Well that was a little strange

I am not even sure how I found out (because I wasn't following him on Twitter), but today is Geoff Marshall's fortieth Birthday. Happy Birthday Geoff!

Before today I had never met Geoff and had never spoken to him either. Our only interaction had been a brief exchange of emails some years ago.

Just to give some background, Geoff was for a period the World Record Holder for travelling to every London Underground station in the shortest possible time. He also undertook a road trip to visit a place in each of the forty eight connected US States that had the same name as a London Underground station (and blogged about it). I am sure that you will notice a certain theme here - probably not a million miles from the sort of stuff that I have been known to blog about.

Anyhow, there I was up in Birmingham, about to catch a Chiltern Railways train home when I discovered that Geoff was organising a flashmob at five forty this evening at Forty Lane in Wembley.

I decided to go....

I did the proper thing and picked up an appropriate birthday card at Marylebone Station. I then checked my phone to discover that the Metropolitan Line service to Wembley could best be described as 'erratic'. While on the train, the adjoining Jubilee Line was suspended, followed shortly thereafter by the Metropolitan Line. Fortunately I had successfully wended my way through the tube detritus to reach the appointed place, about twenty minutes early.

Being just about the warmest day of 2012 so far, I needed no excuse to sit outside the local pub, soaking up the late afternoon sun. Meanwhile Geoff was tweeting away, mildly swearing and generally berating the misfortune that he and his friends were having trying to reach Wembley.

We were communicating by tweets, but at the appointed time it was clear that without Geoff & Co the flashmob was to consist of one person. Me.

It didn't happen.

Having had notice that the mob had arrived at Wembley Park shortly after the arranged time, I wandered back down towards the station. I then successfully stalked the party crowd up the road and successfully merged into them as they approached Forty Lane.

All a bit weird really.

Anyhow, I was made to feel most welcome, took a group picture, handed over aforesaid birthday card, and then travelled with most of the group back down to Baker Street, having been asked to sign a tee shirt on the way.

I am not sure why that all happened and, as I say, it was a little strange, but all in all it was rather fun.

Happy Birthday Geoff!


Oh, and check out the professional show reel - Geoff's pretty good at what he does for a living.

What a waste of time

I regularly have to travel over to Canary Wharf for meetings.

Today's meeting lasted 25 minutes.

I traveled for two hours to get there and it took me two and a half hours to get home.

The Jubilee Line was suspended on the way, which meant that I diverted from Baker Street along the Hammersmith & City Line to Moorgate, then took the Northern Line one stop to Bank and then the DLR out to the East End.

Coming back, I did catch the Jubilee Line, but the gaps in service were such that I missed my train.

I know that dialing in or video conferencing ought to be the name of the game (the meeting room is set up for that), but it isn't, and my boss is rather self centred.

Bottom line - I do as I'm told!

Sign of the times

Walking between Marylebone and Baker Street stations are two blocks of small shops.

Out of ten shops on one of the blocks, three have recently closed.

It may well be a particularly greedy landlord. In a way, I hope that is the case. Otherwise a 30% closure rate in the space of a month would seem to confirm that the retail sector is currently suffering a nightmare.

Unless that is you are one of the large supermarket chains.

Obviously, we want to live in a world where we are forced to shop at one of the large supermarkets. Naturally, life would be better without local independent shops and speciality retailers.

Q & As

Q: Can I get the Central Line from Baker Street?
A: No. There are many possibilities, but the easiest ways to get to the Central Line from Baker Street are to catch either the Southbound Bakerloo Line to Oxford Circus or the Southbound Jubilee Line to Bond Street.

Q: Is the Central Line running on Sunday 3rd January 2010?
A: According to the tfl website, the Central Line is running a normal service this weekend.

Sourced from an analysis of the Google searches used to find this blog today.

Clarification

The National Rail Live Arrival/ Departure boards at Marylebone state that there are currently no Jubilee or Metropolitan Line services operating from the station, due to engineering week.

I have already mentioned that there is indeed much engineering work going on this weekend on the London Underground. This significantly affects most of North West London.

However, for the avoidance of doubt, the fact that the Jubilee and Metropolitan Lines are not stopping at Marylebone is not because of engineering work. Neither of those two lines ever stop at or go through Marylebone. However they do both normally serve nearby Baker Street.

Call me a pedant if you wish!

The Bakerloo Line is working normally, just be careful where you want to go.

A better place

A fair bit of public transport over the last week or so - the best part being when it was taking me away from the South East of England.

Having taken loads of photographs, it will quickly become apparent where I have been - this picture is just to whet your appetites.

Regrettably I got more and more depressed this morning as I joined the hundreds of office drones walking between Marylebone and Baker Street. Still, work means I can pay for holidays.

Now, where was I? Oh yes....

Seventeen Words

It's a beautiful sunny, morning. Not a cloud in the sky. I am walking from Marylebone to Baker Street.

My voicemail bleeps. Should I pick it up? I do.

Sigh. It's the boss.

"Hi xxx, it's xxx. Please could you give me a call? It's about the new grads. Thanks."

I have a sinking feeling.....

More later, and an explanation.

How to steal a train

This morning, I caught the Bakerloo Line down from Baker Street, before the ambient temperature got too high.

The air conditioning at work broke down. Very old fashioned method used to cool the building. We opened the windows.

Ice creams on the house this afternoon.

Meandered my way back to Marylebone. Tube Avoidance.

No. 18 bus along Marylebone Road uncomfortably rank and full.

Train like an icebox. Cancelled.

All shepherded to an alternate train several hundred yards away. One extra carriage, not quite as cool, nine minutes late.

Looks like we stole the 1751 MYB to HWY which I note has been cancelled.

+Posted from my mobile+

Bakerloo Line - Upcoming Weekday Closure

I spotted some posters at Baker Street on Friday that advised of some significant engineering work that will affect the Bakerloo Line on weekdays at the end of August.

From Thursday 27 until Sunday 30 August, inclusive, the Bakerloo Line will be suspended between Paddington and Elephant & Castle. This means that the line will be closed South of Paddington on two weekdays, which will no doubt catch many people unaware.

The word on the streets is that the work is towards reinstating the crossover at Piccadilly Circus. This will enable trains in the Southbound platform to reverse back over onto the Northbound Line. I do not work for London Underground so cannot confirm that this is the case.

I have no idea when or why the crossover was removed, but if it is to be reinstated it must be good news long term, as it will improve operational flexibility for the Bakerloo Line in times of stress.

Don't Shout at Me!

Yesterday afternoon I was walking along the side of Dorset Square, between Baker Street and Marylebone Station.

A squirrel was sat in a tree, just above my head, who got extremely upset when I stopped to look at it. Growling and snarling would be an understatement.

I am not sure what would cause an urban squirrel to get so upset at this time of year. Unfortunately the photograph I took with my mobile phone (increasing volume from said mammal) was totally rubbish, so I am unable to share with you an image of bared teeth aimed at me.

Ooh-errr.

A Success Story

For reasons I won't bore you with, I left our offices in Canary Wharf at 21.00 this evening.

I was in High Wycombe before 22.00 and in my front door at 22.18. Now that is a good result.

It was achieved by way of:

• The Jubilee Line running really well,
• A brisk walk from Baker Street to Marylebone,
• Chiltern Railways offering their usual on-time service (NEVER expect their trains to run late!) and
• My car not breaking down (it doesn't*).

You'll gather from these timings that it has been a little difficult finding the time to blog over the last few days.

* Yet (touch wood)

So you got a new bag for Christmas...

I can see you got a new bag for Christmas. It looks as though it might have a laptop in it. It may only contain a few manky sandwiches, but I can't tell. Your bag is well attached to your shoulders. Up in the real world it is quite cold, so it may be helping to keep your back warm.

However, the Jubilee Line at Baker Street in the morning rush hour is not the place to be impersonating a camel. Take the bloody thing off your back and let some more people on the train.

Thank you.

Sleepy Head

I mentioned a few days ago that, at present, I am starting my days a bit earlier than usual.

Well, my chickens came home to roost last night.

Having got on the Jubilee Line at Canary Wharf, I had been completing a puzzle in my newspaper when... I woke up just as the train was pulling out of Baker Street.

This meant I had to get off at the next station, travel back south again, get to Marylebone (by which time my train had long gone) and then wait.

Those few seconds of extra relaxation meant that my journey home last night was extended to over two hours. Damn.

Stupid O'Clock

For the last couple of weeks I've been spending most days at Canary Wharf.

To retain any sense of sanity this means that I tend to travel in to London earlier than I normally would, which entails me setting my alarm for stupid o'clock.

Many years ago, before it got extended, I used to commute along the Jubilee Line from Stanmore to Green Park. It was then a pretty short line and Canary Wharf was but a twinkle in the property developer's eye. The journey was generally pretty good.

Moving forward a couple of decades, the Jubilee Line is twice as long, twice as stuffed and generally unpleasant during peak hours.

I try to be at Baker Street by 7.30 am (which means me being out of the door not long after 6.00 am). At the other end of the day I try to leave work a little early so that I am home around 6.00 pm.

Because I am doing a job and a half for a little while, I then usually spend part of the evening sorting out the accumulated electronic detritus otherwise known as my In-Box.

This all means that by the time it gets to Friday night I am knackered. So, last night I went to bed reasonably early, set my alarm for 8.00 am (no point wasting the day) and managed to get to sleep quite quickly.

What time did I wake up this morning? Grrrrr..... you guessed it..... Stupid O'bloody Clock.

It's warm down there

Yesterday afternoon the Bakerloo Line had 'minor' delays due to signalling problems at Queens Park. This morning (as at 06:30) the problems have moved down the line a bit to Baker Street.

You can check the departure boards for Baker Street here, to gauge whether things have got any better by the time you read this.

What I can say is that it is going to be jolly uncomfortable down there today. Today's weather is forecast to be hot and sunny, a little warmer than yesterday. I know that the British definition of hot is not the same as in some other parts of the world, but nevertheless I can vouch for the fact that the Bakerloo Line was sweltering yesterday. It is likely to be just as bad today.

It is probably a good idea to heed the official advice - carry a bottle of water with you. I'm still tending towards tube avoidance, so walking today will probably raise my temperature just as much as entering the underground furnace.

Be careful out there.