IKEA On A Miserable Day
To say that today is miserable is an understatement.
I needed to go to IKEA to pickup a shelf and after a breakfast at Carluccio’s in Upper Street, I got a 341 bus to the store in Tottenham. It was another big red taxi, with a personal driver.
The Upstairs Lounge On A 341 Bus
I even had the upstairs lounge all to myself. Although the view wasn’t up to much.
The Terrible View From The Lounge
I did get to IKEA in a reasonable time, as the roads weren’t that busy. I did speak to a friend by phone on the journey, who was tending to his father’s grave in a woodland cemetery in the rain. I think I got the better bargain.
At least coming home with my shelf, the empty bus meant I had no problems about where to put it.
Bringing Home The Shelf
But then there always seems to be space for parcels on the 341 from IKEA. Perhaps most people take the easy option and drive. Although this guy didn’t with a chair.
I should also say that the LACK shelf I bought was an ideal product to buy in the rain, as it comes tightly wrapped in plastic.
Will The New Bus for London Change London Forever?
I could have entitled this post “Will The New Bus for London Change London And Bus Travel Forever?”
It may be an outrageous statement, but then I believe it will.
Yesterday, when I got stuck in the jams at Highbury Corner and the New Bus for London arrived, I was very relieved and felt that the crew would sort out the mess.
I had been prepared to walk down St. Paul’s Road from the bus stop where I stood, to jump on the platform at the back. But the driver stopped and allowed everybody who wanted to get on normally.
Having used the bus for some months now, this is typical behaviour of the drivers, as they seem to delight in picking up passengers, which can’t always be said for everybody, who’s ever driven a bus.
It could be that because these driver/conductors were hand-picked, they only took those, who treated the job very seriously. After all, if they hadn’t done a good job from the start, there would have been a lot of political fall-out.
There is also the Kings of the Road effect. In my youth, those who drove the heaviest of trucks, always felt themselves superior and made certain they never did anything to dent their reputation.
The crew of the New Bus for London seem intent on creating a similar reputation. Talk to one working in their conductor role and they will always say they like both the bus and the job. Especially, as they get to meet the public properly and seem to enjoy the banter and the experience.
We are very much social animals and the New Bus for London feeds on that. If you want to chat, no-one seems to bother and if you don’t then that’s OK too! I’ve said before that the New Bus for London is a superb viewing platform for tourists and those like me, who’re fascinated by the environment.
But remember, this is only the first radical bus design in fifty years or so. I doubt it will be the last and who’s to say that Scania, MAN or the other manufacturers won’t come up with a better and even more radical take on mass transportation.
I’ve said before there’s a war out there, and the New Bus fir London, is just one of the first attempts to dominate the market.
So what in my view, should the design of a bus have.
- It should have at least two doors, so that access is better and the driver is away from the scrum at the exit.
- Obviously, wheelchair access must be to at least the standard on all London buses.
- The bus should at least have hybrid drive. All electric is an option, but until power storage problems are solved, it will always be a novelty.
- It should talk to the passengers automatically, so that they know where they are.
- Larger buses may well benefit from a conductor, as I believe London has shown they do.
- Ticketing must be touch-in like London. This speeds up the buses and increases capacity.
It’ll be interesting to see the next skirmish in the bus war. But in this war, the only winners will be the customers.
Dalston Junction to Clapham Junction Is Test Running
I got a train from Dalston Junction station and the service to Clapham Junction station is running from platform 2. Sadly without passengers. This is the destination display at Dalston Junction.
Dalston Junction to Clapham Junction Is Test Running
Not in Service is a euphemism for Clapham Junction. Note the fifteen minute service interval or four trains per hour.
A New Bus for London To The Rescue
This afternoon, it was all chaos in Islington. There appeared to have been a serious accident on the Essex Road and all of the buses were diverting by Highbury Corner.
I was trying to get home by getting a bus down St. Paul’s Road, but the normal 30s and 277s couldn’t get past the jams. A couple of 38s went past without stopping, although it wasn’t their normal territory. And then a New Bus for London hove into view!
It stopped and quite a few including myself got aboard.
The conductor was marshalling people on and off and the hop-on/hop-off capability meant that quite a few got to their destination, despite it not being the regular route.
When it did get to its regular route, I got off and walked home.
It was all a superb demonstration of the advantages of doubled-crewed buses with a hop-on/hop-off platform.
Roll on the next six hundred.
My Moan Of The Week
The Richard Bacon Show on BBC Radio 5 has a weekly moan-in, where people vent their moans.
My moan would be about the number of people who moan generally about the cost and problems of having a car. If it’s not fuel costs, it’s about traffic jams, congestion charging, insurance or finding somewhere to park.
I don’t have these problems any more, as since my stroke I haven’t driven and don’t have a licence any more And I reckon my bank account benefits by several thousand pounds a year. That would buy lots of taxis, if I wanted, but I prefer trains and buses, as you see more of life and don’t get the driver complaining about the sad state of the taxi industry.
Indians Execute Mumbai Gunman
The Indian authorities have executed the lone surviving gunman from the Mumbai attacks of November 2008. It’s reported here on the BBC.
I am against all forms of judicial killing, whether they be after a fit and proper trial in a Court of Law or not. So I will not condone what the Indians have done.
Remember that these attacks in Mumbai, were just after I visited the city and stayed at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in the city. How many of the staff, that attended so well to my friend and myself died in the attack?
But even being that close to an attack, doesn’t make me change my view on the death penalty.
A Superb Gluten Free Meal At Kings Cross
I popped into Kings Cross station and had a superb gluten-free meal at Leon.
As you can see the surroundings weren’t bad either for the sit down part of a fast food restaurant. It made your average burger joint look exceedingly plastic, tacky and in the worst possible taste from across the pond.
To cap it all, the Catalan Salad and White Bean Stew with a Fresh Lemonade was just £8.55.
The Kings Cross Extension Comes Down
This must be one of the most satisfying jobs in London.
Knocking down the awful 1970s extension to Kings Cross station is a demolition job with a real purpose.
The Troubles With HMS Astute
These are reported in several papers like here in the Telegraph.
But then this is always the case with new defence projects. I always remember a non-working radar for the Tornado, that was known as Blue Circle, because it was just a concrete dummy. The story is in the Wikpedia entry for the aircraft.
Because of some delays to the radar, some development aircraft flew with a concrete weight in place of the radar assembly. In a nod to some other radar names of the day (Blue Parrot, Blue Fox) this was nicknamed Blue Circle – cynics suggested that at leastBlue Circle gave more consistent results. Unfortunately, the ‘Blue’ series radars were made by Ferranti – and the AI24 Foxhunter for the Tornado was made by GEC. At least one senior civil servant thought that the AI24 was a Ferranti-made radar as a result… (Ferranti made the antenna mounting assembly as a subcontractor to GEC. At least that bit was delivered on time and to budget, although they later discovered that GEC was blaming them for delays. Cute trick.)
British defence contractors never seem to get it right first time.
On the other hand new products usually don’t work a hundred percent of the time. I’ve seen a New Bus for London, that has broken down and they are rumoured to have the odd air-conditioning problem.
But then you could probably get 5,000 New Buses for London for the price of HMS Astute. And anyway with the bus, there’s usually another along in a few minutes.
Lost In Leicester
I left the match at half-time and then tried to walk to the station, by reversing the route shown to me by two Leicester supporters. Signage was non-existent near the stadium and the first one I found was this outside the hospital.
A Useless Sign In Leicester
Chocolate teapots come to mind. I eventually found this map at the station.
A Useless Map In Leicester
It doesn’t show either the football or rugby stadiums.
The Anonymous Widower 