Anthony S. Holmes
I have received lots of spam from this guy. All of it was stopped by my ClamWin spam filter and ended up in the Junk Mail folder. But then it was so obviously spam, even a four-year-old could identify it as such.
There was a link to the BBC’s web page. It is from 2006 and talks about a Treasury plan to raid dormant bank accounts, which seems to have died with Gordon Brown’s government.
This was the main part of the message.
Good afternoon to you,
I am sorry for bothering you this early day, but bear it mind that you can never regret this day as I have an interesting profitable business offer for you to participate and share money with me.
Please read more on the under stated link
The English isn’t good too. I like the bit about good afternoon and then apologising for being early in the day.
This man won’t get very far in his career as a spammer. I can’t even work out how they get your money.
Clearing Spam Out of My Blog
Every morning I clear out the spam from this blog. As none of it gets through the spam filter used by WordPress, I do wonder why they bother.
I suspect it must be automatic. But even if it is is, surely programmers have better things to do than create spam. One today, judging by the e-mail address was probably racist, so that in itself says a lot.
But as none gets through, it is a very pointless exercise. It doesn’t even annoy me much, as it takes just two clicks to consign it all to cyber-oblivion.
I suspect my act of deleting them too, is noted by WordPress, who add the sender to their banned list. I won’t say the spammers can’t win, but their chances are getting slimmer by the day. Which is all very good!
A Small Punch Up At The Olympic Park
I was down the Olympic Park today and a boxing ring had been setup.
Boxing at the Olympic Park
But as you can see it wasn’t a normal fight. The British Olympic hopefuls for 2012, were joined by two of the British team from 1948.
The banter was funny, but the two eighty-year-olds were in superb nick. They were complaining though that they had to train for 1948 in an era of rationing. One was wearing his 1948 team blazer.
Where Are All The Containers Going?
I found this table in the December 2011 edition of Modern Railways. It shows the total number of freight trains per day at a number of points on the rail network for the three years 2011, 2020 and 2030.
Colchester – 39 21 32
March – 34 85 98
Huntingdon – 10 38 63
Kettering – 18 19 19
Tring – 65 87 132
Pangbourne – 53 93 125
Action Grange – 60 130 171
As many of these trains will be 30 to 40 boxes long, I’m sure that there will be a lot of complaints from the Nimbys, who thought they’d bought a quiet cottage in the countryside and now find they’ve got one heavy freight train every half hour. Some will even run in the depths of the night.
But at least the increase will get the trucks off the road.
Up The West London Line
After my visit to Clapham Junction, I came back via the West London line, taking a break to explore at the new Imperial Wharf station.
It is an impressive station as the pictures show. But I doubt it’s one I’ll use it very often, as it’s on the far side of London from me.
How To Improve A Station
Clapham Junction station is one of the busiest in Europe and on some measures the busiest station in the UK.
I had only been twice before. One was in the 1960s, when I was looking to see some of Bulleid ‘s steam engines, like the Merchant Navy class. The other was a few years ago, when I was going to Southampton from Suffolk.
Since those days, the station has had a makeover. The most impressive feature is the rebuilt bridge with lifts to all the platforms and the new south-eastern or Brighton Yard entrance to the station.
I’ve tried to annotate the pictures correctly, but if you have better captions please let me know.
I should say that in the future Clapham Junction will be important to me, as I will be able to get a direct train to the station from Dalston Junction using the Overground, which will mean, I can get to the south and south west without having to struggle to Waterloo or Victoria. Incidentally, the design of the Overground Platform 2, shows how with a bit of innovation, you can squeeze wide easy-to-navigate platforms into a small space. Once complete passengers arriving on the new East/South London line will just have to walk a few metres to catch the West London line and vice-versa.
Just like with Stratford, it shows how by using good design and a sensible amount of money you can create a good interchange to take the pressure off the main London termini.
I think it is true to say, that the new bridge is the most impressive feature of the redevelopment. If you are changing trains, at the station, it is the ideal place to wait with interesting views, cafes and shops. It is also well-provided with information and has lifts to all platforms.
How many other stations would benefit from a similar makeover?
West Hampstead – This has been proposed and probably will happen. I would certainly benefit, as I could take the North London line to pick up the Jubilee line or Chiltern line to Birmingham.
Hackney Central and Hackney Downs – This could be an important interchange in north-east London, as I indicated here.
Willesden Junction– Connected to both Stratford and Clapham Junction by the London Overground, it should be developed as a link to the north. Selected Virgin expresses should stop at the station.
West Croydon – This needs to be sorted and linked properly to East Croydon. At present it’s easy to go from West to East, but the other way is difficult.
Get these and other interfaces sorted and a lot of pressure could be taken off the main London termini.
The Memorial to the Kings Cross Fire
This clock is a memorial to those who died in the Kings Cross fire on November 18th, 1987.
The Memorial to those who died in the Kings Cross Fire
The brass plate above the clock has the words.
This clock has been given in memory of those who lost their lives in the fire at Kings Cross station on 18th November 1987 from all the Underground staff at sub-surface and tube stations.
The fire was one of the worst tragedies on the Underground in peacetime.
What Do You Think Of It So Far, Isambard?
I was walking through Paddington station to the Hammersmith and City line, when I noticed that the High Speed Diesel Train named after Brunel was stationed under the newly-restored roof.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel at Paddington
I wonder what he would have thought of his restored London terminus.
He might have found the pink interior to the carriage doors a bit much, especially as the Great Western used chocolate and cream.
IKEA’s Non-Delivery Service – Part 2
I posted this about a delivery, I’m expecting from IKEA on the 15th November.
Today, I received an e-mail from them telling me that they had unilaterally put back the delivery to the 17th of December. It is not convenient, and I have e-mailed them to say that it isn’t.
I have a feeling this is a saga that will run and run.
Note that I originally placed the order on the 7th of November and they said then that the product will be delivered on the 17th of November.
Tottenham Court Road Station Reopens
Today they reopened the Northern line platforms at Tottenham Court Road station.
The pictures show some of the unique mosaics in the station by Eduardo Paolozzi. One picture shows the naked Northern line platform. Will it get the proper treatment or something very anonymous?
It would appear from this page on TfL’s website, that the murals will be complimented by more artwork from Daniel Buren. This is an extract.
Buren’s is the second piece of permanent artwork to be installed at Tottenham Court Road station, complementing the now iconic 1984 mosaic designs by the late Eduardo Paolozzi. The majority of the Paolozzi mosaics are being preserved in the upgraded station, whilst some smaller sections will be carefully removed and displayed elsewhere.
Let’s hope it all works out! I suspect it will!
The Anonymous Widower 