Pusskins's Diary

Web and Forums on the Rampage

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:24:05 GMT

In the early hours of Friday 25th July, the hosting company that I use for DundeeAreaBusForum, AngliaBusForum, SuzyScott, ScotBus, Techpark Transport, and the rest of my web stuff (that is NOT HOSTED ELSEWHERE i.e. LiveJournal), will be moved, as part of the host company’s plans of continual improvement.

Service to the Forums should not be affected, but there may be a blip towards the end of the night on Thursday, or early on Friday.

The host’s rack is monitored and managed 24/7/365. The switches used are Cisco, the power distros we use are APC (with remote reboot and monitoring functionality). In case of any issue they can have a datacenter technician down to the server within 2 minutes. The sites should not (they said will not) be moved again until the server comes out of warranty in approximately 2 years.

Location: Maidenhead, Berkshire, UK
Connection: GigE via BlueConnex
Spec: Dual Quad Core Intel Xeon 5335, 8GB RAM, 2TB on RAID5 (Dell PowerEdge 2950).

Oh yeah, and the previous server is Optimus (on the Transformers theme!) but will now be on a server called Rampage – hence the title!

More transport randomness

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:27:45 GMT

8. Woottens of Chesham are to start their first venture in local buses a week on Monday, with the launch of Tiger Line T1 from Hemel Hempstead to Aylesbury via Chesham. The reason for the name? The company are to use a series of former Strathtay East Lancs Myllenium rebodied Leyland Tigers…

9. You lot should know by now that I like to get value for money when it comes to travelling, but here’s one I came across completely by accident, as there has been no announcement. A while ago, Megabus/Megatrain.com were selling a small number of seats on Virgin Trains services. Well, since 14th July, some Monday – Friday journeys between Glasgow/Edinburgh and Manchester/Birmingham have been for sale on Megatrain.com – provided you book 48 hours in advance, some good prices can be had. A few speculative clicks (yesterday) showed travelling at 1010 from Glasgow to Birmingham next Tuesday (22nd July) costs £9.00, or the following Tuesday (29th July) costs £4.00. These are one-way tickets, and reservations incur a 50p fee per transaction (not per journey) and you have to write or print your own reference number, as per standard Megabus procedure. Other than that, it’s a genuine saving on the turn-up-and-travel price of £78.00 single!!

Now, that train gets to Birmingham at 1441, and from there on, it’s easy enough to get a string of Stagecoach buses to Cambridge (for no more than £9.00), some Chiltern Railways eDay tickets to London Marylebone (from Brum Snow Hill) start at £5.00 single, or CrossCountry Trains towards Cambridge start from £15.50 (or less for earlier bookers). YMMV.

10. Back to Scotland, and Megabus.com was also throwing up journeys to/from Perth, Leonard Street at Station Hotel, as options instead of the Bus Station or Broxden Park + Ride. Upon closer inspection, it’s through ticketing via Broxden, then onto the P+R Service 301 (operated by Smith & Sons).

Transport Randomness

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 19:33:42 GMT

I’ve not quite had the stamina for this earlier this week, but now I can start to catch up.

1. Monday past, I did from Royston via Centrebus 90 to Baldock, TrustLine 700 to Bishop’s Stortford, Arriva 510 to Harlow, Arriva 59 to Chelmsford, Arriva 59 to Harlow, TrustLine C3 to Cheshunt, Arriva 311 to Ware, then Arriva 331(x) back to Royston. You can see all the pictures here.

2. Speaking of which, Essex CC have now announced their own one-day travel ticket, the Essex Saver. £8.00 for one day’s travel (except Sundays, when there are cheaper alternatives) across Essex. All local bus services are included (in theory) including community transport and DRT, except the 724 (Harlow – Heathrow), X22 (Stansted – Colchester), X30 (Stansted – Southend) and X5 (Stansted – Ipswich), as well as coach and National Express (coach) services. The publicity so far has been limited to a mention in LOTS TLB, and this page on their website.

3. Similarly, in East Central Scotland, the One-Ticket scheme has extended slightly. Citylink Service 909 from Dunblane and Stirling to Edinburgh, and Citylink/Megabus/Parks “joint venture” services M90/M91/M92 between Dundee/Perth and Edinburgh, are now included, on a turn-up-and-travel basis i.e. no reservations. The 909 is a former First service withdrawn some time ago, and the M90-M92 will provide additional validity… as well as giving me some ideas! It’s not new areas of use, just that the additional direct journeys will save changing, and give an alternative to the X54 from Dundee to Edinburgh, and include earlier/later/faster/Sunday journeys.

4. Speaking of travel tickets, TfL had a well-publicised black spot, where Oyster cards seemed to fail from Saturday morning onwards, and the system was put into ‘open’ mode, by leaving gates open, and abandoning fare collection for the day. Ouch! Now, it seems as if many of the cards topped up or used on that Saturday morning are now showing “Not enabled for prestige” – the P. word being the project name back in London Transport days – and will require replacement. Have a look over at The Ticket Collector for the latest on this - last I read, a week later, and he'd still not yet had his "automatic on Tuesday" refund of £12.00.

5. I’ve not mentioned any Transport for London stuff since the Mayoral elections, where Ken was finally given his P45. Mayor Boris’s first task was to outlaw drinking on public transport – and I could see why, when I was in London first time I was quite taken aback to see beer bottles being drunk and littering the top deck of the Metrobuses on the 207 (and many others!). The plan was done without consulting the staff who will implement it, so nothing new there then.

6. However, from the TLB before last (TLB526 – June 2008) come two connected stories. On page 32, news that “the Travel Information Centre at West Croydon bus station closed after business on Friday 9 May”. On Page 5, news that “On 16th May, the Mayor, Met Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair and Peter Hendy were in Croydon to announce that another 440 Police officers and PCSOs would be added to those patrolling the bus network, notably at bus stations. It would be paid for with £2.1 million from the Met. Police and £9.2 million from TfL, said by Mr Hendy to be taken from a reduction in the budge of the Marketing and Publicity areas of TfL…” Don’t forget kids, they really are transforming travel. Oh wait, that’s someone else…

7. It’s service change time again, only lots of it. Haven’t quite figured it out yet, but some new ideas (largely on the newly integrated Stagecoach Cambridge/Fens/Huntingdon/Peterborough network) as well as some notable changes in Scotland. Keep watching.

Some things never change

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 19:23:39 GMT

The Scottish Bus Site/ScotBus.com has been online (on and off!) for ten years this summer, but some things never change.

19th July 2003 – taking pictures of low floor midibuses at Broughty Ferry Level Crossing

14th July 2008 – taking pictures of low floor midibuses at Ware Level Crossing

OK, so I’ve changed a lot in those five years, but some things don’t. The picture of the Volvo B6LE/Wright Crusader at Broughty Ferry, 163 (now 7163) was used by TWM for the early 2004 edition of the 9x/10x timetable leaflet. The pic from 2008 is also notable, as this Dart is normally to be found in Welwyn Garden City on the 403’s, and the resident DAF/Wright Cadet’s from the 331 are to be replaced later in the year with new Optare Versa’s.

Pills, thoughts, feelings, and my new ventures in life

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 14:20:40 GMT

I’ve had a lot to think about in the last few weeks. Some of these things I honestly never thought I’d see the time come, and mixed feelings and emotions, but I am good overall.

Firstly, pills. As I have mentioned several times before, I have to come off the Duphaston (Dydrogesterone), whether I like it or not, as it’s been discontinued by the manufacturer. So, I’ve started phasing myself off it gently, by cutting some of my remaining stock in half. I will hopefully try other things in time, but I want a clean break first. Lets see if this was really behind some of my feelings, or the Estradiol Valarate instead. I don’t expect to feel hugely different by stopping it in this way.

Secondly, feelings. Since this post, it’s been brought to my attention that Claire died in her sleep peacefully, after a heart attack. Now, no matter how many choice words had to say about me, I don’t think that she deserved to die, not right now, not far from her (45th I think) birthday.

Thirdly, new ventures. I never thought I’d say that the book was finished (see this post) but it is, and in the final stages of checking. I’d like to have it for sale by the end of the month, so keep watching! There are other projects in mind, and I’ve already had C suggesting a complimenting volume for down here… seriously!

Finally, despite the three things above, here is something I thought I’d never say. From the end of September (this Autumn), I’m going to be a student - for the first time since I left school (aside from the NVQ's I got about twelve years ago)! Full-time equivalent in open learning, and starting on a few Level 1 computing units. By the time I get my teeth into it, I can choose which of the qualifications I’d like to put that towards, and then go from there over the coming years.

Now, that will give me stability, something to work towards, and a pattern, as well as a bit more of an existence to my life. So, why this, why now? Well, health is a main thing, so this is flexible, as well as not requiring a daily commute! Caroline is supporting and encouraging me for the longer term, so I see this once again as good. The time frame being just over two months away, gives me time to finally continue with moving out of my current place in Dundee. Educational feelings from the past – well, I wanted to get out of school, move away, and become the person I knew I really was. Now, some things have not changed – I’ve done this. I’m settling in. I’ve got support, and friends on both sides of the border (and the Atlantic!). Now that is all out of the way, who knows?

The previously referred to interview didn’t go as planned, but I’ve managed to top that in fairly spectacular style, don’t you think?

So, what else? We had Caroline’s sister-in-law staying down with us on Thursday night, en route to a meditation weekend in deepest Suffolk. Yesterday I was out and about, will write about that later on.

Additionally, at the weekend, I used iTunes to purchase (the whole album, not just the single) Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson (a few of her songs have some wonderful lyrical meanings to me, as previously mentioned here), and some old school stuff too!

Busy busy tomorrow

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:59:51 GMT

Many thanks to you all for your supportive words – I still don’t know any more than what I posted yesterday. I’m okay, and Caroline was very welcoming and supportive last night.

Tomorrow is to be a very busy day… starting with an interview in the morning… keep watching!

Death of an ex and colleague

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 20:55:49 GMT

Some of you may remember I had a very brief relationship with a former colleague in Dundee, Claire H.

News reached me just this afternoon that Claire was found dead at her flat in Dundee on Thursday past.

No further information is currently available.

Announcement - Dundee Area Bus Fleetbook Coming Soon!

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:17:57 GMT

Now, you heard me before wittering on about a book, well...

A new, locally-focused, independent, bus enthusiasts publication

To supplement the range of enthusiast resources currently available, Suzy Scott (administrator and founder of Dundee Area Bus Forum) has produced a new publication, Dundee Area Bus Fleetbook.

The book covers all main service (including school service) operators in the Angus, Dundee, Fife, Perth & Kinross areas, plus adjoining areas of Aberdeenshire and Stirling, and some other major ones too. There are over 90 illustrations to show what the buses look like. The book includes fleet lists, details of recent history, and services provided.

Operators covered include Aberfeldy Motors, Addison’s, Bankfoot Buses & Perth Citybus, Broons Buses, Burnbrae Garage, Caber Coaches, Crieff Travel, Docherty’s Midland Coaches, Earnside Coaches, Elizabeth Yule, First Scotland East, Fishers Tours, Glenesk Travel Company, Hamish Gordon, Harlequin Coaches, Jamie’s Transport Services, JP Coaches & Alba Travel, Moffat and Williamson, Morrisons Travel (Dundee), Morrisons Travel (Stirling), M W Nicoll, Pegasus Travel, Rennie’s, River Tay Executive Coaches, Rowan Travel, Sidlaw Executive Travel, Smith & Sons, Stagecoach Bluebird, Stagecoach Fife, Stagecoach Perth, Stagecoach Strathtay, St Andrews Executive Travel & Elite Transportation etc., Strathmore Travel, Sweeney’s Garage, Travel Dundee & Travel Wishart, and Tee-Jay Travel.

The book contains 112 pages in simple, legible, black-on-white text, with full colour covers.

The books are being printed and fulfilled by Lulu.com. They are a well-known “print-on-demand” supplier, and they allow publishers to get their work in print, without the high costs of traditional press. Most orders are printed and despatched within a few days.

Lulu.com accepts all major debit/credit cards, or PayPal. Your personal details or payment information is not shared with the Author.

Revenue from the sales of this publication will allow the web-based Bus Forums to thrive, and to cover the costs of providing them. If you have any further questions about the book, email Suzy Scott directly (see Profile for email details).

The book has been assembled, and is currently in the final stages of checking. For more details, keep an eye on the website…
http://dundeeareabusforum.com/fleetbook

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 20:23:27 GMT

After Caroline's recent post, she seemed to think that the pic of her just made her look fat. So, here's another one from Saturday instead...!

Shopping and spotting on Saturday

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 20:48:15 GMT

Well, yesterday, Mr UPS didn’t show up – yet. I don’t have a label (tracking) number to view it online, so I’m assuming it’s on the way.

Anyway, today, we were going out to visit the open day at Metroline Potters Bar bus garage, and then shopping and a movie into the afternoon.

The event was also raising funds for Breast and Prostate Cancer Awareness, the two company charities for the year. PB currently have a peak vehicle requirement (on weekdays during school terms) of 113, with 320 drivers, 21 engineering staff, and 25 management staff. It was unique in years gone by for being a central (red) bus garage in a country (green) area, but many things have changed since then. In fact, the majority of work at PB is undertaken for TfL, plus Services 84 and 242 in Hertfordshire. The latter are currently receiving a new batch of Enviro 200 bodied Dart SLF's.

We were having a look around – yes, that’s Caroline watching how the engine works!

Many modern and older vehicles were to be seen, including this 60 year old AEC Regal/Mann Egerton T792 – the first T-series vehicles!

As we were passing open-top RM664, Caroline thought it was getting a bit hot…

As I was lining up to take a pic of this almost-new Dart/Enviro200 for the Herts routes 84/242, C started discussing vehicles with a mechanic, and ended up talking about engines, then onto AdBlue. (I did explain later that, yes, just like something else, it really does come from animal… erm… sources).

Many wheelchair-user areas on DDA compliant buses have a vertical pole – now, this is a requirement, but, you can also have a folding pole. As these buses will not be used on TfL work, Metroline have decided to go for a space-saving folding arm…

… the driver has to pull up a black knob from behind the bulkhead to pull down the arm. The arm has to be folded down when the space is being used by a wheelchair user…

... then, the ticket machine. Now, it looks like the standard TfL spec Wayfarer…

… but, where’s the Oyster reader? Like I said, this bus is one of a very new batch for non-TfL work, so they are not required. Also worth noting is that they have LED destination displays.

Anwyay, I was browsing several stalls, bumped into Ian J (who I’d not seen in a long time!) around, and was also spotted by two David’s from the Anglia Bus Forum, who recognised me from the avatar! A couple of books, some leaflets, no model buses – but I did get a cardboard construction kit replica of Wood Green bus/trolleybus garage, done rather nicely by John Howe. Out of them all, this one struck me, being North London, and having passed this many times during the day on a 121 or night N91 back to Southgate!

On the way out, a look around the outdoor parking area – the one on the left of the shot is another new 84/242 Enviro200. They are certainly more than your standard TfL spec vehicle, and the company appears to have thought out the specification for it’s own purposes (outside London), rather than defaulting to that laid down by TfL.

So, we crossed over to The Coffee Lounge in Potters Bar High Street for coffee and nibbles, before continuing back to the car. We then continued via the back road to The Galleria. We had a look around, and I first went to the tailoring/alterations store, tucked away in the top floor, with the intention of having a button replaced on the jacket I had out last Tuesday – lost the middle one while running around, and no spare. They didn’t have any buttons at all in stock, but could stitch them if I could get them, and he suggested John Lewis (might pop into Cambridge next week).

Stopped at a few stores, including The Body Shop (where we were talked into buying a discount card, which actually saved us quite a bit on the first shop alone!), and of course, I went into The Paper Mill Shop. I was after some A3 card at their branch at Braintree Freeport, but they said that they didn’t have the space to stock it. Now, the branch at The Galleria is much smaller, and manages to find the space! Only thing is, I wasn’t the only one, so all the A3 boxes had been used. So, they allowed me to make my mix, then placed it onto the table along side an A4 box, to gauge the thickness (paper is pick-and-mix, sold by the box!) I did that, filled a bag full of that, and a special on premixed A4 papers and card. Added a few extra bits, and also found a flier about Trimcraft, has anyone heard of this crafters social networking site? lips_of_tragedy? Anyone?

So, after all that, we went to the Odeon cinema at the back of The Galleria (we’d prebooked this after arriving) to watch Hancock. Some rather dynamic special effects, and an interesting twist to the plot!

After this, we got home, and started unpacking the shopping. One of mine was a couple of the W9 destination blind inserts, added to the PB single deck bus destination blinds when the W9 was won from First in February 2000, and of course, the W9 starts and ends at Southgate Station, not far from where I lived. So, you can perhaps guess… (excuse the toe!)

A rather nice day, and you can see all the pics here. Since arriving, we’ve had the Tesco delivery in, had pizza, and now slouching around with the laptops.

Starting July as I want to go on

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:21:53 GMT

It’s been a very busy week of last. I’ve caught up to date with happenings since then. I’m having a good time of it. The intermittent shoulder pain has gone away, the antihistamines are now working (and not making me too sleepy at the same time, now!), and I feel like I could do anything!

So, what happened yesterday? Well, I’ve been working on ‘another project’ on and off for many years – but I finished it the other week, and the first test copy arrived with me yesterday! It’s a book that I’ve compiled and put together – 112 pages and more than 90 images – so it’s a fair read! I’m proof reading with my copy at the moment, and it should be available for sale online in a few weeks. Keep watching this blog for an announcement about it in more detail next week!

Secondly, while not strictly knee-deep in the job market, I was keeping an eye open in adverts. I spotted something in the local rag (same one where I’d seen the phone advert the previous week) that looked of interest – well, two, with the same company. I applied, and got a phone call yesterday, offering me an interview for one of said positions, next Thursday! It’s not in a call centre, it’s not in public transport, it’s not in the prison service, and I have had the confirmation email today. I don’t want to get your hopes up, but keep reading!

So, Friday is good. I’m just waiting for Mr UPS to turn up with the second copy of the book before I dive in the bath – because, as soon as you are there, he’ll turn up! After that, I’ll have a lie-back and relax!

This weekend could potentially be a busy one, and I wanted to go out to one of the transport events this weekend, and ideally, a little bit of shopping too. So, following discussions with Caroline, we’re heading out to the Metroline Potters Bar garage open day tomorrow morning, and stopping at The Galleria at Hatfield on the way home – subject to change!

That way I get the best of both worlds – who said a girl couldn’t have her cake and eat it?

26 hour Royston to Glasgow round trip – hormones, giggles, and train woes

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:56:26 GMT

After writing out most of the story of my travel to and from Glasgow recently, I decided it looked too depressing to post, so I’m going to abbreviate it all into one post. You see, it took four visits to the station instead of two (ticket selling problems), first train was delayed by seventeen minutes, second [tube] train was replaced by a bus, third train [sleeper] had no lights in my carriage, and no carriage labels visible, so I ended up in the wrong one. And the rest.

Anyway, forget all that for now, as I made it to Glasgow for early on Tuesday 1st July – about 0730ish, but I didn’t recall the exact time. Woke up over breakfast in O’Briens at Hope Street/Argyle Street/Oswald Street corner, and then took some bus pics before leaving around 0835 to take the bus to Sandyford.

Now, there were many reasons for this visit. Firstly, catch up with all news – last time I was here was August, I was still pre-op, and the rest. The main reason for today’s visit is the issues with the Duphaston being discontinued (and the suggestion of something I’ve had before didn’t suit – so, I came for some suggestions. Now, I may be better off without a progestin/progesterone at all, but… I want to try everything before I give up, and give up at my own time – not being forced into a snap decision because of a manufacturers discontinuation of the product. My other meds (antihistamines, antidepressants etc.) are being chopped and changed, hence why I’d like some continuity for now.

Anyway, the usual Tuesday drop-in is the easiest way to do it – and I arrived shortly before the beginning of the clinic, rather than sprinting it down the A9 and M80 from Dundee, meaning I had pink card number 3. First time for everything I guess! A new doc, one I’d not seen before, Dr Gerber, called my name, and we went to talk about things. He’s going to look into it and get back to me.

So, that was done. I had some time to kill before meeting Bobby B at the end of his shift, so went out to Paisley on First service 9, getting one of the Volvo bendibuses to Paisley University. A quick browse around the town and some bus pics, before taking the Arriva 66 to Glasgow Airport.

The driver in question appreciated being given £1.45 in exact coinage, before we drove up the Inchinnan Road towards the Airport. In years to come, what are the bets this will be renamed John Smeaton International Airport? Incidentally, he’s since left his job of 12 years as a baggage handler at Glasgow, and is now a motivational speaker. The speaker who will set about ya, as the publicity says!

(Incidentally, I did like Craig Ferguson’s comments at The White House Correspondents Dinner about ‘… Al-Quaeda tried to bring a religious war to Glasgow, but they were a thousand years too late…’)

Anyway, I had a look around the bus stands, before going inside for a bite to eat, before my next trip. Outside Boots, I spotted the unusual sight of a vehicle INSIDE the terminal building…

… then from there, I went for the newly-extended First 747 back to Glasgow Buchanan.

I went to snap some pictures, so stood in the usual spot at the entry/exit to Buchanan Bus Station. Someone in a SPT hi-vi came over to see me, and was very nice about things. I had sat down briefly at this point, and he started by saying “I’ve not seen you here before” LOL – see what a few blue pills can do for the face, and the rest! He was explaining the usual situation about safety and security and stuff (turned out they’d had a security alert not far away the previous week), and I was ok in doing what I was doing. It was just his initial words that lead me to have a giggle! As ever, several waves and honks from the Glasgow area drivers, including quite a few posing for the camera! (or was it for the bit of skirt taking the pictures, I wonder? lol)

So, after Bobby’s shift was finished, we went for coffee to talk about everything, before he dropped me off at Central Station for the train south.

On the way home, more fun and games. First train from Glasgow to Birmingham New Street lost a few minutes, leaving me with only THREE minutes to run down the platform, up the stairs, and across the station, down the stairs, onto Platform 11A… only to find the Cambridge train not in by this point! (the train manager did try and call up about the connection, but couldn’t get through). Anyway, a few minutes after… Platform Alteration, now leaving in minus seven minutes from P9! We all ran up the stairs, and I barely had the energy to run this fast for the second time in the last ten minutes!

So, we left late, and the senior conductor (all different names for the same job!) didn’t sound too hopeful about connections at the other end. So, once I got to Oakham and we were still late (90 minutes away from Cambridge) I asked C to pick me up, thus not needing to worry about the train connection to Royston. I’d lost the plot, and the interest, long before this point, but there was more to come. When we got to Cambridge, the Royston train still hadn’t arrived, despite the inward train arriving when the last London train was due out!

Never mind – a long, hard day. The Glasgow bits were all very enjoyable, lots of fun, and I had a good time nonetheless. You can see all the pictures here.

Skegness weekend in summary

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:08:15 GMT

Last Friday (25th June), I left Royston for about 50 hours away in Lincolnshire. Because I’d be coming back on Sunday, the only bus option involved a 3-hour stop in Peterborough. Fine during the week, not so much on a Sunday! So, as the price of bus up/train back was actually about six quid MORE than train up/train back (with Advance tickets), I went for that option instead! So, from Royston, First Capital Connect to Hitchin, Peterborough stopping train lal the way to PB, and then National Express East Coast (last time I did this, it was still the GNER franchise) to Grantham. From there, I had to take East Midlands Trains to Skegness (last time I did this, it was part of the now-disbanded Central Trains). When I got to Grantham, the Class 153 train stock waiting for me was in Arriva colours, with EMT lettering…

… and also, when we got to Skegness, I noticed a ‘Pride of Devon and Cornwall’ carriage, amongst the three Arriva liveried cars… ?

Now I’m no train buff, so I can’t really explain that one either. Anyway, from Skegness, just around the corner to the bus station, for a bus to Ingoldmells. This time, I was staying with David & Jacqui but in another caravan park, at Coral Beach, over the road from where we were before. Looking different from before, here it is! It’s bigger, had more lounge space, and added a few extra bits around the kitchen.

The weather was a little better than previously, and after a long day out became longer into Friday, and we went out to Skegness town on Saturday (26th June). After a few things around the shops (yes, I forgot to take any painkillers out with me, so bought some more!), David asked me to take J out clothing shopping while he went for a lunchtime pint or two, so I did… that was interesting, because when I go shopping, everything is too small for me. Now, as I was out with her, a lot of it was too big! Opposite end of the spectrum I guess! We made it back to the caravan, and I caught up with a few hours siesta on Saturday afternoon (antihistamines starting to work, in more ways than one) before going back out for a bit longer, and getting a Chinese on the way home.

Sunday (27th June), back via Skegness town centre, and I spotted some of the Interconnect 6/7/9 double deck buses were out working some of the local services on Sunday. Here, one of the Interconnect 6 Gemini’s is seen at the bus station, about to work a 1A to Chapel St Leonards.

A slight reminder of the times when Lincolnshire was owned by Yorkshire Traction came a few moments later, when I spotted this East Lancs bodied (Scania?) which had came over from Yorkshire to Skegness for the day, on a hire.

The train down was even more of a surprise than the way up, as it was a Class 153 in Central Trains colours at one end, and a refurbished South West Trains Class 158 in the middle, as well as something in the new East Midlands Trains livery at the end! EMT and SWT are both parts of Stagecoach, and it appears that there is being some consolidation of office staff, but I’ve no idea how the refurbished train made it here.

Next, I joined the queue – yes, I thought it was a real person too!

I had posted briefly before, but the Class 158 unit was more or less empty, and it had plenty of space to stretch out! Here’s a cow having a drink in the river bank beside the train…

… got to Grantham, and engineering work was just finishing off, so the train was already in. Then onto Stevenage, across the footbridge, and back onto Royston, where C was waiting for me!

More good fun, and you can see all the pics here.

Hey There Vagina

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 14:18:55 GMT

This is a parody of the Plain White Tees 'Hey There Deliah'... video NSFW but a bit of a giggle!

30th June

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:58:49 GMT

Things are good right now. I've been busy today, but have been getting intermittent pains in my right shoulder... now, my right shoulder is sore, and has been for about two hours, even with painkillers.

So, I will make this only a short post, and I will be leaving here in just over an hour anyway... off up to Scotland, back tomorrow night. Long story, will explain later.

Here's to no more problems...

Rushing around

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:08:57 GMT

Slightly rushed, trying to do a million things today. Not helped by problems in trying to book tonight's trip... I'll tell you about it later.

BTW on a more positive note, today is our fifteen month anniversary, one and a quarter years!

Home - and Eric

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 15:55:02 GMT

I got back to Royston about two and a half hours ago, and already planning my next trip. Yes, literally.

So, while I delve into the realms of possibilities, have a look at Eric The Bus Driver. This is a online comic, with some adult humour, about the life and times of a "fictional" bus driver.

Now on the move...

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 10:24:58 GMT

I am now on the train south from Skegness, will write more about the last few days when I get a moment.

Although the train on the way up was a mix of liveries (I am not a train expert by any means, but it has to be expected less than a year after franchise changes) I am currently on the 1110 Skegness - Grantham - Nottingham East Midlands Trains, which has been made up of a Central Trains liveried 153, and a South West Trains refurbished 158. So, as the 153 end was closest to the barrier, it got most of the crowd queued up, and I am sat here in one of the 158 refurbished carriages, full table to myself, space to stretch out - two other people in the carriage!

In Linconlshire

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 19:06:00 GMT

I arrived here yesterday evening, and we've been out and about quite a bit over the last 27 hours or so.

Leaving tomorrow morning to return to Royston, and Caroline!

Now on the move...

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:00:52 GMT

Hello world... I am now on the train between Peterborough and Grantham, on the third of four trains on route to Skegness. I have about 20 minutes on this one, before swapping at Grantham.

So, why again? Well, friends are back down once more. Just like last time, one of them does not know I am coming... and probably won't be reading this in the next two and a half hours! It's a different caravan from last time, I'm told.

Out and about - again

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 10:34:12 GMT

Remember I mentioned a while ago that the Duphaston I take is being discontinued? Well, I went to see the doc on Monday about a replacement, and he left me a prescription for something that made me depressed before i.e. Provera. So, I went back yesterday to ask about alternatives, and I will come to that again later. I am now also back on the Telfast (Fexofend-whatever) that I was on before (strong anti-histimine) as the over-the-counter ones from Tesco aren’t working anywhere near what I need, and wearing off already!

So, after we’d been to the doc yesterday, we went out for a drive around Essex, stopped at Great Dunmow for lunch at Musketeers – here’s Caroline…

We then continued to Braintree Freeport and met up with C’s friend Kim for coffee and some quick shopping (C’s has replaced the teapot with TWO new ones!) and then back to Royston.

Today, I’m going out soon to Skegness until Sunday, and on Monday I will probably be heading north, to see about a replacement for the pills. Keep watching!

Our Wednesday

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:32:30 GMT

Well, Caroline's newest delivery - of an Apple TV (to replace the defective Mac Mini) turned up earlier, and it's already been set up. C is particularly happy that it's HD ready as it will go with the tv itself.

I'm very sneezy right now... but I will come to meds and pills and stuff tomorrow.

The Stalled Server Room

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:59:09 GMT

Caroline was reading this earlier... made me giggle...

Round-up

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:47:33 GMT

OK, so to recap the last few days... yesterday, we were out at the docs, partly to question re some of the pills I am on have been discontinued. That one is still technically ongoing, so I will come back to that later on. (I did pop out to the chemist and back, and ended up sneezing my head off - now I wonder about these 'one a day' antihistimines!)

How many post people does it take to deliver our mail? Well after the usual one, and another with C's wii, a third came mid-afternoon with two more Amazon packets for Caroline (books) and a couple of envelopes I was expecting from HCC (Watford Area Guide 1, June 2008 editions).

I've passed on all your kind words re C's hair. Tomorrow, not quite sure yet, see if Cs laptop can get rid of the tea spilt on it earlier on. if not... well... we'll see!

p.s. There is another surprise to come tomorrow, and I don't know what it is, honestly!

Second surprise...

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:03:12 GMT

... and this one was a surprise to me too!

C told me that she was expecting a package from Amazon, and I presumed it was more books or something.

But no, it's arrived... and it's a Nintendo Wii...

... and yes, she's already crashed into the teapot while playing bowling! She's having lots of fun though!