Greetings my friends*

What better way to relieve the tedium of commuting into Central London from beautiful Ruislip than by regularly sharing my thoughts with the world?

So here we go.

Assuming I bother to keep this updated, then you will encounter rants and raves about unhelpful announcements, ignored time-tables, litter-strewing fellow passengers and the iniquities of that body dedicated to the success of the motor-car known as London Underground.

"Delays"
This is one word that drives me mad. You fight your way into a crowded station entrance and there is a board listing the tube lines with a single phrase against each - either Good Service or Delays. Now I think I get what they mean by "Good service". There are just enough trains running to keep the platforms clear and nobody is likely to be seriously delayed. But what does it mean to say "Delays?". Suppose I have just missed a train. How long must I wait for the next? I don't know, it doesn't say. Should I travel by an alternative? I don't know, it is impossible to work out whether to go for a slower journey than normal or risk hanging out for who knows how long. Now presumably the LU staff who write up the noticeboards think they are doing us a favour. They are not. They are merely causing fear and uncertainty. I don't want to know that there are delays. I want to know when the next train is so I can decide whether or not to take it. Aha, you say, surely there are electronic indicators to tell me. No, I scornfully reply, not at the station from which I commence my nightly journey home.

I fear this is one topic to which a return is inevitable but let us leave it here for the moment. Better things await us, including a welcome cup of tea as reward for having begun my first Blog. Farewell, gentle reader, until we meet again.

 AnthonyG

*Footnote
To be spoken in the manner of "Criswell" introducing the legendary shlock movie "Plan Nine from Outer Space".