Sunday 23 February 2014

The worst bit of good luck I've had for a while

I worked an extra early shift today, a pleasant little boost to my finances - Sunday shifts, even my regular ones, are classed, and paid, as overtime - after the recent flat-securing depredations, and stayed up in town for a few hours after I'd finished, meandering a little, before spending yet another substantial wedge of money, albeit in a way that will save me quite a lot in the long run - I went to the London Transport enquiry office at Victoria and bought an annual bus pass. A back of the envelope calculation suggests that it will save me around £500 over the course of the year, if you measure it against the 'pay as you go' Oystercard regime I've followed up to now, given that I'll be using the bus virtually every day once I move. That done, I made my way to Waterloo to get a train back to 'domicile-ville', but, noticing the time as I entered the station, I thought I'd have at least a twenty minute wait. I was pleased, then, to find that there was a train due within a couple of minutes - I'd thought the train concerned had been diverted because of engineering work, but that proved not to be the case - so I dashed to catch it. But it turned out to be a nightmare. Not because the train was delayed unduly, but because it turned out to be the most overcrowded train I've been on in many a long day. I struggled to even find standing room, exacerbated by the fact that people seem to think it's perfectly acceptable to have half a dozen pieces of luggage each, and to dump it anywhere, to the extent that I genuinely had major difficulties in finding a door clear enough to get off of the damn train when I got to my destination. And then one of the aforementioned 'multiple luggage' wallahs had the cheek to say 'mind the bag' that he'd blocked the bloody door with, as I almost fell over it onto the platform. On the whole, I think I'd have been happier to miss the train, and have had to wait for the next one!

Love & best wishes to all
Sammy B

2 comments:

  1. I was particularly lucky on my last trip, the trains were definitely not crowded, save one, and that wasn't overcrowded, just full. As you mentioned in a previous post, I LOVE the transportation system. Trains are the way to go, you get to see so much scenery (which to you I'm sure is just the same-old, same-old). I'm sure I looked very much the tourist shooting pictures out of train windows!

    Peace <3
    Jay

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    Replies
    1. Hello Jay
      Working shifts means that most of my train travel is at 'off-peak' times, so I suppose I'm a bit spoiled, really, usually finding more than enough space. Even though I make the same journey every day, I still spend most of the time looking out of the window - there always seems to be something new/different to see, and not having to drive, of course, means that I can enjoy the views safely!

      Love & best wishes
      Sammy B

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