Monday - London, Glasgow and Dundee
The return trip from London to Dundee leaves at 2355 on Sunday night, so the majority of it is on Monday, hence inclusion on this page. Anyway, Sunday's post was getting a little too long!
We left on Megabus M11 Neoplan 50126. Raja was once again driving, so this left the waves open for an extended, ten minute speech from "Magic" Joe. The script has changed since the introduction of the Neoplan Skyliners, as Stagecoach are now referred to as "the best bus company in the world", and the vehicles are similarly titled. His speech includes the line about the "beautiful people" to the ladies, but adding the line that the men were not too good tonight... There then follows a speech about his driver being a "mental man" and that he'd try to get us to Keele services (for driver changeover) early. He then proceeded to offer any of the ladies on the bus assistance with their seatbelts... however, it was then we noticed that his zip was undone... to which he claimed this was a "free show"... Like it or not, you don't get entertainment like this from many other Leyton drivers!
After a hellfire ride up the M1 (we stayed in the legal lanes too!), we got to Keele where they said their goodbyes, and left us in the hands of two Glasgow drivers. (A Perth driver then does Glasgow - Perth and another Perth - Aberdeen, or sometimes through). We were due into Glasgow at 0825, and back out at 0830. We got into Keele early, and left after the prescribed stop, but traffic was light, and we got into Glasgow for just before 0745. Plenty time to have a look around Buchanan Bus Station, and I was able to snap up a variety of pics in the meantime. These included the Ulsterbus Citylink liveried Scania, a Henderson SPT-bus liveried Solo, an early Citybus on the First X7, and try to spot the Travel London logo on the back of this ex-Travel London/Connex/Limebourne Dennis Dart...
Got back to Dundee just before 1025, and went home for an extra few hours sleep. Back out to the doctors in time for early evening, with 131 on the 17 u, and Gemini 18 on the 22C down. No pics, but there was a Gemini on the 8 as well !
Oh yeah, and the Albert Square new bus shelters opened today, after the stop markings were put in place.
Friday off
This was my half-day this week, but in an effort to clear off the hours I have to take as holiday by the end of March, this was a day off, which ate up 3.5 of them. So, quiet day around the house, out mid-evening to get a couple of prints done quickly, and a few things for my trip. Overnight run down on Megabus M11 to London, using Neoplan 50126. I'm downstairs at a table, heading backwards... (very unusually). For those who want to know - £12 down, £12 back - still less than half the similar NatEx fare!
Night night! (You can tell I'm retro-blogging this, can't u?)
Take two...
... and following Sunday's cross-city challenge, decided to do it again. With an extra spur. On the way to work...
Got up to leave the house just after 0800, to see a DiscoveryLine (Services 28/29 to the rest of us) pulling out of the existing Albert Square stop. Anyway, got to Asda on 167 (Service 28) for about 0830. Put in 100 pics for printing, mostly for the photo sections of the next Dundee Bus Bulletin. Went over to McWalk-Through, mostly to kill time for an hour while my pics were being done. From there, went back for the pics, got on 168 on the 29 to Arbroath Road/Kemback Street again. Walk via Victoria Street this time, to see the ongoing roadworks here, and get on 173 on the 1B. See it at the lights, and manage to get across it by cutting across the path of a taxi driver. Like they wouldn't do the same if it was reversed...
Anyway, got off the 1B at the Stack Leisure Park, giving me time to return a couple of items to Tesco before getting on 141 on Service 12 to Menzieshill,then 147 on the 10X to work. Five buses on my Daysaver, before even making it to work! Made it with 20 minutes before my 1100 start time. The way home was somewhat more sedate with Gemini 10 on the 29 to Courthouse Square. Evening sights of the new Volvo/Wright Gemini double deckers are now becoming more common. It's cheaper to replace a broken (gasket) window in one of these, than one of those in the 122-151 series of Volvo/Wright Liberator single deckers... unless the front window goes of course...
Snow fun...
... at least I had to get just from Dundee City Centre to the Tech Park. Snow fell everywhere around, and parts of Angus and Perthshire were hit. Several accidents punctuated the A90 with open/closed throughout. According to the news page of the Angus Council transport site, "Today's poor weather conditions are affecting the operation of many local bus services across Angus. All school buses available to the general public will NOT operate this afternoon. Local bus services to and from Forfar and Dundee are subject to delays due to snow and vehicles stuck on the A90. All other links between the Angus towns are running today but are liable to run late." Later, a note was added to state that Meffan's services 124/125 Forfar - Glamis - Kirriemuir/Newtyle were suspended.
Lean On Me...
Back to work today. New bus shelters in Albert Square still not in use - awaiting stop markings to be put on the road... and with forecasts for bad weather this week...
Anyway, after Sunday's web ramble, I found this cartoon strip about a young transwoman at school, and college, and beyond. I bookmarked it (on Sunday) to come back to, and it's worth a browse. http://jadaze.keenspace.com/archive.htm
Left myself breathless
Did not get out at all today - felt a little breathless in the morning. Thankfully not as bad as it was a couple of weeks ago, but stayed home just to be sure. Breath is one thing you can't borrow from someone else, when you work in a call centre... I was recovered by mid-evening, so back to work tommorrow.
Looking for prints, and that certain person...
You know, compared to what we had before (I am not on about pre-9th April last year at this point either), things are much improved. Today shows how I've got stuck on modern technology so much, that we lose out when the plans do not work our way. What do I mean? Well today, I had to get some digital photos printed. Usual way, burn them onto a cd-r, take the cd-r to Asda Milton (photo centre now open until 2200 each night!), and hang around for an hour (probably Sainsbury's) and pick them up, then get another 28/29 to the bus stop round the corner from home.... Whilst I was creating the disc, I found a new website which allows you to look up speed convictions for your vehicle....Well, not today. On the way out, the new bus shelters in Albert Square (Euclid Crescent) are in full view and accessible by the public - but they do not go live until Tuesday... and there is nothing to point this out to the punters... Anyway, a few passengers saw the bus go past them, only to walk to the relevant stop at the "royal exchange" portion of Albert Square. Points lost here for DCC, but another example of technology failing us!Anyway, got to Asda, and the CD tray of the photo kiosk is sealed over with tape. That's not good, but it looked new, so I assumed I was first to use this part... Well, no, as the touch screen failed to recognise the CD as a choice - you could not touch it to choose... And it is knackered, only to be fixed "later" - the voucher I've got expires in April, so if not I can load them onto my new bigger XD card I should be getting later this week....So, left Asda, had a bite to eat, and went for a change of plan. 29 to Arbroath Road/Kemback Street, and a walk/run along Arbroath Road, King Street, Lyon Street, to Dens Road/Victoria Bridge for 159 on the 1A. The 29 dropped me off at 1539, and the 1A was due off Albert Square at 1543 - so this gave me five minutes to walk, made it with 30secs to spare. Bus to Kings Cross Road/John Weirs Garage (where there was an unidentifiable white breadvan-type minibus inside for repair), then walk around to Tesco Extra - 24 hour store. But, their digital photo machine is turned off at 1600... "it'll be on tommorrow" they say... Oh dear, never mind, spend some time (and cash) in the store, with a few new items for house and body. A very reasonably priced lamp (just over £2) took me five minutes trying to find a light bulb for it. Gave up. Within ten minutes, found one for UNDER £2. Spent ten minutes, got a bulb that's not the exact spec, but fits, albeit a slightly different shape! Clambered back with my bags to Kings Cross Road, for the 1B into town, with vehicle 159.When I got home, I started looking out all my web links for another ts who I know, but could I find her? No! If I'd actually added her website to my favourites list, then maybe - but even my guess at that drew a blank.... and all the google/altavista searches to find her (as I did in the first place!) all drew a blank... In the meantime, I managed to find several good resources. T In The News is a list of Scottish TG/TS/TV -related articles in the media. I also found the Angels online community - I've now signed up and have a profile, so look out for me... resisted the chatroom, for now, but will be back... so for those of you who have asked for such a site, there it is! Naturally it's uk based as well, which is a bonus... no more explaining that Scotland is not really a part of England after all... Then, found "Slim Fit 20" Caffeine Tights - yes, apparently microfine caffeine is used to help firm your thighs and legs... so if you see my bottom half going faster than the top half, now you know... Finally, found a page of TG jokes found on the internet (some refer to TV's and the like more), the majority of which went down well, despite the fact I've heard some of them a few more times...
Friday in the City
Half-day today. On the way to work, spotted Strathtay Leyland Tiger rebody 429 making its second crew-operated (this month) foray onto the Tayway, and was snapped by me on the 75 at Ninewells.
The new bus shelters at Albert Square *should* be open to the public from Tuesday (22nd) next week. In the meantime, Dundee City Council's contractor inadvertently blocked in the 28 terminus at the Charleston (Balgarthno Road) end, when they sent a van up to remove the shelter in preparation for a SmartBus replacement. This was resolved somewhat quickly, not after a variety of two-way radio messages!
Saturday, work and beyond
Woke up early, for a Saturday, and got out to work. Work was a little manic due to circumstances beyond our control... Came home after the 1000-1800 shift, then went out to the bus station to meet two friends, one of which I'd talked into buying an almost brand new but now redundant Compact Flash card for his camera. Stopped at Tesco on route to home, get lunch for tommorrow so I don't need to go out, and have a quiet day tommorrow i.e. typing up blog posts... I've been fairly restrained on spending this week - partly because I had to. But I've had no time to shop until now, which is usually more of an indication....
Went home, and forgot to mention yesterday that I've found two fairly good Bamster.com videos from recent BamBam and Streetboy/Frizzle incidents. Basically, BamBam sits in the stuido, and sends them on crazy challeges. The first one is musical chairs, which has to be seen to be believed. I've never seen two people start a game of music chairs, then have a 90 second fight over the chair, and... well I better not give away the ending, but it's the first time I've seen it used in a game of musical chairs! The second is titled "shut that kid up" where Streetboy is sent on board a southbound Arriva London South Routemaster on Service 159, at what looks like Piccadilly Circus. He is dressed - well, I am sure you can guess. He then takes up the seat behind the engine, and proceeds to scream like a baby, until prompted by the conductor... then starting to cry again almost immediately. Passengers are ordered off the bus, lights are turned off... again, I won't spoil the ending, but worth a look (as long as you are not easily offended!)
After this, quickly to bed, as I was worn out after two very early starts...
p.s. Feedback on an earlier blog post. My picture of the rear of the new Megabus.com Neoplan Skyliner has been reused in their internal staff newsletter, megaNews, edition 3 (with my permission granted on the day they were taken!)..... And why is "blog" not a word on the Blogger spellchecker???
Another Full Day in the City
Back to work today - not just for one day either - two days, today and tomorrow - but today was a half-day. So why was I out the door for 0845ish? Well, another of those days when I have everything on the one day...
Left the house to head to the doctor's first - bus 166 on the 17, despite the lettering being for the 28/29. So what happened? Not a huge amount, but remember this appointment was booked before Wednesday evening.... I am to return in two weeks and a bit.
Anyway, from there, 147 10X to work, but for a booked time of 3.5 hrs. I manage to extend this with some additional hours - as I've not worked anywhere near a full week, I can't quite call it overtime - but this means I will finish at 1830. Do so, and get 163 out on the 10X to town.
After this, head home and out for the Team Night Out. As you may have noticed last time, such events are held at the pub downstairs from where I live. Time is booked "from 1930" with time being split here, before proceeding to No. 1's Karaoke Bar, then London Nightclub. As I am working tomorrow (from 1000) I promise to come for at least the first one or two steps. Went downstairs 1935 - looked around - where is everyone? I see Graeme, our "social organiser" at the bar, but I see no-one else. I was first in - for a change, and despite the proximity!
A good handful then followed over the next hour, until about 2230 when we headed for No.1's. Graeme does a spectacular job on a well-known song, and manages to get the pub going. For the life of me, I can't remember what it was either... as I tried to remember for blogging purposes...
Anyway, 2330 and I went home, in bed by 0100.
The Battle Of Edmonton
Well, back home now, but it looks like I wasn't the only one having a bad night of it last night....
Twenty or more years ago, it was the Broadwater Farm riots in Tottenham, North London. In the early hours of this morning, disturbances in nearby Edmonton left one guy stabbed, several people mugged before getting to the checkout, many injuries and casualties probably higher than the published figure, car parking chaos - no, not just another day in Edmonton, this was something special. It wasn't intended to be war - one news editor has gone with the headline "The Battle Of Edmonton". But if you saw another headline that said "The Battle Of Ikea", you would know it was for the opening of a new Ikea store...
The store was due to open at midnight on Thursday 10th February, for a 24-hour all day store. Ikea staff planned for 2,000 visitors, and got three times that number before the store had even opened. The car park could not cope (as it does pretty much every weekend at their Brent Park branch...) and they opened for between 30 and 40 minutes (depending on your choice of rag) before shutting up shop. Apparently, the crush was so great, that the fire brigade were called, took one look, and drove off again. One person who had secured one of the elusive £45 sofas didn't quite get it, as reported to The Sun..."My friend put her hands on a sofa and a man took a mallet from his jacket and threatened to hit her if she didn't let go. I was pushed over and twisted my ankle. People were fighting and security couldn't cope."Another woman told how she managed to grab a sofa, only to be MUGGED for it by three girls. They pushed her over and took the item to the checkout...
After the store was closed, people started trying to break down the glass to get in, and some of the security staff then legged it. Shouldn't the guards be able to cope? Well, not according to this store guard who spoke to the Sun... Guard Gerard Visagie was punched and kicked. He said: "I felt my life was threatened. A friend's jaw was broken."
Six people were taken to A&E - three to Whipps Cross Hospital (lucky sods) and another three to the closer North Middlesex Hospital... where I was in A&E once for just over six hours, and it then took another 11hrs to be admitted, back in November 2001... If they didn't have patience to wait for a sofa, then they won't get on here either!
This is not a million miles from Southgate (where I used to live in North London), but the unusual bit is there are currently over TWO HUNDRED online news sources with news on the farce.
The Sun (go right to the end of the page)has done a good cartoon graphic about needing heeled shoes (to stand on someone's head!!!), a knife (to swish as you head to the checkout!!!), a mallet, and a fist, to secure your Ikea bargains....
Dominic Abrams, a professor of social psychology at the University of Kent, said that in crowds the size of the one at IKEA, without some single rallying point, the behaviour becomes "uninhibited". "People co-ordinate their behaviour in relation to others in crowds," he said. "In large groups, people tend to lose their sense of individuality and become less inhibited. You usually see this at football matches and protests, but there is a single focus for their behaviour, supporting the team or whatever. "But when people are there for very individual reasons, they tend to act in a very uninhibited, chaotic way, and that can end up with this sort of incident."
A stampede occurred as 6,000 people tried to enter the store at the midnight opening, with fights breaking out inside, leading to six people being admitted to hospital. A stabbing, which was initially linked to the Ikea incident, is now believed to be part of an unconnected gang problem.
David Lammy, Labour MP for Tottenham and Parliamentary under secretary at the Department for Constitutional Affairs, slammed the store's marketing tactics for creating too much demand among the area's hard-up inhabitants and intends to question Ikea's chief executive about the company's planning. "If you went down to Tottenham and Seven Sisters, you will see countless posters advertising this and there was a leaflet drop too. It was clear to me that countless people would descend on the store," Lammy said.
Ikea is now reviewing its store opening policy. John Olie, Ikea's deputy country manager for the UK, said: "We are really, really sorry. I've been involved with all our other 12 store openings in the UK, when we have had similar offers, and we have only ever had about 2,000 people turning up."'
Other stories worth looking at were
on CNN and
The Guardian. I had a quiet day at home recovering, popped out for a few things, and got ready for Friday. OMG!
Wednesday - supposed to be a day off....
Like some of my blog posts, this has been done retrospectively. However, in the circumstances, it is probably for the best...
To allow a friend at work to get this Saturday off, she had agreed to work my Wednesday shift - i.e. today, 1100-2000. So, I had the day off. I had plans for the day, but felt somewhat bad. Yesterday I'd left work early feeling bad, and today it had seemed to progress to my chest - never a good thing, as whichever irritation is going around, it seems to stay there permanently. Or, at least for a good while.
Morning, called the doctors - nothing for today, or tommorrow, but 0920 for Friday was taken...
In the early afternoon, headed to bed for a lie-down. Woke up just after 1700, and I could barely breathe. I had been choking up gunk (and the occasional trace of blood) for most of the day, but this is the worst I'd felt for a while. Took my "reliever" inhaler more times than I should have done, and as a result ended up only feeling more shaky, and not being able to breathe as I should.
Gave in, and called a cab to take me up to Ninewells Hospital A&E block... Got up just before 1930, and initially handed to a resuss nurse as soon as I walked in, who evaluated me. As there was no immediate danger of collapse etc. I joined the four or five people waiting - "handling time" was scheduled for around an hour. Was seen twice well within this time (40mins actually) and was put on a nebuliser for the first time in my life - that was scary initially, but it did quite a bit of good. After that, x-rays and various tests, before getting some tablets to take home, to keep me going until seeing the doc on Friday. Was it caused by an irritation to asprin, which has never bothered me before, even in such circumstances? In any case, yet again my experience of Ninewells was much better than previous experiences at a London hospital...
On the way home, was starving (not had anything to eat pretty much all day) and stopped off at a local takeaway for a few things, before heading upstairs. Got home for just after 2330.
Tuesday gets turned short
Did something today I'd not done before - left work before the end of a shift. I thought I was coming down with a cold and pains on Monday, but I decided I should be able to recover today. Perhaps it was more in hope than trust in my body... Anyway, I came into work, and gave it an hour, when I though about heading home. Several others had already done so, feeling the same way, but I decided to give it another 30 minutes and another call. The person I was speaking to could tell exactly how I was feeling, without me having to say so... So after 90 minutes, finished off, and headed for home. Hopefully I will be able to recover tommorrow during my day off...
p.s. In the end, this did not happen - see Wednesday...
Monday
Reasonable day, except I started to feel a bit worn out towards the end of the day... All three AWOL's have been written off, by the way!
Dumbartonshire Tour
Travelled from Dundee to Glasgow today, to participate in the Omnibus Society Dumbartonshire Tour. As usual with the first tour of the year, it is a mix of hello to everyone you've not seen since the last one, mixed up with the usual bus-spotting. The times of getting there and back were designed to allow for food and shopping both ways. You can view all the pics now, or read on for the highlights.....
Following my sightings of the first Megabus Neoplan on Monday morning, got a run on one - 501029 - today, from Dundee to Glasgow. The front door area is a little narrowed due to the crew seats protruding a bit! These are licensed as 91 seaters, but two are crew only, and Megabus seem to allow four seats for cross-border journeys for such purposes. The coaches are more than twelve meters long - I forget exactly how long - but you have to squeeze past the gangway of more than thirty seats (some with tables!) downstairs before you get to the back (front entrance only!) to get upstairs for the sixty five or so seats. All in very good vehicles, and driven fairly smoothly. The powerful MAN engine meant we got to Glasgow substantially early - I think about twenty minutes or so, but easily more than that! We were in plenty time for the 1200 start time.
Firstly, we left Glasgow on a Motherwell (or was it Cumbernauld?) based coach seated Olympian of First Glasgow No.2 Ltd, and headed straight up the Maryhill Road to Allander's Travel at Milngavie. A few buses were pulled out for us, including this somewhat tidy Bova Futura, and former Northern Scottish NLO40. Yes, the shadows were a bit restrictive, but you get the idea.
We then progressed via a small part of Stirlingshire as we crossed in and out of the former Strathclyde boundary, heading for McColls garage at Balloch. On the way past, we passed the Ferrymill/McColls overspill yard, and I opened the camera, and stuck it up for a picture. So, for everyone who asked, here it is!
The owners at McColls had already supplied us a printed list of their buses (not quite a fleetlist as it was just registration, fleet and seats) but it was good enough - but not good enough for the owner, as apparently he'd inadvertantly omitted the 04 plated Darts from the list... So, we all got another copy, this time two stapled sheets against the original double sided A4. As we visited, one of the 04's passed us on former HAD Coaches tendered service 309 - didn't McColls do the 309 for a few years with a Volvo B10BLE??? Dennis Dart V200CBC was not included on our lists, but was sitting in the depot.
This is the location I used for a pic of our tour chariot, which was 31520, CO24x something in old money. It's also known as WLT 741, a number that was once on one of the many RM's operated by Kelvin in days of old.
We then proceeded to First's depot at Dumbarton. If there are a lot of people walking around in hi-vi's in these pics, yes, they are us! First had insisted all visitors to the depot were in hi-vi's - fair enough, although the Soc had to purchase these in bulk ourselves... these were at an attractive price anyway, but these are to be kept for future endeavors. Besides, gives me the blatantly obvious line of "I said I'd be wearing this..." for many times to come.....
Many of First London's DM's are heading to Scotland, ex-Westbourne Park, for use to replace other vehicles. DM227 is now 41227, and is the first one I photographed at the depot. The shop steward encouraged us to go in for a look, and pushed open the doors twice when the "open" button refused to... Many of my London readers will be aware that many of the DM/DMS/DML's had one window removed to strengthen the Marshall bodywork, and the inside of the job can be seen here. DM221 is now 41221, but being a Saturday afternoon they were a few in besides this.
On return to the bus, discussions with many, and purchased the 2005 edition of the now-annual Scottish Transport magazine. This included an article on a passenger's recollections of a summer in the Mearns, including the time when he got on the Stonehaven to Aberdeen via Cookney bus, and was told very loudly in an Aberdeenshire accent by the clippie "this bus goes by CookNEY", with emphasis on the last bit. Thankfully, that never happened to me when I did Laurencekirk to Aberdeen the week before this! (But yes, it's a little mad...)
Trip to a few shops around Argyle Street, and spotted another Ailsa on the 9! (Sorry no pic!) before using an hour up on a double-run to Castlemilk by Stagecoach Glasgow MagicBus Service 175. Not a particular tourist attraction, just a means to kill off some time... Now, when the route started back in the mid 90's, 60p single or £1.10 return. Now, 65p single or 90p return! So, £1 in the exact fare vault did not exactly seem like a loss. Travelled south on an ex-A1 Olympian, and north on an ex-Busways example.
Back home on former Tube 50048 to Dundee.... All in all a good day, and special thanks to the two smaller operators for making us feel most welcome.
Half Day Friday
Friday - another half day. But before I could get this one over and done with, slight matter of an investigation into why I had been AWOL'd last Friday - when I thought I was off, and had requested the day off, but susbequently was marked AWOL and not paid. The interesting thing was, there were also two MORE awol's pending in my name - from November! I still had the days pages in my organiser - one was for a day when I was at Ninewells the whole day, and the other was for a day when I was in (late start recorded due to a 0900 hospital appointment!) and was paid for it! Meeting was adjourned until Monday, not necessarily for a conclusion.... So, for now, I live to fight another day. But ended up leaving my diary in the drawer at work, so headed back to work for it, then back to town... Then, hit the shops around the Perth Road, and got a few bits and pieces for myself, and headed for home.
