I have begun working a 4 day week. After 38 years doing the standard 5 day week, circumstances have made it feasible to take a small step toward a more flexible lifestyle. One of the contributing factors is the pressure of commuting. Two hours a day going back and forth by Tube is not fun. I'm tired of being at the mercy of stroppy unions, badly maintained signals and the sheer nastiness of some of my fellow passengers, like the young man who forced his way down the "up" steps at Baker Street earlier this week and swore violently when a woman walking up remonstrated.
Speaking of unions, there was another one day strike on the Met this week. Although some trains were cancelled, LU cunningly decided that whatever trains were on would constitute the normal schedule for the day, so they could claim that there was a good service even with 15 minute gaps (I know this is so, I checked it on the TFT website and looked carefully at the departure boards, then had it confirmed by the knowledgable insiders on the District Dave site.) I didn't bother with the Met and took the Piccadilly on both the inward and the homebound journeys. Just like old times, before my office moved from the obscure bit of Hammersmith to Waterloo. Actually the Picc was on good form and each journey only (only!) took about 15 minutes longer than the Met route and I even managed to get a seat at the start of the homeward run (try doing that when the school holidays finish). It's a shame it is such a slow line.
