Further ramblings of a self-made pauper

Well, it's been one of those days, so far.

I travelled back from Foxton late this morning, expecting to be back in Whetstone somewhere around 1.30 at the latest. No such luck, thanks to would be terrorists, may they rot.

Having sat in a stationary Tube train deep underground and immobile for twenty minutes, just south of Archway, we we were unceremoniously ejected at Archway station with the reassuring words, "Don't argue, just get out of the station NOW". Then they closed the entirety of the Northern and Victoria Lines. Heavy bag on crowded bus then, and no chance of getting down to Clapham today for my doctor's appointment.

All this with a large wad of cotton wool stuffed up my left nostril, which has teken to ejecting claret twice a day at minimum, since I last posted. Still, it's controllable, if inconvenient and uncomfortable until I can earrange with the quack, and my new tactic of keeping the cotton wool stuffed up there permanently seems to be working. Well, it's keeping my clothes clean at any rate, so I don't frighten then horses and run up a massive cleaning bill.

Any way, my problems are as naught compared to what they could be, with these arseholes wandering around London, sewing calamity in their wake.

It seems that the explosion on the bus in Hackney was caused by detonators, not the actual explosive. The failed bomber may be holed up in UCL and is surrounded by armed police. The location of the terrorist is unconfirmed, the location of the police is not.

Currently I have nothing more productive to say, so I'll just wander off and listen to the radio a bit I think. Good luck to all in the centre of London.

As I sign off, I hear that a man has been arrested in Whitehall, according to a BBC News 24 newsflash.

It's not looking good at the moment.

Happily for me personally, my habit of going to work late and then staying late has meant that I am nowhere near Central London, and with very little hope of getting there today.

The incident at Liverpool Street Station just before 9 this morning was thought to be an explosion due to a power surge, and this line seems to have been adhered to even after a separate incident at Edgeware Road station which is around 8 miles away.

It has now been confirmed that a double-decker bus has exploded in Tavistock Square or Russell Square outside the BMA.

This does not seem to me to be the effects of mere happenstance.

Many, but not all, mainline stations are now closed, and overland rail services are stopping outside London. The entire Tube network has been evacuated.

Understandably, the news is very confused at the moment, and reports vary. You don't get accidents like this; someone has deliberately set out to cause as much disruption as possible. It appears that there have been explosions at Liverpool Street, Edgeware Road, King's Cross and a couple of other places, but sorting rumour from fact is not easy at the moment.

Unsurprisingly, the BBC News website is sluggish; I expect it's getting more hits now than it has done for some time.

Edit The reason your mobile phones won't work in the area is because the network has been switched off so that phones can't be used to trigger explosives. Most, but not all networks in the centre have been switched off.