Gripe of the day - What is yours?

[maviczap]

Originally Posted by Littlepeahead

I got as far as the bus stop today and the driver said don't even bother going to the railway station. What's most annoying is that this broken down train that caused the issue was at 10pm last night, but they haven't even attempted to lay on a bus replacement service, their answer is to tell people not to travel or say that their ticket is valid on Saturday - although they also fail to mention they are not running trains on Saturday, only bus replacement - it's the same every weekend.

I have a ticket for an exhibition at Tate Modern this afternoon. Hoping they may let me swap it for a day next week.

Originally Posted by Kenzie

LPH, where is the info about no trains on Saturday? My wife is traveling to London tomorrow from Ipswich.

Sent from my Xperia

Had to laugh this morning, as if you were travelling to london from ipswich or Colchester then you were advised to travel to london via Cambridge!

Com'on you're having a laugh aren't you!

I can see why you're cross Lph, i would be, paying all that money for a season ticket, which is ending up in a dutch companies bank account, and they aren't investing nearly enough back into the network, and neither are Network Rail.

[Littlepeahead]

I'm lucky in that if I don't have meetings/training/photos to take I can work from home, and have a manager that is happy for me to do so. Loads of people today will have lost a day's pay or had to take holiday.

So I've had to lose my pre-paid exhibition ticket, let down a friend as a result, and reschedule a load of photography. Good thing this wasn't yesterday as I had the final day of my first aid training.

The rolling stock is old, and despite years of supposed line improvements - resulting in no late service after 8.30pm Mon-Fri and at weekends - the service is still terrible and costs me £5000 per year, and that of course is after I've paid tax on my earnings.

[maviczap]

Indeed, what makes me cross is if a train breaks down Network Rail has to pay compo, not Abelio? Fine if it was the overhead lines, rails or signalling.

I see some sense in renationalisation of the railways, as if the facts are true, the East coast mainline used to be a profit making company before it was sold off?

[littleoldman2]

Originally Posted by Littlepeahead

Loads of people today will have lost a day's pay or had to take holiday.

Or lost their job due to not turning in yet again.

I used to work in chemical plants. If your relief doesn't turn up you have to stay, as you cannot turn a chemical plant off or reschedule it.

[garynortheast]

Originally Posted by BanannaMan

Watching a dictator take over.
Silencing government agencies that were set up to protect the country.
Changing of laws based solely on personal opinion.
Supporting torture.
Blatant lying about even the smallest of things such as the size of a crowd that there are numerous photos of showing how many people were there.
The list goes on and it's just the first few days.

Hopefully he won't grope Theresa May in public tomorrow!!!

Been following this Bill, and I have to say it's terrifying stuff. The global implications of this slide into a fascist dictatorship are huge. I have felt the same dark forces are at work behind the whole Brexit thing too, the same political slide to the far right.

It's heartening to see the swell of protest and resistance, the string of government agencies setting up rogue twitter accounts in order to get information out is encouraging and the size of the women's marches over the weekend was pretty astonishing.

Very dark times though.

[Trev B]

That's politics folks,!!

[Sir Trev]

Originally Posted by Littlepeahead

...although they also fail to mention they are not running trains on Saturday, only bus replacement - it's the same every weekend.

I had the pleasure of sampling Abelio Greater Aanglia travel last weekend, but luckily I travelled out from Liverpool St late morning on Friday. Only a few minutes late into Norwich, a bit of a jerky ride but nice and quiet with few passengers at that time of day. The Class 90's and rolling stock were hardly cherry but not too bad. The AGA recycled baked bean tin that took me on the last leg though on the Wherry Line out towards Great Yarmouth was not much better than the first generation diesel railcars I remember plying those rails back in my youth. The return leg was the shocker though. The baked bean tin that took me back to Norwich had NO heating - it was minus five outside AND inside. And as there is bafflingly no service back to Liverpool Street on a Sunday from Norwich I had to take an AGA diesel service to Cambridge which was only slightly warmer. No wonder people take to the roads instead of public transport. To round off the gripe the Great Northern service from Cambridge was not too bad temperature wise, although the rolling stock was ancient and it was a joy to get on a Chiltern service at Marylebone which was properly warm and inviting, allowing me to take my coat off at last. I am typing this propped up in bed feeling sorry for myself with a streaming head cold that was almost certainly caused by the rubbish first two legs of Sunday's journey. Thanks a bunch Abelio. Quite how you put up with them ona regular basis LPH is beyond me and worthy of a medal!

[Teejayexc]

Originally Posted by BanannaMan

Watching a dictator take over.
Silencing government agencies that were set up to protect the country.
Changing of laws based solely on personal opinion.
Supporting torture.
Blatant lying about even the smallest of things such as the size of a crowd that there are numerous photos of showing how many people were there.
The list goes on and it's just the first few days.

Hopefully he won't grope Theresa May in public tomorrow!!!

j

Funny ol' world innit?

A year ago Theresa May was lambasting Donald Trump in a debate about if he was going to be allowed in this country following one of his outrageous pre election speeches. Today they hold hands and she invites him to meet the Queen on a state visit.

You couldn't make it up.

[Littlepeahead]

Apparently May was going to tell Trump that we Brits do not agree with torture under ANY circumstances. I think this is wrong, I think that in very exceptional circumstances torture us entirely acceptable. Those circumstances being Trump's testicles laid out on a bed of stinging nettles and a few of his non supporters let loose with a cattle prod.

[maviczap]

Stinging nettles, lightweight! Blended scotch bonnet chilli's would be the minimum