Showing posts with label Cambridge Rant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cambridge Rant. Show all posts
Woke up this morning early and decided to head into London. I've been meaning to go shopping for some time (it feels so long since I've been in the west end). Of course this is a serious of error of judgement traveling on a day where there is bad weather (flurry of snow = bad weather in the South East), also the Saturday before Xmas. Thankfully I'll arrive in the city before 9AM so should avoid the rush. Probably the tube will be down due to staff not being able to get into work, which of course brings down the entire public transport system.
As usual waiting room full of Cambridge people (no surprise), the 'Breadsticks and Hummus brigade' (that's my speak for new-age family that think stopping their kids from shouting stifles their creativity, whilst most of us find it bloody annoying, I find these people so selfish). Never mind I'll be on the train from Kings Lynn soon where I'll meet the 'Calpol and Turkey Nugget' brigade.
Of course there are some things that always cheer you up at Cambridge station, such as the array of tourists taking pictures of absolutely everything. Departure boards are my favourites. I often wonder if they take pictures of the toilets also ? (if only to show how backward British loo's are since they don't have electronics built into them).
Spotted this the other day at the station:
Health & Safety gone mad - telling people to be careful when drunk on the platform !
I always find the contrast in shops around the country interesting. For various reasons I ended up having lunch in John Lewis in Cambridge Monday. What I found in interesting is the contrast in menu compared to the Oxford Street London store and Cambridge (Cambridge being downmarket of course). Oh and of course the London store having a nice view of Cavendish Square (Cambridge of course having a rooftop full of pigeons doing the toilet).
I had a craving for steak and alas they only had a burger, wasn't too bad, but didn't really satisfy the craving for hunks of red meat (must be the cold weather setting in).
Today at lunch I ended up in another place and again wanted steak. Alas, again only burgers. So, go me thinking...
Is a Burger a Steak in Cambridge terms ?
Where are you? Why do you hide?
Where is that trail of rubbish that leads by your side?
Just like the binraker goes in search of his dream of gold,
I search for rubbish, for something to have and hold,
I've seen your trash in a thousand dreams,
Felt your touch and it always seems....
That's my adaption of 'Moonraker' first verse from one of the Bond themes.
So, why this ? Well, I've been doing a clearout of the house in preparation for the pending move. What ends up is a medium sized rubbish bag at the front of the driveway (awaiting collection). I joked the other day that people would be looking through it and taking things. Well tonight...
Drive up and I spot someone going through the bag (late 50's carrying dog). Wait for a few seconds and then get out the car. I found it kind of amusing and was happy to have someone take something if it was of value. However...
WHAT I WASN'T EXPECTING WAS A CRITIQUE OF WHAT I HAD LEFT RUBBISH WISE !!
What a Cambridge thing ! Rather than simply ask 'would you mind if I had a look through', this ****** (add expletive of choice) decides to critique a 4-gang extension that I have disposed of and ask why I threw it out ! Of course that triggered a nerve and I ended up having a go at him (great stress relief after a long 7AM-7PM day I can tell you), pointing out that I took exception to someone critiquing my decision to throw rubbish out.
I politely told him (well actually I didn't) to get off my land. He then replies "I have long arms" and put his hand back into the bag to which I replied "and if you take anything I will call the police".
I find the rudeness of people really bad around here. What made him think he had the right to critique what I had thrown out ?
How I long to live at the end of a private road and have absolutely nobody bother me - and it is with in sight !
Been pretty busy at work over the past few months so limited lunches out. Of course there's The Wrestlers in Newmarket Road (down side being full of people I'd usually find irritating). The Six Bells in Fulbourn is good (especially since they let us eat in the restaurant area so we can talk work and not have to worry about people listening). Had a fantastic sandwich at the Shelford Deli on Monday.
For a while last year I was eating at The White Hart in Fulbourn. The food was fantastic- steak and chips (with onion rings) was easily one of the best I'd had in the UK. Most lunchtimes it was fairly busy and Friday was usually packed (although you could get a table). Then comes the usual Cambridge factor - nothing can stay good for a prolonged period of time and has to be made awful. It happened about 6 months ago. Over the past few months I've occasionally gone back but been a little disappointed. However this Tuesday it hit an all time low- to the point of walking out.
How can you mess up something so simple ?
Simple common sense sadly didn't prevail. Walked in, had a look at the menu, guy comes up and shows us to a table. Now here's the issue, most people at lunchtime will be working and therefore want a quick turnaround. We were shown to the table, I indicated we were ready to order but the guy just ignored us and walked off. After 5 mins I got irritated and walked out.
How can you mess up something so simple ?
... that's the insult I received from 3 yocals yesterday upon driving out of Cambridge Station car park. Actually I was rather happy at that, certainly beats "Scottish {b******, f*****, w*****}" which is the usual way I am referred to by the local community.
Simple task of reversing out of a parking space complicated by the fact that the car park actually serves many purposes (car park, taxi rank, public thoroughfare, total annoyance). Rather than get out of the way, three male youths (about 17yrs old) decide to be difficult and then complain about nearly hitting them by whacking the back of the boot of the car. I was irritated, they then proceeded to take up the whole width of the road being difficult and as the car passed one of them fell into it, or more precisely his "Sports connection" (or wherever they buy their clothing from nowadays) bag did.
Feeling grown up I decided not to get out of the car and remind them about why they should be grateful that people like me live in Cambridge to give them jobs. Drove off a little bit only to be pursued by one of them, who shouted "Posh toff" !
Just like the sun will rise in the morning (not that we'll necessarily see it!) some things are highly predictable...
Yes, this one really is as predictable as the sun rising ! This is getting repetitive, but the obligatory picture is below. Note the variation this time on the theme- no longer a rough paper note typed by someone who doesn't know how to format correctly in MS Word, but instead a message conveyed by the machine:
Note to any tourists: yes the UK really doesn't do ticket machines well and we know it. We haven't quite understood yet that the purpose of a machine isn't to take up valuable space and waste electricity. We love queuing and also paying people to hang around checking tickets.Trains will be disrupted due to strike action
I love that fact that we jest about having an integrated transport system in the UK. To be honest, the only integrated aspect I have ever seen is the ability for union officials to bring the entire transport system to it's knees. Perhaps that's the solution- just have the unions run the transport system ? Oh, hang on, isn't there a book by George Orwell about that ? Of course I'm joking, there is absolutely no way the country can go back to the 70's/80's joke that was British Rail crippled by strikes and bad service, stale cups of tea and 3 day old egg/cress sandwiches !
Self Service Machines will have poor User Interfaces
I've blogged about this before, but why do self service machines (designed for efficiency) have such poor user interfaces ? I reckon no studies at all are undertaken to figure out the user interface model that works. Instead some 23 year old from a red-brick University gets a job coding (likely in some 1980's programming language) the user interface and just drags random boxes into a design screen (a bit like a children's toy game).
Dinner at Peking last night, twice this week (although once takeaway so doesn't really count). As I walked in to the restaurant, I spotted a couple of young Cambridgeoids (my new name for Cambridge people I find irritating)- full dictionary definition to follow in a later post. In this case, it was the young couple, child (ca. 4 years), and the mother of one of them. Mother clearly had far too many package holidays in Spain (the sun really isn't good for some people).
Dinner was fantastic (of course), but the atmosphere was ruined by the 'oids. I hate people in restaurants who have to read the menu out to each other- maybe what's needed is a talking book like young children have ? Of course we had the obligatory child running around creating havoc and noise, and the parents finding it amusing. I do find the way children in Cambridge behave to be very bizarre compared to proper cities like London where they are much better behaved and don't run riot as they please.
England has this really dumb rule about Sunday opening hours- it's only been in the past decade or so that shops (major chains) are allowed to open on Sundays- but only for 6 hours maximum. Scotland of course has a more pragmatic approach to opening and is far more flexible.
To get around the issue of only being allowed to open for 6hrs, many big chains allow people to browse for 30mins before the tills open (therefore maximising the amount of time by ensuring a full potential of 6hrs is available for transactions to take place). Typically stores open at 10:30, 30 mins browsing, then the tills open from 11AM-5PM.
Last Sunday morning I had to go to John Lewis and so decided to get in early. Of course Starbucks was closed (like any Starbucks in Cambridge it has the shortest opening times of any Starbucks I had been to in the world) so ended up grabbing a coffee at the place directly opposite from the John Lewis entrance. Here's the view I had at around 10:27...
This is so so John Lewis !! Yes, open the doors a little earlier and, rather than allow people to browse early, you actually pay staff to stand at the door preventing people from coming in the store! Total madness !
11AM and I'm at the till with the purchases. Of course there's the obligatory middle-aged woman messing around with a trivial transaction taking about 10 times longer than normal. Purse secured in handbag in a manner that the ancient Egyptian tomb-builders would be proud of, such that it takes about 5 minutes to find it. Then the usual thought process of how to pay, then usually a random question, etc. etc. Finally get to pay (note to anyone who happened to be in the queue with me- I don't have tourettes I just swear a lot when I'm frustrated and have no shame).
Next off to Ecco to get some shoes:
Yep, misaligned opening times. I have yet again to stand around for 25mins as the lazy folks in the Ecco store can't get out their bed at the same time as everyone else ! Total and utter joke (and they only open for 5hrs on a Sunday).
Is there really a recession on ? By the attitude of Cambridge shops I really don't think so !!
11AM and I'm at the till with the purchases. Of course there's the obligatory middle-aged woman messing around with a trivial transaction taking about 10 times longer than normal. Purse secured in handbag in a manner that the ancient Egyptian tomb-builders would be proud of, such that it takes about 5 minutes to find it. Then the usual thought process of how to pay, then usually a random question, etc. etc. Finally get to pay (note to anyone who happened to be in the queue with me- I don't have tourettes I just swear a lot when I'm frustrated and have no shame).
Next off to Ecco to get some shoes:
Yep, misaligned opening times. I have yet again to stand around for 25mins as the lazy folks in the Ecco store can't get out their bed at the same time as everyone else ! Total and utter joke (and they only open for 5hrs on a Sunday).
Is there really a recession on ? By the attitude of Cambridge shops I really don't think so !!
I've previously described Cambridge as a culinary desert in the past and last weekend confirmed just how bad places really can be...
Last Friday decided to have some pre-dinner snacks since eating later in the day. Against better judgement passed Carluccio's, it didn't look at all busy, so decided to grab a table. I've never been a fan of this chain- the restaurant they have in Fenwick in London is fine to grab coffee/snack whilst others shop in the store. However, the Cambridge version I have always thought to be bland, poorly stocked in the deli, and the service to be lousy.
Walked in and 5 members of staff standing around doing nothing, waited about 30 seconds before I got annoyed and said 'excuse me', one of them made the effort to come over. Got to the table and looked through the menu. Specials board clearly had been written by someone who didn't speak English natively "Large Pasta Tubes served with Spicy Tomato Sauce"- not exactly appealing ! It reminded me of the English translations you get in restaurants in mainland China where they translate from Chinese to English literally and thus sounds unappealing- something like "deep fried intestine of the cow".
Ordered drinks - they were out of Lemonade - and some food (bread and ham). Took over 20mins for someone in the kitchen to go to the deli, grab 6 slices of ham and put some bread in a basket. What I find the worst about this place is that Italian Bread is absolutely fantastic, but instead you get some nonsense bread mix that looks like something out of a 1970s tupperware party (where the host has gone to the trouble of trying to find something exotic).
In short, never again !
The Punter
After the Carluccio's experience and a few drinks, ended up in The Punter with friends for dinner. I've been there before and it was very good, sadly not this time.
Okay, mild OCD confession here- I absolutely hate food being all mixed up on a plate and things merging (unless they are supposed to like stews etc.). I once watched a film where a character had a a full English Breakfast, but had to have each of the constituent parts on separate plates. People laughed, I thought it was totally normal to do such things. After all, if we wanted food to be mixed up then we'd just eat out of troughs (a bit like the image you get when you pass Nando's on Regent Street on a Friday night). I guess it's the Engineer in me that likes everything to be clean and ordered (like having to write up logbooks at University after the event as I hate untidy notes and writing, I still do this sometimes at work).
I ordered Steak and like any restaurant in Cambridge I had to give clear instructions on what was to be on the plate. It sounds nonsense, but for some reason Cambridge Restaurants have a big thing about drowning salad in balsamic vinegar (that I hate) so I've found the only way to ensure that I don't have to send the meal back is to give the server clear instructions on what is to appear on the plate. In this case it was pretty simple "please ensure that only steak and chips appear on the plate". I guess I should have been a little concerned at the recent changes to the place, as it was clear that the clientele weren't used to eating steak and so the knife was labelled:
How tacky !
Later the dinner arrived. Steak and chips on the plate, but sadly a big chunk of salad in the corner. Not balsamic vinegar, but the latest culinary find of the Cambridge chef - Mayonnaise ! I hate Mayonnaise, partly for the taste, but also the fact that anything covered in it reminds of PVA Glue (thick white glue used when I was at school) or something you'd find in a turkey baster at a horse breeder in Newmarket who specialises in artifical insemination !
Another place in Cambridge to strike off the list !
Okay, mild OCD confession here- I absolutely hate food being all mixed up on a plate and things merging (unless they are supposed to like stews etc.). I once watched a film where a character had a a full English Breakfast, but had to have each of the constituent parts on separate plates. People laughed, I thought it was totally normal to do such things. After all, if we wanted food to be mixed up then we'd just eat out of troughs (a bit like the image you get when you pass Nando's on Regent Street on a Friday night). I guess it's the Engineer in me that likes everything to be clean and ordered (like having to write up logbooks at University after the event as I hate untidy notes and writing, I still do this sometimes at work).
I ordered Steak and like any restaurant in Cambridge I had to give clear instructions on what was to be on the plate. It sounds nonsense, but for some reason Cambridge Restaurants have a big thing about drowning salad in balsamic vinegar (that I hate) so I've found the only way to ensure that I don't have to send the meal back is to give the server clear instructions on what is to appear on the plate. In this case it was pretty simple "please ensure that only steak and chips appear on the plate". I guess I should have been a little concerned at the recent changes to the place, as it was clear that the clientele weren't used to eating steak and so the knife was labelled:
How tacky !
Later the dinner arrived. Steak and chips on the plate, but sadly a big chunk of salad in the corner. Not balsamic vinegar, but the latest culinary find of the Cambridge chef - Mayonnaise ! I hate Mayonnaise, partly for the taste, but also the fact that anything covered in it reminds of PVA Glue (thick white glue used when I was at school) or something you'd find in a turkey baster at a horse breeder in Newmarket who specialises in artifical insemination !
Another place in Cambridge to strike off the list !
d'Arry's: Excellent Food and Service
Lunch today at d'Arry's (King Street). As usual, the service was excellent and the food superb. Easily the best value for money place in Cambridge in my opinion. Staff are always fantastic- even in busy times.
Only gripe being mint in the potatoes - why not actually tell people that ? I never order Lamb in the UK as I know that it's pretty much impossible to have it without being coated in Mint, but I though Potatoes+Mint was something that went out in the 1970's ? However, I had an alternative.
iPhone Blues
Went into the O2 shop in Cambridge today to buy the latest iPhone. As I walked in I realised the shop was mainly staffed by the Clearasil brigade so didn't think I was onto a good thing. Of course I wasn't wrong....
To the young guy who served me today... Thanks for making the experience so unbelievably bad and p****** me off. When I asked if you had iPhone's in stock why did you give a negative response like "we only have the 32GB models left" ?, why not try and sell me the benefits of the more expensive model ? When I asked you about the business tariff, rather than take the trouble to go through things, you couldn't even be a**** and simply handed me a poorly photocopied sheet with random tariffs on it. When I made my mind up on the tariff, why then tell me that you couldn't sign me up today and that I'd have to call customer services ?, then not even bother to even take the trouble to give me the number to call.
Thanks for making the whole experience so unbelievably bad. I really really wish the iPhone was available on other carriers - then you *might* have to make an effort (though you probably still wouldn't).
Apple Genius Service
I've never used the Genius Bar in the Apple store in Cambridge, today was the first (and last time).
Simple issue- hinge on my MacBook Air loose and starting to make a strange noise (sounds like it's going to break). Quick search on Internet suggests this is a common problem. Of course my first mistake was to think that anyone in a service industry would be in any way pro-active in their desire to fix something that was going wrong. It reminds me of years ago when I worked at a company and my desk 'phone wasn't working properly (intermittent fault), the guy who came to fix it said "can't find a fault sorry", I was so annoyed I took the headset, smashed it on the desk and said "right it's broken now can it be fixed", he fixed it.
To the guy on the Genius Bar... Rather than look at all interested, I showed you the fault and then you sat and surfed some internal site to check the problem. You then suggested to me that it was my incorrect use of the screen that was the problem. Do I look like some total retard who doesn't know how to use a computer and hasn't been using laptop computers for nearly 20 years ? You were completely useless, easily replaceable by a robot (like 2 Ronnies doctors sketch). If I had known the service I was going to get I wouldn't have even bothered making an appointment (and therefore wouldn't have had to wait for the late appointment). When I asked how I could escalate, you said 'Call AppleCare', not even bothering to give me the number.
I'll go to the London Store over the next few weeks to get it sorted.
Virgin Media
Broadband still not working properly, let's summarise how the process to get it 'sorted' works:
REPEAT
* Call 151, option 2, option 3;
* Speak to someone in India Call Centre, who does line test and agrees there is a fault, need to send Engineer out;
* Service Engineer Arrives, tests the SNR level and tell me that everything is okay and that's all he can do;
* I'll get irritated, Service Engineer will say he'll escalate (but never will);
UNTIL I MOVE OVER TO BT (who can't give me a high speed connection though)
So far we've gone round the cycle 4 times...
Spent today relaxing, got bored and decided to go shopping. Given I've been eating restaurant food for the past 3 weeks I decided to try and find a supermarket to grab some basic food and not have to eat it at a table where someone was serving me (eat at my own pace). Low and behold a Waitrose ! Of course like any supermarket abroad (save for Germany) there was an amazing selection of food on display that you'd want to eat.
Whilst browsing, I spotted this:
It got me thinking - maybe there should be a separate exclusive section in Cambridge:
Imagine - shelves full of sparkling water, lemons, potatoes, beef stock - all those things that are a rarity in Cambridge !
I get this newspaper posted through the door every week. I guess I have very little connection with the 'real' Cambridge, so I do make attempt to have a quick scan through it every week (largely for stupid stories). Of course like any weekly newspaper it contains lots of random nonsense:
* Front cover: person with mental issues wants to kill themselves, daughter criticises the hospital for wasting a donor organ trying to save him. I feel like sending a copy of my pay-slip, with the (large) National Insurance deduction circled, annotated with 'ungrateful'.
* Cambridge Student who threw shoe at Chinese Prime Minister accuses Chinese Embassy of interfering with the trial. Actually, that was quite an amusing story.
* Homeless people petitioning that their dogs have been seized by police after attacking people. I've always wondered why homeless people in the UK have dogs - surely it's another mouth to feed ?
* Murder. Got quite 'excited' about this, only to read that the crime didn't actually happen Cambridge. Rather, it was someone who had once lived in Cambridge !
* Advert for Lion Yard Shopping Centre. Slogan "shop 'til you drop", of course it should have the qualification "(or it's 5:25PM)" to give a fair sense of truth to the statement.
* Lots of adverts for conservatories. Adds to my thoughts that the target audience for the 'paper = age>65 (or people writing blog entries).
So it's a Bank Holiday here in the UK. Traditionally I guess that implied that everything (including Banks) were closed. However, with the usual times I guess we are used to things being open. Woke up this morning, decided to head into Cambridge to run some errands. Checked John Lewis' website and it indicated they opened at 10AM - so I figured heading in around 10:15 everything would be open. On the way in had a craving for Starbucks (Almond Croissant for Breakfast, with Venti Cappuccino and Orange Juide) - remember this is Cambridge so decent breakfast choices are rather limited (unless you want fried food).
Got to Starbucks in the 'Grand' Arcade, only to be met with this...
This got me thinking, 30 minutes later I could have gone to a pub and got completely drunk, why is coffee so difficult to have at normal times ? Take the evening for instance. Cambridge is the only place where all the Starbucks stores are closed at 7PM ! Of course there are plenty of places I could go and buy alcohol (too much some would say) - but why isn't there a healthy option ??
Unlike most places I've been to, where a market is something that is mobile and comes for the day, Cambridge has a market that is permanent (no, not a shop, a permanent market stall). Now you'd think that would result in things looking fairly nice in line with the overall (supposed) character of Cambridge City Centre - wrong ! - total eyesore.
I'm sitting here in the Starbucks on Market Square and what a real eyesore the market is. Lots of white vans and of course rusty bits of metal holding up dirty white sheets creating an image of a market stall. The beauty of the town hall in the background (looks like something from the Communist Era) just adds to the morning ambience. I can honestly say that I've never actually seen market square in a clean uniform environment.
Why can't it take the format of anywhere else in the world ? There are plenty of places just outside the city that would be an ideal venue for proper local farmers markets.e Then we could make the city centre look nice, perhaps hold sponsored events at weekends (like open cinema's, festivals) instead of the stench of rotting fruit.
Woke up at 5AM this morning and ended up on a call with a US colleague for over an hour - good start to the day to get things cleared up. Spent the whole morning in PowerPoint and Outlook. I'm thinking of starting to write presentations on the Mac just for novelty value.
London Abound (yet again)
This blog starts from a train into London. Of course there was the usual carnage trying to get to Cambridge railway station. The main road feeding the city centre is down to 1 lane now (should be 4) due the guided bus shambles that continues to plague Cambridge. At least the contractors seem to be working weekends now to try to get things moving along. I was going to question why they don't work 24hrs a day- but I'm sure there's some 1800's rule about noise at nightime in Cambridge that would prevent it (aside from people in the UK being lazy).
It always reminds me of a late night in Hong Kong Airport (waiting for a flight that ended up being cancelled). En route to the airport hotel (after several whiskies drunk with a guy from RBS) I noticed that there were people painting the walls of the airport at night. I thought at the time 'if that was Heathrow the whole terminal would look like a building site for 3 months'.
Friday in London
Had my work medical in London. As I walked around the city on a Friday afternoon, I had one of my 'moments' when I wonder what the hell I'm doing with my day-day life. I'm a big city person and Cambridge (or more precisely where I work day-day) isn't a big city. I know many people hate it, but I really do love the stimulation you get from the noise and activity in a big city. Of course it gets tiring after a while, but I find it far better than the raw silence you have.
I guess the other thing I really miss is that 'after work drinks' culture. Going for a quick drink after work is a great way to unwind and also try to leave at a sensible hour. I really miss that terribly.
Post
I wonder why my credit card company (that I pay the balance off every month and have done for many years) insists on sending me cheques to use every month. I can't help feeling that this practice encourages people to get into more debt. Of course there's nothing illegal about it- but it just feels morally wrong to some degree. I imagine some people get the cheque in the post (although that doesn't seem quite the right phrase here !) and don't have the willpower (or have the need) to use something that encourages them to get into even more debt. Of course that's the intention - not the wooly words in the accompanying letter that make out as if they are doing me a favour !
Technology
I saw one of the new LED backlight televisions yesterday at work (our demo team that shows off the latest technology). Truly amazing. The picture quality is fantastic, but the best thing is how thin the panel is - about 1.5cm thick by my guess. I can feel a purchase coming on - though I have been very very good recently at not spending money on gadgets (actually I think the last thing was a hard drive and that doesn't really count).
Weekend Plans
For a change I'll be based in Cambridge. I plan to relax. Of course that won't happen and I'll wake up at 5AM, get up and start doing things. I need to clear the clutter from the house in prep for a potential view. I'm getting much better at being ruthless when it comes to clutter (being Scottish means you are brought up with the mindset of keeping absolutely everything for a rainy day). I guess the internet helps things here- since I know that I will always be able to find something pretty quickly- that's the comfort of living near London also.
I also need to start taking a few more pictures - I haven't done this for a while. Although the scenery around Cambridge is nice, I don't find it at all interesting.
.. on the the booked train to Newcastle. Of course I hadn't figured that my morning would be plagued with mishaps (some good and some bad). Day wasn't off to a good start when I realised I didn't have any cash to pay for the taxi to the train station. However, that problem was solved when I called to book the cab and they indicated I could pay the driver. I called at 8:11 and the office told be it would be about 10-15mins (the usual time).
Decided to wait outside, 8:26 came and went, then 8:35 and I started to get nervous. Called and the guy clearly had a problem finding me ! Eventually he turned up at 8:38 and it wasn't looking good to catch the train (especially peak time and also that I still had to buy a ticket at Cambridge to get to Peterborough to catch a Newcastle bound train). I managed to convince the taxi office to take payment over the 'phone to save time.
Well after lots of cursing from me (and of course stopping at every red light possible and every cyclist on the journey) I arrived at Cambridge Station at 9:01 (rest assured a raft of expletives had been used in the preceding 3 minutes). Of course the queue for buying tickets was massive (and the automated ticket machines were a right-off). Eventually I managed to buy a ticket and catch a later train. Trouble was that would get in at 10:25 - my connection was 10:21. I just decided to relax, knowing I'd likely have to purchase a new ticket :(.
Well, what I didn't bank on was the British Railway system at it's true best ! Yes, of course my connecting train was late !! Thanks to 'National Rail' - a great app for the iPhone I was tracking its (late) progress. For once I'm not going to complain about punctuality ! I arrived at Peterborough Station to this notice board:
Well, what I didn't bank on was the British Railway system at it's true best ! Yes, of course my connecting train was late !! Thanks to 'National Rail' - a great app for the iPhone I was tracking its (late) progress. For once I'm not going to complain about punctuality ! I arrived at Peterborough Station to this notice board:
Note to readers- all of the intermediate stops (save for Durham) are some of the worst places in the UK. Newcastle however is an excellent place for a weekend away (especially when late nights and alcohol are the way).
Of course I'm just in Newcastle for the day/night - catching a 9AM train back to London tomorrow to wander around Kitchen shops. Somehow I think I will be regretting my actions at 3PM Saturday afternoon when I'm hungover and choosing kitchen cupboard styles. Thankfully earlier in the week I had a few too many drinks and have sworn never to drink alcohol again !
Anyways, overall a lucky day so far, topped off by the nice breakfast courtesy of National Express....
Of course the service on the train is excellent due to the crew being from Newcastle (or at least sounding as though they are from the accent).
You may recall the last posting on broken machines here. Well, one week later (okay 6 days and 21 hours) this is an up to date picture of said machine...
I really would like to think it hasn't been broken for the whole week. Then again, it is Easter School holidays and it wouldn't at all surprise me if the (likely) single person who can fix the machine in the whole South East of England is on holiday in Spain with his kids ! (he of course flies to his destination as the trains aren't that reliable these days!).
Cambridge Railway Station
Cambridge Railway Station is one of my serious stresses when it comes to living in Cambridge. Actually, it was my first impression of Cambridge years ago when I arrived here for a job interview. Coming from a proper city, I was amazed at how small it was. In all fairness, over the past few years it has gotten better- an ATM machine, Marks and Spencer have made a difference. However, there are still many things that are a complete joke:
- The station actually isn't in Cambridge. Of course there are various historical anecdotes about why this is the case. To be honest, I don't really care - it should be in the city centre (not a good 10 mins walk away from it).
- The area around the station looks like something out of a deprived city - lots of old manufacturing sites and random land.
- Marks and Spencer - doesn't open until later in the morning. Clearly there isn't a market for their goods first thing in the morning.
- WH Smith - the only railway station I have ever been in the UK where the newsagent is closed at 7PM (but there are still trains running at that time).
- Upper Crust - from history at the weekend it can still be closed at 8AM. Well I guess the staff who work there have to have a long lay in bed from time to time right ?
- Car Park (aka Taxi Rank) - how often do I have to do a tour of the ticket machines to find one that actually works ? Well at least nowadays the machines take all valid coinage - notes would be far too difficult. The car park also doubles as a taxi holding area - to trying to exit is a major pain.
- Exiting from the station - that gate that leads to the car park is never open - why do I have to walk 5 minutes extra (even if a member of staff is there to check my ticket) ?
Buying a ticket is also a major pain. There are several automated ticket machines. However, the user interface has clearly been constructed by a 19 year old who never actually has used a ticket machine and hasn't a clue about user interface design. Of course maybe he doesn't need to use a ticket machine since his mother buys his clothes for him. Mensa take note - anyone who can buy a same day return to London Kings Cross in under 3 minutes deserves membership.
In short, if you need to buy a ticket allow at least 10 mins to do so.
Of course train passenger traffic is highly predictable and the problem could be mitigated by having extra staff (taken from the pool of the token British Rail staff who hang around with blue jackets talking to each other) sell tickets.
Lastly the biggest problem is the layout of the station. In the past year they've added automatic gates that compound the problem of foot traffic in and out of the station. You end up having people bumping into each other and obstructed by the queue to the ticket machines. At peak times it's like that 80's TV show "It's a knockout" !
Cambridge Supermarkets
Another stress of living in Cambridge is the excuse for supermarkets. You'd think in the South East of England there would be fairly good logistics systems in place, but alas no. If you ever watch one of these 'doom and gloom' shows (like Survivors) which depict when society has some major epidemic, strike etc. one of the things they always show is the supermarkets empty.
Note to the BBC: Forget paying huge sums to create a scene of an empty supermarket, Waitrose in Trumpington Road Cambridge has it already. Here's the scene in the drinks isle in the middle of Winter::
Inventory of missing items: No Thai Chilis, No Beef Stock on Display.Clearly there had been an influx of people wanting to make hot beef noodle soup, then having to drink lots of water afterwards due to a burning mouth (wait a minute, that's me !).
In all fairness, at least the staff in Waitrose do take the effort to go and check in the back storeroom. This is unlike most shops in Cambridge (where I'm sure the staff - clones of Adrian Mole and I'm sure are paid in Clearasil) who simple utter "if it's not on display, we don't have it". I often wonder if shops in Cambridge do actually have any stock rooms ?
As usual I had the 'seek assistance' message at the Quickpay counter - making me feel like someone who has bought something that they shouldn't have (ironic as usual it was the Sunday Times).
Whilst I'm on a rant, other Cambridge specials include Sainsbury's not having any potatoes (stopped going there after that one), Domino's pizza not delivering after placing an online order (after calling to ask why my order hadn't been delivered I was told they had ran out of pizza bases).
Drinks
Drinks in All Bar One later in the afternoon, after realising when I got into the 'city' that I had forgotten to take my wallet with me. I like All Bar One, another example of an organisation that values the quality of its staff who are generally very friendly and efficient.
