You would never know there was a tube strike...

...on today, would you? ;)

Tube Strike, MotorExpo 2009 and Crossrail...

...lots been going on, just having a rather unusual week, hopefully everything will be back to normal soon! Managed to make it up into town yesterday (on crutches), despite the tube strike -

- they were giving away these guides to help people make their way around London without use of the underground, the unhelpful advice for people wanting to get to Canary Wharf was just to go to Bank and get the DLR (like *everyone* wouldn't already have thought of that)...as it was, somehow, despite every single other tube line being down, the Jubilee line was actually running (albeit with minor delays), so it wasn't actually that much of a trial to get in and out of the office...

Anyway, when I got here (although I'm not really going to have much of a chance to look around it, in my current state), I found that the 2009 MotorExpo was in full swing, the reception of One Canada square having been turned over to all manner of Aston Martin automobiles (and even the odd wicked looking Tesla) -

- and outside has been similarly transformed -

- although I must say, the number of hungry executives drooling over the exhibits seems to be considerably down on last year...

In other news, work is proceeding apace for the London crossrail station, they have turned the corner now if you look closely, and from the looks of things, they are going to complete a box using these metal tubes -

- and then drain out the water and actually dig down to build the station, so I have the perfect vantage point here in order to spy on them... ;)

Tube Strike - London Gridlock

Got stuck on the bus today on the way in (not here, just had a long wait for the lights on the Greys Inn Road), but (very annoyingly) actually within sight of my office. So I had to stand by the doors and wait until the driver could pull the 15 feet required to actually reach the bus stop...

Apparently there is a policy on London buses whereby they won't open the doors anywhere other than at designated stops (for health and safety reasons), I do think it's a bit silly though, it wasn't as if I was asking to leap from the vehicle as it careered along, we were at a total standstill, virtually at the stop, and I would have been stepping off straight onto the pavement, but the answer was "Sorry Mate" none-the-less...Still it's a hell of a lot better than the tube would have been... ;)

London Bus Strike

It would have been wonderful if *any* of the newspapers I read (on average 4 per day) had mentioned that today, when I got to the number 17 bus stop, there would be 4 people in HVJ's (this is becoming a habit!) politely explaining (while they smoked cigarettes) that the bus drivers union was out on strike (the first time in seven years incidentally). Not all of it, just Metroline, so I could still get to Kings Cross apparently, but as he began to explain the series of changes required my eyes began to glaze over, at which point Flyingpops chipped in with "Or he could just get the tube?", which earned the parrot-like response of "Or you could just get the tube, mate"...

I got the tube...

The Victoria line was suspended too (marvelous), and several of the ticket barriers into both the Jubilee Line and the Northern line were out of action meaning the queues to get down into hell were almost soul destroying...when I had completed the zombie shuffle through I had to stand and wait on Platform 1 for 15 minutes, watching 3 packed trains come, wait for a minute and then go...perhaps disgorging/devouring 2 or 3 people from/into the humid, chaotic tangle to cries of "There isn't any more room!" and "Stop pushing!"...

When I did finally squeeze onto a train I didn't get a seat until Angel (one stop before Kings Cross) and my Metro got all crumpled up...

What a wonderful way to start the day...I've managed to get dirty, smelly, sweaty, stressed, and I've achieved all that before the hour of 9am...! Result...!