Suzy, Drinker Of Coffee

The story continues...

2007-04-30T00:01:00.000+01:00

... over on my LiveJournal... come on over!

Very random stuff

2007-04-06T23:29:00.000+01:00

Work We weren't all in today after all... a bit busier, but it died off.

Weather... I knew it was good, but this in the Courier surprised me.

"Monifieth weather watcher Neil Ferguson recorded a maximum temperature of 21.2C, well up on last year’s April peak of 16.6C. The first time the mercury passed 21.2C last year was on June 2, with 22.7C, he said"

Train Tickets... as it looks like I'm going to be a semi-regular user of First Capital Connect services now, it may or may not give me the right of a whine... but seriously, this one (found via The Ticket Collector) came to me as a surprise.

"...I thought that I would tell you that FCC have decided to create a new type of Peak Travelcard which you can get railcard discounts on, AND it lets you come back during the evening peak as well!

The ticket is called the One Day Off Peak Travelcard Plus it is still the same price as a normal Peak Travelcard, but you can get normal railcard discounts on it which brings it to slightly above the normal off peak Travelcard. Also being a Travelcard Plus you are allowed to leave london at any time and you can leave during the normal evening peak."

... in other words, it's the old One Day Off Peak Travelcard from before the evening peak restriction introduction, with a bit more whacked on top. Got to love First eh? How long before First ScotRail are trying the same with One-Tickets?

The name I've changed the name of the blog from "Suzy In The City" to "Suzy, Drinker Of Coffee". I was thinking of a new title, and was inspired by auntysarah changing her title from "Sarah's Transition Musings" to "Sarah, The Bringer Of Tea"... She explained this last weekend, that she is known for bringing tea in times of a crisis...

The blog At the moment, you can currently get Suzy in stereo surround sound, in both Blogger and Livejournal format. I've copied back the last week or so of March onto Livejournal, but the older stuff is on Blogger only. The two will continue until at least the end of the month, then I will decide. Formatting on LJ seems so much easier!

Maps & Timetables A new edition of the Perth & Kinross Council Public Transport Map - the first since late 2002 - is now in print. Dated "From 16th April 2007", the map includes all the changes up to that point, and should be availbile from all outlets now. The Angus Council map should not be too far behind.

Bus Service Changes - Angus, Dundee, Fife, Perth & Kinross Some mostly minor things due for 16th April. Stagecoach Fife 23 (St Andrews - Stirling) and Citylink/Megabus Services M90/M91 (Dundee/Inverness - Perth - Edinburgh) will run into the new Kinross Park & Ride site. Stagecoach Fife 36B (Glenrothes - Gateside) is extended to/from Kinross Park & Ride site. Stagecoach Fife 35/36 (Cupar/Glenrothes - Perth) are to be improved, to give two buses an hour from Newburgh to Perth, but reducing the service to Cupar. Additionally, when combined with the 56, there will be a bus every 20 minutes from Bridge of Earn to Perth.

... and finally ... having said what I did last night about The Illusion Principle, I got a message today from Dave - the guitarist from TIP. Turns out he found my site/blog while googling his own band, and was still impressed at the suggestion of TIP playing Kewbworth! I guess I've got to do it now... and maybe even video record it with the brick.. see my Bebo to see it.

Tags: transition, transport, work
Current Location: Dundee City Centre
Current Mood: bouncy
Current Music: The Illusion Principle - Mark Stanley Thinks You're Rubbish...

Good Friday Morning

2007-04-06T11:59:00.000+01:00

Good Friday is naturally a very important date in the Christian history – and I’m not trying to upstage it today. As I have talked about before, this day has special memories for me.. On Good Friday 9^th April 2004, I came out to the world, went full-time, whatever you want to call it. Previously my male clone occupied my body, but three years ago, this was a very special (and slightly scary, when it got down to it) moment. I was hoping to be at the stage of having surgery worked out by this point – and, I can now say I have (see last Saturday’s post).

There are a few other thoughts too. Tomorrow is Saturday 7^th April, which marks four and a half years in my current job HR mention to the new starts that the average tenure is 18-24 months (I’d have said more like 12-18 in practice). There have been ups and downs to the lot. With my current plans, it looks like I will stay there in the run up to surgery, unless I get a very unlikely and hugely life-changing offer. That would mean at least three months off afterwards, so that should clearly see me well into five years service in one job – very scary! Nothing is going to be set in stone this year though!

Of course, this time last year (Geed Geed Friday) did see our team night out, with spectacular results early on Saturday morning… and upon mentioning this, Caroline asked me not to get too drunk on our team night out tomorrow! I’m not a drinker, but not strictly an abstainer either…

… Put it this way. I’ve got lots of good things to think of, lots of recent happy times, lots of good memories. It’s time to commemorate and celebrate the achievements, and this is the perfect excuse… like I need one!

So, today, we are all going to be at work. As per last year, I am still on the “old old old” agency contract, so this is the one time of the year when I actually make a little bit more i.e. double time and a half. Thankfully they’ve not tied to mess our shifts around this time!

If you are wondering when the deeply moving personal stuff comes up, well keep watching. In the meantime, keep watching for the latest transport, work and love gubbins!

Wow, what a week…

2007-04-05T23:59:00.000+01:00

… can it get any better? Another beautiful morning in Dundee, paid a day early for Easter – and so deeply in love. You know the phrase “absence makes the heart grow fonder?” Well, by the messages we’ve exchanged ion the last 24 hours, I would say we are now growing deeper in love, despite being so far apart!

A ride home tonight was courtesy of Adam, who picked up two of his flatmate’s friends on the way along the Perth Road. I’ve never seen him getting so well double-teamed by the two in the back… we all love him really, honest!

Yesterday, we heard from Jay, tomorrow he heads south to Florida to see the rest of his family on holiday for a bit – enjoy your well-deserved break, and try not to relax too much! Don’t do anything I wouldn’t… (regular blog readers will be aware this leaves for plenty of scope…) So, for today, the words of Kelly Clarkson herself… (the *other* American Idol from Rochester! lol)… and it sums things up so well!

"Breakaway"

Grew up in a small town
And when the rain would fall down
I'd just stare out my window
Dreaming of what could be
And if I'd end up happy
I would pray (I would pray)

Trying hard to reach out
But when I tried to speak out
Felt like no one could hear me
Wanted to belong here
But something felt so wrong here
So I prayed I could break away

[Chorus:]
I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly
I'll do what it takes til' I touch the sky
And I'll make a wish
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway
Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won't forget all the ones that I love
I'll take a risk
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway

Wanna feel the warm breeze
Sleep under a palm tree
Feel the rush of the ocean
Get onboard a fast train
Travel on a jet plane, far away (I will)
And breakaway

[Chorus]

Buildings with a hundred floors
Swinging around revolving doors
Maybe I don't know where they'll take me but
Gotta keep moving on, moving on
Fly away, breakaway

I'll spread my wings
And I'll learn how to fly
Though it's not easy to tell you goodbye
I gotta take a risk
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway
Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won't forget the place I come from
I gotta take a risk
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway, breakaway, breakaway

Wishing you all a peaceful Easter (or religious festival of choice), and I will be here when you get back… probably still typing!

The bits I missed earlier

2007-04-04T23:55:00.000+01:00

I managed to miss out (believe it or not) a couple of important bits from my posts. I gave you an introduction last time, so I’d better do the same again. Caroline Mathieson was born 47 and a bit years ago in Irvine, but was educated in Dundee at Kirkton High School (now Baldragon Academy). After graduating from Dundee University, she has largely lived south of the border. She works as a software engineer in Meldreth, and lives in Royston, Hertfordshire - 45 miles north of London. She is also in transition herself. In the last few years, she has taken to walking pilgrimages in Europe, and has already walked 300km in March this year on a Spanish Camino. She has a website on such things, but I will add the link once it is back online – hosted on her own Apache server at home, ran on a Mac! I met her initially via an online support group (yes, another nutty romance, in more ways that one! Lol), and she has been fantastically supportive to me this year – despite only knowing me online. When I was depressed back in January, it is no exaggeration that she was first to respond to my messages. She did drive a 4x4, but recently collected a S-reg metallic silver Ford Ka from a relative in Angus… and stopped in Dundee on the way home, where we first met in the flesh on a Sunday (and a Monday…)

Now you may be wondering – again – about the age gap. As I’ve said before, I’ve no idea when or how the HD will take over my body (if ever at all), so I may not be myself at that age. I’d rather enjoy myself now. All three people who have loved and cared for me in my recent past may be from the same vintage, but their backgrounds could not be more diverse. There are other coincidences and situations between them too, but that is all an irrelevancy. I’m on a “learning curve” in some respects, but I am also climbing out a rut in some ways. That may sound bad, but it’s almost as if all the recent developments over the year have awaken something deep inside me. Something that has ever had the chance to get out, largely because I didn’t see myself in the right body (initially). In the last three months, I have changed quite a bit – just read back on the blog. Some of the meds that made me upset are on the way out. I’ve got what I’ve hoped most of my life for, coming later this year. I’ve had wonderful people to help and support me. I am happy with life. Caroline is also very happy at the moment, new(ish) car, just back from holiday etc. – you know the sort.

Speaking of love, Jay's “letter from America” has arrived (well it was an email) – “Suzy, it is so wonderful you are so happy...and in Love!!!. I wish the two of the all the happness in the world. I have always told you you are a great lady, and now you have someone in your life that feels as I have all along”.

I do want to talk here in the coming weeks more about my own personal feelings and how I see the future, my (our) future. Just because I’ve not got time to type it all up right now doesn’t mean I’ve not been deep in thought.

Busy day

2007-04-03T23:55:00.000+01:00

A very busy day – then I headed for work! It was a wonderfully warm, bright summers day – almost like I’ve stolen the summer and brought it to Scotland! Caroline said that the morning (in Royston) was good, but the afternoon wasn’t.

Hopefully I will get caught up with everything soon enough! Thank you to everyone for all your kind words, emails, texts and thoughts!

Wide awake

2007-04-02T23:53:00.000+01:00

The Megabus headed north, and I drifted in and out of sleep, before falling asleep totally. I woke up to the news that we were getting a 30-minute stop at Hamilton Services until 0730, so went for a coffee in Costa. OK, when we were at Clackett Lane, Caroline was sat opposite me. Couldn’t do that this time, did take a look at her picture often enough though! Anyway, we got into Glasgow, left at 0830. There had been an accident on the M876, so we got into Dundee ten minuets down at 1035.

I got home, and tried to get the pictures off the camera card (apparently you need to eject the device on a Mac before removing the card in a card reader. On a pc, you only need to remove it to change the reader, not the card). Lots of technical issues here! No chance – but then I remembered that the photo kiosk got them off the night before. Took the card to Boots, and burned the lot onto a PictureCD for £2.99. Then, headed for my usual web café, only to find it is closed (being a Dundee public holiday). I was able to get access via MBE in the end, and upload all the pictures from the weekend. You can see them all here.

So, to work I went for 1500. I logged in, but then was called away to a meeting. There is going to be a reshuffle of management by new bosses, but (once again) the agents come out almost unscathed. After I had my visit to the meeting, I became “crowd control”, gathering people for the meetings and showing them through to the correct meeting room. I’ve not done crowd control since my underground days! Lol surreal or what?

Anyway, made it to the end of the day, and out. Called Caroline on the way home (too much noise in the background of the Dart I was on – now I know why they were called sheds)…

Quiet Sunday

2007-04-01T23:59:00.000+01:00

Probably the most pleasurable Sunday I’ve had for a while…

… We woke up when it became light, and cuddled up for a bit. After over an hour, we decided we had to get up. The clock showed 0830 – several hours earlier than either of us expected. Maybe time did really stop after all. As I am sure you can all appreciate, we were both incredibly happy. We ended up going back to bed for a bit, and up again. We had a genuinely fun afternoon. I booked my return from London to Dundee using no wires at all (her PowerBook is part of her wireless network). She was doing some work on her new Mac Mini. We took some pics of the both of us together, and this was our mutual favourite of the two. She said to me “See, I told you I’d get you smiling for a photo”.

So, the time came – and we decided to make a move at 2130, for the 2144 train south. Enough trains pass by - check out the overhead line equipment and tracks that you can see from the window! As the train (in full First Capital Connect livery, complete with some of the picture branding) pulled into Platform 2 of Royston station, we said our thank-yous and goodbyes, until the next time, and I instincitvly headed for the train. Then I realised, we weren’t pulling off immediately. The clock showed we still had two minutes to go until departure time, but most trains (in the south at least) get doors closed by the guard with thirty seconds to go. So, just enough time for me to walk to the door, arms onto the platform, one last kiss, and pulled apart bang on 21.43.30. Talk about making the best possible use of my time…

… and that was it. For now.

The train journey was a little interesting. Because of engineering work, the train ran through, but via the Hertford North, Cuffley and Enfield Chase line, rather than the via Knebworth, Welwyn, and Potters Bar, that we did on the way up. You know I always like to vary my journeys, and see the world go by (even fast and dark), but this was another interesting twist to the weekend. Never been to Cuffley before either… been to Hertford North and Enfield (Chase) before. I had been winding Adam (from The Illusion Principle) up about playing one of his bands songs as we passed through Knebworth, just so we could say that TIP played Knebworth. Once he got it explained what Knebworth referred to (a music festival of old), he was happy! As you can see, didn’t get the chance, but I will be back again.

So, a few texts exchanged. Thanks sent to S&S for their hospitality yesterday, which came back with a “congratulations for you both” when I explained what had occurred after we’d left theirs. I was still in awe – it had been a wonderful weekend. I alighted the train at Finsbury Park (same trip as last time), after adding some more credit to my Oyster card. What a forty-eight hours since I passed here in the opposite direction (it’s ok, I will shut up about it by the end of the month, honest… lol)

The Victoria line train once again took me south, but instinct somehow meant I headed for the Piccadilly line platform initially… never mind, they are parallel. As we sped down the tracks, we made it to Victoria, where most things were closed at 2300ish on a Sunday night. The station was still open for access, and one or two shops still open. I spent some time and a few coins of loose change and got a few of the pictures that I took this weekend, printed off by the photo kiosk. A photo tells a thousand words, they say. I headed for Greenline Coach Station, and could see that Neoplan 50127 was ready to take us all north. I headed upstairs, sat down, and pulled out the pictures for a quick look, and some texts were sent out too.

Now, you would have thought “that must surely be the end of the weekend now?” Nope!

One last bonus was the ride out of London. Most of the time, drivers leaving London would run via Hyde Park Corner, Park Lane, Marble Arch, Baker Street/Gloucester Place, Finchley Road, come off at Childs Hill, Brent Cross Flyover, North Circular, to Staples Corner, then the M1. However, we got to just after Hyde Park Corner, and traffic was gridlocked – yes, at ten to midnight on a Sunday night. So, we turned around using one of the turning lanes, and headed back to Hyde Park Corner. We left town via Knightsbridge, which was interesting to see all the changes. The building work on the Knightsbridge station (Harrods side) has all finished now. It was also interesting to see the changes in some of the shops – Harrods now also has a small food type shop on the other side of the road – and we then headed along via South Kensington, and towards Earls Court Tesco. At this point, we were on the M4, heading for the west (towards Heathrow), and we followed that to the M25, and joined the M1 shortly after. It was an extra bonus to be above ground and seeing some of these places, for the first time in ages.

Wow, what a weekend!

A Tale Of Two Cities

2007-03-31T23:59:00.000+01:00

We woke up fairly early, promising to be “on the road” for 0830. We were still munching breakfast and chatting then. Caroline had prepared a “German breakfast”, and got all the names right – I think, it was early for me. She is REALLY spoiling me – and I’m not complaining! We hit the road a little early – 0850 – and we were refuelling at Royston Tesco at 0900. There was an Arriva Wright bodied single on a 331 to Hertford, which seems to form an “A10 corridor” group of routes – the 310 does Waltham Cross (not Enfield any more) to Hertford, then the 331, then the 26 of Stagecoach works from Royston to Cambridge. The appointment was not till 1130, so we had plenty time to get through all the traffic snarl-ups… with the Ford Ka…

… except that there weren’t any. Sarah & Sylvia got caught in these big time yesterday, and as I was reading it out, the Ka started swerving to the right… but very quickly rectified, before we hit the crash barrier! Oops… but anyway, this was once we’d got to the M25. By this point we went via A505, M11, M25, M23/A23 etc., A27 (Brighton By-Pass), then downhill at the University through to the Downs Hotel lights, then turning right.

In the car, I was ok. I became a little bit nervous in the car, but not too bad. I knew all the questions that I’d be asked, and I thought I had done enough question asking of my own, to know what was involved (see last Saturday between Montrose and Stracathro!) Sarah was in for her 10 week post op check-up, right before my initial consultation. I could see Sarah sat across the seating area, together with Sylvia, and Zoe. Sarah and Sylvia went off to see Phil Thomas, and Zoe stayed to wait for them, and then proceed to visit another friend of theirs upstairs (which I’ll come to later on). I was ok. If I’d not read the experiences of a previous visitor, then I’d be a lot more nervous here.

As S&S came out, Zoe joined them, and we agreed to talk and chat afterwards. At this point, Carla came out for more coffee for Phil, as to “perk him up a bit”… I didn’t ask. Just before the time came, I offered Caroline to come in with me… and she agreed! which was good. When the time came, Liz & Carla came out for me, and we spoke briefly on a few specifics, before being taken into see Phil himself. (we did briefly meet on the reception desk, although I only twigged later). He was then getting into all the specifics, explaining the specifics from his diagram. Then, the phone rang.

“Tell her to get her a**e in gear”… he said. (It was the 1230 appointment person, who had just arrived at Gatwick with around 40 minutes to go). True, he doesn’t mince his words right enough! I feel sorry for whoever that was… but the receptionist could probably filter it out. I’ve missed a variety of buses & trains over the years, so I could sort of sympathise – but we very quickly went back to my own issues. We talked about a number of things, and I was able to answer most of the questions… until they stumped me! “How heavy are you?”

Aah f**k. (My weight does have a habit of going up and down). “I don’t know… have you got a set of scales there?”

Well, they did – in the cubicle - and at 6 foot and 17 stones, I am currently a little overweight. I had to go back off behind the cubicle, on the bed for the physical, and I’d been warned last Saturday by Sarah that this could “mess with your mind”. It wasn’t so bad, but I could see why some people wouldn’t exactly enjoy it. I’ve had fingers and worse stuck up tighter places, so a brief check of the “area to be worked on”, and he said the words “hmm, that’s interesting”.

Turns out my weight is a bit baldy distributed. Although I am technically a little overweight, there is no build-up of fat on the area to be worked on. There is enough material to work with, and no requirement to get rid of any genital hair before hand. (Yes… that is a result – time, as well as cost and pain!)

So, we all got back to the main room (Phil, Liz/Carla, Caroline and myself), and we discussed what will happen. In brief, there is no need for any hair removal. There is no need to make any changes to my life, but losing 10 kilos would make me feel better, and make the recovery more pleasant. It wasn’t tied into the work or anything, it was just a suggestion – and it would also help my depression etc.). At the moment, I admit I am doing a bit of “comfort” eating, so cutting that out should make this easy. As for a date – well, the “first available” is quite a bit away, given that he is fully booked through the summer. We are therefore looking at late August, early September time. As has been echoed by just about everyone there, the staff there are fantastic. I wasn’t at all concerned or upset, but they wanted to reassure me as only they could. While this is the person who will be performing life-changing work on my body, the significance seems to be hitting in gently, rather than shaking me up.

We got out, and myself & Caroline sat down briefly (so I could send Sarah a text, as requested – Liz and friends encourage the use of mobiles at the hospital). We were happy, and Caroline was hugging me tightly. I wasn’t upset at all – in fact, fairly happy at the result.

As we were sat in the delightful waiting area downstairs (and I do mean that, the place seemed more like a hotel than a hospital), Sarah came downstairs alone (from the first floor of the hospital). She said that Jasmine and her mother were happy for me & Caroline to come and see them… and we headed upstairs to her front-facing room. This didn’t show us the view from the back of the hospital, but faced onto the Warren Road (lots of B&H 2’s and 22’s going past!). Now, if I remember rightly, this was her first day back on solid food post-op. She was happy, content, and enjoying the lot. So, for a Saturday morning, she was fairly talkative – and had to be, with myself, Sarah & Sylvia, Caroline, and Zoe (as well as her mother) to speak to. That wonderful post-op “glow” that is talked of seems to be already in place, and genuinely she was in no pain. Everyone says religiously that “it does not hurt” – but I don’t fear pain. As if I needed any more reassurance, Jasmine’s wellbeing was more than enough to show that yes, this was the right place. It somehow seemed that making it personal, and talking to people, has taken the edge off what could have been a routine appointment with an un-named person, in a huge hospital. Zoe left for Manchester, and soon after we left Jasmine & mom to chat for a bit, while we raided the coffee machine. Sarah, Sylvia, Caroline and I sat together in what is the ophthalmic outpatient waiting area, but not on Saturdays it would appear. One of the nurses passed, and recognised Sarah from her visit. That was reassuring. – by this point, I’d long passed the point of needing to be reassured. It just added to the atmosphere. Maybe I’m lucky, but then again, it means Sarah has also been lucky, Jasmine is lucky too, Zoe is coming here soon, and everyone else who has came and gone – many every week – are also being well cared for. I can live with that. It all seemed so “right”. The view from the back of the hospital, over the Downs, is like this…

S&S had offered the two of us to come to Cambridge for the evening, which we gracefully accepted. It was while we were sat down that she said “Neither of you are afraid of snakes, are you?” I’d remembered reading the story of Axmister’s bite, but Caroline appeared to have forgotten… but we agreed to meet up around six-ish.

We headed back, but headed back to the seats to avoid interrupting Jasmine’s bed bath. Her mother joined us in the seating area briefly, and we talked. It seemed wonderful that she was being so supportive of her daughter (in my eyes), and that she was willing to talk of such things. We rejoined Jasmine, and then left about quarter past two I think. We headed out to the car park, and I’d somehow managed to make a half hour appointment turn into to a three-hour visit – it truly is a wonderful hospital, the staff are good, the patients get exceptionally well cared for. As we left, I noticed a stash of copies of the current slimline edition of the Brighton & Hove bus timetable on a table behind the exit – Tails Prower 2040 had picked up one for me on his previous (completely different) visit to Brighton a few weeks ago, but I still love how they can fit the entire city map and summary timetables onto what is effectively an A3 sheet of paper! As you will have gathered, they seem to be magicians in this part of the world… maybe it’s something in the water!

(For the bus hairies reading this, there seemed to be a lot of Route 25 branded buses passing through Woodingdean on the 2/22, but I presumed these were just spare at he weekend because the 25 is the University service. If I remember rightly, and I am no expert on this part of the world, the 25 buses are the newest in the fleet – being the huge Scania OmniDekka 90-odd seater jobs – which looked just about every bit as functional as stylish. One in construction is on the front of the current [winter] edition of Pocket Bus Times).

So, we split here in the wind, vowing to meet again later in the evening. Sarah showed off by managing to start her Toyota Synergy hybrid drive car in electric mode – and yes, it was wonderfully quiet!

So, what a day so far – and it was far from over. We went back essentially via “outward route in reverse”, but I could tell someone was being especially thoughtful and caring for me! We agreed that because we were heading out for a curry in the evening, we didn’t want to fill up right now, but stopped at Clackett Lane services – another M-way services that I’d never visited before. I’m not collecting them or anything, but this weekend it seemed likely
Note that the Apple windscreen sticker was not applied by the current owner! I pointed this out when she visited to collect it, and she had not noticed it until then! We talked about all what we’d just seen and heard, and I was very happy - awestruck maybe. We then carried on the M25, naturally going through the Dartford Tunnel rather than across the QEII Bridge in this direction. I was in a wonderful state of mind – almost enjoying this a little too much.

It was about fourish by the time we left Clackett Lane, so we decided to head straight for Cambridge via the M11. S&S have a wonderful place not far from Cambridge Station, and directions were supplied by return text message. It was at this point that Caroline made her one slightly incorrect turning manoeuvre during the entire 250+ miles trip, and pulled into a bus stop to attempt a u-turn. We made it – just! Cambridge is a city I’ve never been to before, and it looked wonderful. MAN’s and Tridents of Stagecoach (ex Cambus) appeared to be the mainstay of the Citi branded network around the city, and were well loaded throughout. Some familiar faces could be seen on the Park & Ride services – the first batch of East London Tridents, which are now non-compliant for TfL work, but perfectly adequate for the rest of the world.

So, we got there, and found a tiny parking space – Caroline did well at parking the Ka in it, and we were reunited with S&S. We managed to interrupt Sarah’s livejournal posting session, which included a rant about her gridlocked M25 the day before! We met the snakes (my apologies that I didn’t remember all the names, but it had been a busy day by this point!), as well as talking about some trans related stuff too. After getting my rear kicked by Sarah on Super Mario Kart (I’ve not played it since SNES days, and this was my first shot on a GameCube), we headed for The Golden Curry.

They were unusually busy for a Saturday night, and the waiter apologised for this. They said that they had an unusually large group, which they don’t normally take on Saturdays. We had a small round table up against the window, which was perfect for conversing and watching the City go by (Citi?) The food was excellent, and probably the best that I’ve had from such an establishment. All the food was served up brilliantly, After much talk and entertainment all round, we headed back to S&S’s place for a bit, where a pot of Jasmine tea was served up in honour of the person we’d visited earlier! We called it a night around 2300, when Sarah started to flag. It was a truly wonderful night, and we left with safe wishes for my journey north.

Now, if you thought, “that day couldn’t possibility get any better”… there was still time!

We drove down the A10 to Royston, and headed straight to Caroline’s flat, which we had left about fourteen and a half hours before. We talked in the car, and I pointed out how well she’d looked after me for the weekend. We got back in her flat, and she started making hot chocolate. During this time, I slung my arms around her shoulders, and thanked her for everything… told her how I felt and what a wonderful person she was, and we sort of went from there. We sat down on the sofa, and we were very much in love. Caroline’s now my girlfriend, partner, lover, call it what you will. The next time we checked the clock, it was 0230 on Sunday morning. To avoid any suggestions of “April fools”, we agreed to metaphorically stoop the clock for a few hours at 23.59.59 on 31.03.2007… or do the bus industry/London underground trick and call it 2630 hours…

Remember when I was depressed back in January? A certain woman was first on the scene to say lots of nice things to me… and things went from there. I have turned my life around, and am now a very happy woman.

Dundee to Royston – on a Friday

2007-03-30T23:33:00.000+01:00

Today formed Part One of my weekend away. The reason for going south is for my “initial consultation” with my surgeon tomorrow, in Brighton. A good friend of mine, Caroline, has very kindly offered hospitality, and transport as required. How can I turn down the offer like that? Caroline was up north on 17-19 February, which included meeting me twice in Dundee city centre. So, it’s good to see her once more.

I got to Dundee Bus Station in time for the 0900 megabus to London. To my own surprise, we started the trip with Volvo/Plaxton Panther 54009 – one of the brand new single deck, 65 seat, 15m long ones – pulls up, blinded M11 London. Is this wise, given that it’s a Friday? Well, this was all irrelevant as we changed to Neoplan Skyliner 50150 (double deck, 91 seat coach) at Perth Broxden Park + Ride.

I called Caroline on the bus, just as the controller came on the coach and yelled almost parallel to the mouthpiece of the phone… and then a young child was crying, quite a bit, so we decided to stick to texts for that point. We got in and out of Glasgow on time, to head south at 1100.

I briefly checked my email several times using the new brick (mobile). I had received an email from Stuart Henry at Travel West Midlands/Travel Dundee re my letter of complaint on Service 14. To their credit, they are willing to have a meeting at work (noting when I will be in and not). Travel Dundee’s MD is currently on annual leave, but back soon. I will deal with that in more depth early next week.

When we got to Preston Bus Station (pre-redevelopment), a few sights taken from the window of the coach included a Solo headed for Blackpool! We were very lucky with roadworks and accidents, because of many miles of stationery traffic on the M6, and then the M60, but both the opposite way! We were due into Manchester at 1540/out 1545, and were a bit late on the way out due to traffic (in the main). Roadworks then started to hit us – the M1 was meant to be a problem. Bear in mind that we were “due” into London at 2015. A few passengers asked about a stop (the toilet was blocked) when we did a driver change at Watford Gap Services, so we stopped there from 1900-1915. I sent Caroline a text at the “35 miles to London” point, but of course, that is when it starts hitting worse with M1 extensions and widening.

I spotted my first London bus – an ALX400 (DLA I think) from Arriva, running off the 142 dead back to Garston (Watford) garage. Now I know that I have (almost) arrived. Soon after, we got to the legendary Staples Corner (junction of the north Circular, Edgware Road, and the M1). It is now home to Staples stationery store, amongst others. Having said that, it was not where the name came from – apparently there used to be a mattress factory here called Staples – I never knew that until last week! We finally got in well over one hour late. I made it out to the tube station, and had enough credit on my Oyster card to make it to Finsbury Park for the First Capital Connect train to Royston. (The previous franchisee, National Express owned WAGN, was informally known as “We Are Going No-where”).

Now, here is a simple figure to work out.

OPTION ONE
Victoria to Kings Cross, £1.50 single by Oyster (off-peak) x 2 = £3.00
Kings Cross to Royston, £24.50 Saver Return
TOTAL - £27.50

OPTION TWO
Victoria to Finsbury Park, £1.50 single by Oyster (off-peak) x 2 = £3.00
Finsbury Park to Royston, £20.50 Saver Return
TOTAL - £23.50

So, work out how the same length of journey can cost an extra four quid, for no additional saving – just a different stop to jump ship. Kings Cross to Finsbury Park is about the same on the Victoria Line as it is on the overground – the latter gets about seven minutes. I had to visit overground briefly to get tickets for this bit of the run, and the first three machines had issues – only the fourth and final one was working! The new Finsbury Park bus station (remember I’ve not been here for some time) has been tidied up quite a bit, from the one I used to remember from years gone by!

So, from Finsbury Park north, not quite the 2057 (fast) or even the 2111 (stopper) that I expected to get – in fact, not until the 2211 stopper an hour later! so I sent a text to Caroline to tell her… and got one back saying “I somehow knew you would not be here until 11 hunny. I’ll be at the station waiting for you”. This is nice… even more so as the train didn’t leave Finsbury Park until two and a half minutes late! The train was a nice electric thingy, but still in Network SouthEast livery (or so it looked like), and the sealing strips were hanging off the side of the wall. Lots of label sticking of new fleetnames, and even a nice poster about how things would improve under the new franchise with First. That sounds familiar… In any case, it was a quiet and smooth journey, and although it sounded like Ned-U-(Don’t)-Like at Hitchin, I was the only one in my carriage for the last few stops to Royston. The train was blinded (and announced) “Cambridge via Stevenage” until after we left there, and it became “all stations to Cambridge”. Anyway, we got in about six minutes late to Royston, and Caroline was there, waiting for me. We chatted for a bit, and then she worked on supper until about 0100 hours on Saturday morning. Appreciated, given that I’d been travelling for 14 hours…

Tomorrow is going to be more fun – a visit to the surgeon and back. The rest of the day is pretty much open. Wonder what might happen…?

Early doors

2007-03-29T14:05:00.000+01:00

OK It’s early, especially for me, but I will be in a bit of a mad one this time tomorrow… actually I will be well on the way south! This will actually be my first stay away from home since my Barnsley trip in May/June last year… and my first pass-through London since the same weekend last year. Of course, that time I visited Brighton too – but for totally different reasons. In about 1150 or so miles time, I will be back – see you all then.

(Thanks for all the messages and words of support in the meantime).

regards, love & hugs
Suzy xXxXx

p.s. In the meantime, who can Spot The Suzy in this picture, taken by Andrew Macintosh? Taken at Newtyle Church on the “last Leopard” day. Everyone has their back to the camera – see if you can guess which one I was…

Oh dear…

2007-03-28T23:40:00.000+01:00

Today started well, then I had to get out of bed! Laughing but it is true! So true… spent an hour looking for my purse, and ended up finding it after nibbling on chocolate. Now, I’d not had any coffee first thing this morning – unusually – maybe that was why.

Currently wondering how I would be after several days without caffeine. Last time I was in hospital back in 2001, that was different – I ended up with a headache. Next time, that might not be a problem…

Service 14

2007-03-27T23:52:00.000+01:00

I mentioned back on Friday about Travel Dundee Service 14 - and that one of my colleagues had submitted a complaint to the press, which was duly brushed off. Because of the nature of the brush off, and the fact I’ve managed to collect twelve specific incidents over the last fortnight, I’ve followed this up with a reply on their behalf… copied to the local authorities, and the traffic commissioner for Scotland herself.. (no it’s not me, f**k off!)

Anyway, where was I – oh yeah – this is the first time I’ve ever complained in such a ”strong” manner. Given the severity of the situation, and the fact that non-existent snow was blamed for the problems, I think this needs more than just an acknowledgement…

So near, yet so far away

2007-03-26T23:01:00.000+01:00

Those of you who know the location of my workplace (Dundee Technology Park) know that it is not far away from the boundary of Dundee and Angus, and Dundee and Perth & Kinross. Today I was sat so far away down the far end, it is a wonder that I was still within the city boundary… and no, the generator did not blow up this time!

Summer Time Started When?

2007-03-25T23:00:00.000+01:00

After being awake for 35 out of the previous 42 hours, I had a bit of a long lie to make up for it today. I woke up at around noon, which was of course only 11 hours, as the clocks went forward whilst I was asleep.

David said “I didn’t wake you up did I ?” and I for once tried to say “No…” completely unconvincingly… still, never mind, went back to bed for a lie-down, and ended up asleep until the back of four…

When having the radio on later, the comment was made “You know when you sleep too long, and you feel worse for it?”

Well, today I do.

Farewell To The Leopard

2007-03-24T23:48:00.000Z

As I mentioned previously, today was going to be Stagecoach Strathtay’s “Farewell To The Leopard”. Two of the surviving three were chosen for today, as the third couldn’t be coaxed out!

Over the years, Strathtay have had three numbering systems – letter prefixes from 1985 to 1993, the three-digit numbers from 1993 to 2006, and the five-digit Stagecoach “telephone” numbers thereafter. Between 1985 and 1993, the numbers of Leopards ranged from SL1 to SL69, but not all at the same time (plus towing vehicles). At renumbering, those in the fleet were renumbered i.e. SL18 became 518 – 5xx series being used for the Leopards, and the four P-type Tigers. During this time, a further two examples (570, 573) were acquired. In 2005, the fleet were allocated Stagecoach series numbers, but following the CC enquiry, application did not start until 2006.

So, to begin with, we all made it to Dundee bus station in time for the 0900 departure on Service 57. The service bus is Trident 18506 (now back at Blairgowrie), but the duplicate was Leyland Leopard 25773.

25773 (EGB 73T) was new as Central Scottish T341, eventually being sold by KCB Network (1473) to Strathtay (573). During 2005 this vehicle went to Meffan’s, who have since been absorbed into Strathtay. It’s manual gearbox, and made for an interesting run for the first two journeys – 57 Dundee to Perth via Blairgowrie, and 16 Perth to Dundee.

As we backed out of Dundee with more than twenty passengers on board (more than the service bus managed!), we had the company’s network manager Dougie King at the wheel. Drivers were all Stagecoach group staff and managers, with Matthew Tosh volunteer conductor for the day. The promotional merchandise cupboard at head office was raided, and passengers were rewarded with pens, pencils, rulers, and AirDirect747.com branded mints…. All takings from the duplicate buses are to be donated to the Dundee Maggie’s Cancer Centre.

As there was enough time, photo stops were taken at Newtyle Church, Alyth Square, and then we crossed the River Echt into Blairgowrie. As we did so, we were in the queue for the lights, and our driver managed to stall the bus… We changed drivers at Blairgowrie Wellmeadow, and this gave us time to swap drivers too – with the former Strathtay commercial manager/director Sholto Thomas taking over the wheel. One of the long serving Blairgowrie drivers got out of his car a bit down the road for one last photo of a Leopard in Blar.

We got to Coupar Angus, and had a photo stop at George Street. During this time, the driver of the Trident in front of us was trying to get our attention for some reason. He wanted our driver to be reminded that he had to go into Scone Park + Ride (57’s have only been going this way since the beginning of January.). So, we did, and this worked out nicely for a photo stop with an almost new MAN/East Lancs on Stagecoach Perth Service 7. As the driver said once we got to Perth Bus Station “I wanted him to know how we feel…”

Upon arrival at Perth Bus Station, numerous goodies to behold. Once we’d finished with the take-away, there were buses outside to be nabbed too! The “service bus” on the 16 was Volvo/Wright 21124 (ex 613), PSU 374. The driver Gerry was quite pleased with the idea of a duplicate, and even more so if the dup would take all the passengers! Several additional passengers joined the bus here, and this included the Stagecoach Scotland MD, Robert Andrew.

We had another Stagecoach manager driving us out of Perth to Dundee, and photo stops were taken at Errol Cross, and Longforgan Turning Circle. In-between both of those, we were travelling up towards Grange Level Crossing, and had the turn for the minor unclassified road past Powgavie Farm towards Kingoodie (no bus service since 1986), Despite several calls from the back of the bus to go “straight on”, the driver turned right, calling me to question “just what part of ‘turn right’ didn’t he understand?"...We got back to Dundee. 25773 reversed into place, to pair up beside the next one, 25709…

25709 (TMS 409X) was new as Midland Scottish MPE409, but became Strathtay SL45 at the bus group reshuffle in 1985. In 1993 it became 545, then later 25709. Towards the end, it was earning its keep on a school run from Blairgowrie to Alyth, or some runs on Service 60. This bus has an (semi?) automatic gearbox.

We left Dundee towards Arbroath and Montrose on Service 39, with around 37 passengers on board! The bus was driven by Arbroath depot’s Jamie McEwan, who got off at Arbroath to allow him to work his shift driving the newer buses of the fleet! All told, we had about 45 different passengers on the various trips, with some coming for a quick taste, others travelling for the whole day. The service bus that we were duplicating was Volvo/East Lancs 16935 (Ex 715). A photo stop was taken between Dundee and Arbroath at Ethiebeaton Park (Dobbies Garden Centre), where Strathtay (now Bluebird) Commercial Manager Jim Gardiner nabbed the bus for a picture. From Arbroath, Dougie drove us north once more, and this continued at Montrose as Service 30 to Stracathro Hospital.

As the bus was heading north of Arbroath (just after David had rang), I had a quick check of my emails on my mobile phone, and I had one from Sarah, replying to one I’d sent her the day before. I sent her a text message, as it was a little bit easier than tapping in wap… As we were heading north out of Montrose, I got another call ion – from Sarah herself. Only thing was, 25709 was making quite a noise, as I am sure you can imagine. So, I said I would call her shortly – and after a brief photo stop at Brechin Panmure Street, we got to Stracathro Hospital. The hills and open fields of the Howe of the Mearns were in view, and I wandered over the grass and called her back. We talked for a bit, and afterwards I raided the timetable stand at Stracathro Hospital (not that there was a lot there) before we got ready to head south-westerly as a 21 towards Forfar.

We were due off at 1600, and Volvo/Wright 21126 (ex 615) PSU 376 got to Stracathro sharpish, and drove out just as quick (perhaps not realising he had management watching… and then following?) Well, this bus had a reputation for doing some serious speed when needed – quite often the limiter would kick in – so it was kept back for 16’s, and some short Megabus duplicates. This bus went off in service through Brechin, and out onto the A90. Dougie drove the Leopard with quite a good performance – mind you, anything less on a dual carriageway could be seen as a problem! For what was one of the fastest buses in Dundee depot (when 21126 used to be there), I was somewhat surprised that 25709 managed to catch it up! We left the A90 at Quilkoe Junction (the one before that for Kirriemuir – where you can head to Forfar, but not leave it), and at Heatherstacks Farm, we had someone who wanted to overtake the Leopard. Good, he did… fast overtake… oh **** where did the other bus come from perhaps, when hw saw the Volvo in front… lol

So that was, almost it, The driving of the last run of the day went to Sholto, and this duplicated the Service 20 (a M95x XES series Olympian) from Forfar to Dundee. Once we got into Dundee, we even did the City Centre loop – we didn’t have to, but who could deny one last lap of honour, especially as the driver was enjoying himself?

You can see all my pics on my Fotopic site. Many thanks to everyone who helped with today’s events, and thanks for observing the notable event that it was. This week’s £5.80 spent on a Rover was therefore totally different to the runs I had last Saturday, but will of course be totally different to that of next weekend!

More of the same – x2

2007-03-23T13:38:00.000Z

Just like Thursday, Friday had a deja-vu feeling about it. Just this time, a few things were different. Trip to see Alex (my counsellor), and work until 2300 afterwards.

54010, the newish Volvo/Plaxton Panther that I got home two weeks ago, is my chariot south to Glasgow this time. Third time I’ve been on one of these fifteen meter long beasts (sorry!), and I’ve only just realised that the seat armrests CAN roll forwards! During the trip, several passengers were still having difficulty with the lights and ventilation! Never mind…

I forgot to mention it here last time, but First Glasgow have a two-journey off-peak ticket for £2.00 – two journeys anywhere (return or transfer) for £2.00 (well almost anywhere, not the X6 and one or two others). As that would do me to/from Sandyford, that was purchased 32600, on the 16 heading west. I only noticed this for the first time about a month ago, but the building occupied by Sandyford used to be the Glasgow Eye Hospital… did you know? We had our usual hour to talk, and I’ve managed to complete the brief overview of space, time, and Suzy’s major life points so far.. lol

In all seriousness, these are proving to be very useful, especially on getting a “third party” opinion on things. Alex noticed that I was noticeably happier this time, and getting that way every time I’ve visited her so far! The time was also used to talk about my future, including a few things that I’d not said to anyone else so far… hopes, worries, fears, or just being delusional? A bit of everything I think! I go back again in three weeks.

I thanked Alex for yet another useful session, and left the centre. First Glasgow Service 57 is now terminating in Sauchiehall Street opposite Sandyford Place i.e. back to the “old” arrangement (thus meaning if you want dropped off opposite the centre, you won’t need to walk around the block in the rain…) 61024 took me into town, got a few things, before taking the subway up to Buchanan Street (car 206 – one of the to-be-refurbished trailers), and then 54008 took me north on the M8 back to Dundee at 1330. In heading to work, I was in Whitehall Street looking for a bus, and then walking-and-looking-at-something-else meant that a Travel Dundee driver walked right into me. Oops!

In tonight’s Evening Telegraph,there was a letter from one of my colleagues, complaining about Service 14. This wasn't sent in by me, but I know who sent it in. The letter said...

"WE ARE angry and irate workers for Site in Dundee’s technology park.

The Travel Dundee 14 bus is constantly 20 minutes late, making us late for work.

Several of us have emailed and telephoned Travel Dundee to no avail.

We are angry this has been on-going since November, with no explanation.

A dozen or more workers are hit. — Sitel Employees."

Unfortunatly, Travel Dundee have given us the brush-off...

Stuart Henry, corporate affairs manager, said, “Firstly we would like to thank the readers who took the time to raise issues surrounding our 14 bus service.

“Comments from our customers are vital if we are to continue to operate an efficient network across the city.

“With regards to the general level of service, Travel Dundee, like all other road users, experienced huge problems during the days of the recent heavy snowfall which we saw in the city. This adverse weather impacted on the timetables of all our services throughout that two-day period.

“With regards to the 14 service, in particular, we would like to urge those passengers who have raised direct concerns surrounding the service, to contact us directly by phoning us on (01382) 201121 or, if easier, email us at mailbox@traveldundee.co.uk with the specific times and dates that it’s claimed the services were operating late.

“If there is a larger issue, then we would be very happy to meet with the complainants to ensure a positive outcome.

“We are constantly monitoring our bus services and are committed to providing a first-class service.”

It would appear that the manager in question is based at Travel West Midlands head office in Brum, where there was snow recently! As my own boss then said when I tried to explain this… “What f******g snow?”

So, 2300, finished, home – for now – and I get to stay in bed for an extra hour before going out tomorrow. Yey!

Docs away!

2007-03-22T23:36:00.000Z

like chocs away? No? Never mind…

So, another “review” visit to my own doctors. As I’d been on the new stuff for a month, he wanted to ensure all had gone well. That bit went well enough, and I was even able to get my repeat prescriptions (which I would have got earlier in the week, but because I was visiting here today, it would not have been any quicker).

Anyway – same story as before, I try to save time by visiting the local chemist up the road, and they’ve got one item out of stock… and one of those that I’d ideally need today… but I found some in town. Back to work fairly quickly, and onto 2300.

Good news is, I think that will now be me “stocked” for two months – assuming nothing else goes wrong in the meantime! Next visit to the gp isn’t even booked at the moment, largely because they are getting a systems upgrade next month.

Now you know why I buy a DaySaver on my trips to the doctors…

Race For Life – Sponsors Required

2007-03-21T13:35:00.000Z

A friend (and former colleague) Lisa Mayberry will be running the Dundee Race For Life this year, and is currently looking for sponsorship. As she says, she doesn’t normally do races! Go to www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/LisaMayberry if you wish to do so.

Do we have to?

2007-03-20T23:34:00.000Z

The generator problem from yesterday was fixed by 1255 today. This meant I could start my normal shift at 1500 without issues. Shame really, because me, the duvet, and Eyore the plushie elephant, were all getting along so well…

We Couldn't Start The Generator...

2007-03-19T16:10:00.000Z

... and guess what?

I got to work, and everyone is being sent home! The generator has apparently “blown up” and the building was in darkness!

Message for other Sitel (formerly ClientLogic) staff at Riverside House Dundee – don't worry, no-one is injured or hurt, and there are no obvious signs of damage to the building. If you are due in on Tuesday (20 March), call 07917 766879 and listen to the recorded message, sometime on Tuesday morning. This will explain if work is still closed or not.

I guess now with being sent home, I truly HAVE done everything at work...

... so at the moment, I am sat in Ubernet typing this up...

Hammy Is Dead...

2007-03-19T15:45:00.000Z

... well this day had to come eventually for Hammy the Hamster, now my first "dead" bebo link...

"well I died yesterday thursday 8th march 2007, I wasnt well for a couple of weeks and finally my wee body just gave up... oh well its off 2 heaven I go where there will be loads of nuts to eat and I can sleep all the time... forever."

Two from TfL

2007-03-19T15:28:00.000Z

Mayor secures first ever three-year pay agreement on the London Underground

Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone today welcomed the first ever three-year pay and conditions agreement between London Underground and the trade unions covering all staff.

All Tube unions have now advised London Underground that they have accepted the three-year offer, or are balloting their members with a recommendation to accept.

The unprecedented agreement follows a sharp fall in disruption due to industrial disputes since the Mayor took control of the Underground in July 2003.

Mayor Ken Livingstone said: "This three-year agreement is great news for both Tube passengers and staff and is a real landmark achievement.

"Passengers will benefit from the stability provided by the first three-year deal for all staff in the history of the Underground.

"Staff will receive above inflation pay rises each year. At the same time, we will be investing record amounts in renewing the Tube.

"Whilst there will always be differences from time to time, my administration is committed to developing a partnership between the trade unions and management to deliver the best possible services to Londoners.

"This agreement is a good example of what that approach can achieve."

The three-year agreement runs from April 2006 to April 2009 and provides for the following pay increases:

Year 1 (payable from April 2006): 4 per cent
Year 2 (payable from April 2007): RPI+0.5 per cent (or 3 per cent whichever is greater)
Year 3 (payable from April 2008): RPI+0.6 per cent (or 3 per cent whichever is greater)

All Underground staff are also eligible for a bonus of £250 or £500 each year if customer satisfaction targets are met or exceeded.

TSSA members voted to accept the London Underground offer by over 80 per cent in November last year.

The British Transport Officers' Guild has also accepted the offer.

ASLEF is balloting its members on the offer, with a recommendation to accept, and the RMT advised London Underground today that they have accepted the offer.

London Underground Managing Director Tim O'Toole said: "This multi-year pay deal is a real achievement, particularly as it is the first for several years to be accepted by all the trades unions without any industrial action.

"This agreement is good news for both passengers and Underground staff as it delivers stability to the Underground for three years and allows us to concentrate on the delivery of the major line upgrades - the first of which, the Jubilee line, is due to be due to be delivered in 2009."

This pay agreement covers the period to April 2009 and follows a two-year agreement reached between London Underground and the trade unions in the last pay round.

Transport for London combats organised counterfeit crime

Metropolitan Police officers working with Transport for London (TfL) have arrested a number of suspects believed to be linked to the biggest counterfeit operation ever perpetrated on the capital's transport system.

In an operation on Thursday 22 February, investigators from TfL and officers from the MPS Transport Operational Command Unit raided four commercial premises in west London and one residential address in the Croydon area.

The suspects arrested may hold valuable information about a wide scale counterfeit fraud of Bus Saver tickets, believed to be masterminded by international organised criminals.

This criminal operation has resulted in the need to withdraw the current design of Bus Saver tickets and introduce a new design from the summer.

David Brown, Managing Director of Surface Transport for TfL said: 'The criminals who have carried out this deception have now added to their list of dubious achievements the exploitation of some of London's most vulnerable people who rely on these discounted tickets to get around the capital.

'We will not tolerate this fraud and we are taking action against those involved this week.

'Every pound these criminals skim off Transport for London's revenue is a pound taken away from transport services for all Londoners.

'We will be withdrawing the current Saver ticket between spring and summer this year to help stamp out this racket, so customers should be aware they have around four months to use up any leftover stocks.'

It is believed the sophisticated counterfeits have penetrated at least 10 per cent of the current Bus Saver ticket circulation - which itself makes up around 10-12 per cent of the Pay-as-you-go market.

Bus Saver tickets account for around 8m bus passenger journeys a year out of a total of 1.8bn journeys overall.

A new design of ticket, with a number of both covert and overt anti- counterfeit measures, is currently being produced and will be on sale from 2 April.

The current design will no longer be accepted on London Buses after 30 June 30, and we would advise anyone with spare tickets at home to use them over the next four months as there will be no refund or exchange of tickets.

Ends

In the morning...

2007-03-19T13:09:00.000Z

... final visit (three month review) to Speech & Language Therapy, Ninewells Hospital. That's going to be the last for now, unless I feel that I need further help, as it's all worked out quite good. I did thank Sally for her assistance over the last few months.

I then left the hospital, came back to town...

Late changes of plan

2007-03-18T23:02:00.000Z

With just a few hours to go, Adam says he doesn’t need his shift covered! Never mind… glad things have improved… but anyway I went out briefly for a few things. It was about as cold and windy as yesterday… no snow though! Now, quite a busy four weeks to come… I had to go out for the afternoon, but spent the evening chilling out with two rich, sweet americans... Ben, and his friend Jerry...

Rovering around

2007-03-17T23:53:00.000Z

I must admit, I have been slipping behind in recent transport related developments. Some shortfalls in service (i.e. waiting around in the cold) may have helped to disillusion me on the service, but I still felt like a day out. All the journeys below cost a total of £5.80 on a Strathtay one-day Rover ticket, so barely breaking the bank! Would the fuel for all these miles have cost less than £5.80… now there’s a thought…

Started on the 1125 20B from Dundee to Forfar, with Volvo/Wright single deck 21126. The bus driver correctly waited to time at Gateside Road End (until 1150), as we had arrived a couple of minutes early. This somewhat frustrated the passenger sat opposite me!

I got to Forfar, battled the winds, and waited on the next journey. On my trip in October, I mentioned that Strathtay were taking on some work to the Forfar depot from the “sister” company Meffan’s. Neil Meffan has since retired, and the remaining school buses from Kirriemuir depot will be relocated onto Strathtay licences. It means that it is coming up for five months since Strathtay’s Forfar depot took on the 117 (morning journey), 124/125 and 128 services. Mercedes Vario/Alexander ALX100 42357 had been transferred from Hull to Forfar for the 117/124/125. The bus does not have seatbelts, but has been fitted with an orange LED destination display. So, the driver had his last smoke for now, and we got ready for 1238 departure time (after a quick call to the boss, for help with navigating).

Today was the first day of Glamis Castle’s “summer” season opening. (Note previous comments about snow due anytime now). So, as a result, most journeys on the 124/125 (and Sunday service 20C) now run into the castle grounds. We squeezed the bus through the gates in, and back out. We then headed for Eassie and Newtyle, and the driver then questioned if I’d done this run before (I was the only passenger). I said that I had a few times, then he said “is this the right road for Eassie?” Well, when Meffan’s drivers did the route, it was often made up on the spot, so anything sometimes went in that regard. We had a passenger waiting for us, who got on during the one-way sector of route on the way to Newtyle. The driver actually went the “correct” way around Newtyle to end outside the church, not opposite it as the Meffan’s drivers did every time!

So, I got off the bus here, and had seven minutes before the next one. We’d got in two minutes early, so no rush! Trident/ALX400 18509 on the 57 took me from Newtyle to Blairgowrie, where I then found I had an hour and a bit to spare before my next bus. More extravagant spending i.e. £8 on a new jacket, as well as some new skirts which I liked the look of. (Almost floor length, even on me, is a challenge!) It was at this point that I had a text in from Adam… and an exchange of texts saw me agree to take on his shift tomorrow evening.

After this, a bit of something different. While Strathtay have ran a Service 71 in Dundee since 1999 (and a previous 71 from 1986-1989), they added another earlier this year. From Monday 7^th January 2007, they took over the contract from Smith & Sons for Service 71, which links communities to the north-west of Blairgowrie. The bus leaves Blairgowrie, over the River Echt, and heads up Hatton Road, over the “bailey” bridge, through Bridge of Cally, Ballintimum, Kirkmichael, passing Straloch Primary School, before reversing at a “private road” sign at Tarvie Road End. However, on Saturdays, two journeys have been newly extended beyond Tarvie to continue to Moulin and Pitlochry. Tarvie is an un-natural terminus, and it’s been this way for more than two decades. Glenisla Coaches had ran the route as long as I can remember, before Smiths won the tender in 1995. The number (71) was added in the 1999 retendering by Perth & Kinross Council. I did the bit from just before Kirkmichael to Pitlochry previously on Service 501 last summer, but this is totally different. This was the tenth week of the extended service, and it was one of the reasons I wanted to go for a bash today.

A good choice for today’s run was Mercedes Vario 42225 – the newest step-entrance bus at Blairgowrie that was small enough! We had one other passenger on the way up from Blairgowrie to Kirkmichael, and of course I was going end-to-end, i.e. Blairgowrie to Pitlochry, on the 1507 departure. We climbed out of Blairgowrie passed the redevelopment of Keathbank Mill, the “snow gates”, the holiday park, through the villages, over the signal-controlled clattering “bailey bridge”, before dropping our passenger in Kirkmichael. After that, it was a winding single-track road for most of the way to Pitlochry, and it had proven too much (in the wind, but dry) for one driver, who was being recovered from the fields by a contractor. We got into Pitlochry with a moment or two to spare, and I had about 10 minutes – long enough to see former Tayside Volvo H157 CSP still in at Yule’s depot, and Stagecoach Perth’s 56-plate Solo on the 24 shuttles.

For the return, we had two passengers as far as Kirkmichael too! One other female passenger boarded the 71 from Pitlochry to Kirkmichael, and I stayed on through to Blairgowrie Tesco (stop on the one-way loop around Wellmeadow). The driver who we spotted crashed on the way to Pitlochry was now being towed back, and passed us shortly after the “Blairgowrie 22” (miles) sign. Interesting to see a new section of route that has lasted just 10 weeks with as many passengers as the established bit of the service!

Anyway, Volvo B7/East Lancs 16932 of Dundee depot, on their early evening run on the 57, took me back from Blairgowrie to Dundee. Not sure where the intended Trident was, but this was almost good enough – except the bus needed a shutdown-and-reboot at Rattary Cross… and subsequently put in a fairly good turn of power for most of the trip. The drivers module (ticket machine data cartridge) was showing as full, so he was advised by control to issue manually written emergency tickets. This slowed the trip a little, as each fare had to be looked up in the book! I got off just round the corner from home, and got to the foot of the stairs, to see a couple in full embrace in my doorway. I waited till she made eye contact, and wiggled my keys and asked if I could squeeze by… they moved…

No Way Out, and Anniversaries

2007-03-16T23:59:00.000Z

... well, not that I was looking for one, honest! Looks like (for the time being at least) I am staying put in Bruce’s team, which seems to end the uncertainty for now. Several times this year I’ve had 2 or 3 managers at different times, and it’s only half way through March.

Long-term readers of the blog (and the website, going back further) will be aware that, in the last few years, Good Friday has been memorable for several different reasons. On Good Friday 2004 (9^th April), I started full-time transition – admitting to the world what I’d known for a long time.

On Good Friday 2006 (14^th April), or Geed Geed Friday as it had been dubbed, we’d gone for a team night out. One hour after I left, in the last few minutes of Good Friday, they crossed over Perth Road. The last 16 heading back to Dundee, driven by a very experienced driver (Mr G.), slowed down, but still managed to hit Harrison, who cracked his face off the windscreen. As I’ve said since, that night he reinvented what it meant to go out and get smashed on a team night out…

… Subsequently the bus (Strathtay Dart 307) was off the road till Monday awaiting a new windscreen from the contractor, and the driver in question still remembers the incident… needless to say, Harrison isn’t really allowed to forget it either (the team website was then endorsed with “We are planning another team night out, hopefully with no buses included this time”). He made a very quick recovery (more than a dozen stitches, but not kept in overnight).

So, what is happening this year on Good Friday? Not sure, but we have a team night out (Bruce’s team) for the following night… once again, hopefully with no buses involved!

For the rest of he evening I spent the time working out a trip out for tomorrow – subject to weather of course… seeing as how cold wind is due for most of the weekend, and snow into early next week!

We’re off to see the wizard...

2007-03-16T23:51:00.000Z

… the wonderful wizard of Woodingdean,.. and the title was borrowed from Sylvia’s journal post when Sarah went for hers.

Anyway, my letter and appointment card from the Sussex Nuffield has arrived in the post today. These things mean so much on the phone, but even more when it is in your hand! Yet another stop on the road, yadda yadda yadda.

And, it’s fifteen days away.

Can I just say….

AAARRGHGHGHHHHHH………. HERRRRRRRRRRRRREE WE GOOO………………

Right, I feel so much better now…

A day off…

2007-03-15T23:49:00.000Z

A technical glitch (i.e. landline and broadband both gubbed – see all the previous rants about BT…) was quickly overcame temporarily, when I finally got the WAP on my new mobile to work… so, took the mobile back to bed, and decided to relax for a bit!

Then followed a huge sequence of calls, texts, messenger messages, and the like, as I tried to work out part of my plans for the rest of March, and most of April 2007. As a result, I can confirm that I am going away for a bit in April to see a couple of friends down south, whom I have met before, but it’s going to be a surprise for one of them! It also takes me to places I’ve never been before, and also it will hopefully help to reduce my chances of metaphorical “itchy feet” later in the year…

Perhaps slightly short notice, but a bit more than last time! I have been sent a snapshot of the promotional picture… yes, Friday week (23^rd), The Illusion Principle are playing at Glasgow’s Barrowlands 2, alongside Second In Line, Net Kill Casino, and My Kindred Spirit. Tickets cost £5, and the gig starts at 2000 (8pm). If you can get along, please take this chance to come along and heckle Adam… lol… actually; don’t heckle him, as I’ll get yelled at for it…

The whole clit & caboodle

2007-03-14T23:48:00.000Z

Today had been busy enough, even before leaving for work… then, my first break was one hour after the start of my shift, around 1600. Turned my mobile on, as there was a call I wanted to make. Then… “Voicemail 901” SMS came into my inbox, you have one new message. Wow, not expecting any right now… well, no-one that I could think of, and not that “late” in the afternoon. So, played back the message… the name rung a bell, pardon the term! As she explained her name, it all started to make sense.

Now, cast your mind back to last Tuesday (6^th) when Dr Westwater said he’d chase things up for me. Remember?

(Chase up – eight days? Wow that’s good, but more than likely I was already queued and waiting a date. OK, so I’m teasing this out, but WTFN?)

So, got a message to call her back – so I did, then went to see the managers & the agency – then called her back again.

Yes, for the benefit of those who’ve not heard it anywhere else, I’ve got my initial consultation with the surgeon I’ve been referred to, for the last day of the month at Sussex Nuffield Hospital, Brighton.

That means Saturday 31^st March. It is one year exactly to the last weekend when I was in Brighton… how spooky is that? Last time, I came down Friday night by bus, and on the Saturday did some stuff around London before megabus to Brighton, route 700 along the coast to Portsmouth, and then a train (booked via megatrain) back to London, before returning home on the Sunday morning. This time, things are going to be one hell of a lot different, even in comparison to the last Leopards trip the previous Saturday!

Now, on the phone call, Liz mentioned she was booking in some post-op patients for the same clinic. I said “ok”, and thought (to myself) of a few names I’ve heard recently. First chance that I had, I spread the good word with Sarah – after all, she’s not long been for the same stuff, and her journal
has been essential reading. I told her my date, and she asked me when… turns out that she has the appointment slot (for her post-op 10 week check up) before my visit… OMG, we will meet! lol

The lord of co-incidence is currently working overtime on my soul… have mercy! (As my colleague Adam said later on “what are the odds” – and this time I could answer with “well it was one in ten or something…” so now you know…)

Anyway, speaking of him, he’s currently living in Carnoustie… so the last few minutes at work were spent marking up a copy of the current Angus Council bus timetable for Carnoustie with each journey he has to get to/from work over his differing shifts. He went for the 76-that-continues-as-a-73A after work, and sent me via Bluetooth – yes, my first Bluetooth file transfer since buying the new brick last the week – his band’s new track ”Save The Empire”. The track was recorded at a practice, using a mobile phone, so he warned me about the quality –but the playing was highly polished! I am told the band name “Save The Empire” was the one two bands before “The Illusion Principle” – and of course, “10 Days Late” (or was it 10 Day Slate – I forget) was in the midst. Have we both been working in the same place too long now? In any case, it’s a bit of yell and thrash, with a different sound doing the vocals (and it shows).

Best day of the year so far? Well, it has got to be up there with them… looking like March is going to be a very good, if busy, month! Most medical-related mileage in one month i.e. three visits to Glasgow and one to Brighton? It may well be surpassed later in the year, lets see!

(you know I love all it really…)

Leyland Leopard thrash – one last time!

2007-03-13T23:55:00.000Z

News posted to the Dundee Area Bus Forum and Scotlandbus earlier on…

In order to commemorate the passing of the last Leyland Leopard/Alexander Y type single deck buses at Stagecoach Strathtay, a farewell event is being organised for Saturday 24^th March 2007. Subject to availability, one of the remaining Leopard's will duplicate the following service journeys:

Service 57 - 0900 Dundee bus station to Perth bus station (a.1052)

Service 16 - 1155 Perth bus station to Dundee bus station (a.1310)

Service 39 - 1350 Dundee bus station to Montrose High Street (a.1509)

Service 30 - 1510 Montrose High Street to Stracathro Hospital (a.1539)

Service 21 - 1600 Stracathro Hospital to Forfar East High Street (a.1636)

Service 20 - 1640 Forfar East High Street to Dundee bus station (a.1715)

Anyone interested can join the buses at any point, and stay for any number of journeys. Usual fares apply, including the £5.80 all-day Strathtay Rover.

Further information should be available later this week through the company
website at www.stagecoachbus.com/Strathtay

The three remaining Leyland Leopards are as follows -

25709 (TMS 409X) - originally Midland Scottish MPE409 (Strathtay SL45 then 545)

25755 (YSF 75S) - originally Fife Scottish FPE75 (Strathtay SL55 then 555)

25773 (EGB 73T) - originally Central Scottish T341 (Strathtay 573)

Since the company formation in 1985, Strathtay have operated a total of 71 full-size Leopards over the years, plus others as towing trucks – SL1 to SL69 as they were, plus 570 and 573. The Duple Dominants went when the first Darts arrived in 1993, the T-types did not last long, and then all the Y-types have slowly disappeared. 25755 is now entering its 30^th year of service! The first two are the 60 seater runs used for school runs between Alyth and Blargowrie High School, or school runs on Service 60 between Blairgowrie and Aberfeldy. These two were “upseated” to have 3 + 2 seats near the back (instead of 2 on each side), to allow more passengers on the one bus. The T-registered Leopard is normally used on a run from the Noranside area to Kirriemuir Webster’s High School. Replacements are due to be some ex-Fife Volvo/Plaxton coaches, upseated for the purpose.

If you join in, look for me on at least some of the trips! For the passengers, it will be good to finally see the back of these – but, it gives the gricers one last “thrash”. I was not so much of a fan, but since going home from the successful job interview in September 2002 on XSS 43Y (543, was SL43, now preserved), I guess you could say they’ve grown on me.

Busy day

2007-03-13T23:45:00.000Z

Today was generally a busy day.

I had recently attempted to make peace – no, civility even – with someone. They have made it clear that this is not an option. Well, I have tried. I have not failed… Yes, I can continue to ignore them, but they can’t expect me to feel bad about it, or for me to feel sorry for them.

If anyone sees any items of cutlery heading for my shoulderblades, please return them to the canteen, thanks.

Bam Bam is back!

2007-03-12T23:41:00.000Z

Over the last few months, I’ve done and seen quite a bit that I’d thought I might never do, or see. This time last year, I remember turning on Kiss100 London, early one morning, and finding no BamBam… who was gone… Bamster.com then later opened up Theshow.com, offering Bam addicts the chance to feed for £1.50 a month, and listen to a lot of vulgar (but funny) stuff that they couldn’t put on the radio anyway. Now, BamBam is, from tonight, working for one of the radio stations he used to spend his time putting down – Capital Radio! Now there’s a surprise (I know I usually say ‘never say never’ but this is an exception)…

So, as I was around tonight, I had a listen to the show. OK, it wasn’t as “in your face” as the original, but maybe it was never going to be (especially, like BamBam said, when you have all the Capital management watching what you are up to)... The show started with a recorded clip of a kid saying something along the lines of “We won’t say anything that might offend young ears, because we’ve got a [bleep] [bleep] [bleep] bleeper…”

What has happened in the last year? Well, Streetboy is not there – believe it or not, he is working the streets of Tottenham. Not “pimping his ass”, but as a roofer! If you want some of the crude stuff, subscribe to TheShow.com.

Capital Radio said

“Listen to the best music and banter.
Monday - Friday 7pm - 10pm Bambam joins Capital to take over the weekday evening show.

Bambam is well known on the London radio sceene (spelt incorrectly for a reason?) for his un-orthodox style on the mic. Now, BamBam, and Kat Shoob (yes, the sexy one from ITV’s ‘The Mint’) are exclusively here at Capital with a new weekday evening show.

He will be bringing his very own unique style and humour to the station. So, listen Monday - Friday 7pm - 10pm.”

That’s putting it politely… BamBam is a talented presenter and individual, so please have a listen beyond the swear words!

At home – all day!

2007-03-12T18:40:00.000Z

Yes, I had the day off! It is the first of two days that I’ve booked off this week. The agency holiday year runs out at the end of the month. Is it THAT time of the year already? So, why did I choose those dates? The Tuesdays & Fridays I did not select, just in case I got set back to my old “four days a week” shift. I have three medical appointments next week, so I didn’t want to confuse next week even further. That, and I might even qualify for another day off, having changed my hours… we might well find out early next month, when it’s too late…

… So what did I do with my day? It was warmish weather out (allegedly), I had a few pennies to spare (not a lot), where did I go? I sat at home and chatted to a certain American for almost the whole day…

… Time well spent, I think… and repaying his recent support and loyalty. Many days recently (when we’ve been chatting before I start my shift), I’ve felt like curling up in front of the pc, chatting for the day, and not bothering with the rest of the world… well today, I did!

Daylight Savings Time comes earlier every year

2007-03-11T23:49:00.000Z

… ok, so it might seem that way… but this year, it genuinely does! Previously, this was one week after UK starting British Summer Time, I am sure. Now, it’s been moved back three weeks, apparently to save energy. So now, rather than being an extra hour apart for one week, the gap from the UK to the US is one hour shorter, for two weeks. Benefits? Well, it benefits those who live in the UK but want to chat to someone in the states working an early shift, before going onto a late work shift of their own… i.e. me…

Don't Be A Menace To The Security Guard In HMV, While Out Shopping In Your Hoodie

2007-03-11T23:38:00.000Z

Yes, I went out shopping. If you like irony, have a read. I went out for a few things, and managed to set off the alarm at HMV when I went INTO the store. This naturally aroused the interest of the security guard, who offered to deactivate the contents of the carrier bag. He did so, and it still went off! Nothing was ”registering” as not decoded, so it was really unusual. So, I bought what I had gone in for – a cheap copy of….

… Don’t Be A Menace To South Central While Drinking Your Juice in The Hood…

… now, could that have been scripted any better?

You have to love a movie that starts along the lines of this…

“One in five young black men will be forced to watch a ‘Growing Up In The Hood’ movie… One in ten will be shot while in the theatre...”

So, I headed for home, left the purchases at home, then headed to the other side of the city centre (Nethergate/Overgate) for power cards. More extravagant spending- yes, a new handbag… my first main replacement for two years… and it was only £4.00! Also, found a new purse for £1.00… Further to Wednesday’s notes, the Dundee branch (Overgate Centre) of Stationery Box is closing (NOT becoming a Partners) –I guess it’s back to the one in Glasgow being closest (maybe Perth, who knows).

THREE quiet days…

2007-03-10T23:36:00.000Z

… yes, I have some time to unwind, after a fairly busy week! So, staying in for a quiet day, and shops tomorrow.

I was going to do a review of the new phone, but I shall wait until the wap works, then I can try to explain it all.

M80 Shuttle (Part Two) – Go West, then come back for work

2007-03-09T23:35:00.000Z

…do you know, that almost fits in with the tune?

On these occasions, I had not taken off the whole day – although I could have asked for it. It would mean having to move my hours to another day – and I’ve already worked Sunday past, and timesheets finish weekly on a Friday. There is also the fact that the Tuesday monthly/bi-monthly sessions are “drop-in by 1100”, so there was no fixed time of how long it would be before I was cleared – kind of important when booking a bus for the way home!

Anyway, where was I…. actually, don’t answer that… lol what I meant was, what did I get up to? I finally had a “hurl” on the new 15 metre long Volvo/Plaxton Panther megabus coaches – well two of them, as I had one in each direction! – 54009 down, and 54010 back. Like the artics, you lose the sense of size once you board, and all is well. The ride held up, but the driver had to take the ”wrong” lane in Glasgow at Cathedral Street/North Hanover Street junction, to ensure the turn into the latter was smooth. The return trip saw an angry driver driving it from Perth to Dundee (he had just grafted most of the crew shuttle Vito’s types onto the surface of Broxden Park & Ride), and it showed, but again the ride held out.

The trip was a bit more than megabus bashing, of course! Met up with Alex once more, a few minutes late (partially because the Sandyford computer network had gone down…) In any case, the hour was used to explain what I had got up to in the last few days/weeks, a little about work (that may need a couple of back-to-back sessions to explain the last four and a half years!), and this does appear to be helping… and it does tell, apparently… because rather than saying “what did I do wrong” in certain situations, I was saying “what did they do me wrong”, or “how did I do the right thing”… We also talked about the feelings I explained a few days ago, but agreed that I may need to keep watching how I feel with these things.

So, then, after that, I got out quite a bit late (despite starting late, we still took the full hour of the appointment). I had agreed to meet up with Bobby once more, and as I left Sandyford, I thought “hmm oh no, what’s going to happen”- but he was there, waiting for me. Apologies etc. offered, but not needed! We’d agreed to meet up briefly once more – he had today off too, as he was getting ready for friends coming up from down south in the evening. So, we talked about what we’d been getting up to over the last few days, as well as plans for the coming weeks.

When I got back to work, a couple of things. One of my calls was monitored, and it all went well, good score. I had to sign the form – and I have another new team coach. The old name was scored out (Bruce), and Robbie’s name was added on top… reinventing the wheel here, because I was in his team for one day late last year… turns out this team list was last updated on Monday… and no-one has said anything…

… then, it was “performance review” time, for last month. I expected it to be a bit lower than the last month, because I’d been off. Guess what- no monitoring stats meant I was a lot lower –and it appears that no one monitored me because I’d been on the email team. So, at about forty seconds, it has to be the shortest review I’ve ever had…

I was actually more awake today (than yesterday, or two weeks ago), so felt ok to stay awake throughout the shift! Never mind, now I am off until TUESDAY! I can live with that!

At work

2007-03-08T13:34:00.000Z

...and guess what? We’ve finally taken the challenge, and someone has organised a team night out, for early next month! Whey hey! Hopefully no buses will be involved this time…

… Anyway, as long as I could get in bed this morning, out to work on time, then home, and getting a few hours sleep in-between noise from the car park etc. I did feel REALLY drained towards the last few hours of my shift – so much so that I opened one of the inward facing windows (above the aircon system) and got some “fresh air”. As I said to one of the colleagues “what am I going to be like this time tomorrow?”

Work & Drainspotting

2007-03-07T23:31:00.000Z

Wednesday – a return to work, and nothing that spectacular happened… today was the first day of the “new brick”, and I can’t get the wap (mobile internet) on it to work… yet…

Regular patrons of London Underground’s Waterloo & City Line know it semi-affectionately as “the drain”. Well, thanks to Simon Cooper for posting this to Tubegroup, but a slightly unusual “Invitation To Tender” has recently appeared on the EU Overseas Journal…

UK-London: wireless telecommunications system

2007/S 45-055783

II.1.5) Short description of the contract or purchase(s):
London Underground (LU) requires the provision of a trial project of
mobile telephony and data services coverage in underground areas on
the Waterloo and City Line station platforms at Bank and Waterloo
stations and the tunnel section in between.

On completion of installation works at the trial sites there will be
a period of evaluation of the performance, suitability, reliability
and maintenance of the installation and services. LU will assess the
results from the trial to determine whether to provide mobile
telephony and data services on the LU network.

Enhancement to LU's customer experience will be significantly
increased with mobile technologies facilitating targeted travel
information 'on the move' in the underground environment to all
customers with a mobile handset. Hearing impaired customers will have
the ability for travel announcements directed to their mobile phones
in a visual format to warn of real time disruptions and line
closures. In addition streaming media will be available on mobile
handsets to keep customers occupied whilst travelling as well as
being able to surf the internet whilst waiting for their train.

Background information:

Current UK cellular telephony is provided by a number of operators
using GSM, GPRS and similar derived technologies including 3G.
UK coverage for mobile users across most operator networks is nearing
100 %.

This coverage includes many difficult environmental areas, such as
road tunnels. Currently mobile and data services coverage is not
available within the underground sections of the LU network including
certain stations, station concourses, passenger walkways, platforms,
trains and train running tunnels. Research has shown that there is
considerable demand and interest from the travelling public and
Mobile Operators for the provision of these services.
Overview of services:
a) Mobile telephony coverage:
LU requires the provision of trial mobile telephony coverage to the
Waterloo and City Line platforms at Bank and Waterloo stations along
with tunnel section in between.
b) Data services coverage:
LU also requires the provision of trial high speed data services
using the same basic operational infrastructure. These services will
include the widest possible range of additional services with
particular interest in mobile and wireless network connectivity
solutions such as WiFi and WiMAX, DAB (Digital Audio Broadcast), DVB
(Digital Video Broadcast).

It is envisaged that the trial services will be provided through a
Neutral Host solution, where a single prime contractor organisation
provides and operates the technical solution and is responsible for
distributing the mobile and data services into the underground. The
contractor will be required to design, install, operate and maintain
the appropriate infrastructure in accordance with the requirements of
LU's Invitation to Tender (ITT) and LU would pay the contractor's
associated costs which will be bid as part of the tender exercise.
The contractor will be required to offer the services to all Mobile
Network Operators for the period of the trial.

At the end of the trial, the contractor will be required to provide
LU with a number of reports which will be set out in the ITT but
which will cover the design, installation, performance, suitability,
maintenance, usage and financial viability of the services including
any lessons learnt and a report on possibly extending the services LU
network wide. The Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) resulting from
the trial and the reports, will vest in LU. This information will be
used by LU to determine whether to proceed with a network wide
implementation of the services and if so, to use the information to
feed into any ITT for further LU implantation.

It is envisaged that if the trial is successful, and LU decides to
extend the coverage, a further competition will be undertaken to
appoint a concessionaire to extend the services to other parts of the
LU network whereby the concessionaire would design, install, fund,
operate, maintain and upgrade appropriate infrastructure and provide
a revenue to LU. In return the concessionaire would be granted a
right to exploit the provision of mobile telephony and data services
to third parties in the areas of coverage on the LU network.
TfL and its subsidiaries actively promote green procurement
throughout its procurement chain and welcome applications from
environmentally responsible candidates committed to the principles of
reducing, reusing and recycling resources and to the practices of
buying recycled.

So, why did TfL choose “the drain” for the experiment? Well, it’s just had it’s major multi-month refurbishment, so it should have no engineering type work to screw up the experiment. It’s a fairly short line – two stations i.e. Waterloo & Bank, and a tunnel under the Thames in between – and self-contained in many ways. Perhaps ideal, but the short journey time (especially since refurbishment) might mean getting online takes just about as the journey!

So, why do I mention this? Well, as you probably gather (even just from the “choice cuts” you read on this blog!), TfL have a habit of issuing too many press releases. Back in 2000, when I worked on the tube, was the first press release about the Connect project, mentioning you may well be able to (in the future) use your mobile phone on the tube. This resulted in a passenger asking me when it would start, and which networks were compatible… very eager! As you can see, seven years later and the tenders have gone out… wonder if she still has the same phone that she did then? Must be a bit of a brick now… even by my standards! (Well I’ve upgraded…) Still can’t get my wap to work… so I’d not lose anything if I went “down the drain” now…

M80 Shuttle [Part One] – Suzy’s South Side Shuffle (or Dundee to Newton Mearns via Sandyford…)

2007-03-06T23:29:00.000Z

As far as GIC appointments go, this was a fairly “routine” appointment – but, it worked out into quite an enjoyable day… even if panic set in a few times late afternoon!

I left the house for the 0800 direct bus to Glasgow (M9 service). You may recall that I mentioned back in October that some new extra-long “megacoaches” were due for Citylink and Megabus work around now. Some entered service yesterday – including on this very journey – but for some reason, I got a Neoplan (50137) for this journey. Perfectly serviceable at less than two years old, and lots of seats for everyone – especially when taken with a single deck Edinburgh duplicate! We got into Glasgow just before 1000, and it was “drop-in” by 1100, so I’d booked off the whole day.

It seemed a lot quieter than the previous visits, and defiantly quieter than my November visit! I was one of the last to arrive, but there was still a bit of a wait (see previous notes of visits – currently only two doctors). Once it was my turn, I met Doctor Westwater for the first time! Quick run-down on what’s happened, and discussion where he agrees to chase the referral letter that his colleague Dr Ewan had sent a few weeks before (I saw it for the first time – last time I was there, the funding letter had not long came back). Dr Ewan had agreed to fill in the docs bit of the gender recognition cert paperwork, and I had thought that they would have ended up lost in the post. But no, the form was in a safe place – still in my file, untouched. He’s promised to have it completed, and ready in time for me to collect on Friday – not this Friday, but in two weeks time when I return. That then resolves the issue of it getting “lost”…

… So, that was the end of that. Another step on the line. Little moments that make up my future. Another brick in the wall. Whatever you want to call it…

61439 was on the 57 from Charing Cross to Central Station, and texts sent out to those I was meeting! In the meantime I had lunch (chatted to someone online via wap messenger… I am beginning to get hooked on that). Shortly afterwards, I could see the Stationery Box store has been acquired by Partners – with “new lines all the time” – and yes, they do have the plastic covered three-colours A5 size ring binders here… no need to carry them home from Manchester or London any more!

While I was chatting, I had thought about a new phone and/or camera. I could just about scrape a few pounds for a replacement for my mobile phone. Why? The phone is fine, but the case is very worn – all corners. Only one of the four clips on the phone cover still holds together. I bought two replacement covers some time ago, but they do not work with the keypad – which is so worn out, it has gone back to its natural transparent state! That, and the display cover has a crack from one side to the other… which could be replaced, but almost impossible to find a working replacement. The digital camera I have is starting not to turn on…

… in short, I need a new brick. “Brick” to use a technical term, is the name I use for Adam’s phone… until he replaced the M-Gage with a Sony Ericsson, but by this point the name had stuck! So, mine is a brick too, in speaking terms. I guess it’s maybe a metaphor that my brick is not in one piece… oh no I said BRICK… what’s the matter with you lot? Lol I was going to say, always going to be broke – like the owner!

So, I had a look around in a few surrounding shops… and I saw something I would like in a local phone retailer. This required £29.99 plus another £10 top-up – to be paid by card, so this meant I had to put the money I’d withdrawn earlier, back into the bank.

Now, for anyone else, this would be easy enough.

But, give a combination of someone-in-a-hurry-who-wants-the-job-done, as I was meeting someone in less than 20 minutes, and someone evidently hungry for a sale, it made for an interesting transaction. I was called over to the last of the desks (finally), and handed over the card and the money. I handed over £30, and said that I’d like to pay in £25 of this

”Are you at work today”?

“No, day off…”

“Is this your account that you are paying into?” (no, I’ve just nicked someone’s handbag and I feel sorry for them….)

“Yes…”

… then, she tries to sell me an account upgrade. Twice I tell her I am not interested, but she continues to ask questions!

“Do you live in Dundee then?”

… for the third time, I explained that I would soon be off work for some time, and this was the reason I didn’t want to make any changes to the account right now.

(…any more questions, and I’ll give her the detailed version of gender reassignment surgery – she looked like she’d just finished lunch…)

“Oh sorry…”

… I was then very quickly ”processed” with no further questions, and given a pay-in receipt for £30.

Oh dear.

Go back to the beginning of this conversation – I wanted change of that…

Now, sign another slip, to withdraw £5 of the £30 I’ve just put back in…

…then, around the corner back to phone store… none in stock… quick look on the computer said that none of their city centre stores had any, but the one in Newton Mearns (about 45 minutes south of the city centre by bus) had some in stock!

I met up with Bobby shortly afterwards, and he was telling me the time he was able to get revenge on said bank. When one of their staff members came into the travel centre in uniform, he momentarily put up his “Position Closed” sign, then (in a very smiley and unusually camp manner) said “Sorry for keeping you waiting…” yes – I loved it! Being his day off, we were able to chat for close to an hour and a half, in the same coffee house that we ended up in during November! We discussed recent developments at both sides of our worlds, including his recent purchase of a HDTV and matching Sky HD box…

… So, we left the coffee shop, and he headed north towards Watt Brothers. I then cut through Central Station, and emerged onto Union Street. There was a Gemini decker coming towards the stop on the 44A, which would be fine for getting me to Newton Mearns. 32608 took me down, and shortly after Clarkston, a red Bristol VR, with blinds set to TB1 Renfrew, goes the other way. Shortly after, we arrived at what is actually called (the name above the door) “The Avenue Shopping Centre”. Rung bell in plenty of time, driver continues to next stop anyway. Grr…!

… Anyway, got in, located the store, yes they have some in silver (not pink). At that price, who’s caring I guess! So yes - it’s a Motorola L6. Very slim, 0.6-megapixel camera (fine for small shots) – all enough to keep me going and clicking in the meantime! Cheap and cheerful – like the owner…

… so, then, had to get the bus home. There was a 44A due, but there is also a 38 shortly after, that would take me closer towards the bus station (well Cathedral Street), as well as a more direct route. See what turned up first – a Henderson Travel Optare Solo on the very orbital Service 395 (Uplawmoor – East Kilbride). Hmm, not helping! Next bus comes along – same Gemini and driver on the 44A. I resist the urge to whinge about not dropping me off at the right stop as I board, largely because I’ve got the “about to be withdrawn from service” mobile phone on the ear, speaking to Paul H about bank holiday arrangements which varied in Dundee, Dudley and Birmingham…

… I had got on the bus just before 1700 at Newton Mearns, so it would be tight to get off the bus in time for the booked bus back at 1800. So, I had a brainwave- jump off at Bridge Street subway… 3-4 min journey up to Buchanan Street, two stops away. In theory… I arrived on the platform, only to see the rear of an Inner Circle train pulling away. The Outer Circle train came… and then another… I could hear a train rattling in… the Inner Circle platform had a green aspect (go light), but the OC was on red… then it changed, and seconds later, the third Outer Circle pulls in to the island platform. I was beginning to get a bit concerned, so I spoke to the train operator who radio’ed into control… apparently yes, there was a ”gap” in service, and the next train was at West Street i.e. approaching. Naturally, the train was busy, got loaded at St Enoch, and almost mobbed at Buchanan Street. The platform helper was announcing on the pa that there was another train just behind this one, and not to overcrowd the train. Quite a lot of passengers were in the stairs down to the platform, never mind getting anywhere near the train!

So, got out with ten minutes or so to get around the corner. Got up to the Bus Station – no sign of the 1800 Dundee M8 [all stops] coach. It’s not in yet… but it came in with one minute to spare. A quick driver change, and I was on Parks KSK 978. As we pulled away from Buchanan Bus Station Glasgow, a few minutes down, I was kind of pleased … to have defeated adversity – three times in one hour, as well as the general good/happy/content feelings that mixed through the day. We were back on time when we got to Cumbernauld.

I will be back on Friday, but with work for afters.

At work

2007-03-05T13:28:00.000Z

…for the second day this week… I used to be able to say that when I was working Saturdays, but this is of course different.

At work

2007-03-04T23:27:00.000Z

Well, this is an interesting one… because I need the hours, as well as needing Tuesday off for a GIC appointment, the team coach who was sort of covering for my own agreed that I could work the same hours today instead. Being a Sunday, there are no daytime buses from the city centre to work at Dundee Technology Park (but of course, a half-hourly evening service…)

So, went out, and had some extravagant spending. Not! Kingsway West Retail Park –157 up on the 1B, walked around the corner, had lunch, then got a few things in Tesco. New toaster required (the old one has given up the ghost) –got one, brand new boxed for £4.00… So, by this point, I was in a good mood, waited for the 14 to work. While I had lunch, I saw both buses on Service 14, so they were both out and running to time. So, naturally, by the time I went for mine an hour later, it was eight minutes late, and I was freezing my non-specific genitals off in a very cold gale force wind… and of course, the bus shelter at Kingsway West Retail Park was long ago deemed to be the worst in the city (by the Dundee Bus Bulletin no less, long before the Tele caught onto it!)

So, I got to the Tech Park 3/4 minutes late, so improving. Completely confused Adam by asking what he was doing in on a Sunday “I’m always here on a Sunday… wait a minute, what are you doing here?”

Really a quiet day…

2007-03-03T23:26:00.000Z

… because I am out at work tomorrow!

But in thinking about things… over the last two days, I have been thinking a lot about my body, and my mind. Most of you have perhaps noticed that I am starting to feel bad at the beginning of each month. Strong headaches seem to be a factor. I feel slightly worse at these times. It’s evident in the blog, and started perhaps spectacularly at the end of September/early October.

So, I have to split monthly pattern feelings from depression, and when I’ve had so much else happening in the meantime, my mind has been a little clouded to say the least. Now I can recognise that these days can get me down, and to make an extra special effort to carry on, not over-stretch or stress myself at these times, and to carry on as best I can.

Welcome to the wonderful world of womanhood, Suzy.

Another night with the new start

2007-03-02T23:26:00.000Z

... believe it or not, the new guy who I was helping out last night asked for me back this evening to help him once more!…

Friendly ride home, new start

2007-03-01T23:22:00.000Z

It’s a new month, but it’s a new start for other people too. Most of my evening was taken with helping one of our new starts with his calls – which was just as well, because I had a very strong headache passing through (again)…

…I had a friend (hi Chris!) driving me home on the 29. Typically for me – you don’t get me on your bus for months, years even – then I turn up twice in fifteen days…

What goes around comes around

2007-02-28T12:45:00.000Z

He almost didn't see the old lady, stranded on the side of the road, but even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So he pulled up in front of her Mercedes and got out. His Pontiac was still sputtering when he approached her.

Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one had stopped to help for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He didn't look safe; he looked poor and hungry.

He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He knew how she felt. It was that chill which only fear can put in you.

He said, "I'm here to help you, ma'am. Why don't you wait in the car where it's warm? By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson."

Well, all she had was a flat tyre, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Bryan crawled under the car looking for a place to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. Soon he was able to change the tyre. But he had to get dirty and his hands hurt.

As he was tightening up the lug nuts, she rolled down the window and began to talk to him. She told him that she was from St. Louis and was only just passing through. She couldn't thank him enough for coming to her aid.

Bryan just smiled as he closed her trunk. The lady asked how much she owed him. Any amount would have been all right with her. She already imagined all the awful things that could have happened had he not stopped. Bryan never thought twice about being paid.

This was not a job to him. This was helping someone in need, and God knows there were plenty, who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way, and it never occurred to him to act any other way.

He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance they needed, and Bryan added, "And think of me."

He waited until she started her car and drove off. It had been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for home, disappearing into the twilight.

A few miles down the road the lady saw a small cafe. She went in to grab a bite to eat, and take the chill off before she made the last leg of her trip home. It was a dingy looking restaurant. Outside were two old gas pumps. The whole scene was unfamiliar to her. The waitress came over and brought a clean towel to wipe her wet hair. She had a sweet smile, one that even being on her feet for the whole day couldn't erase.

The lady noticed the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant, but she never let the strain and aches change her attitude. The old lady wondered how someone who had so little could be so giving to a stranger. Then she remembered Bryan.

After the lady finished her meal, she paid with a hundred dollar bill. The waitress quickly went to get change for her hundred dollar bill, but the old lady had slipped right out the door. She was gone by the time the waitress came back. The waitress wondered where the lady could be. Then she noticed something written on the napkin.

There were tears in her eyes when she read what the lady wrote: "You don't owe me anything. I have been there too. Somebody once helped me out, the way I'm helping you. If you really want to pay me back, here is what you do: Do not let this chain of love end with you."

Under the napkin were four more $100 bills.

Well, there were tables to clear, sugar bowls to fill, and people to serve, but the waitress made it through another day. That night when she got home from work and climbed into bed, she was thinking about the money and what the lady had written. How could the lady have known how much she and her husband needed it? With the baby due next month, it was going to be hard....

She knew how worried her husband was, and as he lay sleeping next to her, she gave him a soft kiss and whispered soft and low, "Everything's going to be all right. I love you, Bryan Anderson."

There is an old saying "What goes around comes around." Today, I sent you this story, and I'm asking you to pass it on... Let this light shine.

Don't delete it. Please pass this on to a friend.

Good friends are like stars....You don't always see them, but you know they are always there.

Another weird headache...

2007-02-27T23:55:00.000Z

... this time I could blame being stuck under a light panel at work! Got home in one piece though. No sign of the snow promised, although some parts of the Angus Glens did get some. A little wet and windy, picking up once I got closer to home.

Snow tomorrow?

2007-02-26T23:43:00.000Z

I caught a glimpse of the weather forecast today on the telly at work... snow all over most of Scotland by early afternoon, thick by the evening! Not looking forward to that tomorrow...

A quieter week ahead

2007-02-25T17:04:00.000Z

Another day in the flat, with the usual weekend chores and tasks. Looking ahead, this would appear to be a straight forward week at work, with no appointments etc. coming up. Wait until the following week though, which will be all over the place... and so will I be!

Another quiet day

2007-02-24T23:04:00.000Z

I slept until around 10-1100, but waking here and there. I was able to relax for a bit longer on the bed...

Twenty Hours In One Day

2007-02-23T23:58:00.000Z

I woke up at "silly o'clock" right enough! 0500 UK time! (Some of my American readers may have not gone to bed by that point!) Had to book my tickets (paid today), and the site is down each morning but I couldn't remember until when - turns out it was 0400-0700. So, went back to bed for an hour, didn't sleep but did manage to relax. Thinking of everything at once! Got up around 0620, stayed on the pc for a bit, went for coffee and a shower, had to do my hair as I'd not done it on Thursday! Then came out the shower at 0710, got my seats booked, got dried off, dry hair, out the door, got some "breakfast" from Tesco, before heading for the bus to Glasgow at 0800.

Yesterday, the M80 (main road from Dundee/Stirling to Glasgow) was closed from 0100 to about 1900 after a truck did something a bit silly, and jacknifed the truck into the gantry, trapping a car with it. Nothing like that today, which is good... sometimes the weekly appointment system can be useful!

This gets me in for 0953, and I manage to get around to Bath Street (for bus to Sandyford) and on it for 1001. I arrive at Sandyford 1010. I did tell Alex (the counsellor) that I may be late this week , but I managed to be not too bad in the end. We largely discussed my childhood - and a different way to look at some of what I have endured. I have another two appointments spread over the coming weeks, to add to the GIC visit (in the same location) on Tuesday 6th March.

I got out at 1120, and turned my phone on. I was meant to be meeting up with the West End Poet (I do try where I can!), but he's had something else occur. Never mind, not to worry, I shall be back at least three times next month, so plenty of opportunity!

So, I got some things around Glasgow city centre. Found a store in the Savoy Centre doing a nice range of cheap sweets, but also a small range of model buses in the cabinet. Will be back no doubt one day...

I had lunch at the only A&W's in Scotland (combined A&W/KFC at the top of Renfield Street) - but after next week, it becomes a "plain" KFC only store. No! ...Afraid to say it is! So, from there, stopped at Sainsbury's, before heading for the bus back to Dundee, leaving at 1330. At this point I will have been up for eight and a half hours, with a lot more still to go!

One of the stories that I read in the Metro, and on WEP's blog for yesterday, was that Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) are contracting First to run a "Subway Nightrider" - a night bus service that follows a circular router, at times when the Glasgow Subway is not running. This will provide a "through the night" service on Friday night into Saturday morning, Saturday night into Sunday morning, and Sunday evenings when the Subway finishes about 1800 usually. There will be a flat fare of £2.00 - double the daytime Subway train fare - to use the Nightrider service, which will commence on 20 April 2007

The SPT website explains the story, and quotes Cllr Watson as saying "It may not quite be David Hasselhoff's car Kitt from the original Nightrider but the Subway Nightrider will provide a comfortable and safe journey home for people travelling late at night"

After reading the Evening Times and the Metro, I got the cracked old mobile out, fired up Messenger to chat with a certain person who has been good at supporting me in the last few weeks... and we chatted right through to Dundee... and Jay, as ever, you have been wonderful! Almost about as low-tech hi-tech that you can get (i.e. via GPRS and WAP), but it still allowed us to bridge almost four thousand miles! You can be alone in the middle of no-where, yet still feel together!

I made it into Dundee, and hotfooted it to the Seagate for a bus to work. Got in for 1600 hours - 15 minutes earlier than last week because I pre-bought my food ("lunch") at Sainsbury's in Buchanan Galleries Glasgow, rather than in Dundee city centre. Got in just as the boss was doing the timesheets to take down to the agency... By this point, I have now been up for 11 hours.

I got signed into the computer and phone system, and then I got called over for my performance review for January! Bear in mind I was depressed, coming off the Androcur etc. and everything else, I was a bit concerned. In the few seconds it took to walk from my own desk to the relevant manager's desk, that was all - then, I was happy when I saw the result - 21/30! That is somewhat good, but February may be a little lower. At this point, I'd been up for just over 12 hours. I then went back to my own desk, which was beside the window, looking out onto Riverside Avenue. I could hear someone's car alarm going off, so I got up to have a quick look. I put my left and on the right-hand side of a large A1 size whiteboard, placed horizontally on the windows ledge, but without any fixed support. By the time I realised it wasn't fixed to anything, it was heading for the floor.... I tried to grab it with the hand, and thus noise ensued, and everyone else looking in my direction.... I then tried to rescue it, but it slipped, more noise! Got it back on ledge single handed, and everyone went back to what they were doing, and I went for my break before I could cause nay more damage!

Yes, clumsy as ever, but what can you do! The duty desk person asked if I was alright... but I think it was more a "more noise than damage" thing.

How come this gets more blog space than anything else that happened today? Well, what's life if you can't have a laugh at yourself sometimes?

Headed for my break at 1815 (just over 13 hours up), and tried to explain the whiteboard incident to one of the team coaches that missed it...

We actually got unusually busy - for a Friday evening - more so than I would have expected. By the back of eight, it was all over though. I made it to the end, in one piece, and finished bang on 2300 (by this point, up for eighteen hours). Pleased with my week, and progress (excluding whiteboards), and marginally happier this week than I was this time last week, I decided that I could just about stretch to a pizza takeaway, and I'd not had one from the local kebab shop (Corfu) for some time. I've noticed my appetite appears to be coming back... but it comes and goes... but I managed to demolish the lot, and ended up in bed around 0100 - twenty hours up in the end.

Tired, but happy.

p.s. No whiteboards were harmed in todays events.

Challenge Suzy

2007-02-22T23:54:00.000Z

Well... what can I say?

I left the house in plenty time, made it to the bus shelter "West Marketgait opp Police Station" (i.e. round the corner from the flat) for 1345... 17 towards Ninewells Hospital bus leaves the city centre stop 1351, due there 1355. It didn't show up on the real time bus tracker displays - well, booked time only i.e. it's not found it in space or on earth! Just after 1400, I am assuming that the bus has been cut - I've to get to Westgate (doctors) for 1420, and the next bus isn't due until 1415 (showing on realtime as being due in 18 minutes). My appointment is 1420, so I start walking - in the rain - to Westport, for a 22/22C.

400 yards down West Marketgait, and the 17 Ninewells starts passing... in service, with a well-established driver! How did that happen - and how come it was never tracked on the display? About the only way I think this could happen was if the driver coming off peddled like hell down to town, got in early, and the replacement was late - but the bus would need to have been abandoned for 15 minutes for that to happen! I continued the 50 or so yards around the corner, and get a 22 instead - we get to the end of the doctors road for 1418, as per the drivers ticket machine! And they wonder why I think that could do with a car, eh?

Got to the doctors, not a lot to say. This was a follow-up to that from two weeks ago. Got given an anxiety survey to complete - no question of "Does filling in forms make you anxious?" but you get the idea. Turns out the letter from Dr Ewan at Sandyford (see here) has now arrived, and the doctor sent the prescriptions that I have been waiting on (Finasteride and Duphaston) down to Boots chemist in town (without telling me).... I was told to come back in a month, and in the meantime, I have enough time to go straight around to work, or I could proceed to the chemist and pick up my pills... otherwise I may not get the chance tomorrow, and of course the longer I'm on the Provera, it does technically continue the potential for depression!

So, took the 9x/10x (first bus that came along) - and stayed on past work, headed back to the city centre. Got the pills, and then the 9x back to work, passing the docs. Got in for 1545, saw not my own boss but one of the others (the boss is around the corner). I got in for 15345, got give the desk/chair of someone due to finish at 1600. They had a long running call to 1617, and thus I didn't get signed in for a bit afterwards at 1625. Got moved down the middle (keep us all together in the evenings) exactly two hours later! (1825)!

It was a varied day. The first challenge was the wind, rain, and the time being against me. That was passed - only just! I managed to get from the bus stop (1418) via the consultation, survey filled in, booked another appointment, made it to the bus stop, 9x boarded, quick food and drink purchases in town, queue in chemist, get everything I was waiting on, get bus back, and arrive at work at 1538 - eighty minutes exactly! Naturally, finally getting the "revised" allocation of pills was good. Duphaston is a direct replacement for the Provera (both artificial forms of progesterone), but the former is less likely to cause depression. I stopped taking the Androcur some five or six weeks ago - and the Finasteride is a similar replacement. Again, this is less likely to cause depression. On the TS groups, almost everyone who was on Androcur (or cyperetone acetate) reported some kind of upset. I had seen the packaging of the Finasteride before, which is probably just as well, given the "health warning" on the base of the packet!

So, feeling good, and ready for my Friday ahead!

New name, nothing else

2007-02-21T23:51:00.000Z

Today is the first day of the company's new identity (see last Wednesday's post), although for the moment that is all. Following the last two days, I got the bus before the one I got yesterday i.e. 1400 from town, instead of 1415. Got in therefore almost 30 minutes to spare! Still no seats... everyone is finishing at 1600! After about 10 minutes of looking, finally was told to sit with the email team once more - got a desk quick enough, but had to wait until 1500 to get a chair!

During the evening, turns out they've got another new spreadsheet that we have to fill in... but because I'd been doing emails for the last three weeks, no-one thought to tell me...

The company marked today's changes in a number of different ways. This included a "come in dressed in company colours" day - and by complete coincidence, I had a red top, black skirt ready for today! The company also bought in a large amount of munchies and drinks., and shared it out throughout the day so everyone could benefit (that was well thought out). There were a number of events, including a "rodeo bull" in the canteen area.

Everyone was given a printed copy of an email, which said "Assuming out new name is the first step on this road. In the weeks to come, we will replace our signage, change our email addresses, and legally move towards the new company identity". Sounds a bit like gender reassignment, doesn't it? Bizarrely when I was out on walkabout yesterday (trying to stay awake!), I saw the power substation building at one side of the building, which is still endorsed "BT Call Centre". BT ran the building up to 2001 I think, when it became ClientLogic, and now Sitel.

So for now, the name has changed, but that is all.

Wide Awake And Weird

2007-02-20T23:44:00.000Z

So how was my day at work? I was getting tired at the start of my shift - yawning every 5 seconds, just like yesterday! At my first break (1600), I went outside in the "fresh air"... and it seemed to work, because I stayed relatively awake until home time! I was sat in with the "email team" once more today...

... oh, and I did post a video link to YouTube earlier on, but the video has been cut. Shame. If I find another similar link, I shall post it here a bit quicker next time...

Fancy A Day Trip?

2007-02-20T14:09:00.000Z

From Monday 19th March 2007, the new summer network of "Scottish Express" services will be introduced by Fishers Tours of Dundee. This set of bus routes is designed to allow passengers to have a day trip from Dundee and the surrounds, to one of many different areas. The network has been expanded on last year, following such popularity.

While the full list of services looks a little confusing...
221 Arbroath - Dundee - Kirkcaldy
222 Arbroath - Dundee - Oban
223 Arbroath - Dundee - Pitlochry
224 Arbroath - Dundee - Jedburgh
225 Arbroath - Dundee - Ayr
226 Arbroath - Dundee - Fort William
227 Arbroath - Dundee - Callander
228 Arbroath - Dundee - Inverness
229 Arbroath - Dundee - Largs
231 Brechin - Dundee - Livingston
232 Brechin - Dundee - Stirling
233 Brechin - Dundee - Leith
234 Dundee - Brechin - Aberdeen
235 Brechin - Dundee - Glasgow
236 Dundee - Arbroath - Banchory
237 Arbroath - Dundee - Stirling
238 Arbroath - Dundee - Leith
239 Dundee - Arbroath - Aberdeen
240 Arbroath - Dundee - Glasgow
241 Brechin - Dundee - Ayr
242 Brechin - Dundee - Fort William
243 Brechin - Dundee - Callander
244 Brechin - Dundee - Inverness
245 Brechin - Dundee - Largs
246 Brechin - Dundee - Banchory
247 Brechin - Dundee - Kirkcaldy
248 Brechin - Dundee - Oban
249 Brechin - Dundee - Pitlochry
250 Brechin - Dundee - Jedburgh
251 Arbroath - Dundee - Banchory

... it means there will be a total of thirty different fortnightly services. For people in Dundee, it means a choice of three different destinations per day, Monday to Friday only. For people in Forfar/Brechin or Arbroath/Montrose, there will be one or two coaches per day.

Mondays - Ayr, Livingston, Banchory
Tuesdays - Fort William, Stirling, Kirkcaldy
Wednesdays - Callander, Leith, Oban
Thursdays - Inverness, Aberdeen, Pitlochry
Fridays - Largs, Glasgow, Jedburgh

This continues until the end of October/early November.

You can reserve a seat on any of these services by visiting the Fishers Tours travel shop at 16 Westport, Dundee, or at the mobile booking office. You can see full timetables, as well as details of the mobile shop, as part of the Monikie Scotland website - click here.

We Are All Made Of Ka's

2007-02-19T23:50:00.000Z

... well, I could have called it Caroline In The City 2...

... basically, that's what it was. After a repair to the car (something was on back-to-front), she drove back down to Dundee. We had another chat together, before she dropped me off at work... sharp at 1500, after the car park machine in the Wellgate decided to reject every note of currency offered to it! What an impression for a visitor (to our city), eh? I must admit, this was my first ride in a (Ford) Ka, and it seemed quiet enough the second time!

Work was good - I have reverted to my own job, even though a shortage of seats meant I was sat in the same e-mail team area, that I was in last week.

Caroline In The City

2007-02-18T21:58:00.000Z

I spent the afternoon with a friend from the south. Caroline had come up to Angus on Friday, and had acquired a car from a relative. Today, she was going to be driving it back down south, but she stopped in Dundee for a few hours first! It was her first time here for two years, and we used part of the afternoon to talk about a huge number of things. In the end, the car ended up having to head back to Angus, because the breaks were making a somewhat unusual noise... and she's staying up there tonight now. At least she made it to Dundee and back in one piece!

Quiet Day

2007-02-17T22:57:00.000Z

After the adventures of this week, it felt so right to be able to wake up at the usual time of 1000 again (for a normal weekday), but then to go back to bed for a few hours... after being up and about for about an hour. OK, so I needed it, but it did feel so good. Maybe because I am still getting out of my mind that I don't have to work Saturdays - for now at least. The shifts I am on (1500-2300) are all up for review in early March, so I may end up back on my own in time... who knows. Once I'd woken up in the early evening, got things ready for Sunday...

Re Peter Hendy's MySpace...

2007-02-17T18:55:00.000Z

This has since appeared on it - so, why did TfL claim that it was the real thing then?

"Please Note:-

Since the recent appearance of this account in the evening standard,
we feel it is appropriate to point out This is a SPOOF myspace
account. Purely based on our Love for Mr Hendy- he is in no way
affiliated with this account, nor is Transport for london. Please
direct any questions to TFL website.
If you have serious comments about transport for london, Please
Contact them them directly at The tfl Website"

No journey is too great

2007-02-16T23:53:00.000Z

Another long day - eighteen hours plus in the end - but, believe it or not, I wasn't as tired as I was the previous evening. I woke up in time for the 0800 fast bus (M9) to Glasgow. The choice was of this one, or the next one an hour later. The latter would leave me with not a lot of time to get there i.e. about 20 minutes, and 15 is pushing it. After being a bit too tight for time the last time I was up at Sandyford, decided to go for the earlier this time - even if it meant pulling out of Dundee at 0800.

The counselling service is part of the centre, although it is entirely separate from them (in terms of confidentiality etc.), so it is meant to be entirely open. Alex apologised for being just a little late with starting off, and we headed for the counselling room - yes, they've got a room specifically devoted for the purpose, with similar soft seats to the rest of the centre, but also dimmed soft lighting, which helped soften up things. While I managed to over-run my hour a little bit (and still only skim through my life since August), it was good to have an impartial voice to think about what is going on in my head right now. I will check with my own doctors at my forthcoming appointment about something similar more locally, but in the meantime, she's booked me in for next Friday.

So, that was that - and it was time to head back to Dundee, with just enough time to grab lunch, and head for the 1330 fast (M9) bus back to Dundee. This was my planned/booked departure, to ensure I could get back to Dundee to start work - and as I got into work for 1608, I started at 1615 (time in 15 minute blocks). Apparently, "we need you" they said earlier in the week!

Today was of course, my last day on the email team, as this is the end of three weeks. Has it really flown by in that time? The email system decided to reward my loyalty by crashing with forty-five minutes left to go, but the time was used to count and check our daily stats.

I have enjoyed my time answering email enquiries. What makes it different, I hear you say? Well, bearing in mind I am limited by what I can say, I will explain why I liked it. Firstly, it was something different to do. Variety is certainly the spice of my life. It was the same job, but that little bit different. The voice wasn't so much of a problem (although it's gone this week, I shall need to work on it for, and after, the weekend). I did get some good feedback from customers on my responses, including one who praised the service he'd had from me... and all I did was to answer a few questions. Like I said before, it's not what you do, it's how you make people feel.

Oh, and when I got home, there was a letter from Ninewells photobiology unit (laser hair removal), which confirms I am now on the waiting list. That's not bad - I only asked Dr Ewan for the referral back on 23rd January.

There's a bus shelter in the car park...

2007-02-15T21:44:00.000Z

As if this week could not get any more surreal... it just did.

I missed this, presumably either because I've been off, or a non-smoker! The number of times I recently heard the smokers amongst work making references to buses in the north-east - most notably around Inverurie, lead me to question Ian... and, yes, out in the car park, we now have the bus shelter that used to be at Inverurie Town Hall. I still had a bit of my "lunch" break left at this point, so I went out for a look.

You won't see it driving past along Riverside Avenue, because it has been placed into the former brick smoke shelter. However, if you walk around and try look at it from the car park side, you will see it there. The timetables are fairly fresh, dated 13 November 2006. The audio unit has been removed, however (if it was in there in the first place - the picture doesn't show the area clearly).

In the background of this picture, you can see what the bus shelter looked like, before it came "doon tha road". Irony of this being... I got on a 493 there back in August, on the way to Ellon (to change for Fraserburgh). Until now, I was probably the only person from my place of work to have used that shelter... until now...

... and by the way, the old ones (that were replaced as part of Dundee SmartBus) from Apollo Way West ended up at Lathalmond, Explorer Road North/South in Dunkeld and Aberfeldy. So, why did we get one from up north? Well, it turns out that Trueform (contractors for Dundee City Council) are currently installing some new kit for Aberdeenshire Council too. So, look out for more Aberdeenshire shelters around the city soon?

Least likely to have a MySpace account?

2007-02-15T11:39:00.000Z

Yes, the profile is here...

Your bus is late? Have a go at the TfL boss on his MySpace website

"He is one of London's most powerful men, overseeing the roads, the congestion charge, and Europe's largest, most complained-about public transport system.

But we can reveal that the Transport Commissioner, Peter Hendy, has been spending evenings, weekends - and even part of his working day - in the chatroom with teenagers on the MySpace web site.

In a move that will have dramatically raised the average age of the site's users, Mr Hendy, 53, has created his own MySpace page.

Mr Hendy tells site users that his "body type" is "slim/slender," adding that his sexual orientation is "straight" and he is "in a relationship."

Other details, however, are less typical of MySpace fans. The Commissioner gives his income as "£250,000 or higher" and lists his interests as "buses, trains, trams, roads and Any TfL Stuff".

Mr Hendy also posts his official TfL biography together with portraits of himself, the TfL logo and a picture which he has entitled "Me With Some Of the Buses".

TfL confirmed last night that the site was genuine.

"It is not a spoof," a spokesman said. "Any dialogue with Londoners to promote our policies is welcome."

Mr Hendy's site has become something of a cult destination among teenagers attending Bishop Ramsey School in Ruislip, Middlesex.

More than 40 of them have added themselves as "friends" to his page and made ironic comments about the state of the transport network.

"I saw you on the news the other day, making excuses," says one boy. "Naughty naughty."

Another posts: "You are looking buff (good) in dem pics. Every time I get the bus, I think of you. Safe, bruv!" An 18-year-old girl from North Harrow, north west of London, signing herself "7 of Hearts" complains that "it rained on me yesterday while I was waiting for a train...I am appalled."

In another post, "7 of Hearts" also complains that "your underground staff at Eastcote station, Hillingdon, were mean to me...What do you propose to do about it?" Within minutes, Mr Hendy apparently replied: "When I get to work on Monday morning I'll sort this out, I'll either sack them or give them a good spanking (not myself but someone lower down the food chain than me.) All the best, Peter Hendy." TfL insisted last night that although most of the site was real, this exchange with "7 of Hearts" had not been written by Mr Hendy and they would investigate.

Not all of Mr Hendy's correspondents are critical, however.

One 17-year-old, Ian, praises TfL's controversial bendy buses ("woop, peter hendy, love the work u r doing, especially those no.18 buses!")

Mr Hendy has used his website to promote TfL's controversial scheme allowing free bus travel for under-18s.

But London Assembly Tories were today making a fresh bid to scrap the free travel concession, saying it was costly, wasteful and had contributed to a rise in anti-social behaviour on the buses."

News from TIP

2007-02-14T23:46:00.000Z

The Illusion Principle have written an instrumental mix of "Take me to bed or lose me forever" just for Valentines Day! You can hear it on their MySpace. Although it did crash my web browser on the first attempt, don't let that put you off! They have no plans to get "soft" generally... I am told.

Work gets taken over

2007-02-14T23:33:00.000Z

That's true - ClientLogic (i.e. where I work) will be known from this time next week as Sitel - following a merger of both companies that happened last month.

The announcement says that for associates (i.e. the staff) that "There will be greater opportunities for associates to advance globally..." Now, I wonder, does this include a transfer opportunity somewhere around North America? Maybe that's not far away enough at the moment... lol

Twice as better?

2007-02-13T21:32:00.000Z

OK, does this mean I've now recovered twice? Maybe not.

At least the cold is gone - now, to add that to yesterday, I can now get on with the task of work, and back to my last four days answering emails.

The best laid plans of mice and women...

2007-02-12T22:25:00.000Z

I had hoped to return to work today. So soon, you say? Yes... well...

... I woke up with a bit of a cold... and I felt well worn...

... so, called in sick, went to bed for a lie-down, and woke up about four and a half hours later...

... but now, I am feeling fine enough to continue, and hopefully make it in tomorrow. Lets see how I manage!

Quiet weekend...

2007-02-11T22:39:00.000Z

... it really was!

A more pleasant day-ish

2007-02-09T23:39:00.000Z

I did feel a bit better today, than yesterday (or Wednesday) - that wouldn't be too difficult. Something that I'd already been considering was speaking to a counsellor over the way my mind has been going for the last few months (before Wednesday) - in fact, this came to my mind over the weekend. There are some "unexplained" things in my life right now, things I don't understand in my own mind. As a result, I've got one for Friday next week at Sandyford.

In other news... if you wondered what happened to that truck from earlier this week...

SUV mauled, hauled from bitterly cold, frozen bay

February 9, 2007) - Cut and drag. Cut and drag. Cut and drag.

Employees of Jim's Service Center in Rochester worked for 36 hours to haul a mangled sport utility vehicle from the icy waters of Irondequoit Bay late Wednesday night.

The 2000 Chevrolet Blazer was frozen, partially submerged, for nearly two days after its owner, Travis Newberry, 20, of Rochester drove the SUV onto the iced-over bay late Monday night.

The vehicle broke through the ice into 4 or 5 feet of water about 450 feet from shore. Newberry and two friends were not injured during the incident.

Removing the vehicle "was a monumental task," said Jim Mathews, owner of Jim's Service Center. "I didn't expect it would be as time consuming or as manpower- or equipment-draining, as it was."

Toiling in the bitter cold with whipping winds, workers first cut the ice around the SUV with chainsaws and then flipped it on its roof to drag the vehicle to shore, Mathews said. But the vehicle - filled with water and ice - repeatedly fell back through the ice.

Two of Mathews' workers fell through the ice during recovery efforts. No one was seriously hurt, he said, "just a little cold."

The ice was reportedly 9 inches thick where the SUV broke through. The vehicle, which weighed 4,147 pounds when empty, weighed over 9,000 pounds after it was removed because it was filled with "huge ice blocks," Mathews said.

Officers did not charge Newberry with any violations since it is not illegal to drive a car on the ice, said Sgt. Jonna Izzo of the Irondequoit Police Department.
A state Department of Environmental Conservation official said Tuesday that the owner was responsible for removing the vehicle and associated costs, as well as any fines that might be levied because of fluid leakage or other reasons. But DEC Regional Director Sean Hanna said Wednesday that the agency does not plan to levy a fine against Newberry, who has cooperated with DEC officials in recent days.

"We kept a close eye on the situation; nothing or virtually nothing leaked from the vehicle," into the bay, Hanna said. "We've all made decisions in life that we've regretted. We think he's paid enough for his mistake."

It's still unclear whether Newberry will recover any of the loss, according to Kristen Steinmiller, vice president of Steinmiller Associates in Webster, which did not write the policy on the vehicle.
Workers at the agency have been wondering themselves whether any policy would cover the damage. "It's definitely not collision," she said.

There's a chance that comprehensive coverage might pick up part of the tab, Steinmiller said, but "I think they'll deny it."

Newberry could not be reached for comment.

The recovery cost "will be in the neighborhood of $5,000," Mathews said, but he has not reviewed all of the expenses and has not drafted a bill yet.

Mathews said that he was among a crew of 10 men who worked on the recovery.

The crew, which repeatedly cut 10- to 15-foot sections of ice away from the SUV, used both winching and an elaborate pulley system to drag the vehicle to shore. As they worked, dozens of people stopped by to assist by holding flashlights and helping to move equipment,, Mathews said.

"We were so appreciative of the support," he said. "It really made a difference."

...and, on a humourous note, the B*stard Operator From Hell has a somewhat topical explanation to the boss this week, when asked to deal with his daughter's ex-company laptop.
"You should go to Vista."
"So you like Vista?"
"Not really, no. I run a Vista simulator."
"Virtual Server?" the Boss asks.
"Nah, I just turned on all the flashy crap in XP, changed the background image, took some memory out of my box and clocked down the CPU. Then broke Media player. Works like a charm."

Not what I wanted

2007-02-08T23:59:00.000Z

Today, my headache came & went a few times, but I was still upset. I was back to upset over everything, including things I could not change about myself. These things have came and gone in the past, and recently I've often put them down to something else happening in my life at the time. I always try to put the bad things behind me, and carry on. Just recently, there have been too many of the bad times. This has happened too often, so I can admit that I am feeling very depressed at times. I managed to get an appointment with one of my own doctors for 1650. Remember I said last month that if I felt bad two days running I would seek further help?

I tried to explain the basics of what had gone wrong. As ever when I get depressed, I couldn't quite explain things in my usual way, I didn't feel right. It almost went back to how I used to be - less confident, but I ploughed on with it. The doctor said that he doesn't just prescribe things easily, but we had a talk about how I felt. I didn't explain any specific incidents, and they had previously known about a few. (It's a while since I've been there). As a first step, he has prescribed me with anti-depressants, from now, and wants to see me again in two weeks. He knows they probably won't be working for me in two weeks, but they've not had the letter yet to make the changes recommended previously at my last visit to Sandyford.

So, back home, but as I leave the doctors, it's cold and wet! The hailstones are coming down, and the snow lying made a combination with the slope that defeated several cars! I got the 1704 Stagecoach Strathtay bus 73 from the stop after Ninewells about 1710ish. Naturally with the dark, hail/snow, cold temperatures, and hills/slopes, traffic was slow. Glamis Road took out several cars - on the shallower part at the top... before continuing to the Perth Road area. From the top of Roseangle all the way through to the ring road (East Marketgait) was gridlocked. We finally got to the High Street at 1750 - almost at the time of the next 73A service due 30 minutes later... if you thought that was bad, I saw the 2 Dryburgh (Travel Dundee bus) leaving town at what I thought was the right time for it (1730ish). The 2 is a half hourly service, which leaves town on the hour, and half past. Around 1745, another 2 Dryburgh went up - so the one before was either 25-30 minutes late, or this one was early...

... No one could be early in this sort of weather. It might explain the reason there had been a late notice cancellation - otherwise there was not going to be anything until Monday! Back to today, and despite the delay, I had time to get the prescription from Boots (late opening Thursday) before the store closed. Ironically the person doing the checking noticed that I almost ended up with the wrong box of pills... no idea what would have happened if I'd had something different, as it's "new" and I'd not had them before! I headed back home.

In other news... I heard today that Stephen Parascandolo, webmaster of the Unofficial Croydon Tramlink website , died yesterday morning in a car accident. Mark Hatton, technical webmaster, broke the news late last night on the site...

"This evening I was contacted by Mark Parascandolo, Stephen's brother, who informed me that unfortunately Stephen passed away in a car accident this morning. He asked me to post a message to the website to let everyone know as soon as possible. I don't have any more information at this time, but if the family wish me to post any further information, I will gladly do so."

If you look through the website, you will get a feel for the passion and interest Stephen had for what he did. He lived slightly away from the system (latterly living further away), but this did not change things. The site was most useful to enthusiasts and passengers alike. RIP.

Not quite as planned

2007-02-07T23:59:00.000Z

Wednesday was quieter at work. We were a few bodies down in the team, but it didn't really matter, as it got quieter - well, a lot quieter, quicker than yesterday. The thing is, throughout the day, I had this weird headache that kept coming back... and I felt a few other weird feelings... and I had those pains in my shoulders... reminded me somewhat of how I felt on Sunday...

... I got home, back in the door. I got really upset... and that was putting it mildly. There was no particular reason for it - just "everything". I'd not been this way for several weeks now... why did I feel this way? I couldn't understand it... but the more I thought about it, it became worse... and the headache now reminded me of that which I had several months ago.. .maybe it's some sort of warning... early into Thursday morning, I eventually managed to get to sleep...

All change. Again.

2007-02-06T23:45:00.000Z

Dundee City first of all, and Whitehall Street is now re-opened (most of the hole has been filled) By late evening, the gas contractors had started digging a hole into the temporary bus stop... kind of makes you wonder why it was placed there!

My day at work was really busy - almost non-stop in fact - and as a result, I did manage a bit more happiness and smiling... and I was "happy" when I went home.

Outside Dundee - and following on from yesterday's cold temperatures in the states, here are two stories from the Democrat & Chronicle newspaper in Rochester, NY, USA...

Cold, fuel woes strand school buses

(February 6, 2007) - Extreme cold weather and fuel problems stranded school buses along roadsides across Monroe County on Monday morning.

Diesel fuel in school buses jelled, clogging fuel filters. This caused buses to lose power and forced them off the road until repair crews arrived, said Michael Proukou, Spencerport transportation director, on Monday.

In Spencerport, 18 school buses with students bound for Spencerport High School had to have their fuel filters replaced by district maintenance crews at roadside.

No one was injured, but students arrived 30 to 45 minutes late.

The problem stems from the use of a state-mandated low-sulfur diesel fuel additive. Some districts buy fuel with the additive included while others buy fuel without the additive and add it themselves.

The mandate is new this school year and Monday's extremely cold weather was the first time the additive was needed, Proukou said.

The problem in Spencerport occurred because crews there added the fuel additive to fuel already containing the additive.

The incorrect balance in the fuel caused the fuel to jell.

Proukou said he spoke to transportation officials in Hilton, Webster, Greece and Rush-Henrietta school districts Monday and each reported fuel-related bus trouble.

In Greece, 30 out of the district's 206 buses were affected.

"The filters that were clogged are being sent out to be analyzed," said spokeswoman Laurel Heiden. "The cause is yet to be determined."

Winter sets in -- and SUV sinks

(February 6, 2007) - Closed schools, icy roads, wind-blown snow, travel advisories, dead batteries -- and a vehicle partially submerged in icy waters this morning: Winter, real winter, has arrived.

But be thankful: While only an inch of fresh snow was recorded in Charlotte this morning, East Aurora, ten miles southeast of Buffalo, got about 40 inches, the Oswego area got up to 45 inches, and east in the Tug Hill region three to four feet of new snow was reported.

Back in Irondequoit, police today were investigating an incident which led to a sport utility vehicle falling through the ice around midnight at Sutters Marina on Bayfront Lane.

No one was injured, according to Monroe County emergency dispatchers. The vehicle remained partially submerged this morning...

As one way opens, another remains closed

2007-02-05T23:53:00.000Z

When I was out yesterday, I was fairly certain that I saw the road put back into one place in the City Centre, ready for reopening the Whitehall Street bus stops today. Guess what happened? There's another hole there today, so diversions continue! The bus before my one to work was running seven minutes late (I was heading for the shop before hand, or I would have gone for it), then my bus to work somehow managed to turn up 14 minutes late - rendering me late for work! The one after that was... four minutes early! There are some things I can't even explain, let alone start to understand...

... I wanted to get back to smiling at everyone at work today, and on the way there, and back... managed it a bit, but tomorrow is another day!

Away from Dundee City... it was MINUS 20 (when including wind chill) in the Rochester (NY, USA) area today. At that temperature, you can develop frostbite on open skin in around thirty minutes. Ouch...

... and, slightly more closer to home, several friends had been waiting on dates to see surgeon Thomas (see previous notes). Zoe now has hers, and it is still April as originally planned. As she has spent quite a bit of time with the now-recuperating Aunty Sarah back in January, she knows what to expect.

My Sunday Evening

2007-02-04T21:03:00.000Z

OK, I am awake, and feeling better for it! Load two of three is doing the spin at the moment, and I have had a quiet evening in, watching Bridget Jones - The Edge Of Reason.When she's in the taxi near the end of the film, why does she go from the south side to the City (of London) via Picc Circus? Surely the cabbie made enough on the fare as it was... or was it just for the sign?

Here's a useful freebie that I found via The Ticket Collector - BiTE - The Discount Card For Commuters. Freebie discount card, valid in most UK railway stations (but not for travel).

News that I should have posted last week is that The Illusion Principle - the band with my colleague Adam Hobson as the drummer - have added some more gigs for March & April. They will be playing at Bannermans in Edinburgh, as well as King Tuts in Glasgow (yes, they've made it!), and then Barrowlands 2! Adam keeps reminding me they've been hard at work practicing, and "it sounds better" he says. The website includes some music, so you can try before you come along.

My Sunday Daytime

2007-02-04T18:01:00.000Z

I went out for the afternoon, met up with Tails Prower 2040 for a bit in the city centre. We met up, had a look at the bus station, Gallagher Retail Park, City Quay, and then back to town - but I felt a bit off-key throughout. Headaches were no worse than before, but by the end, both my shoulders were (unusually) sore at the same time. I put it down to the shopping carried home yesterday, and had a nap whilst part one of three of the washing was going through...

Links etc.

2007-02-03T22:42:00.000Z

I have added a few more links to the right-hand side bars. Although this is a continual process, I thought I'd mention a few of those that I have added today. None of these are new sites (two are new to me), but they are fairly useful in their own right.

Dundee Lift Share is a part of the Liftshare network, specifically designed for this part of the world. Ideal if you cannot find suitable public transport, and you get the feeling that it is a journey someone else would be making.

Traveline Scotland is a Scotland-wide journey planner, which can plan your journey between places or postcodes.

Under blogs, I have added Driving A Bus, which is the story of a Stagecoach South bus driver. I did the 700 back in April last year (see my Fotopic) - from Brighton all the way to Portsmouth, almost on one journey - but swapped from the single to the double behind it at Worthing (the single wasn't going all the way anyway). Since then, the Olympians have been replaced by Tridents, and the service level increased to cope with an increased passenger load. Jimmy is a fairly recently qualified driver, and has commented on the 700 as well as the more local stuff.

There is also Working At Food Place, which is the diary of a supermarket worker, at an unspecified supermarket. Lots of explained (reasoned) rants about customers and fellow staff make it a very interesting read.

A quieter Saturday

2007-02-03T18:41:00.000Z

Well, in comparison with last week! Had some good fun, but I let myself sleep a bit later this time around. I went out for another MegaRider (weekly ticket), and ended up with one with no date... the conductor's machines have a habit of doing this... but will be replaced in due course anyway. I'd fancied a few more things from Sainsbury's that I bought the last time I was there. So, it was 16921 on the 73A from Commercial Street to Broughty Ferry Library, walked around for 33264 on the 88 to Sainsbury's, then back to Strathern Road, then getting on 42224 on the 71 back to town. Went home, dropped the bags off, back out again, and used 47257 on the 13 to save me the walk to the Gallagher Retail Park/Bus Station, then walked back to the flat.

One week

2007-02-02T22:49:00.000Z

The last day of the first week of 1500-2300 shifts... and somewhat bizarrely, I was locked out for the last 35 minutes... of my pc, I mean! I had came back from my beak, logged into my PC (Windows 2000), it came up with a bizarre un/pwd/domain box that we'd never seen before, so I was advised to reboot the pc... and then, locked myself out of the account... oh well, it happens... So, in the end, I did manage a full week... and stopped off for a bite to eat on the way home for something different...

On the way out of work, two different Forum members were driving each of the last buses from the Tech Park - one on the 76/73A (32477 - back in service at Arbroath, with windscreen replaced!), and one on the 29.

Start of a new month

2007-02-01T23:58:00.000Z

I was starting to feel a little worn out by the end of tonight... and another Dundee depot bus on the way home, 33264 (ex 314) on the last 76. I got off at the High Street, and apparently the bus then headed back to the bus station to change drivers, before doing the usual and continuing as a 73A to Arbroath. Not sure if the bus would be changed too, but I was heading home. The email work is going very well!

From today, Traveline (including Traveline Scotland) has a new number - 0871 200 2233. This follows changes to the rules by OFCOM following a consultation. 0870 608 2 608 will still be active for another year to ease a gradual change-over. Think of how long it took to get a national number, and spread it around the uk... well now, it's time to do it all over again...

A couple of bus bits

2007-01-31T23:50:00.000Z

On the way home from work tonight (on the last Stagecoach Strathtay 76 out of the Technology Park), we had a Dundee based bus (33260 - ex 310) and driver, after the Arbroath based vehicle (32477 - ex 302 - the same one I had for the last two nights) had suffered a broken window (and I later found out it was the windscreen, and unfortunately, the driver ended up injured too). One thing I did notice was the huge - and plain - "Dundee 76" on the front, in big orange LED's. It's not quite the Dundee City Centre 76/via Harris Academy, via Roseangle etc. that (until now) flip around. Turns out that the huge number of variations in services etc. have generated a very large list, and the new management have decided to simplify things. I would have personally preferred a plain "Dundee City Centre 76" instead of just Dundee. Tomorrow is the day that it all goes live, at least of those that have already been updated. Cameras out...

For those interested in Travel Dundee, be prepared to increase your jottings! Until now, Travel Dundee (Tayside Buses, Tayside Regional Council, Dundee Corporation) have given every vehicle a number, and these are in blocks for batches of vehicles etc. These are usually low, 1 upwards (well, 01 currently). At the moment, there are 01-18 (Volvo/Gemini deckers), 59-63 (X-City Direct Volvo B6's), 64-66 (ex WM Scania's), 67 (the B7L), 114 (Scania MaxCi), 115 (ex WM Volvo B10L), 122-151 (native Volvo B10L's), 152-161 (original Volvo B10BLE's),. 162-164 (original B6LE's), 165-179 (second batch of B10BLE)'s, 200-201 (ex WM Solo's), 202-208 (ex London [211] Optare Excels), 209-212 (ex London [U3] Optare Excels). Then, you have the W numbers for the Wishart's unit vehicles, and the TC numbers for the coaches, and the SB numbers for the three yellow school buses. That is how it has been - and until now, there was a "glass ceiling" at 315 - so there was never a Dundee/Tayside bus numbered above 315. Reason - the fuel filler cards (in the old days) were pre-printed grid, which ran from 1 to 315... in any case, the fleet is a fraction of that size now. Computers have made the last restriction irrelevant now, but it was never broken, even given the chance. Until now. See, all vehicles in the Travel Dundee bus and coach fleets are being given 7xxx numbers. For those with bad memories (i.e. me), it's not too bad, because all you have to do is to add seven thousand to the number i.e. 7018 instead of 18. Why, you may wonder? Travel London are being renumbered (again) in a 8xxx or 9xxx series. Travel West Midlands & Travel Coventry vehicles can occupy the remainder of the series... and there you have it, a tidy little National Express Group Bus Division national series! For those who are wondering, apparently there are no plans to reunite old batches i.e. the Solo's which are now in London, Dundee, and the Midlands...

Another brave new world

2007-01-30T23:48:00.000Z

On the day that Microsoft formally launched Windows Vista, PC World have announced that they are no longer to sell floppy discs. Now, I do feel old...

"Computing superstore PC World said it will no longer sell the storage devices, affectionately known as floppies, once existing stock runs out.
New storage systems, coupled with a need to store more than the 1.44 megabytes of data held by a standard floppy, have led to its demise.
Only a tiny percentage of PCs currently sold still have floppy disk drives.
"The floppy disk looks increasingly quaint and simply isn't able to compete," said Bryan Magrath, commercial director of PC World. "

Miss Monday Night... is back!

2007-01-29T23:54:00.000Z

OK, so why did I say that? When I was on rota - the "original" rotas we had i.e. when there were a fair mix of early, late and weekends in everyone's pattern, and not just leaving Saturday night to those like me - I was frequently on this pattern. I'd often swap them, especially for 0700-0800ish starts. Indeed, "three till eleven" was the first shift I worked on the floor, after training. The rota changes over the years have taken away a lot of the "fun" of the old patterns, I feel... and as you may have noticed from my previous posts, I am in today, from 1500!

I tried to sleep as long as I could... knowing that that extra hour on the end of my shift would make all the difference. I slept almost till lunchtime - 1145ish when I finally sat up in bed, and about 15 minutes later till I left the bedroom... well, because I could...

Got to work, and after a brief discussion, confirmed that I am working the full 1500-2300 Monday-Friday shift (that's 40 hours total spread, 37.5 hours paid, 35 hours worked). Until now, for the last year and a half, I've had 36 hours spread, 34 paid, 32 worked. If that's too much information for you, then let me explain it (the terms are mine, and not those of the company). "Spread" is the total compass of work i.e. start to finish, sign-on to sign-off, whatever you want to call it. Paid is the number of hours I get paid. Hours worked is the hours I take calls (or for now, answer emails). Why are they different? Our middle (lunch) break is unpaid, but two shorter breaks per day are paid. You do the math(s).

Today - eight hours of the email team, and it was good. It still felt weird, heading for the shower at the time I'd been used to starting work... and still having plenty time to make it in the door! One of the people from my original training group is doing the same thing - he is the only one left! - but he is off today, in tomorrow.

100 Questions... and answers...

2007-01-28T19:50:00.000Z

Quiz questions "borrowed" from Rob Edwards... feel free to reuse on your pages.

1. Slept naked? - Yes
2. Taken a shower with someone? - Yes
3. Kissed a member of the same sex? - Yes
4. Drove a car? - No
5. Stole anything? - No
7. Been dumped? - Yes
8. Stole money from a friend/family member? - No
9. Gotten in a car with people you just met? - Mo
10. Been in a fist fight? - No
11. Snuck out of your/someone’s house? - No
12. Had feelings for someone who didn't have them back? - No
13. Been arrested? - No
14. Hugged a stranger?. - Yes
15. Met up with a member of the opposite sex somewhere? - Yes
16. Left your house with out telling your parents? - Yes
17. Had a crush on your neighbour? - No
18. Ditched school to do something more fun? - Yes
19. Slept in a bed with a member of the opposite sex? - Yes
20. Lost a friend? - Yes
21. Been on a plane? - Yes
22. Been to an island? - Yes
23. Slept in until 3? - Yes
24. Love someone or miss someone right now? - Yes
25. Laid on your back and watched cloud shapes go by? - Yes
26. Made a snow angel? - No
27. Played dress up? - Yes
28. Cheated while playing a game? - Yes (see 27)
29. Been lonely? - Yes
30. Kissed more than 1 person in one night? - Yes
32. Felt an earthquake? - No
33. Touched a snake? - Mo
34. Ran a red light? - No (see 4)
35. Been suspended from school? - No
36. Had detention? - No
37. Been in a car accident? - No
38. Hated the way you look? - Yes!!!
39. Made yourself throw up? - No
40. Crawled through a window? - No
41. Been lost? - Yes
42. Been to the opposite side of the country? - Yes
44. Cried yourself to sleep? - Yes
47. Done something you told yourself you wouldn't? - Yes
48. Laughed until something you were drinking came out your nose? - Yes
49. Caught a snowflake on your tongue? - Yes
50. Kissed in the rain? - Yes
51. Sang in the shower? - Yes
52. Made love in a woods? - No
53. Had a dream that you married someone? - Yes
54. Glued your hand to something? - Yes
55. Got your tongue stuck to a flag pole? - No
56. Ever gone to school partially naked? - Without a tie once I think
57. Been a cheerleader? - No
59. Didn't take a shower for a week? - No
60. Ever too scared to watch scary movies alone? - No
61. Played chicken? - No
62. Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes on? - No
63. Been told you're hot by a complete stranger? - Yes
65. Been easily amused? - Yes, all the time!
66. Laugh so hard you cry? - Yes, it happens!
67. Mooned/flashed someone? - No
68. Cheated on a test? - No
69. Forgotten someone's name? - All the damn time!
71. Done something dumb while drunk? - No
73. Blacked out from drinking? - No
74. Played a prank on someone? - Yes
75. Gone to a late night movie? - No
76. Made love to anything not human? - No
77. Failed a class? - No
78. Choked on something you're not supposed to eat? - No
79. Smoked pot? - No
80. Cheated on a girl/boyfriend? - No
81. Celebrate the 4th of July? - :)
82. Thrown strange objects? - No
83. Felt like killing someone? - No
84. Thought about running away? - Yes
86. Got a piercing? - Not yet
87. Cut your own hair? - No
89. Made a parent cry? - Yes
90. Cried over someone? - Yes
91. Owned more than 5 sharpies?- Yes (they are called markers over here Rob)
92. Dated someone more than once? - :)
93. Had/Have a dog? - Yes
94. Have an iPod? - Genetic MP3 player, not an iPod
95. Smoked a cigarette? - No
96. Been in a band? - No
97. Drank 25 sodas in a day? - No
98. Broken a CD? - Yes
99. Shot a gun? - No
100. Wanted someone but could never have them? - Yes

ChavAir

2007-01-28T15:47:00.000Z

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, and all you scallies and slappers on a stag and hen weekend. Welcome aboard this inaugural Chavair flight from Liverpool to Ibeeza. Your pilots today are Wayne and Daz, with their mate Baz leaning over from the jump seat urging them to go a bit faster. Your cabin staff are Shazza, Courtney and Kylie, who shouldn’t be flying as she’s up the duff again but wants her attendance bonus.

Please ensure that all your Kwik Save carrier bags are safely stowed in the overhead lockers or shoved under the seat in front of you.

Those passengers who have sat in the emergency exit rows thinking you will be able to get off of the plane first or who want the extra legroom so you can sprawl out admiring your white Kappa trainers will need to ensure that all items of hand baggage and spare trackies are stowed in the overhead lockers for take off and again for landing, including when we divert to Barcelona to kick off the drunk ASBO-holder in Row 6.

Please ensure that items you try to place in the overhead lockers such as baby buggies, bottles of Duty Free White Lightning, tamazipan and ghetto blasters are stowed securely as they could fall out and injure yourself or someone else. If you require any assistance at this time please do not hesitate to contact a member of Injury Lawyers 4 U who will shortly pass through the cabin to hand out claim forms and business cards.

You should now make sure that your fatbelt is fastened in preparation for departure. In the interest of safety and good taste your I-pod should be turned down to less than 120 decibels whilst the aircraft is on the ground. The use of electronic equipment (that’s anything that requires batteries) is not permitted whilst the fasten seatbelt signs are illuminated so please take off your Securicor tags now.

Mobile phones must now be switched off and remain switched off for the duration of the flight, even if you have only just lifted them from the Carphone Warehouse shop in the terminal building.

We shall now take you through our safety procedures and equipment onboard this Boeing 737-300GTi aircraft what Wayne has Twocked off the apron.

In the seat pocket in front of you, you will find a safety instruction card, unless the last passenger nicked it to flog on E-bay. Please take time to look at the pictures and avoid dribbling as you move your lips while trying to read the words on it. It highlights important safety information such as escape routes, lifejackets and the sprinkler system that will hose you down if you try to have a crafty smoke in the toilets. It also shows the bracing position which must be adopted in an emergency landing to protect your medallions, sovs, and unnecessarily large hoop earrings.

Emergency exits are located on both sides of the aircraft; they are clearly marked and are being pointed out to you now. Unlike other emergency situations that you might be more used to, you will not be able to do one out of the window. There are two doors at the rear of the cabin, (please note, these are not the ones marked ‘Toilet’), two over-wing exits for those of you weighing less than twenty stone, and two doors at the front.

Please take a moment now to locate your nearest exit, which might be behind you. To help you find your way, additional lighting is provided in the aisle at floor level so you can crawl out on your hands and knees, bit like going home on Saturday night.

If the cabin air supply fails, cans like these will automatically be presented from the panel above your head. When the can appears, extinguish your cigarette (shame though it is to waste your last one), place it over your mouth and drink normally. Do make sure your own can is empty before helping yourself to others.

A designer lifejacket is located in a pocket beneath your seat. For those of you who are unable to swim, you have left it a bit late to learn. Place the lifejacket over your head and secure it to your shellsuit by means of this tape. Do not inflate your lifejacket until you are well outside the aircraft. You will know you are outside the aircraft as you will be very wet, especially those of you weighed down by too much fake gold jewellery from Argos. At this time your seatbelts should be fastened. Extension belts are available for those who are in possession of loyalty cards from Burger King.

We will shortly be commencing your inflight service. This evening we will be giving you an opportunity to choose from our wide selection of bling, tax-free Lambrini and a range of snide Liverpool, Man U and England shirts. By the way we have anti-tampering alarms on all our trolleys that spray you with Burberry check dye should you try to rob from it.

Onboard today we have on offer a choice of Super-sized Big Mac meals, chicken tikka masala or kebabs. We accept UK sterling or Euros as well as major credit cards which must be in your own name. You will find in the seat pocket a price list and full details of outlets and fences for your tax-free goods.

Finally, on behalf of all of us at Chavair, may we thank you for flying with us today. We hope that you enjoy your flight and we look forward to seeing you when your licence is revoked and you are recalled to prison in a few days time.

The LBP is back!

2007-01-28T15:36:00.000Z

In all the time I have been online, only a small handful of the original sites remain online - while many others have came and gone at the same time. Matt Wharmby's original London Bus Page ran up well over 1.6 MILLION hits since 1995, and yes, some of them have been from me! As he now lives in the sticks, he's used a new title for the replacement - London Bus Page In Exile. I did mean to post this a few weeks back when I first found it... but... sorry! It's back to the original format, i.e. a bit of talk with pictures, so do take a look!

Out & About Saturday

2007-01-27T22:58:00.000Z

So, why was I up and about before lunchtime, on the first Saturday off I'd had in ages? As I am working five days this week, that's ten bus journeys - five there, five back. No Saturday evening finish, so I could buy a ten-journey or a Tay MegaRider for the week. The latter is £9.90, and is 70p more than the flat 10 journey, although I had a feeling that it wouldn't take me long to make the extra 70p… that, and with starting two hours later, it might be useful. (I may be working 34 hours, or 37.5, but more than likely there will be a half-evening slotted in somewhere, but I've been told this will be confirmed on Monday). So, last night, I made up a plan to have a few extra runs around the city area, try a few bits I've not been on for a while. The trips would also give me the chance to hand in a repeat prescription request to Westgate, and to get some things from Tesco Riverside (i.e. the cheap stuff, you know me by now!) that I cannot get in Tesco City Centre. Of course, the MegaRider (seven days unlimited travel) means that all the extra trips do not cost any extra - on Stagecoach Strathtay, Stagecoach Fife, Stagecoach Perth buses. All the journeys I did below are former Strathtay services, and all but one are Strathtay vehicles.

So, got up, and out the door about ten to eleven. Yes, some Saturdays I'd be waking up now (if I'd been for a long trip the day before!), and I headed for Nethergate. Dart 33260 (ex 310), rook me on the 77B from Dundee to Wormit, and then the 77 back to Dundee, outside the railway station. I walked along Riverside Drive to Tesco, and after bagging what I wanted, Dart 32304 on the 72. This was worked by St Andrews depot (Fife), and the driver groaned at the sight of a Strathtay ticket… think he's trying to wind me up this time, by the look I got… got that back to Nethergate, went home, and then left, heading for the Seagate. I then headed for Ninewells (and Westgate) on the 72, on 33263 (ex 313), Strathtay's contribution to the service today. Once the 72 arrives at Ninewells from Tayport, it goes for a spin around Gowrie Park, comes back to Ninewells Hospital, and then goes away back to the City & Tayport once more. Something I didn't realise about this until today was, that it is theoretically possible to get off at Ninewells/Charleston Drive, hand in your repeat script, and get the same bus back again (although I didn't do so this time). If you were really quick, and could do a climb over the gap in the fence, you could get off at the stop before Ninewells, run down, hand it in, then run via Thurso Crescent, tale a short cut through the houses, and pick up the 72 again on Spey Drive… that would be some dedication, or mad. I'm not trying it…

Anyway, shortly after, I got Solo 47260 (ex 260) on the 13 from Ninewells through to Dobbies/Ethiebeaton Park (buses now display the latter on the screens). This included the obligatory drive past work, thinking and smiling to myself! After a quick nosey around Angus Gateway, Mercedes 42238 (ex 168) took me back on the 71 to Dundee city centre Seagate. The driver didn't click she'd sold me that ticket on the 77B less than four hours before… or did she? Anyway, no problems here. Next one was the Muirhead only working of the 59, which had Trident 18509. That took me out to Muirhead, while the bus reversed, came back, and 18509 back to the temporary stop in Whitehall Crescent.

From there, ran around the corner to Nethergate (remember the Whitehall Street stops are out of use), for the Kingoodie 76. Now, of interest, there are two 76's very close together - a 76 from Monifieth Broomhill Drive to Invergowrie Station Road, which is part of the half-hourly 76 Saturday daytime service, with a conductor and driver. This departs Whitehall Street (except when closed) at 1620. Shortly before, there is a one-off (well, one of three) tendered journey, from Dundee Bus Station (1615) via Whitehall Street (1618) to Kingoodie. The latter is ran by a driver only, and is subsidised by Perth & Kinross Council, to ensure a service is provided for the residents of Kingoodie. This one does not serve the Technology Park, but the 1620 bus does, and I frequently point this out to those at work who are starting at 1700 on Saturdays. I got to Nethergate, different driver, but a familiar face - Dart 33260 (ex 310) once more! So, same bus. I got on, went for the same seat as I did for the 77B, and my rear just about goes through it! It wasn't like that five and a bit hours ago… mind you, how many Wormit's had it done since then? (several!) The reason for stressing the above though, is that two people (Adam Hobson included!) saw me on the bus, and decided to get on it, assuming I'd be heading for work! Never mind, he was happy getting off at Invergowrie, and paid to there anyway (seeing "Invergowrie" on the front of the bus!) So, same Dart back to town, and with the diversion, I was dropped off on the other corner of Debenhams at West Marketgait. Through the Overgate Centre, and then home.

Thoughts on my day - no major issues with service, apart from one broken seat on one bus (that had obviously occurred during the day in service). The Kingoodie 76 was surprisingly busy - mind you, it was ahead of the Invergowrie one, but the crewed bus did leapfrog us when we were loading at the Nethergate, rather than taking the temptation to sit back. The 72 was also very well used on both halves - more the Ninewells side. The Tayport and Wormit area buses are always busy at weekends, but the 72 was busier than the last time I did one on a Saturday (almost dead). While the city centre roadworks continue to cripple the city centre, the bus crews seemed to be making the best of it. Interchange is almost impossible i.e. Union Street has taxis one side, and a huge ditch (gas mains work) on the other… While the weather was cold, it was not too bad. Total value of journeys made so far (£1.35 + £1.35 + £0.60 + £1.15 + £1.60 + £1.35 + £1.30 + £1.30 + £1.25 + £1.25 =) £12.50, ticket price £9.90…

Going past work once (then within spitting distance a further twice) in one day, without having to stop, was also good! Mind you, I did the same on Tuesday, but this was so different.

Got home, and have converted my blog to the "new blogger". They've been at me for long enough, and I've only just switched (it was a beta for so long). So far, not too many changes. You can enter the time in digits, rather than a drop-down. Once you click on "publish", it is instant - not taking forever. To make the most of the changes, I may lose part of the template, and I've got a lot of links etc. - will come back to that in due course.

Not a lot to say

2007-01-26T22:56:00.000Z

A quiet day, but I was out for food & things. Not a lot of money right now, having had to spread it a bit thinner over the last few weeks - but I did manage to get two new pairs of shoes in a clearout, for £5 then £10. That should hopefully stop me slipping… well, half as much as usual. Home, and a chance to talk to Jay for the first time in a while… he was due to finish work around 1800 my time, but someone else was off, so he ended up working late! Emails are good, but I guess we both had a lot to catch up on.

Bring Me Back & Forward

2007-01-25T22:45:00.000Z

While I was in the shower, I couldn't help notice another weird coincidence. [edit] did tip me off/warn me about something a while ago, but I've just clicked today. I won't say any more now, but suffice to say, it potentially answers quite a lot. You may think there are a lot of weird coincidences in my life right now, and a lot of comparisons with this year and last year. If that is the case, then (hopefully) things should start to improve soon enough! There is also a lot of my current life that I only understand afterwards… which is getting to be a bit of an issue! I suppose it's still better to understand, than to go through life wondering!

I made it to work (on time today), and then followed a discussion about my hours and shifts… remember I said I would be working the email team, for three weeks from Monday? Well, I ended up working there today too! A weird string of errors meant it took me over an hour and a half to get moved from the main team area, to the email team area. First pc I sat at was already logged in. Second pc wouldn't clear the bios on starting, so I was told to power it down/up. To do this, power cable has to come out… and then, the F1/F2 Battery warning when it rebooted, only to be told of a drive failure! In the end, once I finally got in, security restrictions meant I couldn't get into the email team area, but I managed to get logged into their custom software just after 1710. Managed to get through quite a lot of emails before 2300. On counting up, allegedly I managed more in a few hours, than someone did in a full time shift today! Anyway, I've definatly got tomorrow and Saturday (and Sunday!) off, so my first three-days-off-in-a-row for several YEARS (excluding holidays and paid leave!)

What else can I squeeze in?

2007-01-24T23:54:00.000Z

I had a really long day yesterday, which ended up getting longer… and I was up for a very long time, and into the morning. I had every intention of going into work, but I ended up getting in 45 minutes late, running out of time!

The Courier had a more detailed story on what happened in yesterday's Ardler bus crash...

"A DUNDEE WOMAN spoke of her miraculous escape last night after she came face to face with a bus moments before it crashed into her Ardler home.
A shocked and shaken Jessie Sword told The Courier she feared a plane had crashed outside her Rosemount Road home before realising a Travel Dundee bus had swerved off the road, slamming into the front of her house.
As well as considering herself extremely lucky to walk away, the 61-year-old said she could not believe approximately 20 bus passengers and those inside a 4x4 hit during the incident had escaped with minor injuries.
She said she was working on her computer all day in her two-bedroom semi-detached home and decided to take a break and watch a film on TV.
"It's not something I usually do, I was just sitting in the living room at around 4.30pm when I heard this enormous bang.
"My blinds were closed and I got up because I thought something must have happened outside on the street, but staring me in the face was a bus and the bus driver staring right back at me.
"It literally shook the house as it impacted, I turned and ran away towards my kitchen to get away. I didn't know what to do-it was just all too unreal to be real. I tried phoning 999 but the bus had knocked out the phone line. I felt trapped but I went back to the front of the house and saw my neighbours Wendy and Brian, they helped me get out and took me back to their house."
Paramedics gave Ms Sword the all clear last night-however she was extremely concerned about the future of her much loved home.
"I've been living there for almost five years and I really like my house. In all the confusion one of my first thoughts was I need to phone Sanctuary and find out what's happening?"
However, it seems Ms Sword will be forced to live elsewhere for the time being as Dundee City Council structural engineers confirmed her own and her neighbour's house were structurally unsafe.
A representative from Sanctuary visited Ms Sword last night to ease her fears that she would be homeless.
Instead she assured her every effort was being made to find her a hotel for the night before accommodation in the Ardler area was secured today.
Ms Sword added, "I'm extremely grateful for the emergency services' help as they have been really great.
"It's such a shock, but I'm extremely thankful to have walked out alive."
Those in the bus and 4x4 appear to have escaped without serious injury.
Sixty-four-year-old Jim Falconer was on board and told The Courier he was making his usual trip home to Fintry on the circular route from nearby Dunsinane Industrial Estate.
Mr Falconer added, "There were maybe 15 to 20 of us on the bus. A lot of the usual faces get the same bus every night, people from Remploy and a few others.
"We had turned onto Rosemount Road when there was a sudden bang. I was sitting at the back of the bus and could see clearly that we were swerving across the road towards Gullane Avenue before we hit another vehicle and careered off through the metal fencing into the house.
"It all happened in slow motion. There was a tremendous bang when we hit the house and everyone got thrown forwards, but it seems as though no one was badly injured.
"The 4x4 had a man and two young girls inside, but they seemed to be fine. Everyone on the bus was extremely shaken, but a lot of people phoned relatives and were picked up quite quickly.
"I can't believe everyone has walked away from this. How the driver didn't get hurt I just don't know, I think we are all extremely fortunate."
Macalpine Road watch manager Rab Middlemiss said emergency services had arrived to a chaotic scene as passengers of both vehicles had escaped out onto the street to be joined by shocked neighbours rushing out to see what had happened.
He said, "We cordoned off the area and quickly ascertained that there was nobody trapped within the house, the bus or the 4x4.
"Firefighters helped paramedics to carry out medical assessments and six people were taken by ambulance to hospital-a further three were treated at the scene. We ensured all utilities were accounted for and electric, gas and water was turned off."
He said the injuries appeared to be no more than cuts, bruises and extreme shock, adding that firefighters had helped to ensure the integrity of the building as Dundee City Council engineers arrived.
Last night police and representatives from the Department of Transport were collating crash data at the scene while city council structural engineers put safety easures in place to protect the house's structure after the bus was towed away.
A police spokesman for confirmed Rosemount Road had been reopened shortly after 7.30pm following the bus's removal from the house and garden.
The scenes bore a resemblance to an incident involving the home of Christina Roberts in 2004.
The SNP councillor and her family were lucky to escape without injury when a Travel Dundee bus with 20 aboard collided with two cars, demolished a garden wall and fence before ending up embedded in the kitchen at their Happyhillock Road home.
Phil Bateman, divisional corporate affairs manager for Travel Dundee, said, "Travel Dundee has been made aware of the accident at Rosemount Road in Dundee.
"It is our understanding that a number 92 Travel Dundee bus collided with a house at around 16.46 and that several passengers have been taken to hospital.
"We are co-operating with the police and are conducting an investigation in tandem with theirs to discover the cause of the accident. We have no more information at this time, but we hope to have more once the incident has been fully investigated."
Penny Porter, spokeswoman for Scotland Gas Network, said, "We were called to the site of the accident at Rosemount Road as an emergency precaution.
"When the bus hit it caused slight damage to the external meter box, so as a safety precaution this box was removed.
"The box has no connection to any gas main and there was no danger to the public at any time." "

Slightly pedantic, but the 92 was withdrawn a few years ago (2002/2003?)… it was Service 93, which (because it only runs once a day, doesn't appear on most bus stops, and doesn't have a timetable leaflet of its own) is somewhat of a mystery to some... and it's not quite a circular, but follows a similar sort of passage to the 9/10/11/12 Outer Circle services.

Work was not too bad - I'd expected worse. [edit]
Then, after a ten hour shift (1300-2300, one hour more than usual!) I went home.

(later edited)

The Androcur Made Me Do It

2007-01-23T23:59:00.000Z

I got the 0720 Citylink from Dundee. Weather wise, Dundee was ok, Glasgow was ok, but there were some snowy bits in between around Stirling/Cumbernauld. As the M8 was the usual weekday morning car park, we were 18 minutes late in, so I called them to let them know I'd be late around (we got into Glasgow 0953, not 0935).

Once I got in, gave them my details etc. and Dr John Ewan was ready to see me, almost immediately (this was an appointment, not a drop-in). I got there just after 1010, and my appointment ran until about 1135 - quite a while in the end. I couldn't tell him everything that I'd been up to (since last November), but included all the good, and bad bits. I explained about the feelings I'd had, stopping Androcur, all the stuff we'd already discussed earlier on. He said it was reasonable to have stopped Androcur in the circumstances. I asked about changing it for Finasteride, and we talked a bit more about things, and he then agreed to this. He then explained that they'd had the funding approval (for surgery) back from NHS Tayside last month (shortly after, he tried to check on as to what was happening next, but no information).

I went back to the subject of the Androcur, and he explained that out of those who take an anti-androgen, it's about 50/50 each in terms of those who take Androcur vs. Finasteride. Later he admitted that Androcur can have the effects similar to what I had - depression, upset, tiredness etc. He remembered I mentioned headaches and upset from the time before, when I visited. We discussed the dates that I'd felt bad, and I asked about the possibility of changing the Provera. Initially, he said that was it, but I then suggested Duphaston. He stopped for a moment (on what he was about to say about provera vs. provera), and then explained what this was, and then we agreed that he would write to my GP, to change the Provera & Androcur for Finasteride & Duphaston.

I then explained that I'd recently become aware of the Laser (hair removal) facilities locally, and asked about referral. He agreed to this, as he felt that the face hair is still be a "problem" for me to overcome. In the past, I didn't think I had enough hair to make it work, and although lots have changed recently, the light/dark balance appears to be right. He will be writing the referral shortly. We then talked about work, amongst other things, but largely work. He asked how they had taken the news about surgery etc. being in the near future, and I explained what they'd said, and offered etc. He also asked how settled things were in terms of work (remember this time last year, we had the threat of off shoring over our heads). I explained about recent developments at work (right up to yesterday/next Monday!), and the fact that from the time I'd seen him last in November, up to starting on the email team Next Monday, I'd had six team coaches! In regards to my voice, he said progress had been made! I then went back to the subject of the GRP, and he mentioned again what I'd said before pre-op applicants and stuff. I explained that I'd heard of a few who had managed, so I was willing to try, and to get it out the way. I left him a copy of the form, which he is going to mail back to me.

One other issue that was brought up in passing - Professor Mizra, who was the psychiatrist who originally saw me way back in March 2005, has now retired (initially without direct replacement). That kind of makes me feel old! As with everything and everyone else, he wants me to stay positive etc. over the coming weeks and months... and that was it, and I was out, once again happy with my lot! [edit]

The rest of the day in the west, was good enough. Met up with Bobby in Glasgow, and used the rest of my FirstDay ticket around a bit of a loop around the south and the east... only for me to notice how inadvertently I'd done a similar trip to those I used to do when the Ailsa's were around! Today I had
Strathtay 52431 M8 Dundee - Glasgow BBS
First 69070 18 Bath Street - Sandyford
First 61697 57 Sandyford - Jamaica Street (he stopped without question this time - unlike November's driver who said "you want aff here?" after driving past the stop AFTER i'd rung the bell!)
Lunch, meet & greet
First 61469 45 Jamaica Street - Pollok building site/bus station
First 33406 22 Pollok bs - Braehead Shopping Centre
First 69041 Bullet (111 on Wayfarer) Braehead Shopping Centre - Partick
Subway car 118 Outer Circle Partick - Buchanan Street
Walk to George Square
First 31516 X1 George Square - BBS
R900 WCM M8 Glasgow BBS - Dundee

On the Bullet, as we approached Partick, I caught sight of a McKindless Excel parked up, with the driver looking towards the river, outside the bus. Turns out we'd caught site of the ship being launched! It's on the Evening Times website, according to the "dead tree" edition (Glasgow paper sellers still giving you a ton of freebies in return for trashing the planet...) The Bullet had seven or eight passengers, for anyone wondering! One was a reporter, sat at the back, who was on before the bus got to Braehead (from XScape I'd presume). He had got on the bus with the intent of snapping the events as they were going on, from the bus passing on the dual carriageway... and he was happy enough! So, turned it into quite a nice afternoon, if a little on the cool side.

After I got back to Dundee, news reached me via the Forum that there had been another bus smash, this afternoon in Ardler. Travel Dundee Optare Solo 201 was involved, on Service 93 (1615 from Tech Park to Douglas). While details were sketchy, the BBC News report said "Eight people have been hurt after a bus crashed into the front of a house in Dundee after a collision with a car. Six of the passengers on the bus and the occupant of the house had to be taken to hospital where they were treated for minor injuries. The accident happened late on Tuesday afternoon on Rosemount Road in the city's Ardler district. It is understood there was a woman in the house at the time. No-one has been badly injured."
[edit]

(later edited)

Promise Of A New Day - Literally

2007-01-22T20:47:00.000Z

Today was meant to be the start of something new, and as has been the case, was non-stop. Despite being at work for six hours, one hours worth of breaks (15, 30, 15) were crammed into the middle three and a bit hours! That was, perhaps, to be expected.

Shortly after 1400, the floor/duty manager is on a call, arranging cover from some staff... when he looks over to me, and says "What shifts you doing this week?", so queue a long explanation from me...
... so, he asked if I could work 1500-2300... for three weeks... from next Monday...
... I said "I'm already working 1500-2300 for two weeks...
... "would you like to work for three weeks"...
... "yes, assuming all goes well"...... then he turns his head towards his phone handset... "on the email team"...
... "EMAIL TEAM?...."

So, from next Monday, I will be in the email team for three weeks - one of the few gigs I've not yet done in the place! This has became available after two people went to other positions in the company, and a handful went away for training. Just after 1700, their team coach approaches me to go and have a look at the systems. Fairly easy, and I've already replied to my first emailed ticket! In the old days (i.e. when you had to apply) this would be considered a promotion, but it's for three weeks only (for now). So, early night for now (see previous posts), but back tomorrow evening, all going well...

In The News, Whilst I’ve Been Away...

2007-01-21T22:29:00.000Z

...ok, well I haven’t been away. I’ve had a lot on. My 7th January post showed that there was something going around at work, and no, I DIDN’T GET IT... for the first time ever! So, what caused me to not post for so long?

Feelings & Depression - I was feeling badly depressed, tired, lethargic, emotional, crying when I am not upset, and feeling tired towards the end of the day (from about 1900/2000 onwards). After speaking to others who've been prescribed similar and ended up badly (or worse). Two of the medications I am on - Androcur (Cyperetone Acetate) and Provera (Medroxyprogesterone Acetate), have been known to cause depression. The former I’ve been on since August, and the latter since November. On Friday 12th, I called Sandyford, and I was due in on the 5th February "drop-in", but I was able to get a slightly earlier appointment on Tuesday 23rd. The idea was, I was going to question my current prescriptions, and also ask about alternatives etc., but things started to get a bit worse than that. After taking my usual dose of the Androcur on Saturday 13th, I decided not to take any more, and see how I felt between now & then. I began to feel happier in the evenings, rather than being tired and down. I did have a headache, as I had done for some time, on and off. Occasionally, my head felt like it was going to explode! On Tuesday 16th (my birthday, as it was), I spent most of the evening severely upset. I tried sleeping it off, to no avail (there was digging work ongoing under Telephone house, but you could still hear it here!)... and ended up crying and shaking. My head once again felt really weird, and I had to call [edit] for a bit to try to explain how I felt. The following morning (Wednesday 19th), I woke up, and was barely able to stop crying, but then it died down in time to get to work. Surprisingly, although I was a bit tense throughout work, it died down, and I was fine enough for going home! Since then, I’ve had the odd tear, but the headache is a lot less than it was (as a friend pointed out, I’d rather cry at something, than for nothing). The weird feelings in my head are no more. The chest pains (which had been ongoing throughout taking it) have stopped completely. I don’t get the feelings of despair as soon as I get in the door after work. So, while I did have a couple of times where I felt worse than I did on the pills, it looks like this has passed. I had been taking these since the summer, and it would explain many things. When you get upset, sometimes you get a feeling of being dragged down – as I did at the New Year, as well as at the end of September. (I’ve heard worse stories).

Family - the truth is, I’ve no idea. The last time I spoke to my mother was before Christmas... now, usually, I would have had a Christmas card to anonymous, a birthday card "to my son", and perhaps a few other phone calls. What was the last thing I said to her, last time I spoke to her on the phone was when I was explaining everything that happened in December to my mother. She had (so far) objected to everything in my life, so I didn’t expect this to be any different! I think this may well be a good thing, at least for now.

Transport - Whilst there has been roadworks, severe weather, and many other things ongoing in the City, these may not explain the week I’d just had on public transport. Monday towards work, the bus driver gets lost, and ends up missing most of the "unique" section of route. Monday going home, free journey, because although the driver had a card validator box, it was an empty case - i.e. no electronics inside it! Wednesday towards work, bus turns up 14 minutes late! Wednesday on the way home - ok! Thursday towards work, driver issued the wrong ticket, but it wasn’t an issue in the end. Thursday home - ok. So, out of six journeys (half each of the two operators!), two with a notable, and one without! OK, now I am spending more time on other interests than transport, but this had to happen eventually. I don’t think it’s ever gong to be possible to take away the interest totally (past experiences and memories), but see what happens.

Web Work - I am now in charge of our team website at work, after a request from my team coach! I was specifically asked (not offered!) to put on several pages of travel information! which I was the most difficult to write... lol, OK, I copied it all from my Techpark microsite. I also added (by specific request) added a few more pages, like buses arriving at the Tech Park before 7am. These are also now on the Techpark microsite now too. It’s basic, done in Word, and has no hidden surprises. Yes I know we’ve got a huge number of students who study web design by day for a living... but they never got asked, and I did, so there!

Work - This may take some explaining, but to explain, my shift has been fixed since July 2005 at 1300-2200 Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Despite the fact this is almost 18 months, no-one apart from me can usually remember it. The issues that I had then (that put me onto it) have now gone. I had been thinking of my options as to whether or not I should go back on rota (it’s not that many hours difference), or whether I change my fixed shift for something else. Last week, the management were looking for volunteers to work a 1500-2300 Monday-Friday shift, for three weeks. My shifts for this coming week have been set by circumstances - i.e. have to be in Glasgow for 1000 on Tuesday morning! My usual shift is fixed (see above), and I did want to leave early, and come in early tomorrow, but was told we’d have no space for me to come in any earlier! (quite often no space at 1300 either!). So, it had to be evenings. Yesterday, I therefore did a 10-hour shift (and ended it happier than I started!) 1300-2300. Monday 22nd I am working 1300-1900! Wednesday 1300-2300, and Thursday 1300-2300. After that is done (i.e. for pay week commencing Saturday 27th January), I was offered the 1500-2300 Monday-Friday shift, and my team coach said that I could work it within my existing pattern if I wanted to do so, for the three weeks. I thought it might be worthwhile trying a longer pattern of shifts, to see how I got on, whilst the offer was going, without me having to ask/beg/give medical evidence etc. That, and after thinking about things, I decided that I wouldn’t be keeping anyone up late, so why not? So, from Monday 29th, I am back to working five consecutive days a week (and a dual day weekend together!) - although, this is subject to final confirmation (34 or 37.5 hours).

Visits - Nothing really exciting done recently, but Bobby (the West End Poet) came to Dundee on Tuesday 9th January (the day before the third anniversary of him and his partner Joseph). We had a quick scoot around the City (as we had a few hours), leaving the City Centre to Ninewells Hospital, then via the 14 route to Sainsbury’s cross-city. We passed the rising bollard near the Technology Park, except it was down due to a technical issue (but back up and working the next day), as well my own work, a few of the "out of town" sights, and most of the roadworks!

The next few weeks are going to be times of change. I am hoping to put those "depressed" feelings to the back of my mind, and generally get back to being happier. Work will see a few changes over the coming weeks, but there again, we’re used to that by now! Looking forward to the future may be one way to keep my mind off everything else, but I managed to bounce back before, just a few months ago. If it all goes wrong, again, then, well, we shall see. Thanks to everyone for your thoughts, suggestions etc. in the meantime!

Something

2007-01-07T12:44:00.000Z

Yesterday I got to work, and it began to feel like the place of the dead. There is a bug going around - again - and going around the city in general. For most of the shift, I had a mixture of a headache (coming and going), and I just didn't feel or sound right for most of the shift. Got home, early night (mixture of feelings). Next morning (and early afternoon) - all is well! (well, as good as it can be)

Maybe I should be leaving you lot alone for a bit...

Sleep or not

2007-01-06T01:52:00.000Z

My mind is currently bouncing everywhere, although I'm not in any physical pain. The cars in the car park over the road are screaming their horns full blast, and the noise from the dual carriageway is still quite a bit. Now, I will try again to get some sleep... but I don't feel tired...

When this happens

2007-01-05T20:56:00.000Z

You know that feeling when you are a bit tired, you can't doze off, you can't sleep, and you lie there, thinking, and you end up in tears and shaking a bit, the longer you are there?

No?

Well I just found it...

The beauty of budget airlines

2007-01-05T17:05:00.000Z

As posted to AD2-jokers earlier...

Attendant: Welcome aboard Sir. May I see your ticket?

Passenger: Sure.

Attendant: You're in seat 12B. That will be £2 please

Passenger: What for ?

Attendant: For telling you where to sit.

Passenger: But I already knew where to sit.

Attendant: Nevertheless, we are now charging a seat-locator fee of £2. It's the airline's new policy.

Passenger: That's the craziest thing I ever heard of. I won't pay it.

Attendant: Sir, do you want a seat on this flight, or not?

Passenger: Yes, yes. All right, I'll pay.

Attendant: Thank you. My goodness, your carry-on bag looks heavy. Would you like me to stow it in the overhead compartment for you ?

Passenger: That would be swell, thanks.

Attendant: No problem (grunts). Up we go, and done! That will be £3, please.

Passenger: What?

Attendant: The airline now charges a £3 carry-on assistance fee.

Passenger: This is extortion. I won't stand for it.

Attendant: Actually, you're right - you can't stand. You need to sit, and fasten your seat belt. We're about to push back from the gate. But first I need that £3.

Passenger: No way.

Attendant: Sir, if you don't comply, I will be forced to call the Air Marshal. And you really don't want me to do that.

Passenger: Why not? Is he going to shoot me?

Attendant: No, but there's a £10 Air Marshal hailing fee.

Passenger: Oh, all right, here - take the £3. I can't believe this.

Attendant: Thank you for your cooperation, sir. Is there anything else I can do for you?

Passenger: Yes. It's stuffy in here, and my overhead fan doesn't seem to work. Can you fix it?

Attendant: Your overhead fan is not broken, sir. Just insert two 50 pence coins into the overhead coin slot for the first five minutes.

Passenger: The airline is charging me for cabin air?

Attendant: Of course not, sir. Stagnant cabin air is provided free of charge. It's the circulating air that is charged for.

Passenger: I don't have any fifty pence. Can you change a two pound coin?

Attendant: Certainly, sir! Here you go!

Passenger: But you've given me only three fifty pence pieces for my two pounds.

Attendant: Yes, there's a change-making fee of 50 pence.

Passenger: Crying out loud. All I have left is a lousy 50 pence. Whatever will I do with it?

Attendant: Hang on to it. You'll need it later for the lavatory.

Hacked Chip and PIN terminal plays Tetris

2007-01-05T16:35:00.000Z

Found this story via El Reg...

UK researchers have hacked a supposedly tamper-proof Chip and PIN terminal to allow it to play Tetris. Steven Murdoch and Saar Drimer of the University of Cambridge managed to get a playable version of the classic game working on the tiny screen.

The proof-of-concept hack highlights wider security concerns about the terminals even though it was only possible after Murdoch and Drimer replaced most of the internal electronics after opening up the terminal. The attack illustrates the possibility that hackers might be able to physically modify terminals for far more malign purposes.

Entertainingly Murdoch and Drimer have made a short video of the attack, which they released via YouTube.

Dundee City Roadworks

2007-01-05T16:04:00.000Z

One for the long-suffering passengers, but there are to be two seperate sets of works, starting on the same day next week.

From Monday 8th January 2007, for approx. 11 months, bus stops in Dock Street (near Tayside House) will be closed, to allow work on the Dock Street rail tunnel.

From Monday 8th January 2007, for approx. 4 weeks, bus stops in High Street, Whitehall Street and Union Street will be affected. Bus stops H1 and H2 will be relocated to Whitehall Crescent. Buses accessing the High Street will have to use West Marketgait and Yeaman Shore.

Bus stops in Whitehall Street and Nethergate will be suspended, and passengers should board/alight in Nethergate. See the posters for full details of the closure.

Once this work is complete, “Phase 2” will start (expected to be on Monday 5th February 2007, for approx. 8 weeks), and this will result in bus stops in Union Street being suspended. Passengers should use the stops at Nethergate instead. See the posters for full details of the closure.

I've put the poster, and most of the above information, on the Techpark microsite.

New 2007 Fleetlists

2007-01-05T15:31:00.000Z

Newly updated to scotbus.com are a selection of twenty new Scottish bus fleetlists. These are available in both Excel and PDF formats.

Many thanks to Chris Forbes for supplying these.

Over three thousand people have downloaded these lists on each of the two previous editions. The older versions can also still be had online.

Go to http://scotbus.com or http://www.scotbus.com, and click on "Fleetlists".

My current feelings

2007-01-04T23:59:00.000Z

Firstly, thanks to everyone for your kind words and thoughts.

Over the last few weeks, I've had a large number of thoughts and emotions going on in my head.

Briefly, I will go back in my mind to the last day of September. There were lots of contributing factors, but even I was somewhat shocked at the way I'd reacted. In the meantime, yes, lots of happy times. Lots of confusing times, and some rather sad times.

On 27th December, I also felt like I'd failed. Maybe because once again, there were lots of reasons for doing what was done. Even though I could sort of sense something was up, it was still a bit of a shock. I was upset, but partly because I'd felt I'd done wrong. We both felt as if we'd upset each other. (Nothing could have been further from the truth, but we both thought we were trying to protect each other). As I was in shocked, I guess that I panicked. These things happen, and we are all only human. The connection was there, and it helped to explain how I felt then too. That's why I felt my subconscious was escaping!

On Monday 1st, I woke up with conflicting emotions. I felt as if I'd failed, on at least one occasion. Yes, I'd managed to "drop" that low. On the 2nd, I said so in the morning, and then later on. Why more than once? I had other feelings in the meantime, and tried to bring myself around with all the usual mind pleasers... none of which worked (this time!)

After I'd said it, and I told everyone... I bizarrely became happier... and then back to being upset... and then happier... I'd had a nap, as I'd felt fairly tired. On the 3rd, kind of stuck in between. I was back at work, but the swings were more in the middle, than the extremes of the days gone by.

There are two possibilities here - my first really serious mood swings, or the start of depression.

Of course, they can be linked, and one can be a side-effect of the other. The latter may be an option, but I'm not "always" down. Most of my medication can cause this as a side effect, but two are especially known for it. Naturally, this may or may not be helping, and I will mention it all at my next GIC review (February), as they prescribed them originally.

Then, there are the mood swings. Someone put it so brilliantly when she said "You feel depressed, you feel tired, you feel confused, you can't sleep, you can't lie down because your t1ts are aching, your body aches, you keep bursting into tears..."

... yes, every one of those, and sometimes all at once. You do sometimes feel up and happy too.

As I warned you lot a few months ago, I started on progesterone mid-November. I'm still on a fairly low dose, but after six weeks, I guess this was to be expected. In cases of people on higher doses, the moods seem to get more agitated and sometimes more upset... as if feeling you'd failed your entire world wasn't bad enough, yes it can get worse!

I've experienced the highs, and the lows, of recent times. I guess once I'd had one, the other was inevitable... but do they have to keep swapping around every few minutes/hours?

So far I've managed to keep a lot of my emotions in my head, which may not be the best policy all round.

I did get about six hours of easy sleep last night, before waking up in pain, and then awake/asleep for a few hours. Today (Thursday 4th), I started fairly content. Went up (laughing at my email, but not at a joke), and then went down at work, back up again, and down... and further down... and currently I've got a pain going through my head. Came home, had a bite to eat, still slightly sore... and tired... and run-down. Not really badly depressed, just lots of changes to my head.

Usually I try to get on, and forget the problems, and try to carry on with life, for what I can have left of it. Except for these occasions, I'd usually manage it too.

So, now, do I feel like a failure? Depends how I feel about myself at the time. If I go that low again, I just hope it won't be for a while - like everyone else does! Having reached such a low low so quickly may seem a bit worrying, but I knew this day would come sometime, and there probably will be worse to come! In the meantime, please bear with me, as I try to work through the highs and the lows of transition. If I feel bad for more than two complete days at a time (without coming back up too), I will seek more urgent help.

Thanks to you all for your time
Suzy x