Caledonian Railway Sulzerfest
My first Sulzerfest, from the Caledonian Railway’s own diesel group. Former Strathtay 543 was also there, working a shuttle bus between Bridge of Dun (Caley) Station and Montrose (ScotRail/GNER/Virgin) Station.
What’s special about a diesel gala? Well, for one day only (or two, as it’s going to be on Monday 1st May as well), the mostly steam fleet is placed to one side, to let the 25xxx and 26xxx series diesel locomotives pull the carriages for a change. I asked on the Forum about what to expect, and was pointed to a webpage which revels in the benefits of such trains. Yes, it was fun, giving me reminders of the 80’s/90’s BR Scotland fleet…
You can see all my pictures on my Fotopic, including a variety of bits of station furniture, trains, buses, and more!
Sulzer by the way is the makers of the diesel engines, and NOT German for diesel… and the day rover tickets are printed in olde BR style, with “Freedom Of Scotland” modified to read “Freedom Of Sulzerfest.” I was thinking of a similar “Freedom Of Suzyfest”… well, the things you can do eh?
Thanks to ALL today’s volunteers, especially the owners and drivers of 543. 543 was the bus that (in it’s latter life) did the 54/54A school runs, which included the 76 at 1710 from Dundee Technology Park to the Bus Station. As a result, this was the bus I got back to town on the day when I successfully had my initial interview back in September 2002… so there was a “soft spot” for this bus there.
Supersize Me
This movie was given away on DVD by The Guardian last week… if you’ve seen it, you will know the plot. Not sure if they made any more money by selling any extra copies, or by the full page McAdvert that McDonalds took out…
The basic principle is that McDonalds were caught napping on several things, and when they made changes, claimed that it was nothing to do with the movie’s suggestions and theme. Is Ronald McDonald related to a certain Barbie-ised transport provider by any chance?
London tubes to run half an hour later
The Mayor of London Ken Livingstone today announced that Tube trains will start, and end, later at the weekends from 2007.
The Tube will run half an hour later on Friday and Saturday nights and start one hour later on Saturday mornings. This means that last Tubes will leave central London stations at around 01:00 instead of 00:30 on Friday and Saturday nights.
Mayor Ken Livingstone said: "We know the majority of Londoners would like the Tube to run later at weekends, so they can travel home safely after a night out at the theatre or a club. This announcement today means that next summer the Tube will run later on Friday and Saturday nights to make it easier for Londoners to get home after a night out, alongside the other night time travel options we have expanded, such as the night bus network and licensing the mini-cab trade. A significant minority rely on the Underground to get to work early on Saturday and Sunday mornings. This package ensures the Tube runs later on Friday and Saturday nights whilst protecting the needs of early morning commuters."
Richard Parry, London Underground (LU) Strategy and Service Development Director, said: "Most Tube users and Londoners want a later weekend Tube. But we need to strike the right balance between late evening and early morning Tube users. The decision to run the Tube for half an hour later on Friday and Saturday nights and one hour later on Saturday mornings from late May 2007 strikes that right balance."
With the Tube starting one hour later on Saturday mornings, trains will arrive in central London at around 07:00 from the middle of next year. Sunday morning services would remain unchanged from the present, where trains reach central London around 07:30. This will allow essential maintenance to track, trains and signals that can only be carried out at night when the network shuts down to still take place.
A small group of stations currently close earlier than others and will continue to do so. These include stations on the Metropolitan line north of Harrow-on-the-Hill, the Bakerloo line north of Queen's Park, intermediate stations on the Central line between Hainault to Woodford via Roding Valley as well as Heathrow Terminal 4 (reopens September 2006), Kensington Olympia and Cannon Street. “
Find out more about the consultation
As was mentioned above, the initial plan was to run one hour later on Friday and Saturday nights, but the later starts the following morning met with too much opposition – especially as Sunday morning starts are already later than the rest of the week.
BT Complaint
Following my ongoing situation with BT, I’d been promised a callback yesterday from the woman in High Level Complaints who was dealing with my situation, but we missed each other as I was at work at the time. It has been agreed to pay me an additional credit of £50 towards the phone account to cover the costs, downtime, and the rest, as the usual “goodwill gesture”. I accepted – partially as I thought that clearing both accounts was the final settlement… but that was good!
Make your own Church signs…
http://www.churchsigngenerator.com
Thanks to Adam for sending me this earlier in the month… forgot to mention it…
Thugs On The Buses
Totally different from yesterday's piece...
Thugs On The Buses
YOUTH behaviour on buses between Buckhurst Hill and Loughton has become so bad that many passengers are afraid to travel. Police are now searching for a solution which could see troublemakers banned.
Debden resident Carole Garwood, 62, said: "I won't travel on the buses any more. The shouting and swearing and fighting it's so threatening. It's out of control. In the last few years it's become unbelievable." Another resident, who did not want to be named, said: "I have to travel on the buses to work. Groups of teenagers, 20 or 30 of them, get on to the bus together, they stand in the aisles and the doorways blocking the exits. "If you ask them to move they swear at you. It's really frightening for the older people. I wouldn't use the buses if I didn't have to."
Havey Digpal, performance manager for Docklands Buses which operates the 167 bus from Ilford to Loughton, said the problem had escalated since teenagers aged 14 to 16 were granted free travel by Transport for London. He said: "The buses have become a playground for them." Last year the company put private security guards on the route, which Mr Digpal said was one of its most troubled. But he said that while the problems had abated, the cost of financing the experiment had proved too high to continue.
Bus drivers cannot forcibly eject young troublemakers from buses, as it goes against safety guidelines to leave minors unattended at the side of the road. Now Docklands Buses and Arriva London, which runs the equally troubled route 20 from Harlow to Loughton, are working with Transport for London and Essex Police to find a solution.
An Essex police spokesman said, "We're having a meeting with Transport for London next week to look at ways of banning them, or at least, for those causing trouble, to withdraw their right to free travel. The Met Police already has a similar policy and we're looking to incorporate that."
Mrs Garwood said: "Someone needs to stand up to them."
Following the allowance of free bus travel for all children and most young people on London's buses - and that does include cross-boundary routes like the 167, a lot of people had been waiting for something like this to happen. It may not be isolated, but it's certainly the most high profile case so far. Docklands Buses could not continue to afford to pay the security guards - presumably because the contractor, Transport for London (who pay for the bus to run) would not shell out for two members of staff on the bus - especially so short after the "end" of the Routemasters situation at the end of last year. It is interesting that this is at a time when the Mayor is campaigning for the privatised rail companies to pay for increased security "out of their profits" (quote)...
... on a related issue, Travel West Midlands have been offered (this was in last Sunday's Brum Sunday Mercury) a free four week trial of a Gurkha regiment, following a successful trial in Ikea's car park in Nottingham. Suki Ghuma, managing director of the security firm stated "... and if having a guard on board improves the safety of passengers, we will roll it out as a specialist service to all UK bus companies". All UK bus companies would presumably include London AND Essex, so perhaps this could be a potential solution for the circumstances... especially if a four-week trial could be offered here too...
You wait ages for a new bus route, then ten come along at once...
... no, seriously. Angus Council's agenda for the forthcoming Infrastructure Services meeting showed Dundee-based Fishers Tours are planning on introducing TEN new services.
As the Public Transport Update document from within the agenda showed, "Following the commencement of the new Scotland-wide free bus scheme for older and disabled persons from 1 April 2006, Fishers Tours have registered on a commercial basis a number of new local bus services aimed particularly at the leisure market. The start dates have still to be confirmed with the Traffic Commissioner however, these are expected to be in May 2006. The services will all operate on a fortnightly basis each offering a day return journey as follows:
Service 221 : Arbroath - Carnoustie - Monifieth - Dundee - Kirkcaldy (Tues)
Service 222 : Arbroath - Carnoustie - Monifieth - Dundee - Oban (Wed)
Service 223 : Arbroath - Carnoustie - Monifieth - Dundee - Birkhill- Pitlochry (Thurs)
Service 224 : Arbroath - Carnoustie - Monifieth - Dundee - Jedburgh (Fri)
Service 225 : Arbroath - Carnoustie - Monifieth - Dundee - Ayr (Mon)
Service 226 : Arbroath - Carnoustie - Monifieth - Dundee - Fort William (Tues)
Service 227 : Arbroath - Carnoustie - Monifieth - Dundee - Callander (Wed)
Service 228 : Arbroath - Carnoustie - Monifieth - Dundee - Inverness (Thurs)
Service 229 : Arbroath - Carnoustie - Monifieth - Dundee - Largs (Fri)
Service 230 : Dundee - Monifieth - Carnoustie - Arbroath - Montrose - Aberdeen (Mon)
Upon asking the transport manager and at their Travel Shop, these are to be marketed as Scottish Express, with no advance booking. Each service runs every fortnight, meaning it looks as if just one coach is to be used. The Kirkcaldy service will run "via coast". The only thing needed now is the start date, which is still planned for some point in May. McGill’s legendary “SmoothieCruisers” from last year i.e. their operating area to the boundary for the former SPT pass scheme was well received, and this seems to be a similar idea.
Never mind 666, here's the new number of the beast...
... and it's 420. I'm not referring to the batch of ex-Central Leyland Tiger's (419-423) that were refurbished for Strathtay either.
According to El Reg, the number 420 has various notables...
"The police team assembling Britain's national Auto Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) database have got some interesting results in. Making the use of ANPR computers that spook traffic using roadside CCTV cameras, police in the UK made 420 arrests a week in January.
Then again in February, the combined efforts of 43 British police forces nabbed 420 criminals a week using ANPR. John Dean, the national ANPR co-ordinator for the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), says the February figures are preliminary.
Nevertheless, these figures are very odd indeed. Those 420 arrests a week are the latest results from stage three of ACPO's "Laser" ANPR project, which involved the use of ANPR by all Britain's 43 police forces. As it happens, the Laser two pilot, in which 23 police forces used ANPR for a year to the summer of 2004, reported that one car in every 420 stopped by the ANPR team was a stolen car containing stolen goods.
This is where it gets spooky. In February last year, 420 people were "accurately" stopped by Metropolitan police ANPR in London (civil libertarians might want to note that 3,318 more people were mistakenly stopped by police after they were falsely identified by the system).
While in the City of London, Operation Daimon, using a "mobile ANPR vehicle" over two days in August 2004, "produced 420 hits" out of the 6,900 registration plates it read.
As it happens, the growth of the network of CCTV cameras in Wales has been justified numerous times on a flimsy bit of evidence that over 12 months to May 2004, cameras in Brynmawr, Blaina, and Abertillery recorded 420 "incidents", an unspecified number of which led to convictions.
That's quite a coincidence, because the Crime Reduction Programme (CRP), through which, amongst other things, the British government funded the growth of the world's largest CCTV network, had a total budget of £420m.
If this doesn't get your conspiracy alarm bells ringing, you need to smoke some more pot. Then note that most modern CCTV cameras have a 420 line resolution. Take another lug, and let's get back to the mystical powers the number 420 endows on those who wield power.
The Stonehenge People's Free Festival beloved of druids, hippies and peacenik crusties in the late 70s had its last summer solstice party in 1985, when police broke it up and apparently arrested 420 revellers at the legendary Battle of Beanfield.
AND THEN... near the end... the bit that sealed it for me...
..."Adolf Hitler was born on 4/20, or 20 April."
Enough said - so, 420 is the new number of the beast, thanks to the leader of the Third Reich, and the UK speed camera budget...
... until the next day, when the 419'ers began complaining.
"Our illuminating piece yesterday on the figure 420 stirred a certain feeling of unease among some Reg hacks who noticed a chilling sequential relationship between this new number of the beast and Nigeria's favourite numeral: 419.
Were, we wondered, the two in some way related? Was the dark hand of conspiracy at the controls of a black helicopter so vast that the mere thought of it might obscure the midday sun?
In short: yes.
419 is, as regular readers know, commonly used to abbreviate Section 419 of the Nigerian Penal code relating to advance fee fraud. Hence 419 scam, 419er, and so forth.
It's also the year in which the Visigoths invaded Spain (AD), a London bus route between Richmond and Hammersmith..." (the latter complete with a link to the 419 page on Robert Munster's London Bus Routes site...)
Enough said, but still fear the possibilities for the 6th of June 2006...
"...We do not sound like HANSON..."
Adam Hobson’s band (still unsigned by the way, if anyone from the industry is reading this and is in a thrash kind of mood), has got four new mp3’s in a “development” folder on their website, and he urged me to have a listen tonight. There is a Java loaded player on their myspace, but you can here them on the link above. I was half-way through the 2nd track in the folder, and I just about caused a riot by comparing the “quiet bit” to Hanson… and I gave someone else a listen, and they did too! Oh dear…
How do you do your own job?
TfL’s new microsite shows you how easy it is to become a Station Assistant, also has clips from “The Tube” documentary – heavily edited! It’s also got a quiz, which asks you a series of questions, to give you a feel for the job.
Well, for a job I used to do, I got four out of eight. Suppose the one with the blind guy shouldn’t have gone through the barriers, but one of our regulars took his guide dog through the ticket barriers every morning and evening in the peak...
Stagecoach Strathtay Trident pictured
I snapped the first Stagecoach Strathtay Trident today – it’s inside the shed at Dundee. It’s SP 06 EGU, but this does not show in the picture. No visibile body number sheet, or a fleetnumber. I will hope to get a more detailed look at it later. If all goes to plan, it’s going on the road w/c 1st May from Blairgowrie depot, and a total of four are expected including this one.
Forum
DABF is not down, it's just the domain name has been pointed in the wrong way, having been inadvertantly confused into an unrealted situation by the hosts (to do with where they point - now that I have a computer, I can do a bit more with it!) My other boards and sub-sites may also fail, so if this occurs go bcack to the susannascott.com/ format. I will blog for the rest of the week later.
(later - this was fixed during my travel to work).
No trains, no engineering work either
In my day, taking off trains for engineering work usually meant the work was done... but that was all pre-PPP. Now, do you recall all those campaigns about PPP would mean wasted money, wasted time, and a waste of resources? I think this is a case in point... Tube repairs did not take place
Tube passengers suffered disruption over the Easter weekend for engineering work that never took place.
London Underground (LU) suspended the Central Line between Leytonstone and Newbury Park for four days.
LU said contractor Metronet told them that it was unable to carry out the work just hours before it was due to begin.
Metronet apologised for the unnecessary disruption, blaming it on unforeseen circumstances.
London TravelWatch, the watchdog for transport users in London, said the mix-up was a disgrace.
Its chairman Brian Cooke, said: "At a time when there is a huge engineering programme going on all over the Tube network, this will hardly inspire confidence in passengers that the tube is being improved.
"This is absolutely disgraceful - a waste of money, a waste of time and completely unacceptable.
"As a passenger group, we know that engineering work needs to be done, and support the vital upgrade of the network - but shutting down a section of the Tube while absolutely no work is carried out simply cannot be allowed to happen again."
A spokesperson for LU said: "Metronet have known for many months that this specific closure on the Central Line was to take place.
Poor planning
"This is simply poor planning on the part of Metronet. We have demanded assurances from Metronet that failure to undertake planned engineering work will not happen again."
A spokesman for Metronet said: "Due to a number of unforeseen circumstances Metronet was unable to utilise a planned possession of the Central Line.
"The work was important and complicated but despite every effort in the run-up to the closure, we were unable to carry it out.
"We fully understand the frustration passengers must feel - and we apologise."
The best comeback ever?
BOFH quality at work here... "You're just nosing through my office aren't you? Trying to find something worth stealing?"
"No no, I took all that weeks ago. Nice brandy by the way"
Trip to Sainsbury’s…
… this evening, mainly to see if they were ready for Strathtay taking over the 88 shoppers bus service this coming Monday (see the
On The Strathtay Buses site
timetable for details).
I asked at Sainsbury's this evening re Service 88 changing hands... the person on the desk was none the wiser! He then opened up his pc, proceeded to google "Travel Dundee", bringing up their we
bsite. I then pointed him to OTSB, but he did not know any more about it (until that point anyway). Sainsbury’s had PB Bus Marketing do a flyer for the service for them as well – guess they will emerge eventually.
Speaking of Sainsbury's, they've done a 49p plastic A6 size ring binder for their recipe cards - which is a nice size for Stagecoach pocket or A6 size timetable leaflets!
Strathtay’s first new Stagecoach bus…
…has arrived this evening. It’s an Alexander-Dennis Trident ALX400, one of four due. It was too tightly parked in this evening for pics!
Broadband on order
There has been a lot written about price cuts, local loop unbundling, and the new DSL Max technology ("up to 8mb" as it should properly be called, to avoid any confusion of a guaranteed 8mb service!), and I am sure you can google search it yourself. The announcement from the Carphone Warehouse/TalkTalk of free broadband for everyone – as long as your exchange is LLU-equipped, you give us your phone line and calls to all countries – seemed good, even with an 18 month contract. Naturally, I could see a delay to such a popular offer, but on the MD’s blog, he said if you ordered last weekend, they’d have you up and running by the end of May.Since I am close enough from the exchange to make DSL Max work (the line checker estimates I could get 8.5mb) I’ve signed up for broadband from EFH, who I shall come to in a minute. The package I’ve got is £3.00 a month more than I currently pay BT for dial up, weighing in at £18.99 for a 15gb usage limit/guideline. But, there’s a flip side, as the BT price I pay is PLUS vat, and this one includes VAT, so I pay BT closer to £18.79… making the difference to jump from 56k to around 100 times that is a mere twenty pence per month! (And, once there are 1.5 million broadband customers via LLU lines, then the price of wholesale broadband drops for everyone, so this is going to go down before it goes up!)Once the broadband goes in, the “up to 8mb” service – once it’s stabilised after the first week – should be enough to do VoIP (voice over IP), whereby phone calls can be made using your broadband line. Having had a look at Vonage, who supply a voice over IP package for £7.99 a month. This gives you unlimited local or national UK landline calls, plus calls to landlines in the Republic of Ireland. This offers a saving of around £7 when compared with BT Together options 1 and 3 (the difference in price for the basic line service i.e. option 1, and the fully inclusive option 3, being £15.00 per calendar month). But, just like the broadband, there’s an extra incentive. Services such as caller display, ring back etc. are all totally free of charge, and controllable form your online control panel, saving another £5 at least per calendar month. Then, there’s the option of adding a virtual phone number in another country for less than £3 a month, allowing someone there to call you at their local rate i.e. in most US states, local is free.Back to EFH, and I liked the honesty involved here (EFH stands for Euro Fast Hosts, not the same as another Fasthosts hosting company). Under the FAQ page, it says...Q. Do you support Mac's?A. You can, and are quite welcome to, use our service with Mac's. However, to put it bluntly, we only know what we are talking about when it comes to PCs so our support is very limited. We have experience of supporting Mac's for our hosting customers but it's not what you'd call experienced! So, sorry Mac owners - if you know what you are doing, feel free but if not you may need to find someone who does - and you are unlikely to find that someone on the end of our phone line.i.e. not like a company who claims to, yet doesn’t train staff in them, and can sometimes discipline the staff for over-helping!So why did I make these choices? Both have a one-month minimum term (the EFH contract states you pay the line enabling fee i.e. £45 if you leave within 12 months), and show the way the nature of the comms market is changing, whilst still giving me the opportunity to take a better deal, or go elsewhere if it all goes t*ts=up!
Adventures in pc upgrading
I’ve been busy this week! Left with a fairly empty hard drive, and a fairly empty purse, mean I can get a handful of upgrades from the likes of Download.com... but there is some excellent stuff there even if you were not on a limited budget! When I was in for the essentials earlier on, I noticed a PC Starter Kit, which claimed to offer 20 essential utilities. I already had Firefox and Acrobat Reader, and I will be going back when I get broadband for a few others. In the meantime, two caught my eye.
Trillian is a multi-use chat client – doing AOL, IRC, IRQ, plus Yahoo & MSN. You can disconnect one at a time, and switch between logins for one client whilst leaving the others unaffected. Once it's downloaded, you download a bit extra for each set - AOL and ICQ are in one for some reason - then it is just five minutes in "connections" to set your users and passwords. Then, you are on - or offline, as the case may be. Colour-coding works for each different client.
Fast Stone Image Viewer has a deceptive name, as it lets you do a lot more than just view… It allows a browser style window, then full-screens your image when you open it.
Also, there were two other products.I had. These did not make the “Starter Kit”, but are well worth a download.
CD Ripper I've had this for a few weeks, and liked it so much I went back to get it again! Basically “does what it says on the tin” – and it’s freeware. Also doubles up as a media player – and you can turn that off if you need to…
PDF ReDirect v2 allows you to print pdf’s. It’s freeware, with lots of good settings – like setting the colours (for litho printing, or for basic home printing), several size settings, and more besides.
32bit Fax I downloaded this to let me fax the doctors my prescription repeat request – and it works! It’s not freeware, but as long as you don’t want to run a news network on it, it will do for you (one modem is more than enough for most people!
Kerr's Minature Railway owner dies
It’s the one train or bus – in minature – that just about every kid in this part of the world has been on, so this news was somewhat saddening.
Railway stalwart Matt Kerr dies
“THE PROPRIETOR of one of Arbroath’s—and indeed Scotland’s—best-known tourist attractions has died.
Mr Matt Kerr, who ran the popular miniature railway at the town’s West Links, passed away suddenly on Monday night. He was 62.
He had been ill for some months, although he did not let his illness unduly affect his business and he did a full day’s work at his railway on Saturday.
Kerr’s Miniature Railway is the oldest of its kind in Scotland and has carried hundreds of thousands of passengers, young and old, in its 71-year history.
The railway was established in 1935 and run for the next 42 years by Mr Kerr’s father, Matthew Kerr, sen.
Operating during the summer, the railway proved a popular attraction with holidaymakers, carrying no less than 60,000 passengers during the summer of 1955, although it suffered and was threatened with closure as tourist numbers declined in the 1960s and 70s.
Mr Kerr, jun, took over in 1977, although he had been driving the trains since the age of 13, and the railway’s popularity returned and it has grown to include six engines, together with the rolling stock to carry passengers, a station and tunnel, earning it a four-star grading from the Scottish Tourist Board in 2001.
Although best known for his railway, Mr Kerr also found the time for a successful teaching career and he was a long-serving teacher of history at Montrose Academy.
He was also interested in local politics and fiercely proud of his town, prompting one of his peers, Angus journalist Ian Lamb, to describe him yesterday as “probably one of the best town councillors Arbroath ever had.”
Mr Kerr was a Labour councillor for Arbroath’s East Ward from 1973 until the reorganisation of local government. He returned to the council chamber in 1978 as a district councillor for the town’s Abbey ward.
Prior to that he had worked as a signalman with British Rail. His educational career began in 1972 after he graduated from Dundee University.
He was a former chairman of the Arbroath branch of the Labour Party, a member of Tayside Health Board and a past chairman of the Angus association of the EIS.
Mr Kerr, leaves a wife, Jill, and son, John (10). He is also survived by his mother, Catherine, and sister, Jean.”
The bridge says Scrap the Courier
The Courier is currently running a “Scrap The Tolls” campaign, but doesn’t seem to like it being aimed back at them.
“SHARP-EYED reader Trevor Davies spotted an unusual angle on the bridges tolls row.
Toll collectors at the Tay bridge have launched their own campaign—using The Courier’s Scrap the Tolls car stickers.
Mr Davies said, “As a daily user of the Tay bridge and a staunch supporter of The Courier’s Scrap the Tolls campaign, I could not help but notice that the windows of the toll booths are now sporting an adapted, cut up, Scrap the Tolls sticker.
“The sticker now reads, ‘The bridge says Scrap The Courier’.”…”
Probably the only time I will be able to post about an American bus breakdown...
As was posted earlier to the Megabus group… never mind, I am sure either the Brighton or the Brum service had a break down on the first day, and the police put the passengers on NatEx...
THE latest attempt by Stagecoach to break into the American market ground to a halt as staff on the company's new Chicago-Cleveland cut-price bus route forgot a vital ingredient – the diesel. The British company launched its Megabus no-frills bus line in Chicago on Monday. The 55 passengers arrived at their destination on time, unlike the customers who took the return leg on the same bus.
The Megabus had not travelled much of the 342-mile trip back to Chicago when it began to struggle. At first the passengers cared not a jot — after all they had such luxuries as reclining cloth seats, televisions and reading lights to distract them from their impending peril. Moments later, however, the bus was stuck on the side of the road, motionless and without fuel.
Dale Moser, president and chief executive officer of Stagecoach’s American arm, apologised profusely to the angry travellers and at first blamed the poor "refuelling agent" at Cleveland. However, after careful investigation Mr Moser discovered that the fuel gauge on the Chicago bus was stuck. "We were concerned because these buses have ample fuel-tank capacity to cover both legs of this journey," Mr Moser told The Times. "But then we discovered the faulty gauge, which has now been fixed. It was very inconvenient for our customers but just typical that something like this would happen on our first trip."
No tech, the streets are alight...
From the UKBUG
Civil unrest in has left ISP Be's call centre out of action.
The centre in Bangalore, India, has had to be closed due to a 24 hour curfew imposed by the government to curb civil unrest in the city.
"We have just been informed that there is a 24 hour government enforced curfew in Bangalore due to local civil unrest and, as a result, we are unable to handle any calls or tickets from there as of 5.30pm today. Unfortunately this unrest has affected not only our main call centre, but also our back-up sites."
Be email
For the present it has sourced a small team of contractors from the UK to provide emergency back-up.
Not as good an excuse as being snowed in at Alness, is it? :-)
Stagecoach website
I'd mentioned a colleague discusing the Stagecoach website, about an award. Well, it wasn't quite winning an award just yet -
Stagecoach Group’s corporate website has been shortlisted for a major investor relations award.
The Group site, www.stagecoachgroup.com, is one of four shortlisted in the Best Website FTSE250 category of the 2006 Investor Relations Best Practice Awards.The awards, which are organised by the Investor Relations Society, honour companies that lead the way in best practice investor communication and provide clear, timely and transparent information.Developed by online corporate communications specialists Investis, Stagecoach Group’s website was completely redesigned last year with more comprehensive information and additional functions.
The useful bit on this website for enthusiasts, is the ability to get PDF's of the corporate staff newspaper, On Stage, as well as the Image Library, including logos and some generic pics.
Team Night Out - Part 2...
I left last night just after 2300 hours, and everyone else left about one hour later. They were crossing the road, when one of our party was hit by a bus...
It turns out that he came across the Perth Road, and they were all singing the Indiana Jones theme tune (as they've just twigged who he looks like). He was crossing the road, and then somehow then ended up with his head bouncing off the windscreen of a Dennis Dart what would be the last 16 (2310 from Perth to Dundee).
The driver was ok and a Strathtay rep came from the bus station to pick him up, and take him back to the bus stn/depot. Harrison was taken by ambulance to Ninewells, but didn't spend the night there.He has since called in sick this morning, with a sore head presumably caused by the windscreen, which was damaged enough for him to warrant a round of 11 stitches.
No follow up from either party, it appears to have been an unfortunate accident. I hope the driver is as lucky, though.
Geed Geed Friday
Well, it was Good Friday, but "the geed Ali Downie" had renamed it to "Geed Geed Friday" in relation to the "team night out" plugs - hence I've pinched it for the above. After a double day of it, I couldn't come up with anything better!
So, we left last night with a semi-working computer, and potentially lost my book (which included the bank card, and a few other things). Firstly, up and about, had another look via mail2wap - an email back in a response to a text I sent someone at Strathtay saying basically nothing seen, but it could be in the safe.
So, I started on the pc, STILL wondering why I could get no web at all out of it. It will connect on any connection, just it will not do any web pages or throughput. DNS settings all tried, but I was getting no throughput AT ALL - i.e. not even being able to ping the ip addresses. Basically, it looked like whatever connection or browser combination I used (2 browsers, 2 modems, 2 cables, lots of connections!), it didn't work.
Got a call from Strathtay's depot office at 0945 to the mobile, saying that "We've found a filofax... did you know you'd lost it?" This was from the depot lost property person, who agreed to leave it downstairs at the stance inspectors office. So, that was that - and an improvement. Headed to the shower - no phone calls this time! - before continuing to Ubernet, for probably my last download ever there - the BT dialller. Well, just in case, but it wouldn't save to my stick/mp3 player. So, tried emailing it to myself, but my server bounced it back to me, saying this is potentially a virus! (No "send to self" over-ride mode there then). Graeme tried to assist by moving to another computer, but no need as I said I would give it a go later.
So, got to the bus station, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw one of the three Stagecoach Strathtay liveried Volvo Olympians from Blairgowrie depot arriving on the 57 service. Thought nothing of it, crossed the road, and went to the stance for my book. Picked it up, and thanked them, then turned around and started to walk off.
(You'll like this, because all things considered, even I did not see this twist coming!)
"Hello son...."
Yes, my mum had just came off the 57, having been up to Newtyle to visit my dad and my grandmother's sister. We agreed to go for a chat in the bus station cafe, and we exchanged news. She didn't have a lot of her own, but she was meeting my sister who arrived at the same time as one of Park's Van Hool Citylink liveried double deck Volvo coaches. They mentioned they were waiting for someone coming from Glasgow... and I pointed out that bus was sitting there... Still, a bit of a change for just over half an hour of difference anyway.
Went to MBE, and tried to download said dialler again. Wouldn't go, so I burnt it to a CD instead. After that, powercards, council tax, and a few things from the shops, before heading back home to try more with the pc.
By 1700, I'd already done one format of the pc, and noting was going. But, if I opened up Mozilla Firefox browser, then Mozilla Thunderbird email, then clicked on a link in that, it would get me SOME web. By some, I mean those with little names. BT.Com, BBC.co.uk were ok. Mozilla.com was fine. Download.Mozilla.Com was not, and Scotbus.com was not either. Soon after, I decided that the only thing i'd not tried was to remove the other hard drive. There is now an 80gb main hard drive on the pc (thus being the most I could afford - after 80gb the price breaks are not as good per gb for another few quid), and thus the 3gb one was useful to get going, but not really needed. I'd changed it from C to D - something to do with two Maxtor hard drives and the jumpering (don't start me with that - the Western Digital ones were worse!), but basically I decided the last thing I could try was a complete format, and then live on one 80gb hard drive. Backed up my work (again) before removing the D drive, inserting the Windows disc, and letting it take its course.
By 1900, I'd reinstalled the modem, and was online, getting all web fine. I'd have to reinstall almost everything else i.e. Office, Acrobat etc. but it seemed to be the only choice I had left. If it was failing now, what would it be like later?
Anyway, it's the night of the team night out! After all the f**king about above, I was feeling a bit worn, but decided I'd go anyway. I did promise... and I did turn up when it was downstairs, so I don't want to be accussed of convience. Just after 2000 left the house and went for the 4B along the Perth Road, to a new bar called Amsterdam. It used to be something else - I forget what - but it is opposite what used to be Aitken's Wine and one of the university car parks. It's beside a disued shop which used to be an ice cream place back in the days (many years now, I think!), and beside The Gate. For the bus drivers, it's between Springfield and the next one westbound.
The "Geed Ali Downie" is now social organiser of the team, following Graeme "The Ferret" Webster's move to "a classier team" a few months ago (i.e. corporate). This was the first such event that didn't involve someone's house, and not on a Saturday night when I work, either. Went in just after 2015ish, lots of people there. Surprisingly, mostly still sober. AD was standing upright as I walked in, which was good, as I thought they'd be cut by this point (they said getting drunk was the main objective). There is a large screen tv (which was showing My Name Is Earl - the episode where he stole a laptop), and there was a live jock playing a real mixture of older stuff. Not a lot of room to move, but still room for the interactive quiz machine called Hexed or something like it - a combination of Blockbusters meets Countdown. The mysetery guest was Chicco (Ghullam) who popped in for a few minutes earlier on - I saw the pictures! Anyway, lots of pictures taken by myself and others, and mine will be online in time.
I left just after 2300, giving me the option of the last 4B to Albert Square, or the last 10A to the High St/Forthill. Having had Excel 207 on the 4B in, initally waited for it coming back (no real reason), but the 10A came first with Volvo 149. Got this into the City, and a 17 and 29 were both sat there. Took 135 on the 17 round the block (£1.50 evening saver well used even for just a short trip!) and a taxi driver was deliberatly obstructing the bus driver on the way out of Whitehall Street.
Got home, and proceeded to try some more downloads to get the pc back up and running. I'd been recommended by a colleague to try an online site called eMessenger, which was a nice alternative to Yahoo's own web messenger (which hasn't worked for me for months).
Now, this is the next bit I didn't see coming. I'd logged in, two online. One particularly special gentleman by he name of Jay, who I've not spoken to in so long... several months now, partially thanks to the situation with no phone line, and him living on the opposite side of the world to me. He's been good to me, and I've also tried to be good back. He was working late - after he had to go in to work (he usually works from home) after having a systems outage (as they call it). He logged off about 0200 Saturday my time. Jay, hon, as ever, you've been wonderful... xxx
Now, ever a gluten for punishment (and with Firefox downloaded, and Thunderbird downloading six months mail), I then ran a Microsoft system update. 23 critical updates to your system - don't you just love bugware?
Went to bed at 0300 into Saturday morning, a very happy girl :-D
V. Good Thursday
Right, where do I start?
Last night, I'd worn the mobile down, so had it in the charger in the hallway. It was turned off to avoid being woken by anything overnight - for a change. I had a quick read of my email via mail2wap (wap based version of mail2web.com), and another mail from the same person in BT, saying that she was unable to get me on my mobile... can I please send her the number, and some other details... So, I turned on the pc, and looked at the letter. OK, should be 078 and not 079 at the start... never mind, I forgot. Less than two minutes after sending the email off my mobile, the mobile rang... and it was A.C. from BT. They've reinstated my phone line, effective now, and cleared the previous erroneous invoice, because of my long-running issues... Good...
So, I tried the landline. No dial tone. On checking the cables, I'd unplugged it, presumably during the bad weather during the winter. Plugged it back in - the landline works, and there's already a 1571 voicemail from her checking that it does!
I then headed for the shower, before going to work. The phone rang. It was a brain freeze moment "Oh the phone's ringing... what do I do?... well, answer it..." OK I'd forgotten how to react in the preceeding six months or so, but I ran for it. I got as far as the handset - and it went to 1571 voicemail. AAARRGGHHHH! Leaving a wet dripping trail of hot water, shampoo and shower stuff, following me in both directions...
The phone rings for a second time, and it turns out to be a recorded scam. Yes, I've not even had the phone line back for an hour, and already they think I am fair game!
I phoned her back, and she said "Oh, and I've reactivated your broadband too..."
Hang on, I've not got broadband... so I questioned this... and it's the Connect Anytime I had - but because it was Connect, she'd assumed it was broadband. So she asked "How can you suspend a dial-up product?"
I said "It's easy... you go into OSS, and..."
She said "Stoppit...!"
I half-thought she thought I was being fas.... abusive... but not, I carried on to explain that if you suspend such an account, it loses email and dial-up rights. So we've both learned from the call, and she's agreed to call me in 13 days time i.e. after the holidays, and her week off on holiday too.
On the way to work, had to go via Disc Depot for a new 56k modem, after some install issues with the other one. Managed to walk past three Strathtay managers who were in the High Street at "Littlewoods", as I passed on the other side of the road. When I started to head over, my 13 arrived to take me west! I got to work, and I was told we were having a team meeting. Yes. We've not had one of those in months. And just like the last time, it is the day before a Team Night Out!
After that, meeting about the situation with facilities. I should point out we are only up to 3pm by this point! All went reasonably well - some stuff they were not aware of, and a few things I was not. It seems as it there is an ongoing thing to try and improve the place, despite the fact the place is currently two main managers short, but things like having taps but not having any water in them, were news to them!
Early evening, I get word about Stagecoach winning an award for their website... this was news to me, but this came from a colleague. He said he liked megabus.com, as it was clear, and better than Virgin Trains/The Train Line (49% owned by Virgin), as it does not allow you to select the choice of trips in both directions to the same way as Megabus does. I said I'd look into it.
Mid-evening, and word reaches me during my break that the Office of Fair Trading has decided not to investigate further the case of the sale of the Traction Group Limited (including Strathtay Scottish & Meffan) to Stagecoach. This means no Competition Commmison referal - unlike the Citylink/Megabus merger, where they are even leafleting passengers in Glasgow, to get their views!
On the way home, I managed to leave the pink book/filofax on the bus, as I departed at the Seagate. I didn't see this until after I got off, went via Tesco for food, and ended up home.
Then, I needed the Connect Anytime phone number, which I'd written in the book... so, ran back via Tesco to the bus station, to see the cleaners at 224, and nothing was found. The driver had paid in and gone home, and no mention was made of anything being left.
I went home, to look further - now thinking that I'd left it at home - and bumped into a colleague who was between pubs and club.
So, went home, modem installed - BUT it connects, and gets no web! Nothing at all! Two different providers..
At 1am, decided to call it a day. VERY Good day, and glad I've "won" vs. BT. But... this does now mean I have a working phoneline, but the modem gets nothing web related at all. It also means the book may well be lost - but I was sat under the camera. Tommorrow will effectivly be a continuation of today... especially as I am off work...
Wacky Wednesday
Do you remember my complaints vs. BT that I've been on about since last Autumn? Well - I got an email today from the person in high level complaints who had been dealing with mine, before she went off on sick - totally unexpectedly. I got an email from her today, as a response to my one I'd sent a few weeks ago. She'd written back, despite being in another team, and although someone else has now been allocated my case, it turns out they'd also gone off sick. (I am seeing a pattern here?) She's promised to review my case with her manager, and get back to me tommorrow i.e. before the bank holiday weekend. Now there IS a surprise...
"The item you are bidding are official thankyou chocolates from BT. I recieved these from previous and thought i'd give you all the chance to own a mauch appreciated thankyou from BT. This is from the handwritten note from BT.
Item has NOT been opened and from chat with friends the chocolates range from quite tasty to gooooood. However be warned, there is a crazy lemon that a few really didn't like.
This chocolates come as new with paper seal still in place. i will send item to highest bidder assuming that THEY KNOW their own Allergies and tastes for chocolates.
Happy Bidding"
Perthshire & Strathmore Trip
Today's trip took me around the other half of the Strathtay network...
962 57 Dundee - Blairgowrie
166 62 Blairgowrie - Dunkeld (Tuesdays & Fridays only, twice per day)
166 62 Dunkeld - Blairgowrie
225 63 Blairgowrie local
812 57 Blairgowrie - Perth
150 56 Perth - Stormontfield (twice per Tuesday or Thursday)
150 56 Stormontfield - Perth
150 53A Perth - Coupar Angus (Tuesday only - similar 53B runs on Thursdays via Burrleton not Ardler)
962 57 Coupar Angus - Alyth
Meffan L321 AUT 128 Alyth - Kirriemuir depot
612 20 Kirriemuir depot - Kirriemuir
612 20 Kirriemuir - Dundee
You can see the pics here! Highlights of this week's trip - it's always good to see occasional runs and services, and I'd done the 62A a few times in the last few years but it was my first run (for some time?) on the 62 via Lethendy and not Snaigow. Slightly more straight-forward as you don't have to double-run Spittalfield, you just run through it. Former Strathtay 931 is at a farm near Ardler, and is mostly intact with a few minor bumps.
While we are on the subject of lists, last Wednesday's took me on...
617 20 Dundee - Kirriemuir
617 20 Kirriemuir - Forfar Tesco
902 21 Forfar Tesco - Brechin Clerk Street
957 30 Brechin library - Montrose
151 52 Montrose high st - Forties Road
151 52 Forties Road - Links Health Centre
219 48 Links Health Centre - Montrose Station
312 47 Montrose Station - Rossie Island Depot
958 39 Rossie Island Depot - Arbroath Bus Station
232 36 Arbroath Bus Station - Froickheim Stance
walk to A933/B961 (1 mile and a bit away)
420 27 A933/B961 Junction - Forfar Tesco
218 20B Forfar Cross - Dundee
Six Chocolates Is Nice, But A Job Would Be Better
Following the ongoing issues with work (we still don't know if we shall be needed after the summer), plus my ongoing complaint about my phone bill (six months and still no-where near a reply, except a token acknowledgement to my last fax), we were somewhat surprised to be give a "gift" from BT today. A small cardboard carton about three inches square, with six tiny chocolates inside... Several boxes ended up in the bin, and the cleaners did go away with a few... I'm wondering who will be first to order the manager who signed the "hand-written note" (they were all identical i.e. write one, scan it, and print them), an INDIA-n take-away. Geddit?
... after the last update...
... I thought I'd done it all, but there were a few missing! The most obvious one is to state that Megabus.com have agreed to refund me £60 after the Newcastle trip i.e. £56 for the train, and £4 to refund the mega fare. I added this just to be fair - not for any "requested" reason, but it does show that some companies can get things right, after they get things wrong (see my ongoing rant with BT for example...)
Blog now back up to date
I've now updated the blog with all the recent happenings - scroll back the last two weeks. For anyone who thinks I'm having a too wonderful life right now, it's all hitting me back hard as I'm at work...
This weekend's Venus...
Even for those of you who don't normally read Venus Envy, take a quick look at this weekend's (one off?) comic. It's a snippet from the real life world of the artist...
To toll or not to toll...
Never mind the debate in the Scottish press about which bridges should, or should not, impose a toll. Since the introduction of the Congestion Charge in London, several embassies and high commissons have declared themselves immune from charging.
The latest press release says that the United Arab Emirates have coughed up the cash, which comes to £99,950 including late fines etc. That's not the sort of money you can pay at a PayPoint either... but as Red Ken says, the USA still have to pay. "Those embassies, such as that of the United States, which flout the laws of this country and misuse diplomatic immunity to evade the charge are enjoying the benefits of reduced congestion but contributing nothing."
"British diplomats respect US law when in the US. They pay American tolls on bridges and roads. The US Embassy should accept the advice of the British government and recognise that by trying to ignore this country's laws they do nothing but damage their standing in the eyes of London's citizens. I hope they will now take a leaf from the United Arab Emirates and understand that as the richest and most powerful country in the world they can well afford to respect this country's laws."
Bird Flu...
... Steve Parker sent this message by text. You'll see he waited until I got back to Scotland, and until he got safely back to England, before sending this...
"I think I've got Bird Flu.
I put on make-up,
talk bo!!ocks,
and was unable to park the car properly..."
Angus trip
I had a trip round Angus today - see the pictures here.
Long weekend in a day and a half
We left Dundee a little late on Friday night, using Neoplan 50147 to Perth Broxden. Then, MAN 50058 took us south. Not quite an early April fool (as Paul H thought when I started my texts!), but the bus had to be stopped four times between Edinburgh and the border, to allow the engine to cool down. When the Newcastle drivers took over - remember it was theirs until last week - they knew how to fix it, and let the bus thrash on down. The Barnsley based drivers took over at an unspecified services (I was asleep), and they turned the bus into a sauna before we made it to London. There were three of us - me, TP2040, and Willie from Kirkcaldy. We arrived into London about 30 minutes late, but TP2040 made a dash to his bus for Birmimgham, on route to a Sonic The Hedgehog Appreciation meeting of some sort. (This is what he told me, I don't think there was a name for it, was there?)
Anyway, having left the two of us to breakfast, we went via Holborn so I could have a look at the 68 service, which (along with the 468, X68 and N68) changed hands that morning from Arriva London South to London Central's Camberwell garage. Also saw both the University of East London Citaro artics in the blue and orange advertisment liveries.
We headed over the river to Waterloo, and most of the side streets were closed off. This was to allow cranes in, so that the 93 stock on the Waterloo & City Line can be removed for refurbishment in Doncaster. Take a look here, and here for a more widespread view. Metronet had their Optare Solo publicity bus round the back of Waterloo. We then headed via Oxford Street to Victoria, but not after Willie had recieved a call on his mobile about one of his aunt's passing away in Kirkcaldy earlier on in the day. When I got to Victoria train station, we saw another of the 93 stock leaving for heading north.
Olympian 13621 took us to Brighton Pool Valley, and saw various things. One of the Southdown preserved PD3's was on a "wedding" hire, and a more modern B&H double decker showing for "Elaine & Cathryn's Big Day". Lots of pictures in Brighton, before we got Dart 34642 on the 700 between Brighton & Worthing. We got out here as the next bus behind (15 minutes) was to be a double decker (two slightly different overlapping services every 30 minutes at this point - have a look here), and then we would be able to use that all the way to Portsmouth. I snapped the open top PD3, and had a raid at the timetable rack at the depot! The service passed via Chichester and Havant bus stations - the latter under construction - before getting off the Olympian 16346 we'd been on for several hours at Portsmouth Harbour station/The Hard interchange, which First branding refers to as the adjacent leisure and retail outlet called Gunwharf Quays.
We then took the Megatrain carriage (2nd one) to London Waterloo, with one of SWT's trademark new Siemens Desiro's. There was no Megatrain branding on the 2nd carriage, as had been promised, but the helpful guard did a pa announcement accordingly. They have a Megatrain booking sheet, and it's virtually identical to a bus one, service MT1! The guard assisted with removing a drunk passenger from the third carriage, in Guildford (following a passenger complaint). Another passenger then complained, and challenged the guard, but he promised removal if it continued, so he was quiet all the way into Waterloo.
Then from Waterloo to Victoria by Travel London 211 (TA128 then TA129), before getting 50040 back to Broxden, and then Neoplan 50136 from Broxden to Dundee.
To see all the pictures from the section, see the following - Selection 1, Selection 2, Selection 3, Selection 4, Selection 5, Selection 6.
Weekend Trip Stats...
... by popular demand!
The Dundee - London Victoria section via Newcastle is 481.93 miles, quoted by the AA website.
541 miles Dundee - Brighton (including Victoria, Holburn & Waterloo etc.)
164 miles Brighton - Portsmouth
573 miles Portsmouth - Dundee (including just over 90 miles on the train, quoted by OAG)
A total of 1,278 miles, for the total of £20 !
£3.00 Dundee - Ferrytoll/Edinburgh
£2.00 Ferrytoll/Edinburgh - London
£3.00 One Day Bus Pass price cap on Oyster card (TfL)
£1.00 London - Brighton
£6.00 Stagecoach South Day Goldrider
£2.00 Portsmouth Harbour - Waterloo (Megatrain)
£2.00 London - Edinburgh/Ferrytoll
£1.00 Edinburgh/Ferrytoll - Dundee
(well, probably a few more miles the way the bus did it, but I entered all the timing points into the AA website)...
This works out at 0.639 miles per penny... or 63.9 miles for a pound...
