Wot, no seat?

With the exception of about four years, I've been comuting to work by train twenty years. Over take time I've seen many changes and who can forget "The Wrong Type of Snow".

Today we have comfy new air conditioned trains, which are generally very reliable. But one thing that always remains constant is the lack of seats.

Since I started my new job in January I've been paying £190 a month to stand on a doorway. However, about a month or so ago things improved and most mornings since I've managed to sit. For some inexplicible reason this week is different and I've had to stand for three of the four journeys. Why? Could it be that all those new MPs at the "West Minster Muppet Show" are trying to make a good impression? If so I expect that they are traveling standard class, not wanting to have their expenses claims embarress them publicly. It didn't to worry the last batch!

If this is the case, hopefully they'll soon get bored of the House of Muppets and stay at home. That why I can rest my legs more often. This does of course asume that the impending public cuts doesn't remove the whole train from the route or worse, kill off my new job.

PS - Just to be clear, I do not work directly for the Govnt any more. I was privatised many years ago. However, my current employer is very heavily involved with the UKs infrustructure. So I still may feel the pain of cuts.

Regards
Chris
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It's Official - I'm an Idiot!

Last Thursday I attended a company induction course in a rather leafy corner of Surrey. It felt more like a College campus than a large company's headquarters. Generally I had a great day out and made some important new contacts. One very nice chap I met at lunch turned out to be a divisional director and the afternoons keynote speaker. The thing that struck me most was that everyone was very enthusiastic about working for this great corperation. I have to agree too. I've felt the love since day one and I'm extremely please to be working with such enthusiastic people. It's definately starting to rub off on me.

After all the excitment and corperate gifts I was piled high with, I caught the train home. I had to change at Clapham Junction, but there was no direct train home. I decided the best plan was to change at Gatwick Airport. I left the train with my large bag of goodies, decided which platform I needed next and set off. Just as I got onto the down escalator to the next platform, released that my right shoulder was lighter than normal. I'd left my briefcase on the train.

AAAARRRRGGGHHHHH!

I instantly turned and ran back the way I'd come. Very quickly it dawned on me that I was now trying to run up a down escalator and wasn't making a great deal of progress. Panic told me the answer was to run even faster! Not my best logic, but I did eventually make to the top. I arrived back on the other platform just in time to see the tail lights of the train leaving the end of the station!

I reported my loss to the Network Rail staff at Gatwick & Southern Railways Lost Property office. Both were really helpful and I can't fault them for the care they offered.

On Friday afternoon I had a call from a nice lady at Littlehampton staton ticket office. My bag had turned up safely and intact. On Saturday we had a nice family day out at the seaside & retrieved my bag.

Note to self: In future pay more attention when getting off of trains.

Regards
Chris
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And The Winner Is ....

One of the things that has annoyed me enormously over recent years is the way our Govt have completely ignored public opinion and do what they like. Today politicians of all flavours are waking up to the realisation that no one party had overall control of the country. We now have what is called a "Balanced Paraliment".

In my view this has sent them all a very strong message that they will listen to Joe Public. Therefore the winner in the 2010 General Election is ...

The People 8-)

Regards
Chris
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Has The Old Chris Returned?

I've had a really good week for the first time in ages. I was given & completed lots of interresting & challenging tasks. I finally feel that my career is once more moving forward after what I would describe as a 5 year period of downward spirals. This has hardly helped my personal life either.

The question is, has the old Chris remerged from the darkness? The jury is still out on that one, but I would say that it's definately a big step in the right direction!

My phrase of the week has to be,

"Bring it on!"

Regards
Chris
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Wife for Sale - Slightly Soiled

Everyday I receive a nice little email from that famous font of all knowledge that is Wikipedia. A couple of days ago I received a particularly interesting one and being one for traditional values, I thought I'd give it a try. This is an extract from that very informative email.

Wife selling was a traditional English practice for ending an unsatisfactory marriage. Instead of dealing with an expensive and dragged-out divorce, a husband would take his wife to market and parade her with a halter around her neck, arm, or waist, before publicly auctioning her to the highest bidder. Any children from the marriage might also be sold along with their mother. Prices paid for wives varied considerably, from a high of £100 (plus £25 each for her two children), to a low of a glass of ale, or even free.

The Duke of Chandos bought his second wife at one such sale in Newbury in about 1744. Along with other English customs, wife selling was exported to England's American colonies, where one man sold his wife for "two dollars and half [a] dozen bowls of grogg". Husbands were sometimes sold by their wives in a similar manner, but much less frequently. Wife selling persisted in some form into the early 20th century, as general
attitudes began to shift to the benefit of divorce lawyers.

Strangely, Mrs. TE seems less keen on the whole idea. I can't imagine why?

Regards



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Busy, Busy, Busy

In the last two weeks I've gone from spending my evenings slumped on the sofa to having a busy social life. Why? My thirteen year old son has fanally managed to get back into a council run club (he was asked to leave last summer) and I have joined the local camera club. On top of all this, I'm on a training course which runs quite late.

As a consequence this week has been manic and I'm already quite exhausted.

Monday nights are the worst. I (usualy) get in at about 5pm from work. Mrs. TE goes to Bingo at 6:15, Junior goes to his club at 6:30 and the camera club is at 7:45pm. The problems really start when it's time to come home. Junior finishes at 8:30, Mrs. TE at 9:30 and me at 10. All I can say is thank goodness for Grand Parents, as Grandma is the only one available to collect Junior.

The rest of the week is less hectic though.

Regards
Chris
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The Biker Rides Again 8-)

Up until about 18 months ago I was a daily biker, riding to work no matter what the weather. I have even riden in the snow, but that was rather fool hardy and not an experience I want to repeat. Two years ago I bought a brand new bike and to keep the warrentee I had to have main dealer services. These were costing me a fortune, so I splashed out on a rail season ticket in stead. As a consequence I didn't ride anywhere near as much. In fact I have only riden 600 miles since last June and not at all since I lost my job last December.

Today however, I dusted my bike down, check everything was working and took her out for a spin..... Twice 8-) The first was a shake down to make sure everything was safe and the second was with Junior on the back. We both loved it.

I was worried I would struggle after such a long break, but it was just like riding a bike. Lol. The one thing that surprised me though was the acceleration. It's so much quicker than my new car. Which isn't really surprising when you consider it's 0 to 60 time is under 4 seconds!

What I'm really looking foward to is next Saturdays ride with Pablos. We're going on a 300 miles round trip to visit his Mum. I can't wait, but will the weather behave itself?

Regards
Chris
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Key To People In My Blog

In my blog I chose not to use peoples real names to protect them from public ridicule and after all, they didn’t have a choice in the matter. Instead I have made up descriptive nick names that I feel accurately describe these people. I have listed them all here in an attempt to add context to my blog.

Mrs. TE = My wife, if you hadn't already guessed.
Junior = My teenage Son.
Pablos = A good friend & biker. Unfortuantly, he's extremely unlucky.
Cookie = She's an old school friend of mine & married to Pablos.
Chunky = My youngest Brother-in-Law. His mates chose the name, not me.
Chunkette = Chunkys' Girlfriend.
Dopey = My oldest Brother-in-Law.

I think that's everyone, but if not I'll add them later.

Regards


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Leftover: Boris to Cool Tube

This is a previously unpublished blog, which got forgotten about. Not wishing to deprive the world of my thoughtful insight I thought I'd post and be damned. LOL.
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BBC NEWS | England | London | 'Cool' underground train unveiled

Regards


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What To Do With The Leftovers?

I have been blogging sporadically for a few years now and I often start writing something, which I never finish. These “Leftovers” start off as good ideas, but invariably turn into either uncontrolled rants or end up as tedious rubbish which would bore any self respecting insomniac. Here are the titles of some of those,

- Boris to Cool Tube
- Key To People In My Blog
- I’ve Rediscovered Radio
- Busy, Busy, Busy
- I’m Artistic Don’t You Know!

The last three are quite resent and started off life on my new Apple iPhone, but the others are much older. I may just publish them and be damned. Lol.

While researching for this article, I noticed a rather worrying statistic. Since I started blogging in May 2006, I have written 183 entries and received only 44 comments. Does that mean that no one reads this waffle? Surely that cannot be correct!

Regards


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