Seven New Buses for London In A Row
Since I created my personal timetable, I usually leave my house eight or nine minutes before one of the buses arrives. I’m not changing my routine or anything, but say I’m going to Piccadilly Circus, for 11:30, I know that the 10:34 would be an ideal bus, so I break off writing at an appropriate time and walk to the stop.
Since Monday, I’ve done this seven times and caught seven New Buses for London in a row. And one of these was by accident, as I had finished and just got ready and left without reading the timetable. It actually would have been eight in a row, but yesterday, as I got to the stop, there were two 38s at the stop, so the New Bus for London overtook, the humbler buses.
My son, thinks it’s all a bit sad! He’s probably right! On the other hand, because of escalator works at Bank, Highbury and Islington, and other stations, it is a much easier and more pleasant journey on the top deck of a London bus. And if that’s in First rather than Standard Class it’s even better.
But it does show how the New Buses for London stick tightly to their timetable, with the precision of a Clerkenwell engraver. Could this be because of their proven quicker dwell time at stops, that they have the ability to pick up lost minutes?
But for whatever reason it is, it’s all good news for Londoners.
Ed Miliband Says He’ll Switch The Lights Off
Well not directly, but he has just said on BBC Breakfast, that he will break the link between power generation and distribution and bring in a tough new regulator to force prices down, when wholesale prices come down.
It’s all motherhood and apple pie, and might appeal to voters, but it would have the effect of stopping major power companies investing in the generating capacity we need.
So the lights will inevitably go out!
The only way to avoid building generating capacity is to find ways to insulate our poor housing stock and force consumers to actually do it!
But then the British public is addicted to using as much energy as possible.
A Fare Oddity In London
This story turned up in one of my news filters. Here’s an extract about travelling between Highbury and Islington and Clapham Junction stations .
TfL is kind enough to assume that you have been the ‘Zone 2 only’ way round. So whichever way you go , you’ll be charged just £1.50 (off-peak) instead of the £2.10 you’d expect to pay for travelling through Zone 1. Bizarrely, this means that it’s cheaper to travel through the 17 stations from Clapham Junction to Highbury, than it is to make the five stop journey from Shoreditch to Highbury along the same tracks.
I don’t think that the sixty pence that Transport for London gives away is going to make much difference. As I do it for nothing on my Freedom Pass, I’m not bothered either.
I would always go the long Overground way round from, where I am near Highbury to Clapham Junction, as the journey is easier, without changes and is more interesting. It just takes a few minutes longer. It’s also very easy with a heavy case or even a bicycle.
An Odd Thing With The MMR Vaccine
If I type “MMR Hackney” into Google, I get a lot of sensible advice. Not that I need it, as I’ve had measles.
But if I type “MMR Suffolk” into Google, I get people trying to sell me the single vaccines. But then there has been snake oil salesmen, since before Biblical times!
I think this is disgraceful, as all the sensible advice I’ve had from doctors, nurses and pharmacists say that the MMR is best. And at least a few of those have no axe to grind!
My view is that after having measles and chickenpox together at twenty eight, you should get yourself and any children in your care, the best protection you can. At least, I was only left with two weeks of painful memories.
It Looks Like Crunchies May Now Have Added Gluten
I never trust American food companies not to add gluten to products.
When Cadbury was British, you could trust that Crunchies were gluten-free and I’ve ate many without any reaction.
However, this message has just turned up on the UK-Coeliac Yahoo group.
I just had one of those Cadbury Crunchies from a pack of three, and am now in pain and looking 9 months pregnant.
I checked the ingredients first, and it just said “Contains Milk”… Lying Kraft/Mondelez/Cadbury B^&/4£ds!…
I went to Cadbury.com and it went to “Mondelez” which is apparently the new name that Kraft are hiding behind.
It is very telling that the text on the very top of the page is the current Nasdaq share price, and when I searched for “gluten” on their website it came back with “no results found”.
Cadbury used to be very good about gluten, but it is clear that these evil devils couldn’t give a toss about the poisons they put in their products or the people eating them.
Avoid…
I will do what the lady says at the bottom and won’t touch any more Cadbury products again.
So the Americans have ruined a classic British brand.
London’s Disliked And Loved Tube Stations
This report on the BBC web site talks about a survey of Londoners most disliked and loved Underground stations.
Bank came out as the most disliked and it is not one of my favourites. Having thought I’d cracked getting from the DLR to the 141 bus in an efficient way, this morning I found it was all change today and we had to use a lift, as another escalator was being replaced.
I suspect, it’ll be all right in the end! But when will that be?
The survey also ranks the most disliked stations as Bank, Acton Town, Oxford Circus, Aldgate East and Brixton. I’ve never been to Acton Town, but my five stations in this category with reasons would be
- Bank – It’s just a confusing maze.
- Green Park – So far to walk.
- Clapham North – Dangerous platforms
- Kings Cross – A massive labyrinth
- Euston – Tired and pokey!
The public’s most loved stations are Canary Wharf, Baker Street, London Bridge, Charing Cross and Victoria, which is a pretty nondescript bunch, except for the first. Baker Street isn’t very special except for the tiles, London Bridge is another maze, Charing Cross is rather dingy and Victoria at the moment is a building site.
I would make my list of five from these stations.
Canary Wharf – Just spectacular
Canning Town – Everything an interchange should be.
Farringdon – On completion of Crossrail and Thameslink, it could be the best.
Southgate – Charles Holden‘s masterpiece
Stratford – The Olympic hero!
I’ve Got Catkins
The hornbeam outside my house has got catkins.
I’ve Got Catkins
At last we’re beginning to see flowers on the trees.
Pâté, Lovely Pâté
I’ve always liked coarse pork pâté and this one from Waitrose is one of the best! This was my lunch!
Pâté, Lovely Pâté
The only allergen is egg. It went very well with Genius toast and Benecol.
All Lined Up And Ready To Go
According to this article on Crossrail’s web site, they are at full production of the lining segments for the tunnels at the Chatham factory.
All Lined Up And Ready To Go
There are certainly lots of them at the Limmo site waiting to go underground, after being barged from Chatham.
When the Victoria and Jubilee lines were dug in the past, I don’t think that we saw such well-organised manufacture of tunnel linings and other components.
It all shows how our methods and especially the project management has improved.
When HS2 is built, who can predict accurately how much further improvement is possible?
Custom House Station – 25th April 2013
It does appear that the site clearance is well under way at the new Custom House Station on Crossrail.
I have now tagged all of these posts with Custom House Station.
The Anonymous Widower 