What Next For “Remain”

Brexit is over. Brexit is done. I lost. You lost. We lost. (The last two IMHO). Once the Brexit vote had happened there was no turning back. I argued for the hardest Brexit possible – whilst wanting to remain totally in opposition to Brexit. Yet I wasn’t going to totally give up the fight whilst there was still a very tiny chance that the mass of public opinion could sway vehemently against leaving the EU. Which is why I went on the marches and why I continued to argue as often as possible (too often, yeah) that we should not … Continued

2020 Goals

Whoa, it’s only the second month of the year and I’m already publishing my goals for the year. I didn’t even get around to it last year. Health Two Detoxes. A 3-week detox prior to my 40th birthday and a 3-month detox after my birthday. Should be easy, right? Stop unnecessary drinking. This is the bottle of wine at home on a Friday night after work, or the can of beer at my desk on a Friday afternoon, or drinking prosecco on a Tuesday afternoon at work…that kind of thing. If I didn’t need to lose weight, I wouldn’t be … Continued

Complaint: Met Line. Again

Dear Sir/Madam I have just initiated the next battle to get refunds for the exceptionally numerous delays on the Metropolitan line over the last month. Firstly, myself and all other long-suffering customers would appreciate an explanation of why the new signalling is causing so many service suspensions between Finchley Road and Euston Square. I will apply via FOI request if I have to, but I’d prefer an explanation (an honest one – not the social media cover up) of why the problems are occurring and what is being done to resolve them. Your customers really would appreciate an explanation. An … Continued

Fuck. I’m 40

Yes I am actually 40 years old right now. 40. Fourty. I had a little wobble the day before I turned 40 – this whole, shit I’m about to turn 40 and I don’t have a house, car, wife, kids, management job – not that I actually want any of them, but that didn’t matter on the last day of being in my 30’s. I was a bit miserable that day. Quite a bit. Thankfully, I had the foresight to take my birthday off work, and my trusty sister had spare holiday, so after a morning of getting shit done, … Continued

Complaint – British Airways

british airways airplane flying

Dear Sir/Madam I appreciate that the strikes were not the fault of British Airways, and I have laid full blame at Balpa, including sending them a letter of complaint. However, I was supposed to be flying back from my holiday on 27th September – and was waiting to arrange the rest of my holiday, as I had other hotels and a ferry to book too. Finally I received note that my flight on 27th September was cancelled – so I arranged to change it to the week after. Thankfully the one hotel I had booked let me change dates without … Continued

Complaint: BALPA (Pilot’s Trade Union)

british airways airbus on airport runway

Dear Sir/Madam I am appalled to read that you are taking strike action to ruin the plans of many people, myself included. An 11.5% pay rise over 3 years (for generally well-paid workers) is a good deal.  The current inflation rate is 2.1% – with there arguably being a greater risk of lower inflation due to recessionary risks, than higher inflation. This seems like a rather generous deal to me. Further to that, airlines do go bankrupt, as we have seen.  There are worse airlines to work for – my understanding is that working conditions at British Airways are far … Continued

Complaint: Where Is My Refund – 1

You can apply for a refund for your journey from TFL if your underground train is delayed by 15 minutes or more. There used to be an app that would do it for you automatically – but strangely enough TFL stopped it from working before the disastrous Met line signalling “upgrade” in September. Anyway, sometimes TFL reject the refund requests. This does not always amuse me. Oh and they had promised us automatic refunds once the disaster unfolded. Which not one single customer reported receiving. Strange that. I wonder how many people are not as persistent as me, and just … Continued

Metropolitan Line – FOI Request

Dear Sir/Madam I would like to find out more about why there was such a disastrous launch of the new signalling equipment between Finchley Road and Euston Square stations, on the Metropolitan line on w/c 2nd September. Who took the decision to launch the new signalling on Monday 2nd September? When was this decision made? When did management realise that not enough drivers had been trained to use the new signalling equipment? Would there have been a financial cost to TFL had the launch been delayed, to allow more time to train drivers to use the new signalling equipment? If … Continued

Moments of 2019

I know I should have written this back in December when people do those whole “look back” kind of things but maybe it would have got lost with everyone else posting pictures of themselves 10 years between. I did write some notes, vaguely, and it was astonishing as to just how much fun and enjoyment I had in 2019. There is so much that I am missing out here – holidays to Madrid and Corfu/Albania, two days at the cricket in The Ashes, the wonderful RA Summer Exhibition which I love so much, my leaving do at Lovespace, adventures to … Continued

Review Of 2019 Goals

I used to write full lists of goals for every year, forget about them and then review them at the end of the year. Though over the last few years, I’ve put much less effort into writing goals, and much more effort into achieving. So much so, that I never got around to writing goals for 2019 – but I did have a few in my head. 1. Get a significant pay rise or a new job I failed to get any form of pay-rise – only a “we’ll look at it at the end of the year”, and yes, … Continued