Sat 1: Yesterday morning I reported that the Overground lines are getting individual names, because it says so at stations and on the TfL website. This morning BBC London News reported that the Overground lines are getting individual names. But no other London media outlet has reported the launch of the "customer research phase" because TfL haven't released a press release confirming that the Overground lines are getting individual names. Sun 2: Ealing Broadway is a key gleaming station rebuilt and repurposed for Crossrail and has been managed by TfL for years, so it's a teensy bit embarrassing that this misspelt sign still lingers on the westbound platform, long after all the others were removed or updated.
Mon 3:The 3rd Degree is back on Radio 4 today, the quiz show where university students compete against their professors, and I don't know who writes the jokes but they have the closest thing to my sense of humour I've heard in ages. Tue 4: If you want me to pay for Tweetdeck in 30 days' time, Elon, don't suddenly withdraw the current version which works fine and replace it with a far worse far less functional version, you muppet. Wed 5: I ripped my favourite shirt on the bus. I was about to get off and somehow it got caught on a Stop button or something, I didn't see, I just felt it rip and alighted. Initially I couldn't see anything, I thought I'd got away with it, but later I spotted a massive rip in the hem and sighed because it's my favourite shirt. To be fair it is a little worse for wear these days and I probably should have retired it already and now I'll probably have to, which would be a shame, but if I tuck it in rather than allowing it to flap about nobody need ever notice so maybe there's mileage in it yet. Thu 6: I decided not to join Threads, the brand new Twitter-alternative, partly because it's part of the Facebook empire, partly because its terms and conditions fall foul of EU rules, partly because it's mobile-first, partly because I can't have @diamondgeezer, but mainly because my experience of Instagram is it insists on showing you stuff from people you don't follow in non-chronological order and that's not a social network, that's an entertainment channel. Fri 7: The excellent site roads.org.uk today published a post investigating the heart of Britain's road numbering network, which ought to be in the City of London but never originally was and later only marginally rationalised itself, and it's a remarkably complex story and thankfully they've explained it so well that I need never bother. Sat 8: It's a sad day in Brentwood because Geoff's Remnant Shop is holding a closing down sale, and this may be the end of Countdown typeface on Essex shopfronts.
Sun 9: Oh excellent, East Midlands Railways are doing cheap fares on their notoriously expensive line this summer, so where haven't I blogged yet? It's always risky having to book this far in advance but hopefully August 1st won't be wet. Damn you, why are you forcing me to have an e-ticket? Mon 10: Supermarket update: The latest shrinkflation tactic is that Earl Grey teabags cost the same but the bags are thinner so they nearly fall apart when you get them wet, so it's more profit for them and endless messy jeopardy for me. Tue 11: Crime author Mick Herron is 60 today, and I've just managed to catch up on all his Slough House novels right up to the most recent, and my goodness they're all excellent. I've only read them because I stumbled upon the fake bus stop they were using to film Slow Horses during lockdown and blogged about it and you lot said the books were excellent, so I went down the library and gave them a try. I'm still halfway through the Zoë Boehms so I've not run out yet, and there's a new standalone novel due in the Autumn, but I don't want to hurry this treasure trove to a conclusion. Wed 12: ...but sometimes you meet the best 'fictional characters' at bus stops. She wore an abnormal coat, she had no inner monologue and she addressed a being in the sky she called the Silver Spirit. She thanked the Silver Spirit for their bounty and their mercy, she assured the Silver Spirit she'd been celibate, she harangued onlookers for not embracing the Silver Spirit and she told the Devil she'd never bear his child. She kept talking like this for at least ten minutes and I was so relieved when she didn't get on my bus. Thu 13: I needed some new walking boots because the pandemic years were not kind to my footwear, and the price they charged me at the till was 15% more than the price on the shelf and oh no you don't catch me like that... correct price paid. Fri 14: The team at Footways have just launched a new (free) 'Camden Green Loop' map, "a celebration of the destinations, businesses and green spaces in this iconic area and the scenic walking routes that connect them". Their maps are always excellent so I went off to the four places in Camden which were supposed to stock them but they all gave me blank looks and all I got was exceedingly wet. The information desk at King's Cross railway station and Camley Street Natural Park might/should now have some.
Sat 15: St Swithin's Day was wet, and this may turn out to be the first summer in living memory he's been proved correct. Sun 16: I'm quite relieved not to be on the television tonight. Mon 17: University Challenge isn't quite the same with Amol Rajan but it's fine and the questions are terribly well enunciated. Only Connect is reassuringly exactly the same. Tue 18: At both north and south terminals the Dangleway is still celebrating Wimbledon (which finished on Sunday), and continues to promote special offers for Easter (April), Eid (April) and the Coronation (May). Wed 19: This lunchtime the blog got a visitor who arrived direct from https://intranet.dft.gov.uk, which intrigued me. Even more intriguingly the page they clicked through to was my AI-written April 1st post "A walk down the river Quaggy", where the only transport content was the fictional Hither Green Viaduct. Count me intrigued. Thu 20: 'Exciting changes', said the letter from my electricity company, we're now going to start billing you monthly rather than quarterly. It's to make bills more manageable. This may be wise given my first monthly bill is for roughly the same amount as a quarterly bill used to be 20 years ago. Fri 21: Walking down Uxbridge High Street the morning after the by-election, a TV crew stopped me and asked if I'd like to talk about ULEZ on camera. Obviously I'd have loved to voice my opinions on mainstream media but alas my conscience kicked in and I said "but I'm not local" and they weren't interested after that. Sat 22: Last year I wrote a post about the Havering Stone, an ancient boundary marker beside Romford Road in Chadwell Heath. Today I went back and they've mown the grass surrounding it so I can bring you a much clearer photo, plus the plaque beside it was actually readable, but you still won't be interested.
Sun 23: Oh Elon, rebranding Twitter to X is beyond stupid. X is a misinterpretable consonant whereas 'Twitter', 'tweet' and 'retweet' are brand names with a global reach most companies would die for. I don't think you've made one change yet I approve of, just a succession of destructive idiocies. Mon 24: On the north side of Wandsworth Bridge I found a large bunch of middle-classprotesters waving anti-LTN placards for the benefit of a BBC news crew. They can't be cross that the bridge has been closed for repairs, I thought, that would be ridiculous. So I asked one and they explained that the South Fulham Clean Air Neighbourhood trial is killing businesses on Wandsworth Bridge Road, indeed they offered me a four page leaflet jam-packed with downsides. Essentially they're furious there's now too much traffic on the main roads (and with the bridge closed, suddenly furious there isn't enough). But when I went away and read about thescheme online it seemed quite sensible with all sorts of get-outs for borough residents, and I eventually concluded this demonstration was all about prioritising profitability over health and safety. Tue 25: I was on the tube home, reading a book, when the lady in the seat opposite leaned over and tried to give me a little leaflet. She looked the evangelical type so I ignored her. Rebutted, she leaned a little further and dropped her leaflet on top of the page I was reading! It had a dove on the front and the slogan 'Peace be with you'. Rather than give it back I placed it on the seat beside me... where another passenger picked it up and started reading it. Her frown suddenly turned to a broad smile. Next next time I'm taking it with me and shredding it. Wed 26: Birthday drinks involved a pub crawl across Mayfair, and it turns out small pubs aren't much fun just after posh offices turf out, especially when the only space available is outside under a randomly dripping parasol. The general verdict was that we liked The Punchbowl and The Albany but not especially The Chesterfield Arms, Ye Grapes and the Coach and Horses. Thu 27: Before heading off to Norfolk I went to a ticket office because I needed a boundary zone ticket part-paid for by a rail refund voucher. Long live the ticket office. Fri 28: In news that will amaze a handful of you, today I made some rock cakes (or rather I stirred the mixture and dolloped it out and put it in the oven and ate the end results, but that's still a vast improvement on my previous baking exploits).
Sat 29: I'd never watched Brief Encounter all the way through before but it did look more appealing than The Hit List or Celebrity Catchphrase. It proved to be cinematic perfection, not least the very modern way the opening scene was also the final scene from a different angle. Sun 30: On Friday Dad ordered something off Amazon with next day delivery so I'd be around when it turned up and could help fit it. It reached the depot in Norwich first thing Saturday morning but then moved no further, nor did it end up in a van today so it's not even going to be Next Day But One Delivery, and I just wanted to tell Amazon that they're rubbish. Mon 31: Supermarket update: The person in front of me at the self-service checkout left their receipt, and all they bought was a flower, a box of chocolates and a bottle of bubbly but they spent twice as much as I spent on a week's groceries.
