closure of Angel, King’s Cross, Warren Street, Mornington Crescent and Camden Town stations because of power failure. This didn’t stop the Tubes from running, but did severely restrict access at those points. Nonetheless, given that the Northern Line was not showing delays (in fact with the station closures, it should, arguably, have been a little faster), there was no apparent reason for the strange scheduling.

On arrival at Borough Station, we find that with the exception of the first northbound train (1 minute away) terminating at Finchley Central, the next six were all for Edgware. Normally that would have been annoying, but with the closure of so many stations, the opportunity to change to the High Barnet branch were severely curtailed. Anyway, with a combination of a little luck and some deft footwork from Jez sans LJ, we managed to get the Finchley train. Except, of course, that it terminated at Archway, instead. Still, that’s on the High Barnet Branch, so not too bad, if providing further annoyance.

That is the stage when you realise that the world is taking the piss. The next four trains were set to terminate at Mill Hill which is a spur off the main line, which has only Mill Hill station on it, as opposed to the half dozen stations further up the High Barnet branch.

It does nothing for the old blood pressure or good humour.

Happily, earlier in the evening, I had had this played to me: so I could hum it to myself and appreciate the accuracy.

Beware: NOT REMOTELY work safe.

(no subject)

There's this meme thing going around, and I've decided to ignore it.

I don't think I know half of you well enough to be able to comment on anything, and my memory is so shocking that those of you I do know well enough for the perspicacious comments, I'd be embarrassed by how little I could remember.

Of course, the flip side of the coin is quite simple. If I don't join in, my ego, in its tiny shell wrapped in cotton wool is safe from the heated ovens of derision and the basting of sarcasm that might come my way.

So there you have it: a poor memory, inherent laziness and a fragile ego. A winning combination in the get out of meme stakes.

(no subject)

There's this meme thing going around, and I've decided to ignore it.

I don't think I know half of you well enough to be able to comment on anything, and my memory is so shocking that those of you I do know well enough for the perspicacious comments, I'd be embarrassed by how little I could remember.

Of course, the flip side of the coin is quite simple. If I don't join in, my ego, in its tiny shell wrapped in cotton wool is safe from the heated ovens of derision and the basting of sarcasm that might come my way.

So there you have it: a poor memory, inherent laziness and a fragile ego. A winning combination in the get out of meme stakes.