A New Take On Dumbbells
I bought these dumbbells in John Lewis, as my fitness trainer, said I needed some heavier ones.
A New Take On Dumbbells
There was only one problem and that was bringing two 4 kilo dummbells home in two flimsy plastic carriers.
Are These The Perfect Gluten-Free Dunking Biscuit?
Marks and Spencer have recently launched some gluten-free ginger snaps.
I don’t think I’ve found a better dunking biscuit.
I wonder if they’d pass C’s test of breaking them into pieces on her left elbow, with her right hand?
On the other hand, she wouldn’t approve of the picture on the right!
And Now We’ve Got A Blue Bus!
Adidas really know how to annoy Londoners, as they’ve now given us this disgusting blue bus.
And Now We’ve Got A Blue Bus!
The colour annoyed me so much, that I’ve decided to create the tag, Crap Marketing, in its honour.
Why I Didn’t Buy An Ice Cream
The ice cream outside this restaurant on Piccadilly looked good and it probably was.
Why I Didn’t Buy An Ice Cream
But on enquiring, they had pots to serve it without the cone.
In Italy, where this type of ice cream selling is common, they’ve never not had some pot for the gluten-free!
A Design Crime – Why I Didn’t Buy Another Pair Of DAKs Trousers
For the last twenty-five years, I’ve had a pair of DAKs cord trousers for when I need to be smart. Last year, I bought a replacement pair and they were fine.
The original pair were still comfortable and warm and I wore them on my holiday in Iceland. I unfortunately ripped them on something, so there was only one place for them – the bin!
So I thought I’d buy another pair and went to their shop.
But what a disappointment!
They’ve been designered and now there are three buttons to do the trousers up. With my gammy hand that is a no-no! Or imagine getting taken short and wanting to disrobe quickly.
It’s almost as bad as the dreaded button-fly!
I went elsewhere!
A Road Death Database
The BBC has put together a database of all road deaths in the UK from 1999 to 2010.
I have looked at some areas and you can draw some interesting conclusions.
If I look at a typical London Borough like Hackney, the number of deaths is generally between 70 and 90. But some rural areas, despite less population have figures well over a hundred.
And then there’s the Oxford and Cambridge effect. Oxford has 34 deaths and Cambridge has just 16. Both these cities have extensive Park and Ride networks, good bus services and bikes are used quite a bit. But then Ipswich and Norwich also have low figures, but Colchester, Milton Keynes and Peterborough are higher.
So does a decent public transport network cut road deaths, as the drunks and the bad drivers are on the buses rather than in their cars?
If you look at the big northern cities like Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle, the figures would appear to be similar, but Newcastle is a lot less. Why?
Only by a serious analysis can we tell what is the reason!
Are Transport for London Doing Bit Of Route Proving?
I noticed this evening that London bus route 453 is to be Routemasterised next month.
I obviously don’t have the figures that TfL do, but is it a choice with a lot of implications for future public transport in the capital.
Route 453 has its Northern terminus at Marylebone, which is on the Bakerloo line. The route then calls at the following stations, which are also on that line.
- Baker Street
- Oxford Circus
- Piccadilly Circus
- Charing Cross
- Lambeth North
- Elephant and Castle
It then continues to New Cross, New Cross Gate and a couple of places mentioned as possible stops on the Bakerloo Line Extension.
As buses these days have extensive data collecting capabilities through Oyster, are TfL hoping to get specific traffic information, that might help in deciding where and when to extend the Bakerloo line? They might also be hoping that a quality bus route might flush out a few more passengers. The numbers using route 38, since the full Routemasterisation in May, certainly hasn’t decreased markedly, although in the summer there have been a few half-empty buses.
TfL obviously knows what to expect, as they have now converted several routes to New Routemasters.
But the only fact we know about traffic changes when New Routemasters take over a route, is that no statistics have been published.
I’d have loved to write a software system to analyse bus route performance.
It’ll be interesting to see how it all works through in the future.
If I take the route I know best, the 38, what would happen if the buses got to be very full?
I am drawn to the conclusion, that all TfL would do, would be to draft a few more buses on the route, which will be very easy, if there is only one type working the route.
Try doing that in a hurry with a tram route!
The Smart Conductors
Our New Routemasters on route 38 have conductors. And a smart bunch, they are in more ways than one!
Today the conductor, when I went to Piccadilly was particularly smart, with her black hair piled professionally on her head, an immaculate uniform and highly polished shoes.
They all wear name badges and some badges show flags to indicate their language skills. We certainly have French, Turkish and Italian speakers on the route.
My father’s friend, Fay, always said that being a conductor on the buses, during the Second World War was the making of her, as it helped her overcome her shyness.
Let’s hope our conductors on route 38 go on to make real successes of their lives. Just like Fay did!
September 6th 2015 – A Date For All Scots
According to this report in Global Rail News, Alex Salmond has just announced that the Borders Railway will open on this date.
Perhaps a bigger uncertainty than the opening date, is whether he will open this significant new railway in an independent Scotland?
Match Three – Birmingham 2 – Ipswich 2
Birmingham City is one of the easier away grounds to get to at a weekend, as to get to the ground it’s a ten minute walk from Bordesley station.
But yesterday, I decided to try to use the buses, so I was told to get a 17 from outside Moor Street station. I managed it easily to get there, but coming home, I would have had to wait fifteen minutes for a bus, so I virtually walked it back into the centre, before I got a taxi from the Coach Station to New Street station.
The dangerous roads were no better.
I know most away fans, these days go by coach or car, but surely, as Leeds do, they should organise a taxi queue after the match for the lost. Birmingham City might do, but the stewards had no idea.
As it was I missed my 22:10 station and had to wait for the 23:10. At least though, I was able to buy some gluten-free sandwiches and a drink in the Marks there and New Street is not the dismal, dirty and draughty station of the near past.
Late Night Sandwiches
I actually had a choice of two types. When did a coeliac last have a choice of gluten-free sandwiches at 23:00 anywhere?
The Virgin train was the pick-up-the-stragglers service from Edinburgh and made it home a few minutes early, so I was in bed at a reasonable hour.
The football was another scrappy match, but at least we scraped a draw in the last minute.
The Anonymous Widower 