They're building one of the CrossRail stations behind my office, on or more correctly under, what used to be, apparently, the oldest bowling green in London. It's a bit of a shame because apparently it was a nice place to sit and have lunch of a summer's day. They have apparently promised to put it all back how it was, but who knows when that'll happen?
However, recently they've obviously been using pile drivers or something similar, which has allowed me to recreate the famous Jurassic Park shaking water cups moment several times from the comfort of my office chair, with no need to do all that messy genetic manipulation and being chased by dinosaurs. Clearly, this has more than makes up for the loss of a bowling green.
Monday, 28 March 2011
Wednesday, 23 March 2011
Trains Again
It seems I'm not the only person who's noticed that you can't actually fit three people on the three person bench seat provided by South West Trains. Admittedly she is an Evil Tory MP, but despite that, she does make some amusing points about elbows.
Monday, 14 March 2011
Incongruous News
...devastating Tsunami hits Japan...thousands dead...tens of thousands missing...enormous explosion at a nuclear reactor...radiation levels rising...danger of meltdown.
And now the sport.
And now the sport.
Monday, 7 March 2011
Mmmm... Coffee
For no particular reason*, I thought I'd list three great places to get espresso near my office. They are, in order of preference (although I'd be happy to have coffee at any of them, the differences may just be down to the coffee blends they use) -
I don't visit any of them frequently, partly because the first two are a 10-15 minute walk away but mainly because I don't want to get so used to really good coffee that either I stop appreciating it, or that I find I don't want to drink average coffee any more. Well, that and the fact that we have free coffee in the office, even if it does leave a little to be desired.
*In fact probably because you need at least three things to make a decent list.
- Nude Espresso near Spitalfields Market.
- Dose near Smithfield Market.
- Taylor St near Bank.
I don't visit any of them frequently, partly because the first two are a 10-15 minute walk away but mainly because I don't want to get so used to really good coffee that either I stop appreciating it, or that I find I don't want to drink average coffee any more. Well, that and the fact that we have free coffee in the office, even if it does leave a little to be desired.
*In fact probably because you need at least three things to make a decent list.
Thursday, 3 March 2011
Even More Commuting Dilemmas
I was on the way home a few nights back and somehow managed to get to the station in time for an earlier train than the one I normally get. This is good in some ways, since I would be home earlier, but bad in others because the train was already mostly full when I arrived. However, despite the fact that there were already people standing in the carriage entrance spaces there was still a dreaded middle seat free. Quite why these are so dreaded I'm not sure but some people definitely prefer to stand rather than risk sitting too close to someone - because let's face it, those seats aren't really wide enough for three people to sit comfortably. I on the other hand am very much not one of those sort of people, so immediately made a beeline for the seat.
One of the guys sitting there obviously wasn't expecting anyone to sit next to him because he'd put his bags on the empty seat whilst at the same time drinking both a can of soft drink and a coffee. Now, the problem wasn't that he was reluctant to move, it was that while attempting to gather his bags off the seat he, almost inevitably given that he was holding two drinks as well, slopped coffee all over his leg. Let's leave aside the facts that drinking coffee and lucozade at the same time is a little odd and doing so on a train, which is subject to sudden lurches, is asking for trouble somewhat. The problem was that I felt somehow responsible given that the only reason he had spilled his drink was because I'd made him move his stuff. I also had my headphones firmly screwed into my ears so I couldn't really talk to him properly.
In the end I decided to just pretend I hadn't noticed, after all it wasn't really my fault he'd spilled his drink.
The next night I saw the opposite. A rather large lady was squeezing her way through the train carriage holding a large coffee which she managed to slop all over the white shirted arm of an unfortunate chap sitting in an aisle seat. I should add that the train was stationary at the time and it was one of those cups with a lid, so she was being really careless. He was rather unimpressed as you can imagine. The lady lurched on as if nothing had happened leaving him to shout after her ineffectually. I don't know if she actually realised what had happened or was just hoping to get away.
In that circumstance I would definitely have stopped to apologise, just so you know.
One of the guys sitting there obviously wasn't expecting anyone to sit next to him because he'd put his bags on the empty seat whilst at the same time drinking both a can of soft drink and a coffee. Now, the problem wasn't that he was reluctant to move, it was that while attempting to gather his bags off the seat he, almost inevitably given that he was holding two drinks as well, slopped coffee all over his leg. Let's leave aside the facts that drinking coffee and lucozade at the same time is a little odd and doing so on a train, which is subject to sudden lurches, is asking for trouble somewhat. The problem was that I felt somehow responsible given that the only reason he had spilled his drink was because I'd made him move his stuff. I also had my headphones firmly screwed into my ears so I couldn't really talk to him properly.
In the end I decided to just pretend I hadn't noticed, after all it wasn't really my fault he'd spilled his drink.
The next night I saw the opposite. A rather large lady was squeezing her way through the train carriage holding a large coffee which she managed to slop all over the white shirted arm of an unfortunate chap sitting in an aisle seat. I should add that the train was stationary at the time and it was one of those cups with a lid, so she was being really careless. He was rather unimpressed as you can imagine. The lady lurched on as if nothing had happened leaving him to shout after her ineffectually. I don't know if she actually realised what had happened or was just hoping to get away.
In that circumstance I would definitely have stopped to apologise, just so you know.
Your Train Is Delayed Because...
...of an attempted fatality at Waterloo.
What? Another excellent announcement from South West Trains. What on earth is an attempted fatality? I've heard of attempted murder and near fatalities but never an attempted fatality.
What? Another excellent announcement from South West Trains. What on earth is an attempted fatality? I've heard of attempted murder and near fatalities but never an attempted fatality.
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