Clearing Out the Phone
Over the years, all and sundry have been added to the memory in my mobile phone.
Today, whilst I was having lunch, I finally cleared out the detritus of my life in the country.
Sad in many ways, but it would have had to be done at some time.
Some were years old and some I hadn’t a clue who they were.
Reflections on the Train Trip to York
It was a good trip and East Coast played their part.
- The trip up was uneventful, except that I probably annoyed my companions in the set of four seats, by talking on the phone too much, because of Brian‘s death. We left on time and arrived at York dead on the scheduled arrival time. The coffee was excellent.
- If I want to nit-pick, I needed to know the time that the train arrived at York, so my friend’s son could meet me. But I’d left the details in my bag, which was in the luggage rack and I didn’t want to disturb everyone by getting it down. I seem to remember being on a train, which told me the time it would arrive at the various destinations. This may have been the TGV I took to Nice.
- Before returning, I did get into a bit of a panic, as I thought I’d lost one of the seven orange tickets that I needed for my trip. Surely one ticket printed with an itinerary could be designed, but then you’d probably need a smart mobile phone, which I won’t carry, as they break too easily. In the end, I found I’d mixed the outward and return leg tickets and found the one I needed in my jacket pocket.
- The return train was an hour late at York, due to a problem with another company’s train and I was kept informed by East Coast’s staff. So they didn’t fail in the way that some companies did in the snow.
- I was able to get a gluten-free snack at the AMT coffee stop in the station, so although it was late, I wasn’t unduly troubled, especially, as I live only fifteen minutes from King’s Cross on a bus.
- Staff on the train were handing out claims form and we were informed, when we were over an hour late, which effectively meant that the trip was free. My claim went in the post this morning.
- At least we weren’t too late for the buses to get me home and five minutes after the train arrived, I was on a 476 for home.
To sum up the return journey – We were late, but I didn’t suffer any serious problems. It was all rather less stressful and problematic, than some journeys done in the snow lately. I also think that quite a few people were surprised at the handing out of claim forms.
A Lovely Memorial
I saw this seat on York Station.
A Lovely Memorial
The bottom line says “Still Travelling” I think, Brian would have found a seat like that funny! But, in a dry, ironic and very respectful manner!
Death of a Friend
The trip to York yesterday was to visit my old boss from ICI and his wife. He has not been too well lately after a stroke and some complications, but his mind is still all there and just as when I went to Liverpool, we discussed engineering and put the world to rights. He also filled in some of the gaps in some of my stories, like the invention of plastic string.
However, the trip was overshadowed by learning about the death of one of my colleagues in Metier in a phone call on the trip north. Brian was the Finance Director and we couldn’t have wanted for a better one. Or a funnier and witty one for that matter! He had also been a good friend and confidant since the death of my wife and until a few months before his death, he could be relied upon to call regularly.
He will be missed by all who knew him.
Resisting the Obvious Headline
In the latest edition of Modern Railways, there is an article entitled East London line goes ’round the corner’, which describes the insertion of the missing link between the North and East London lines.
Should it have used the headline East London line goes ’round the bend’?
Possibly in a tabloid, but the whole exercise seems to have been conducted in a sane and measured manner.
Transport for London actually took the risk for the scheme, by acting as the project manager. The main outcome was that they shaved £2.5 million off a £16 million budget. They also managed to rebuild the bridge that carried Kingsland Road over the railway with a lot less disruption, than traditional methods would have caused.
So all things considered, the team is to be congratulated, when it opens next month, a few weeks ahead of schedule.
The article also says that they will be taking a similar project management approach to the expansion of the East London line to Clapham Junction.
So is this all to the good of passengers?
I use the new East London line occasionally and it got me back from IKEA in double-quick time last week, but then passenger numbers on the line are at levels that had been predicted to not be reached until a year later.
So is there a lesson here? Upgrade railways will new trains and frequent services and they’ll be used and repay the investment.
How Do You Make A New Threadbare Carpet?
You could ask why you need one too, but here’s the paragraph from Modern Railways describing the sumptuous interior of the new Midland Grand Hotel, that is soon to open at St. Pancras.
Here is the grand staircase, made famous in a score of films, with a sumptuous new carpet from Brintons of Kidderminster – but wait, the carpet does not look that new. No it has been specially woven to look a little threadbare, to be in keeping with the age of its surroundings.
The hotel must also be unique in that it will feature a Ladies Smoking Room, where smoking will not be allowed.
The Telegraph has an article here.
Will this become the best station hotel in the world? If it does, Sir John Betjeman will be chuckling out loud. It is certainly attached to a station that the head of French Railways, once said was the best station in the world.
Breast Cancer and Obesity
Two items on BBC Breakfast concern the increase in the incidence of breast cancer and also obesity. As the latter is known to be a factor in the first, isn’t it about time people got the message?
C had breast cancer, survived it and the squamous cell carcinoma of the heart that killed her was of a totally different type.
But she got her lump in exactly the same place, where a car airbag going off in an accident, caused quite a severe bruise. Her oncologist didn’t rule out the connection, especially as she was slim, fit, didn’t drink too much and ate healthily.
W H Smug
This was Private Eye’s name for W H Smith and I’m not sure if the magazine still uses it.
I find them an irritating store, as they do lots of things that annoy me.
Take yesterday, I paid for my copy of The Times by putting my subscriber’s voucher in the quick pay pot, as one assistant had told me to do a couple of weeks ago. Then I saw that the March edition of Modern Railways had arrived, picked it up and then went to pay for it. But I was then told, I’d have to pay for both items in the same place. So in the end, I left the magazine on the counter and walked to St. Pancras and bought it there. It wasn’t actually an extra trip, as I wanted to visit Boots to see if they had an Eat Nakd bar. They didn’t! Boots please note!
Paying for the magazine was then the usual No-No-No conversation, as I declined evething on offer and gave all the bits of paper back to the assistant.
Next time I travel, I’ll make sure I get my travel supplies before I leave home.
Bus Roulette
I said yesterday, that on my way to Kings Cross, I would be playing bus roulette.
I drew 476 and as I was a bit early, I got off at the last stop on Pentonville Road and crossed a couple of roads and walked into the front of King’s Cross Station. It was probably easier on a dry day, than going to the official stop opposite the station and using the underpass.
Coming back from York, I played roulette again and got another 476 to the Balls Pond Road from directly outside King’s Cross Station.
In some ways it is a bit of a forgotten route, as perhaps only one in four of the buses that go down the Essex Road to the Angel and on to Kings Cross are 476s.
The Anonymous Widower 