We moved offices to Kings Cross last weekend, and believe me, this is cause for celebrations in the daggersdukc household. i shan't be missing Neasden. i refuse to feel even the slightest inkling of sadness for removal of myself permanently from this shithole. See previous blogs for my feelings on it. - believe me you do won't be reading anything new. A generally pleasant week having moved in. All the computer systems worked and we were doing 'real stuff' within ten minutes of arriving. Very efficient move from Bishops Moves. I've been exploring the area between Kings Cross station and Russell Square looking for new eateries, and can recommend Panini D'Ora for a start. There's also a new Waitrose just opened at the Brunswick Centre (Catherine Tate's childhood area).
Very happy to be there, and settling in well.
However, what the fuck happened to the tube on Thursday? Me and Mrs Dukc were meant to be meeting Carly in Slough we she's been on a piece of work experience for her Physio degree. We didn't get further than Baker Street as EVERY LINE was screwed. Even the ones which were reported as having a 'good service' eventually conked out. Rather ominously, we were sitting on a westbound Picc Line when the driver announced, having had the train stop at the station for 10 minutes, that there was now a code amber alert. I'm not sure what this means but it sounds rather onerous - shades of 7/7 all over again. Even more ominously, the news that all of the tube was virtually stood still, and several mainline stations, including Paddington, were closed, never made it to the London news either that evening or Thursday. Even the incredibly informative Going Underground blog by Annie Mole (from whence the picture was filched - sorry) was deafeningly silent as to any reasons, both for the stoppages and for the lack of news coverage. I do rant on about the TfL Politburo, but in this case, I think I have a point.
TfL, as I mentioned last year, were pretty wise in NOT scaring people when asking them to evacuate the underground by telling us white lies. But by claiming 'severe communications problems' over all lines, which seemed to be the excuse de jour on Thursday, is blatant rubbish, and seeing as as we've been there done that, somewhat irresponsible. Each line's communications systems are self-contained and therefore only effect single lines or affiliated groups of lines. For many years now, delays caused by an 'incident' has meant anything from a driver being taken ill, to a 'one-under' - itself a metaphor for passenger suicide - to a major punch up amongst passengers. Are we to believe that a 'major communications problem' is a euphamism for a suspected terrorist attack? The problem is that once a lie has been told, anyone who was there will instantly assume that given the gravitas of closures, will be looking for a mysterious code word indicating something entirely different - sheep on the line at North Greenwich meaning, perhaps, a broken down train at Amersham. Not as ridiculous as it might sound. Anyone heard an 'inspector Sands' message? They have been broadcast on station tannoys for the past five or so years and simply mean "this is a fire test". Tourists and casual travellers might not know this, but any seasoned users will.
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