Pedestrian Warning: Please Look Where You're Going in Croydon!

There have be three pedestrians seriously injured in George Street, Croydon over the past couple of months and they have all been Women. This does actually surprise me, as statistically Men are more prone to risk taking than Men.

The first, a pregnant woman in her 20's was hit by a Double Decker bus while crossing the road outside East Croydon station. She was also rushed to St George's Hospital in Tooting, suffering a fractured skull and her unborn child had to be delivered early. I understand that both mother and baby are doing well.

The second was about a fortnight ago, where a women in her 40's running for a Tram tripped in front of it and was carried about 10 yards into the Tram stop outside East Croydon station. She was also rushed to St George's in Tooting. I haven't heard anymore about her injuries, but I understand that they were described as "Life Changing" at the time.

Today slightly further down the road, opposite Boots, another Woman in her 20's was hit by a Tram. Apparently she was seen to be looking down at her mobile phone and just stepped out in front of it. She was also given a fast lift to St. George's.

The Trams in Croydon are big, bright green and come at regular intervals. They are very hard not to see as are the bright red Double Decker buses. So why are so many people not seeing them? Could it be a case of complacency breeding contempt?

Whatever the cause of these Women's ill attention and misjudged sense of immortality, I would like to appeal to all my readers (male, female or undecided) and the wider public to please pay attention to the world around you. It could just save your life!

Regards



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Remembering old friends

I met John about 20 years ago, just after I joined the Railway. At first glance you'd think he was just a grumpy bloke, but I got to know him better during a training course he ran at a Hotel in Derby. I learnt an awful lot from him over the course of the next fortnight. Information which I still use on an almost daily basis today.

He retired about 8 years ago and sadly passed away soon afterwards. Today would have been his 70th birthday. Many friends & colleagues of his will be travelling to London to attend a get together in his honour this afternoon. Not only will we be remembering John, but it will be a wonderful opportunity to catch up with old friends. Those whom my path has crossed over the years. After all, the railway industry is a close knit community and it seems to breed some very interesting characters.

As I've traveled through life I've learnt that the people you meet on the way often leave footprints on your soul. Some of those prints are huge and will stay with you forever.

Regards
Chris
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Spain: Train fares cut to save energy

This is an interesting concept which I would welcome here, especially if it reduces the cost of my daily commute. Here ia an outline of the Spanish Govt plans, as published by Railway Gazette,

SPAIN: Under a national energy-saving plan approved by the cabinet last month, fares on RENFE suburban and medium-distance services are to be cut by 5% to encourage greater use of public transport.

The Ministry of Development expects this to result in 22 million fewer car journeys into major cities over four months.

Along with a package of measures including a reduction in the motorway speed limit from 120 to 110 km/h, the plan aims to save 286 million barrels of oil and €23bn a year, cutting annual CO₂ emissions by 125 million tonnes.

I do however think their figures are slightly over estimated and a 5% cut is not an enormous amount. On my annual season ticket I would only save £100. Over the course of 12 months that equates to a saving of only £8.33 per month. I doubt that will change the world very much. A good idea? Yes, but could do better!

Original article - Railway Gazette: Train fares cut to save energy
Regards



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Strange Annoucements

I recently noticed an interesting announcement at my home railway station. It goes something like this,

"Please stand clear of the train at platform 2. It is ready to leave"

Not an unreasonable request you might think. However, it is very often used before the arriving train has even stopped. How exactly are we supposed to get on this service? Perhaps we are supposed to jump onto the outside and hang there like they do in India. That way Southern Railway can cram on even more people without spending any more money and still claim a capacity increase. Now there a bit of Blue-sky thinking for you.

Personally it's the poor ticket inspectors I feel sorry for. They will not doubt be expected to check the tickets of the hangers on. That'll be fun in the winter and I'm absolutely certain that Bob Crow will have something very loud to say on the subject.

Regards
Chris
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The Rise & Rise of Crawley Town FC

What a season it's been. The FA Cup took us to Old Trafford where 9,000 of us made more noise than the 67,000 Manchester United fans put together. When I watched the TV coverage the following day, I couldn't believe the volume of our chanting. It was simply an amazing experience. A shame they beat us 1-0, but they are one of the best teams in the world. There's always next season 8-)

From there we just kept going up the Blue Square Premiership, trading places at the top with (the Real) Wimbledon. Not that shower who All the time keeping an eye out for Luton Town, Wrexham & Kidderminster Harriers. Last Saturday we beat Tamworth away 3-0, which sealed our promotion to the Football League.

Last night we played Luton Town at the Broadfield. It would have been a sell out crowd if not for Luton not being able to sell their allocation of 600 tickets. Only about 200 of them turned up. The theory is that because we'd already qualified they didn't want to give us any more money for no reason. Sounds like sour grapes to me, but at least they should get the chance to go up via the play offs. Personally I'd like to see AFC Wimbledon come up with us, but Chunky prefers Kidderminster for some reason. It's all in the lap of the Gods now I suppose.

There was a great party atmosphere, despite the fact that we drew 1-1 against Luton. We all stayed on after the game as we were presented with our Champions Cup. There was Champagne, lots of jumping around and singing. Despite the chill in the air, there was great hope for next season in 3000 hearts.

Chanting,
"We are the Champions, We are the Champions.
No time for losers, cause we are the Champions.
Of the League."
(repeat until you are horse)

Life long fan & joint owner of the club, Bruce Winfield, sadly died just before we achieved the title. It was largley due to his support and financial management that we were able to reach the heady hights of the Football League. He would have been so proud.

Thank you Bruce, we won't forget you!

How we became a 2 cat family again

When we first bought our house, number one on our shopping list was a cat. In fact we ended up with two. They grew up together and we didn't have the heart to separate them. One jet black and the other black & white with a white question mark on her back.

Unfortunately the black one, who was the most inquisitive of the pair, met an untimely end due to some form of road vehicle. We were inconsolable at our loss. It was like loosing a close family member, perhaps a child. We made the decision not to replace her for fear of upsetting the remaining cat. That was over 14 years ago.

About 5 years ago my Father-in-Law moved from a 2 bedroom house with his youngest son, Chunky, to a 1 bedroom flat on his own. It soon became apparent that he was lonely living on his own, so we encouraged him to get a cat. After a call to the Cat Protection League and a home visit to check his suitability, he had a new house mate. He was a very friendly black male cat who was about a year old.

When my Father-in-Law passed on last June, his cat went in live with my elder Brother-in-Law, Dopey. That was the logical choice at the time as we were worried about the affect of introducing a new cat to our now elderly moggie. Chunky & Chunkette already had 2 cats of their own and didn't want another.

Dopey has been having a few personnel problems of late. Due to his inappropriate relationship with alcohol he has in the last few years lost his second wife and job. Despite much support from his immediate family he has failed to change his ways. He favours making incomprehensible phone calls at stupid O'clock in the morning, which hasn't won him any friends. Quite the opposite in fact. My wife is about the only person who will talk to him, but never after about 8pm as he will be drunk and just talk utter rubbish.

In one of his now famous phone calls one Saturday in January, he told his Brother Chunky that he couldn't afford to feed the cat. He suggested that he had phoned the RSPCA and they would collect the cat from him the following day. Chunky saw red, dashed round to Dopey's house and repossessed his late Dad's cat. Since then he has been living with us.

Over the past couple of months he has been spoiled rotten, gained weight and discovered our garden, which he really enjoys. As it happens we need not have worried about the effect on our elderly feline. She is not particularly happy about his presence, but grumpily puts up with him. He stays out of her way and can run faster than her when she throws one of her a hissy fits. The only problem we have had is that he occasionally likes to wake me at 2am for a tummy rub. The word "Sucker" springs to mind.

Regards
Chris
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Forgetful, Disorganised & Late

Those three innocuous words pretty much describe how I bumble through life. This morning was no exception either.

I climbed out of the shower with just 12 minutes to catch my train. It's a 15 minute walk to the station. Having decided that although it was a nice warm morning, getting dressed before dashing out would be a wise idea. The train would just have to manage without me today. Besides, there'll be another along 20 minutes later.

It gave me time to collect daily accessories together. These include my wallet, season ticket, lunch, headphones and keys. After a frantic search I realised that my key refused to be uncovered. It was then that I remembered forgetting to bring home a bag from my Mums after a visit yesterday. They must be in that very bag 8-( I'll just have to wing it today, in the hope that I'm not the first home tonight.

Mrs T-E kindly asked me to put the bins out ready for collection later. Today being the fortnightly recycling collection, I though I'd better empty the kitchen recycler on my way out. When I got to the front door, with no keys, I decided to put the recycler tray on the stairs while I hunted a spare key. CRASH! The hall was now full of various recyclable waste as the tray kindly over balanced. I found a key, unlocked the door, picked up the lose detritus from the floor, deposited it the recycling bin and dashed off to work.

Having plugged myself into the latest Above & Beyond Trance-cast on my iPhone, I realised that in my rush to leave I had completely forgotten to put either of the bins out. A quick call to Mrs T-E solved that, but I could tell from her lack of surprise that she is used to my ineptitude.

As I ended the call, I noticed that I had only 4 minutes to catch my late train. Luckily for me they hadn't quite closed the doors and I ran breathlessly onto the platform.

And now on with the rest of my poorly planned day 8-)

BTW - There is nothing unusual about this morning. It's often my lunch that I forget. Such is (my) life. LoL

Regards
Chris
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