At least they announced it early so people could try and make other arrangements.

Once met someone who’s father had before retiring had a large corner shop and she said their garage always had stock for the shop. It was always just tinned, canned and any other goods that had a long shelf life and didn’t require water to cook. Also all the canned drinks and bottled water were stored in the garage too before going to the shop.

A while after the end of the cold war her father admitted that he had a reason for doing this. It wasn’t as he’d told them that there wasn’t enough space for the stock at the shop. It was because in the event of the cold war turning hot, they’d have plenty to eat and drink. She actually admitted she hoped to die in a fireball rather than live through it, but had never told him that.

Back when I had an electronic copy of the fares manual I could see irregularities in ticket validities. In the relevant section it was possible to see one such thing on the North Cotswold line. There was a named (by time) train that had an easement where you could use your Gold Card on it before 10am. I used this when there was a train timed to run at that time, but then there was a timetable change. The train in question went and there was one a few minutes different from the previous one.

I called National Rail Enquiries to check if the easement still applied and spoke to a nice chap in India. I enquired as to whether he had an up to date copy of the fares manual before I asked my question. Yes he said he did so I enquired about the easement. He seemed a little confused, he could tell me that there was a train running from Moreton in Marsh to London Paddington and that I could use my gold card after 10am. He couldn’t tell me about the easement though, to my dismay, however he put his supervisor on who he thought might be able to help.

So I asked the supervisor if he could please turn to page xx of section X of the fares manual and he stopped me. He told me that they don’t have a copy of the fares manual in the NRE^▸ (National Rail Enquiries) office in India. I said his colleague had told me that they did and got told that his colleage was confused. He advised calling the Train Operating Company direct and asking them. Called customer service and spoke to a very helpful chap who importantly did have access to the fares manual.

He looked at the relevant section (impressed with my knowledge) and confirmed that the manual now listed a train that didn’t exist for the easement. He said that someone needed to update the manual, he could see that historically the last train before 10am qualified for the easement. Therefore I was okay to use my Gold Card on that train and supplied me with his name in case anybody argued about it.

The first time I did use it I explained everything I just typed and the Train Manager said he didn’t have a copy of it either. As GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) didn’t see fit to supply one to the Train Managers he said he couldn’t check, it was  therefore fine and no he didn’t need the name of the nice man I spoke to.


From memory the area was extended when the Gold Card First Class upgrade was removed.

With the greatest respect to Mr Lydon I’m not sure what trains he was travelling on. Green (First) class  has catering on the Shinkansen, and possibly on other lines but that’s not guaranteed. I recently spoke to someone who has been to Japan in the past year and they said almost everyone eating had Ekiben on trains. It’s a type of Bento box, there are regional variations and can be bought at stations. Apparently that’s normal and there are also vending machines on trains.

A lot of news oulets are reporting Russian links to this, with some naming a Russian with alleged FSB^» (Federation of Small Businesses - about) ties who has been arrested by the French. Someone (and I’ll have to be careful here) told me much earlier in the day that this was the Russians and authorities were concerned that this was only the start of things.

That would really suck especially if you didn’t get a first class seat. I think it might actually be a locomotive issue.

£750? That’s chicken feed, Macron is protected by £8k umbrellas.


https://zambianobserver.com/chaos-as-french-secret-service-rush-to-protect-president-emmanuel-macron-with-8000-umbrella-after-hes-pelted-with-tomatoes-following-his-re-election/

The website for them is here https://www.parapactum.com/en/

I was in Hammersmith in West London recently and they have put in a fabulous cycle lane around the broadway there and down ‘King’ Street. The person I was visiting said despite this very expensive new facility being there, some cyclists, especially delivery cyclists use the pavement. I then witnessed this first hand to my disappointment.

In London it would help if the delivery cyclists didn’t just use the pavement to ride on and the pedestrians are an inconvenient obstacle. This is especially true when there’s a cycle lane there as well which they aren’t using because then they’d have to stop at the lights. I don’t use these services because for mediacal reasons I try not to eat takeaway food.

Someone once ordered a vegetarian burger for me as I was housebound and the delivery bloke got my meal mixed up with someone else’s. I called the person who was listed on the bag of food I had and told them they were about to get my meal delivered. They said they’d tell the bloke when he got to them he’d have to go back. When my meal eventually turned up it wasn’t very warm.

No it says ‘New:’ on my tv

It’s a bit of a hatchet job with interesting footage of rolling stock, such as BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) liveried HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) carriages etc.

Actually technically you need PRS license if you have one of those rickshaws and playing music. London black cabs where the driver is playing music and the passenger can hear it also need a license. The PRS who I have dealt professionally (as well as below) with will tell you those are public performances of their members music and therefore needs a license. They have been known to call businesses that don’t have a license and tell them they’re in trouble.

I have been called at home, back when I had a landline number and the person on the other end told me they could hear music. They then explained that I needed a license from the PRS to do so and they’d be happy to charge me a vast sum for it. The number I had been given when I moved in was for the old Red Lion pub down the road which had closed less than a year previously. I pointed out that it wasn’t a pub number anymore, it went to a private residence, the pub had closed and I was going to play whatever the hell I wanted.

I once after a night out spotted a suspicious looking suitcase on a railway bridge over the West London Line. It was a case with what looked like a few wires sticking out of it and in the centre of the bridge. I’d had some training on what to look for and this definitely fitted the bill. i called the police who said they’d send someone to take a look and to stay put. I was called back to ask for a better fix on my location and they eventually arrived. They parked to block the bridge and then one went and took a look which he did so very carefully. After looking at the outside he tried opening it and it was empty save for the wires sticking out of it. They said it was fine and probably designed as a hoax and thanked me for reporting it.

I agree about the survey and the group who organised/paid for it. As we know from Yes Prime Minister a survey can be worded to give you the ‘correct’ or desired answer.

Well yes as I don’t drive I have the option of the train, coach, or plane for journeys outside London. I do use the train for my most frequent journey, the North Cotswolds. If just going to Oxford however then the Oxford Tube is a serious alternative option that I’ll consider. It’s slightly cheaper (£22 return with Gold Card on train, £20 Oxford Tube) and the seats are more comfortable (don’t have to take a cushion) but the M40 can get seriously blocked. For most journeys I’d take the train but could fly if time was a serious issue for a longer journey. If time is not an issue then for longer journeys such as deep Cornwall and Scotland I’d take the Night Riviera or the Caledonian Sleeper.

One thing that I found interesting was on my most recent journey to the Cotswolds. I had to do some work on my laptop and couldn’t be arsed to pay for 1st. Ended up sat in an airline seat cos it was rammed in standard until Reading. I tried the fold down table and they’re not really designed for work in my opinion. This is especially true if you need to use a mouse for what you’re doing. There was space next to the laptop on my table to put the mouse but it doesn’t work there for reasons I will come on to. When the seat next to me was vacated I tried using the table next door for my mouse and discovered that you need a firm mousepad. The cup dents and that odd depression running through the middle between them on the table do not make for smooth use of a mouse. My ipad case acted as a mousepad but that was too large to use on my table. I realised that I really needed to be sitting at a table to be able to work comfortably. That made me consider that if I have to work then my choice of transport method would be impacted.

What I found interesting is how uninformed his main challenger in the mayoral race, Susan Hall, is on this. When the large over head line problems that affected the Elizabith line, Heathrow Express and GWR services she had to get a statement out. This was as follows:


https://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/elizabeth-line-trains-travel-delays-suspended-overhead-wire-damage-b1125595.html

Well she appears to be suggesting that TFL^▸ (Transport for London) do something about the Network Rail wires and blaming TFL (and therefore Mr Khan as chairperson) for  them. Now I might know a bit more than your average commuter about this but that statement does just seem like uninformed political point scoring.