Louder Than War’s top 80 albums of 2010 | Louder Than War

Louder Than War’s top 80 albums of 2010 Louder Than War 80 albums from 2010? Pretty good going! Mind you, none of these can really be described as bland or mainstream. Well done, Louder Than War...

Drinking The ChiRunning Kool-Aid | The Trail Jogger

Drinking The ChiRunning Kool-Aid The Trail Jogger

Certainly worth looking into if you want to improve your running fitness and style...

How do mothers cope with autistic sons as they grow up to be sexually aware | Mail Online

How do mothers cope with autistic sons as they grow up to be sexually aware Mail Online

Getting There Was The Problem

As I am a new Union Learning Rep, it was thought to be generally benificial for me to attend the RMT ULR Seminars at Euston, London. Even with a change to an earlier shift, things were going to be tight. There was a slim chance of catching the 1800 train from Plymouth to Paddington, rather than the 1844 train, with a change at Exeter. But, first, I had to get back to the depot to change clothes.

I legged it from Royal Parade to The Viaduct and hopped onto the 2 bus, that was luckily about to leave, for the Depot. However, upon hearing that I was in a hurry, the driver decided to be a twat and a show-off to a couple of colleagues and go-slow, with a merry chortle and cheeky smile. The right-hand lane was open, free and clear to Charles Church but he deliberately put the bus up the arse of the traffic in the first lane; hahaha heeheehee.The slim chance I had of making the 1800 was slipping away as we waited, and waited, and waited in that queue as traffic in the right-hand lane flew by.

All the while, I was texting Vikki what was going on and we decided to catch the 1844 instead; I didn't bother telling the driver, who kept making snide witicisms all the way to Sugar Mills. He looked a twat when I told him as I got off; all his shit was in-vain. What a dick!

I got changed in the depot, behind the car, in the freezing cold, taking my time, and legged it to catch a bus to get me back into town; there was a bus, at the Morley Arms, across the road; it left before I got to the central reservation. Luckily, there was another bus coming, so I got on that, got a coffee at McDonald's in town and walked to the railway station.

As I arrived at the station, a 1A bus arrived at the stop and Vikki got off it. We still had about eight minutes to kill before the train left, so we double-checked the timetable and couldn't see Paddington on the board until about half-seven. Eh? Then we realised the 1844 train actually terminates at Exeter! O.K!

The train left on-time-ish and we changed trains at Exeter, onto the HST on the adjacent platform (usually you have to cross onto a totally different platform, in my experience).

We were yakking away all the way to Paddington. I checked for directions to the Travelodge, and the phone number, on my Blackberry and, finding reviews, learnt that it was a cold, grubby, noisy, expensive place to stay. I phoned them to confirm that we were on our way and not to let our rooms; they couldn't guarantee that they wouldn't be let out by the time we arrived, which was just what we bloody need to hear!

We got to Paddington at about half-ten. The Underground was closed due to the tube strike; bloody RMT! Tiredness was beginning to kick in...

Bus it is, then. This isn't as easy as it sounds! We didn't know which bus to get, which was the correct stop, or if they ran direct to Euston at this time of day/night. Also, London bus drivers do not take cash anymore, you have to pay at a machine, which is situated by the shelter/stop. That's ok if you have change. We found that we needed the 205 bus, running every 10 - 12mins, but we were at the wrong stop for Euston; the stop we wanted was on Eastbourne Terrace, around the corner. As we approached the stop, a 205 was approaching; we flagged him down but he just ignored us. We got to the shelter but it was not in use, due to the roadworks, doh!

We legged-it back onto the main drag outside the station and saw the 205 loading-up at the stop ahead but, as we approached, it buggered-off. Not to worry; they're every 10-12mins!

Oh, no they're not. We waited half an hour in the freezing open air, shivering and chattering...

Finally, FINALLY, the 205 turned up, after loads of buses for everywhere else twice passed by.

We got off at Euston Square, instead of Euston Station, by mistake and had to walk a few hundred yards to the Travelodge on Eversholt Street and checked-in at eleven-thirty P-bloody-M!

Yip-bloody-pee! Night, night...