Happy new year

A new years resolution will be to update my blog a little more often!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm off to Southampton to Watch Watford tomorrow so I'll update about that in the next couple of days.

Service disruption..............

I do appologise to regular viewers of this blog but due to being very busy at work and my home PC being away for repairs there has been a gap in service.

My home PC should be back tomorrow so more activity is promised after then.

I've seen the future!!

I've just returned from a two day course where I've been prepared for the future of London Underground!

The first day was a bit lame where we went through some theory's about how to manage and how to reach a resolution to a problem. Stuff that I already knew and applied without it needing a flashy name.

Had some excellent discussions over dinner and a couple (only a couple mind) of beers yesterday evening and then today was an absolute blast where we went through some stuff I'm really into with respect to Visualisation techniques.

The way this theory works is that it is thought that every person has their achievement limit, but you have two limits. You have the one which is your comfortable limit and the limit which makes you operate at your absolute parameters. In order to go into the area beyond your comfortable parameters you have to have a motivation to do so or have to be able to visualise where you want to get to. Money is not a long term motivator interestingly enough!

There are a couple of really good examples for the visualisation theory. When Roger Banister broke the 4 minute mile barrier he was the first person to ever achieve this, however by him doing this he allowed others to be motivated and have the vision to do the same and in the subsequent year 350 athletes recorded sub 4 minute mile times!

Another example of this is if you have ever played golf. Your first aim as a starter is to get down to scoring less than 100 shots over 18 holes. It takes you ages to do this but when you start to shoot rounds of 99, 98, 97 you rarely go back to 100+ scores and it seems easy to achieve. You then focus on breaking 90 and it is initially hard to do so but because you visualise shooting less than 90 and look at what you can do to make yourself better you eventually get there and stay there.

With work there are comparables where if you visualise what you want to achieve and can get sufficient others to visualise those same goals you will start doing things better, the more you start doing those things the better and better you become at them and the better yu are able to perform in your job.

Astounding!

As you come out of the tunnels approaching St Pancras International you come round a curve where the whole of the glorious new station is visible. Last week as we were arriving on the 0552 from Kettering one chap sat opposite clapped eyes on it for the first time and remarked to anyone who would listen "Fuck me look at that - It looks the absolute Bollocks"!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Quite honestly I could not have put it better myself!

A a railway operator myself you can't help but marvel at the transformation of the place and what it will provide for the traveller. I know it has come at a premium (£180 million) but when you consider that East Midlands Trains has a new station, it is a fitting gateway to England for European tourists, First Capital Connect (Thameslink) start using their new station on 9th December instead of the dump on Pentonville Road and in 2009 Kent Commuters will start to use it when Southeast Trains make it their London Base with their new Javelin Trains, not to mention the new car park and shopping centre, the cost to benefit ratio to the ordinary person seems good value.

I'll put some pictures of the insides of the new station up as the week progresses.

Tea and Coffee update..................

Apparently it's still available - While stocks last!!!!!!!!

East Midlands Trains

From Today Midland Mainline no longer exist!

East Midlands trains will be conveying me on my commute to London.

What differences will we notice? Well they are getting off to a good start by stopping the free Tea and Coffee to Standard class customers, so that will endear them to the masses!!!!!!!!!

London St Pancras International

I happened to be passing through St Pancras last Tuesday evening while the Queen was opening the New modernised St Pancras Station. Actually it's only really open to East Midlands Train services at the moment but will be home to Eurostar (14th Nov), First Capital Connect (9th Dec) and Southeast trains (December 2009).

The place will also contain a shopping centre and various hostelries including Europes longest Champaigne Bar(!).

Amusing sign.......................

Probably quite wise advice really!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Damn!

It's back to work for me tomorrow!

I've had a lovely two weeks off - the first spent with my folks and the second involving lots of "me" time, which was much needed!

I've only really got two days at work next week due to the fact that I have a funeral to attend on Wednesday and we are taking the Duty Managers away for two days (to exotic Bourne End!) on Thursday and Friday.

Thursday and Friday will be a good opportunity to say thankyou for all the effort they have put in over the last year in making not only Golders Green a fantastic place to work at but in also playing their part in making the Northern Line the most reliable railway on the Underground system. The Duty Managers are, after all the ones which make it tick and make everything happen.

Of course the other purpose of Thursday and Friday is to plan our way forward for the next year and see how we can make ourselves even more efficient and better.

RIP Madgie Walker

aka Mrs C's Nan!

Lovely, truthful lady who when I first met her before anything else warned me that Mrs C and her Mum didn't have a sense of humour!!!!!!!!!

She passed away in her sleep last Tuesday after suffering from lung cancer for about the last 14 months.

The funeral is next Wednesday.

I like cycling!

These are a couple of shots taken while I stopped to admire the scenery on The Brampton Valley Way, early last week. I reckon I cycled about 15 miles all told and it was thoroughly enjoyable. I must get out more on my bike as I feel much healthier for it.

My visit to Coventry.....................

...................was a very nice one as well. A very good view and a fantastic performance from Watford to run out 3-0 winners. I took Corby senior as a birthday gift and he was well pleased with the end result too!!!!!!!!

BANG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Those who scrutinise The Metro may have noticed a small article posted about a set of 4 boxes of detonators that were stored at Golders Green and how it was so unsafe as they were being kept in an unlocked safe!

Interestingly the story was a little exagerrated - When I saw these detonators they were indeed past their expiry date and so were put in the safe which is in an office which is staffed 24 hours a day - Oh and I only counted 1 box as well!! The safe is locked when someone is not getting something out of it and a job was raised for our Emergency Response Unit (ERU) to come and collect them, which they did incidentally last night!

This story came from a "Union source" - It's no wonder the public get sick to their back teeth with unions these days. High time they realised that they need to work WITH management to try and make things better for their members!

Fancy yourself as a Football Manager?

I administrate and participate in an online Football Management game called xperteleven. Teams are available for the new season in my league which will start in about 10 days time.

Fancy a go? It will take up about 10 minutes a week (perhaps more when you get into it). There are two games a week at the most.

If you want to play then follow the link below:

http://www.xperteleven.com/

Click join.

You will then need to input the league code: 91420

You will then be a member of the Watford Fans League!

Stop Press news item...............................

Sales of condoms in France plummeted today when the England rugby squad proved that to f*** 15 frogs you only need one Johnny!

Blackpool Illuminations

A few pics for your reading pleasure.

Strange weekend so far....................

Having finished my travels, which have this week taken me from the South Coast to Blackpool, up to Central Scotland and back to the East Midlands - Via Central London last Tuesday. I decided to give going to football (in the form of Kettering Town) a miss today. Just as well as they lost and ended their interest in the FA Cup!

The reason I didn't go was because i'm full of cold and decided that it would be best to rest up at home and Watch some football on TV. I also ended up watching the last 30 minutes of the England v France Rugby world Cup semi final - Not a sport that I'm particularly interested in but quite a turn around of fortunes for the English apparently.

If the weather is fine I may go for a bike ride tomorrow.

Scunthorpe Utd 1 Watford 3

So, The Corby's wandered off to "Sunny Scunny" today and it has turned out to be one of the most pleasant away trips i've been on for a long time!

Nice compact football ground filled with a partisan home crowd, manky burgers, lack of programmes if you got there after 2.15 (I got one though) and generally a nice atmosphere. It always helps when you put in your best performance of the season and come away with a comfortable away win. Adam Johnson put us ahead with a firm header but Scunthorpe equalised before half time. A two goal blast in as many minutes mid way through the second half from Darius (7 in 7) Henderson and Marlon (4 so far this season) King sealed the game. The only sour point was a horrendous tackle from Lee Williamson who got a straight red card for his troubles 10 minutes from the end.

LMC was well happy with the Golden Boys Birthday present of 3 goals and 3 points too!!!!!!!!!!!

A busy week ahead.

I'm off to Sunny Scunny on Saturday to watch Scunthorpe v Watford. I wasn't going to go but Little Miss Corby is 8 on saturday and wanted to go as a birthday treat (honestly)!!!!!!! When we get back one of her mates is coming round for a sleepover. Then Sunday it's off to the local bowling alley for her party.

Monday I am partaking in a trip to Bournemouth to visit a member of staff who is in rehab, travelling first class as well!

Tuesday I'm at a (London) hotel for our performance meeting all day.

Then I'm off to Falkirk via Blackpool on Wednesday, Thursday and returning Friday to Take Mrs C's nan to see the lights and to see the latest addition to the family - my Brother in law's Daughter Katie - who was born last Monday.

Mrs C's Nan is terminally ill with cancer and probably wont see it out till Christmas. To visit Blackpools lights and see her new great grandchild will make her a happy woman, and it is my pleasure to help in that.

Another week another football match

................and most importantly another Watford win.

Goals from Darius Henderson and Marlon King (penalty) in the first 15 minutes meant that The Hornets threatened to run riot, but ended up clinging on grimly to their lead for the best part of the last hour of the game!!!!!!

This weekends football round up!

Watford managed to take an undeserved lead against Blackpool at Vicarage Road with a great goal from a free kick by the on loan Adam Johnson. However they put in a woeful performance and Blackpool equalised from the penalty spot mid way through the second half.

The Poppies beat Redditch 3-1 to secure their place in the 4th Qualifying round of the FA Cup (draw on Monday lunchtime) an own goal and goals from David Bridges and Steve Burton made it a comfortable afternoon.

For those uninitiated, the round after the 4th qualifying round is the first round proper. So effectively Kettering are one win away from pitting their wits against the likes of Northampton Town, Leeds United or Notts Forest. Watford enter at the third round -so as unlikely as it seems, my two teams could meet in the 3rd round proper at the beginning of January!!!! I could see Kettering progressing a few rounds - they really are a decent side and there is not a lot of difference in quality between Blue Square North and League 2 - I just hope the draw id kind to them. They still have get past the 4th qualifying round where we could see a couple of local derbies thrown at them as Corby Town and Stamford are still in the hat as well!

Last Friday............................

I sacked my first person ever!

I have to say that it was one of the most horrible feelings I have ever experienced - even though I believe that the decision was the correct one. Going in to make the decision gives you the same feeling when you are told that have to attend a person under a train incident - An empty stomach feeling which causes you a little pain.

Umbrellas................

..................... Should be banned from being used in the street!

On a rare wet day today I had cause to walk between Kings Coross and Euston stations. I am lucky I wear glasses as the number of time Umbrella spikes caught my glasses was beyond a joke.

In fact the only thing which winds me up more than Umbrellas are Suitcases on wheels and people who stop dead after getting off of an escalator and then wonder why half a dozen people subsequently crash into the back of them!!!!!

Rant over, that will be all!

Time for Action

This is London Undergrounds latest initiative for it's managers. The theory behind it is to increase the efficiency with which Managers operate bearing in mind that there will be lots of changes in the coming years and people will have to move with the times.

I personally think it is a great idea.

The first part of it is for each manager to complete what is known as a 360 degrees review on themselves to identify their percieved weaknesses so that they can address them. The way this works is that you get managers, Peers, direct reports and subordinates to complete a questionaire each about you and then the results are compiled and analysed and you find out how you appear as a manager to everyone.

The art of it's success is to do the same again in a years time and see if you have managed to improve your weak areas!

The message from the senior managers is that they really have not got the time to mess around with people who don't have the drive to improve things in the coming years. Simply put FIFO (Fit in or Fuck Off)!!!!!!

The initiative starts with Centurion managers and will then be done with Duty Managers.

Last Weekend...............

I bumped into these little critters in Skegness!

Quite a nice place actually and I was pleasantly surprised at a seaside resort in this country which has not been invaded by chav scum.

Certainly worth considering if you want a day out with lots to do by the sea.

Cardiff 1 Watford 2

Another win for the Hornets! Another 2 goals from Darius Henderson and Three points clear at the top of the Championship!

It's all good today!!!!!!!!!

Watford 3 Southampton 2

Well it was Sunday so I thought it appropriate to visit my place of worship this afternoon!!

The visit was well worth it today as an entertaining game ensued in front of the live Sky Sports cameras as Watford underlined their promotion credentials with a performance of character, which saw them come from behind to snatch three well deserved points.

The game started well for Watford with a host of chances being missed before Dan Shittu met a Tommy Smith cross to head in the opener on 42 minutes. The lead lasted only two minutes as Gregorz Rasiak equalised on the stroke of half time.

The second half saw Watford go close on three seperate occasions with Southampton Keeper Kelvin Davis in fine form. Then just after the hour, disaster struck as nathan Dyer curled in a lovely shot to put Southampton ahead with only their 4th attempt of the game.

This however sparked Watford out of their Sunday afternoon slumber and they again attacked with vigour. This paid off on 82 minutes when Tommy Smith put Lloyd Doyley clear down the right wing; the cross which followed said "tap me in" and Sub Darius Henderson duly obliged.

Watford were not done there however and continued to lay seige to the Southampton goal. Right on full time a corner from Jordan Stewart was partially cleared to Gavin Mahon, who drilled in a shot which was blocked and fell at the feet of Hendo again for him to stab in the winner and gain Watford three well deserved points.

This win means 4 out of 5 for the Golden Boys and top spot in the Championship table.

Workington Town 1 Kettering Town 1

The poppies lost their 100% record in the far North West yesterday Despite leading for a large portion of the game through David Bridges' 4th goal in 4 games. Workington equalised 2 minutes from the end. They still however find themselves at the top of Blue Square North and are still, of course unbeaten.

I'm now off to see how my beloved Watford can do at Home to Southampton. I'll report back later.................

And in todays other news...............

'A French company has launched a service providing alibis for married people who 'need a little freedom'. Alibila, which promotes itself as 'your alibi generator', will make telephone calls, devise invitations and even create restaurant or hotel bills to corroborate any story. Prices for the service start at £12 for a simple phone call and rise to £34 for a 'class 2 alibi', which includes all the documentation, phone calls and back up needed to safely indulge in a 'passing adventure'. The company is France's first agency for adulterers who don't want their flings to be discovered. It provides alibis for a range of other situations, but admits its clients are mostly men'

I had to laugh at this!

Still full marks to the entrepreneur who thought up the idea!!!!!!

Sunset over Northamptonshire........

Whilst travelling home this evening I thought the sunset was exceptionally pretty - especially when you take a picture of it over the rolling countryside of Northamptonshire.

I was thinking how lucky I am to have stumbled upon one of the prettiest counties in the country and chosen to live there. It's a million miles from what I had just left behind some 50 minutes earlier when I had started my train journey (Ok so Midland Mainline don't travel that fast).

Shiney new platform!

This is platform 1 at Golders Green which was put into use on Sunday for the first time since anyone can remember!

Platforms 2&3 will be out of use for the next 12 weeks while they construct a couple of lift shafts from the subway. Then the station will have step free access.

During this time if you are going beyond Golders towards Edgware and you are on a train which terminates at Golders you should change at Hampstead to avaoid having to negotiate lots of stairs!

Blasphomy!

If you hate swear words don't listen (that guarantees everyone will have a little nosey now)!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phidpEyZQ88

Not everyones taste but this makes me laugh!!!!!!!!

There's a little bit of Tourettes in all of us deep down!!!!!!!

NOTE: THIS IS NOT WORK FRIENDLY!!!!!

What have I done!!!!!!!!!!!

Today was the one occasion every 13 weeks when I have to show my face at work on a Saturday.

I try to use it by loitering around the DMT's office and engaging in conversation with some of my drivers and also going for a little ride in the cabs with some of my drivers. Today I took along Little Miss Corby as Mrs Corby was working as well.

She tried a little DMT work to start with and was most chuffed that she seemed to be able to wrap some drivers round her little finger with her 8 years (nearly) old charm! But when one asked if he could go home she firmly said no (That's my girl)!!!!!!

We then went for a ride in the front of a train from Golders Green to Kennington via Charing Cross to Edgware via Charing Cross and back to Golders Green. Highlight of the day for her was blowing the train whistle as we came out of Hendon Tunnel and waving at all the drivers going in the opposite direction between Golders and Edgware!!!!

She was also most impressed that we went with a Lady Driver and that she explained everything to her (thanks Maeve!) and now she wants to drive trains when she grows up!!!!!!!!!!!!

She fell fast asleep on the train home and could only conclude when she woke up that it's hard going to work!!

An unusual view of the tube...............

This picture was taken approaching Balham on the North on foot!

Not an evacuation but I joined some Tubelines track patrollers and managers on a night track walk a couple of weeks ago. The time was about 0300hrs!

As you can see The Tube is still very busy even when the trains aren't running!

The Poppies keep rolling.........................

The above pictures are of the A Line Arena (or Rockingham Road in old money). Where Little Miss Corby and I spent the afternoon enjoying Kettering Town's 7th straight win in Blue Square North. They beat Boston United 3-0 with Goals from David Bridges, Tommy Jazczun and Mark Rawle (pen).

We then retired to Corby mansions to watch England beat Israel 3-0. Very unusual as I enjoyed watching England for once!

Mr Angry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A friend of mine - The Station Supervisor - has a blog too.

http://londonundergroundlife.blogspot.com/

I just had to share this with all of you!

This is a reply to a post he made in July:

98% of people that work on London Underground are......
1. Stupid
2. Rude
3. C*nts
4. Ill-educated
5. Lack common sense
6. Moronic
7. Lazy (as proven in the above blog not once but twice both by the Author and his Boss)
8. Mostly offensively ugly ( I would love to hear of any contradictions - not from people that get off from LU uniform)
9. Crooks
10. Deserve the abuse they get 99% of the time
11. Should get another job or just give up and become a traffic warden.
12. Proved their stupidness by electing, supporting and taking orders from Nob Crow so therefore must be even stupider than I first thought)
13. Are not much better than a pikey/gippo( in fact I'd rather give my money to a crack head in the street than LU, so they can then go and give my money to Metronet, Bob Crow and the rest of the mob. So in fact pikeys and gippos are better than Bob and his cronies) Any crackheads reading this should look me up as I have free money for them!

Ulitmately, the Govt, the Mayor and Tfl have co*ked the whole privatisation affair up and therefore Tfl are illiterate and ineffective in sorting the monumental cock up that has occured.We are a laughing stock throughout Europe anyway and it is bullshit like this that results in more and more Londoners moving out oft his fair city only to be replaced by lower level scurbites who are here chase the dream, where all of a sudden living in shit is better than where they were before.

MY SHITTY ATTITUDE IS DICTATED BY MY SHITTY EXPERIENCE.

Only a matter of time before I take myself , with my education, my culture, my good humour, my intelligence, my compassion, my understanding but ULTIMATELY MY CONTRIBUTION TO SOCIETY and place it else where, where it counts for something and isn't wasted or shat on by some f*&king pig c^nt Bob Crow and the mug off who didn't do his job properly in managing the relationship between Metronet and Tfl. All a bunch of Kants!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

F&*k all of you as karma is a b*tch and I'm sure most of you will at some point OD, get arrested for benefit fraud, get shot or leave the country for their holiday villa in Vietnal which was built off all the tube raises they have made n the last 15 years with an unnoticeable improvement to the service!!!!!!!!

With an attitude like that It's really no wonder he has had some shitty experiences. Taking his alledged contribution to society elsewhere is probably the preferable option to most I would have thought (although he may have a point with number 7)!!!!!

Oh and big brave person that they are they posted it as anonymous!!!!!!!!!!!

The poppies are on a roll..................

Kettering Town have now won 6 out of 6 in Conference North. They won 4-1 at Leigh RMI yesterday.

With Harrogate Town losing their 100% record yesterday, Kettering are now top all on their own!

Watford are not playing next week due to the International fixtures but Kettering are at Home to Boston, I might have to see if I can muster together the £12 admission fee to attend!!

Strikes on the Tube next week

If you are thinking of using the Tube next week then think very carefully about it!

From 1800 on Monday until 1800 Thursday workers for Metronet are going on strike over the uncertainty of their future now that Metronet are into Administration (not quite a detailed synopsis of why, but I can't be arsed to bore you with the detail)!

This will affect you in the following way:

Monday: No services expected to run after 1900 on Met, H&C, District, Circle, Bakerloo, Central, Victoria, Waterloo & City and East London Lines. You shoud look to start your journey home by the latest 1700 if you want to actually get home.

Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly Lines should run a full service.

Tue/Wed & Thu: Trains will only run on the Jubilee, Northern & Piccadilly Lines. These lines are expected to suffer from severe overcrowding throughout all three days and you should allow some extra time to complete your journey as a result.

I don't see the logic in this strike - If Metronet are going to continue in some form beyond administration then this can't possibly help the cause.

The Mayor must be secretly laughing as I think he will get his wish and all the PPP activities that Metronet do will come back in house a bit in the style that happened when railtrack ceased to exist and Network Rail was born. I do however wonder in the long term how doing this will affect the modernisation of some of the Metronet accountable lines though.

Watford 2 Ipswich 0

A good solid Performance from Watford got us back to winning ways. New £4.25m capture Nathan Ellington had to be happy with a place on the subs bench and an inspired choice it was as Darius Henderson, who would probably make way for Ellington, produced a fine performance and scored the first on 6 minutes - Lee Williamson cutting the ball back for hendo to smash the ball home from 10 yards out.

Watford scored their second mid way through the second half with Tommy Smith scoring a great solo goal with a left foot shot from 25 yards out.

Back to winning ways and a nice solid, competent performance, which confirmed my thoughts of last week when I felt the Leicester game was a one off bad performance.

Leicester City 4 Watford 1

Bugger!

Well a complete waste of an afternoon and £23!

The performance we put in was a million miles away from anything I've seen so far this season. I'll just have to chalk it down as a one off!!

I should have seen the signs though - From the moment I got up it all seemed wrong. For home Watford games we leave home at 12 noon, but Saturday we didn't start till 1pm, Leicester being a mere 25 miles away. I play an online football management game and my team in that won for the first time on Saturday morning, so the omens there were not good.

I also decided to wear my yellow top, even though wearing my red away top saw us home to victory last Saturday against Sheffield Utd!!

Superstitious? No not me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Blue Lights!

If you happen to pass through Belsize Park, Chalk Farm or Mornington Crescent while heading into Central London on the Northern Line you will notice a Blue tint to the platform lighting!

This is London Underground trying to play with peoples minds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There is a science associated with this but promise you wont laugh (I broke that particular promise when I was told)! You see there is an unproven theory that the mind recognises colours as being claming (that is why Metropolitan Line train cabs are painted light blue apparently) so by the same token does the mind view colours as hot and cold?

London's tube system is hot on the coldest of days and they have a long term Tunnel cooling Project, which involves boring new vent shafts and various other schemes. They are also looking at some measures in the interim period and this is one of them.

So to try out this theory, special fluorescent lamps have been installed at the three platforms mentioned above. The idea being that blue is a cold colour so should make people standing in the blue light feel cooler as opposed to the orange / white light that normal tubes throw out.

If you happen to be on the platforms then you may be accosted by someone doing a survey and they will ask you how warm you feel while standing on both platforms.

Having loitered on both platforms myself last week at Belsize Park, I can honestly say that it seems to make no difference whatsoever!!!!!!!

Watford 1 Sheffield United 0

3 wins out of 3!

This one really was a battle and showed that Watford have come to terms with relegation a lot better than their fellow relegation companions.

Watford won the battle in the first half and this allowed them the right to play a little bit of football in the second half and become far more comfortable winners than the 1-0 scoreline suggested.

The goal came when Darius Henderson laid the ball back to the edge of the penalty area for Lee Williamson to score his first ever goal for Watford.

As for Sheffield United, I believe that they have been so busy telling anyone who would listen that they have been wrongly demoted that they appear to have appointed the wrong manager to get them back up. Bryan Robson was a great player but does not seem to have a clue when it comes to managing a side.

By the way Kettering Town also won again on Saturday the managed to trounce Vauxhall Motors 6-0 at Rockingham Road.

This means I'm actually 6 wins out of 6 for my two teams this season!!

Happy Birthday!

16th August - Not only renowned for the death day of Elvis but also my birthday.

At 38 I would now be in the "Teddy Sheringham over the hill to be a footballer" category if my (rather ordinary) football career hadn't cruelly been cut short at the tender age of 28 by a knee ligament injury!!!!!!

I'm not one to often publicise my birthday but today before I left work the guys in the office gave me a Birthday card and as one of my admin staff said "We even know how old you are"! Damn SAP system, I've always been suspicious of it!

So many happy returns to me on being a year nearer to death today!

Watford 3 Gillingham 0

Drove to work Tuesday morning in the anticipation that Watford normally struggle to get past the first and second rounds of the Carling Cup by virtue of the fact that they normally play a reserve / youth side!

10 changes to the starting eleven at Wolves the saturday before but no trouble getting past a woefully inadequate Gillingham side.

The Hornets threatened to make life difficult for themselves when Tamas Priskin held a gillingham player and gave away a penalty. Fortunately Mulligans penalty was one of the poorest i've seen for a while and Keeper Richard Lee was able to save it.

Priskin made ammends for his penalty misdemeanour by nodding home at the near post shortly afterwards to put Watford 1-0 up. Brazillian Douglas Rinaldi slotted home a free kick to make it 2-0 before the break as the hornets hardly broke into a sweat.

The biggest feature of the second half was Left Winger Anthony MacNamee's persistent terrorism of the Gilingham right back Nicky Southall, turning him way and then the other with monotonous regularity. I would expect Southall to be suffering from some form of post traumatic stress disorder today having had a restless night replaying the events of that second half!!!!!!

It was fitting that a MacNamee cross was finished by the wonderfully named youngster Allesandro Campana to make it 3-0!

Again another thoroughly entertaining night out and only for a tenner as well!

Thats 3 live games this week and three straight wins! I appear to be on a roll!!!!!!!

Kettering Town 3 Hucknall Town 2

Monday night football in the Blue Square Conference North for me!

The Poppies have adopted an interesting philosophy this season by deciding to play their midweek games on a Monday evening. The theory being that people don't do much on Monday evenings so may turn out in larger numbers (1027 attended which is about the same as last season when they played on Tuesdays). The other theory is that as Kettering are full time and most of the other teams are part time they should recover more speedily from the exertions of Saturday games and therefore should become the stronger team as the game progresses!

I am a fan of this for purely personal reasons. This week it meant I was able to watch live football on Monday and Tuesday evening!

Anyway how Kettering didn't win this really easily is beyond me. After dominating for the best part of half an hourthey found themselves 1-0 down due to a horrendous defensive mix up between the centre back and keeper which resulted in an own goal.

Some form of sense was restored to the game before half time when Jon Brady crashed in a 30 yard free kick - The quality of execution would not have been out of place in the Premiership!

After half time more inept defending allowed Hucknall to take the lead with pretty much their first shot of the game. But kettering came back scoring from a wicked cross from another set play and Mark Rawle classily curling the winner from the edge of the box.

All in all a thoroughly entertaining evening of which I shall repeat as often as fixtures allow!

It's like an addiction..............

I've coped really well over the summer! I chose to turn a blind eye to Copa America despite Watford's Jay DeMerit turning out for USA in the tournament. I couldn't even tell you which nation ended up as winners!!!!!

I also resisted the temptation to attend any pre-season friendlies. This is a little bit of a superstition as two seasons ago I didn't and Watford got promoted and last season I did and we got relegated!

Problem is - Now that it's back I can't get enough of the bloody game!!!!

Saturday - Watched Sunderland v Spurs on Sky before departing for the West Midlands to take in Wolves v Watford. Also had to watch as much of Football First and Match of the day as possible as well as scrutinising ceefax to see how everyone else did!

Sunday - Watched Chelsea v Birmingham on Sky before heading into London. Returned to watch MOTD2.

Today - This evening I shall be off to watch Kettering Town v Hucknall Town in Blue square North.

Tomorrow - Carling Cup round 1 Watford v Gillingham at the Vic!

Wednesday - There is football on sky!

Thursday - OMG no football!!!!!!!!!!

My next live fix will be the following Saturday when The Horns are at home to Sheffield United.

How do those who don't like football manage!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wolves 1 Watford 2

So, that time of the year has returned; the day where every football fan in the country starts their teams season full of optimism for the coming season, only for a majority of them to have had their hopes dashed at the first fence!!!!

I'm pleased to say that for once I'm not one of those whose hopes lay in tatters!!

A promising first half from Watford resulted in a few chances and some nice football but ended with Wolves taking the lead just before half time when Olifinjana found himself with the freedom of the penalty area to stab home a through ball.

It did not bode well in the second half as Watford sat deep and invited pressure. However Wolves looked decidedly short of ideas themselves and Watford came back into it in the last 10 minutes.

A clumsy tackle gave Watford a free kick with a couple of minutes left on the clock and from around 30 yards out, Jordan Stewart crashed home an equaliser, although the ball took a wicked deflection off of the defensive wall on it's way into the top left hand corner!

The guy sat next to me reckoned that we could go on and win this in the remaining couple of minutes and he thought Marlon King would score the winner! I bet he'd wished that he had put some money on that statement at the bookies as Steve Kabba was brought down in the penalty box and with the last kick of the game the King of Vicarage Road thumped home an unstoppable Penalty!

Seemed a good idea at the time.........

I ventured out with my bike today with the best intentions of going for a nice bike ride to burn off some of the extra calories consumed during my holidays. It actually turned into a bit of an endurance event as I ended up cycling 26 miles round Rutland Water. It was also a little more hilly than I had anticipated!!!!!!

I now ache like buggery!!!!!!!!!!

Championship Prediction League

Fancy yourself as a bit of a football pundit?

Join the Gloryhorns Championship Prediction League!

It's free to join and just generally a bit of fun.


http://www.gloryhorns.co.uk/PredictionLeague111/PredictionLeague/index.php?sid=

Follow the link, click on new user and follow the instructions.

Holidays - week 2 - Norfolk Broads

A few images from the captains deck of Silver Ghost.

Had a lovely relaxing week cruising the Broads and drinking and eating far too much.

Ale of the week was however Adnams Broadside and plenty of this dark liquid was consumed by my dad and I!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Holidays - Week 1 - North Yorkshire

Went on tour in North Yorkshire and stayed in Bilsdale.

Here are a couple of views of the scenery from just above the cottage we stayed in.

A very pretty part of the world and had a fantastic week, despite the weather being a little iffy!

Back from my holidays...........

Just back from my holidays!

Had a fantastic break and I will update this place with some pictures later!

But for now it's off out to enjoy some more of the lovely sunshine!

Gloryhorns Fantasy Football League

For those of you who like a little bit of football interest during the season, you are welcome to sign up for the Gloryhorns Fantasy Football League. Anyone can join - just use the code below.


Sign up, pick your team and join the league! http://fantasy.premierleague.com

Code for the Gloryhorns league is - 21001-6819

Not long to go....................

..............till I'm on holiday!

I got up yesterday morning with what seemed the start of flu. Every joint in my body ached and I had a terrible headache. Typical I thought as I go on holiday on Saturday!

This morning after having ample sleep last night I felt a little better and having arrived in London with an hour till I needed to be at our Performance meeting I decided I would walk the aches out of my body by walking from St Pancras to Charing Cross (where our meeting was). This seems to have worked!!!!!

I have two very busy days to come and will be working odd hours so I can fit everything in that I need to do. On Friday I'm chairing a Company Disciplinary Interview and looking at the content of it, I'm not confident of it being a nice simple job and it could drag on.

Still, it will make my holiday seem even better with the anticipation of it lasting longer!!!!!

This made me laugh out loud!!!!!!

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jg5HsG7AN1Y

All of a sudden Adolf Hitler seems a decent chap!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This weekend I went here

............and again!!!!!!!

...........Signal Failure at West Hampstead last night.

Fortunately I met a mate outside Kings Cross and we travelled on GNER to Peterborough, where his missus collected us! Only took 40 minutes longer than it would normally have done!

Third time lucky this evening?

MM's Monday Mayhem!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have justification for working a 4 day week. I've never liked Mondays anyhow!

Last night I left work at 1530 to travel home. I caught the 1625 from St Pancras heading for Kettering first stop.

I got woken from my "siesta" by the train stopping in a station - After a few seconds blind panic I realised that we had stopped at Luton (certainly wouldn't want to get off there)!

........and there we stayed for the next hour!

Apparently a lightning strike to signalling equipment at Bedford had returned all signals to danger between Luton and Wellingborough.

After an hour we moved off to Flitwick where we sat for another 30 minutes and then we crawled to just south of Bedford.

I finally got home at 2000hrs!

That's the last 3 Monday's that Midland Mainline have had "issues"!!!!!!!!!!

Poor week for Midland Mainline

It's been a poor week commuting into London!

Midland Mainline apparently have two depots - one at Derby and One near Leeds.

Due to the severe flooding in Sheffield they stopped running trains further north than Derby sometime on Monday afternoon! That was all fine and dandy on Monday when travelling home I had the freedom of the carriage to get a seat.

The rest of the week has been a nightmare. I usually catch either the 0552 or the 0728 from Kettering to London. On Tuesday I caught the 0728 - So did everyone who normally catches the 0722, which is always packed at Kettering and hence why I get the later train. I was glad I didn't get the 0552 as those who went for that had to wait till the 0702 departure for a train! The following train at 0739 was also cancelled, so some early arrivals for that were able to sneak onto the 0728. The train manager had the good sense to remove all of the seat reservations and I just managed to get a seat, but by the time the train left Bedford it was as packed as a tube train in rush hour!! The irony of it was the train which formed the service had the name "City of Sheffield" emblazoned on the side of it!!!!!

On the way home the 1755 was cancelled so we all crammed onto the 1800 - As I was there promptly I managed to get a seat but again the train was crammed.

Wednesday I managed to find an empty luggage rack to purch myself on, however I paid for that as my hamstrings were sore for 24 hours after. Going home was worse than the evening before. Both the 1730 and 1745 were cancelled, so three trains worth of punters squeezed onto the 1800.

Fortunately the flooding has subsided, the trains released from their Leeds depot and today was a pleasure to travel once more!

Midland Mainline don't get it wrong that often and their staff are fantastic generally, so I was sad to hear that they have lost the franchise to Stagecoach from November 2007. At least under the new franchise there is a requirement to run trains starting and terminating at Kettering and going into London - Guaranteeing a seat for us Kettering and area dwellers!!

100 years of the Hampstead Tube railway.

Souvenir Book about how it all started.

Watch and (the LU favourite) a mug!!

An individually wrapped comemorative (and rather tasty) cake.

On Sunday there is a special train running (1938 tube stock) to comemorate 100 years of the Hampstead, Euston and Charing Cross railway (Thats the Charing Cross branch of the Northern Line to you and me)!! The depot is also holding an open day at Golders Green with limited tickets available.





To comemorate this anniversary all staff are being issued with some goodies to mark the occasion as shown above. I must say I am suitably impressed with the standard of gifts. In addition to the above there is also a DVD which outlines the history of the stations on the line.

Spot the difference here.......................

This is the depot building at Golders Green


This is the step plate which is fitted in the threshold of every set of doors

What hope do the Northern Line have when the people who build and maintain the trains can't decide how to spell the company name?

This weekend I went to.........

Pitsford Water, just outside Northampton yesterday afternoon. Little Miss Corby and I cycled the 7.5 miles around it. Most pleasant!

An Outrage!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As I chatted to "Dave the Paper" outside St Pancras tonight he dropped the bombshell that his site has been axed from next Monday and that today will be his last shift.

I am gutted for him as he was always friendly and very knowlegable about football. Probably why I've always got on so well with him.

I may boycott buying the standard in protest at his shabby treatment!

Best football ground for viewing.

Not Vicarage Road, you'll be surprised to hear but Tottenham Hotspurs' White Hart Lane.

I'm not sure there is a bad seat in the house and I always enjoy my visits there. Mind you it is just about the most inaccessible ground in the country! Especiially when you consider it is in London!!

Unusual signs no 1

I found this one in my railway depot by the shunters cabin!

Epic train Journey part 2.............

Thursday evening - After a pleasant chat with Dave the paper outside St Pancras I saunter up to the platforms to catch my usual 1755 train.

On I get, reading my standard, we pull out on time, come out of the tunnels, past west Hampstead and then there is a sharp braking sensation and we jolt to a halt after about 100 yards. Two minutes later we start moving and crawl into Cricklewood station. We then sit there for 15 minutes in silence!

Finally the train manager tells us that due to a total suignal system power failure we shall be here for at least 20 minutes. TWO hours later we depart from Cricklewood and I finally get home at 2130!

Why do these type of things never happen when i'm going to work?

The football season is getting closer!

The fixtures for the new season were released this week.

Watford start with an away game at Wolves followed by a home game against Sheffield United. Tough start but it should show us what our promotion credentials will be like. At least we get a last day of the season trip to Blackpool, which should be good fun!

I notice that Sam Allardyce will have an uncomfortable first game in charge of Newcastle as they have to go to his old club Bolton.

I'm sure it is pure coincidence but I notice the big four are all at home on the first day of the season.

Looking further down the leagues - Leyton Orient v Leeds United! Oh how the mighty have fallen!!!!!!!!!!

This weekend..........

Off to visit my folks who live just outside Blackpool on Friday evening.

This got me thinking about the good old british seaside resort.

Some weeks ago we ended up in Great Yarmouth for the day. This brought back memories of holidays in my childhood when we used to go to a place called Hemsby (about 10 miles up the coast from Yarmouth). The problem is that I don't like the place any more. While the world and people have moved on our British seaside resorts seem to be stuck in a timewarp!

There are still more Telebingo arcades than you can shake a Bingo marker at in most places of this nature, and, while I have been known to enjoy a round of golf from time to time there seem to be more crazy golf courses than they have in the whole of America strewn along the prom!

Blackpool is no different. The town itself has turned into a haven for Drugs, stag do's and hen parties and is just a complete shitehole of a place. It is unlikely I shall venture into Blackpool over the coming weekend as there is no magic to these places anymore!

Maybe I'm getting old but I'd rather go for a good walk or cycle in the countryside as opposed to go to the seaside.

I can't wait for next season...................

Yes, yes I know the last one has only just finished but Watford have made some signings already for next season:

Douglas Rinaldi - £250,000 - was on loan last part of last season and looked a really accomplished player.

Mart Poom - Free Transfer from Arsenal - Estonian Goalkeeper who will play against England tonight. He is 35 and will add some experience to the defence.

Matt Jackson - Free Transfer from Wigan - 35 again but will add the experience that was missing throughout last season.

Jobi McAnuff - £1.75M from Crystal Palace - We were after him last season but couldn't prize him away from Palace. Tricky winger - we lacked a supply line to our strikers last season at times, hopefully tha will change with this aquisition.

So all in all it is gradually coming together for the 'orns and hence why I can't wait for the new season!

Europe is closer than we think!!

On her way home this evening to catch the 2315 train from St Pancras Mrs Corby phoned, all excited, to tell me that a Eurostar train was parked in the new St Pancras International station!

The new super fast service starts in November after all, so I suppose they were doing some signalling or catenary testing.

When this opens London to Paris will be achievable in 2 hrs 30 mins (ish)! some reading this probably remenmber when it took the best part of a week to do that particular journey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Epic train journey.......

One thing I hate when I go into work early because I have to be home at a certain time is being so dependant on public transport!

Take today for example.

Left work at 1535 - that gives me 50 minutes to make the journey to Kings Cross (a 20 minute journey). I was confronted by a distinct lack of via Bank Northern Line trains - Although thankyou Mr Ward for your good real time information from the comfort of your drivers cab!!!!!!!

I go to St Pancras to get my 1625 train which is first stop Kettering (where I alight) and arrive just in time for it to start boarding. Train leaves on time and all is well until Flitwick, where we come to a stand in the platform. Turns out that a lorry has hit a bridge just south of Bedford!

We then crawl to just south of the bridge in question and are by this time 30 minutes late. Little Miss Corby is not happy and neither is the childminder as I'm supposed to pick LMC up and take her to Brownies by 1800hrs. Fortunately the childminder is a diamond and agrees to take LMC to brownies for me.

Train starts to move and then we are told that some fella has been taken unwell and we will be making an unscheduled stop at Bedford to await an ambulance for him! 20 minutes later and we are finally on our way. I arrive at Kettering at 1820 and drive home arriving at 1840!

Just over 3 hours to do a journey that normally takes 1hour 35 minutes. In all fairness to Midland Mainline this seldom happens these days as they are a very reliable train service.

Early favourites for premiership relegation

Has to be Wigan Athletic after their capture of Titus Bramble earlier today!!!!!!!

In my opinion he has to be just the worst defender I have ever seen!

Add to that the fact that apparently UEFA have been studying fans behaviour for years gone by and have drawn the conclusion that Liverpool have the worst fans in Europe! No Shit Sherlock! How scientific must that study have been.......................... Let me see errrr............. they were present at Hillsborough, Heysel.................... oh and they've been rowdy in Greece a fortnight ago! Seems to me very convenient that this report surfaces at a time when the spotlight is on how UEFA organise all their match arrangements.

While I think only a fool would say no English fans cause trouble, I find it incredible that no such fuss is made about Italian fans who seem absolute animals. Italian football seems to be about 20 years behind football in this country in terms of fans behaviour. I just wonder if some of the problems with English fans abroad is caused by the fact that our expectation of the "football experience" is far greater than that of our European counterparts.

Strange............

As I said yesterday, we went for a nice bike ride along the Brampton Valley Way (did about 6 miles). What is odd is that having only recently taken up cycling again after about a 16 year absence, I expected my calves and thighs to be killing me today. However my shoulders are absolutely killing me, which I just can't explain!!

The Brampton Valley Way is what was once the trackbed of the LMS Northampton to Market Harborough Railway and covers about 15 miles. The railway closed to all traffic in 1981 and was purchased by Northamptonshire County Council in 2002 and they turned it into what is known as a Linear Park. It's also part of the national cycle network. On part of it (about a mile to be precise) can be found the Northampton & Lamport Railway, which is a preserved railway.

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/cmoorhen/

Some of the scenery from it is absolutely fantastic and if you like cycling or walking I would thoroughly recommend you pay it a visit.

Summer is back!

Lovely day yesterday spent in the garden cutting the grass and such. I was going to go to my allotment and cut down the two foot high grass but I couldn't get the petrol strimmer to work!

With today being equally as nice I'm off out with the family to have a nice leisurley bike ride, probably on the Brampton Valley Way between Northampton and Market Harborough.

New Rule Book

So today was the day when staff were supposed to refuse to work on the grounds of Health and Safety due to the start of useage of London Undergrounds brand new rule book. This is a much simpler document than the last one (which if laid end to end would have stretched about 1km apparently).

I got a call from the acting Performance Manager as I was on my train home last night asking if I minded coming in for the start of traffic today! Of course I bloody mind! Ask me if I could and the answer to that is "yes, of course" I could!!!!!!!

So the alarm goes off at 0230 this morning and I stumble out of bed into the shower, throw some clothes on, jump in the car and arrive at the depot at shortly after 4am!

All I can say about it is that a couple of my Duty Managers need to learn how to make tea! As for my drivers - You bunch of uncaring so and so's (I know some of you read this too) - not even a question, just puzzled looks as to why the boss is at work at "silly" O'clock and questionably witty remarks about what else may have been between my bedsheets to make me be up so early!!!!!

As for the rule book - well same shite in it just in a different package and not as long winded!

The only bonus is that I was home indoors by 1300hrs and have got plenty of chores completed!

I am now, however knackered!!

Good news..........

I appear to have fixed my PC!

Seems like a virus got hold of it (not from a porn site before anyone suggests so)!!!!!!!!

So hopefully more posts from now on.

If anyone knows how to retrieve my downloaded songs from itunes though I would be grateful if you could tell me. The bloody site wont just sync my ipod as it does not recognise my pc as the one it was downloaded to!

Bristol Rovers, Blackpool and Derby County

Congratulations to the above three teams who will be playing football in a higher division next season.

From a Watford point of view I'm quite happy with visits to Blackpool and West Brom next season.

Blackpool means a weekend with the folks who live just a short distance from Blackpool and I have friends who are West brom fans, which normally means guaranteed beers before and after the game!!!!!!!

So that's the official end of the football season - time for a break from it - that is until the fixtures for next season are announced on 24th June!!!!!!

Not to mention all of the speculation about who various clubs are signing. From Watford's point of view we have already added three good players in Douglas Rinaldi (from a Brazillian club), Matt Jackson (from Wigan) & Mart Poom (from Arsenal) for precious little outlay.

Football league play offs

Last week I watched Lincoln v Bristol Rovers and Notts Forest v Yeovil. I decided to give the cup final a miss. My judgement has been spot on this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The football league play offs have to be the most exciting games in the domestic footballing calendar. Teams really opening up and going for it and giving unrivalled entertainment with end to end football.

You can stick that premiership mullarkey where the sun don't shine!!!!!!

Good luck to Bristol Rovers, Shrewsbury Town, Blackpool, Yeovil Town, West Brom and Derby this weekend in their quests for promotion at the weekend!

Tony Blair

So he's moving on - probably to make loads more money as an after dinner speaker!!

Got me thinking that he's probably done alright by me.

When I look at my situation now compared to when he came to power and when I look at this country now compared to when he came to power the only real negatives I see is where success in certain things have made him a victim of his own success!

My industry is a fine example of this. Good strong economy with lots of people in full time employment. However the infrastructure of the railways can't cope with the growth so everyone is up in arms about overcrowding! Simplistic example I know but money to make everything grow is just not there. Is the way forward really to tax everyone to the hilt? Someone has to pay for it or do we just put up with certain situations?

Anyway, I Digress. I earn more now, have a good standard of living, nice house, 2 cars, holidays each year, well paid job, can pretty much afford to do what I want, when I want (within reason), so thanks Tony from me!!!

Hello!

My home PC is still buggered but I have a quiet moment at work now!!!!!!

Watford got relegated, Kettering missed out on promotion, new prime minister on the cards, new General Manager on the Northern Line, West Ham and that Tevez mullarkey!!!

Lots to talk about!

Lack of posts..............

I do appologise to those who pop over here to have a read. My home computer is defunct at the moment and I have just not had the time to post at work due to being too busy!

I hope to resume normal service in about a weeks time!

Readers of this site......

I have purposely kept this blog quiet while I get into the swing of updating it on a regular basis!

In fact so much so that the only person who I have told about it is my friend The Station Supervisor, who is the one who "pestered" me about doing one until I took the plunge!! Not even my wife is aware of where my blog lives!!!!!

On Saturday at the retirement do I was at, one of my Duty Managers mentioned my blog and commented that several people at my depot read it!

So, welcome to you all and please pay particular attention to the disclaimer on the home page!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Below is the link to The Station Supervisors blog:

http://londonundergroundlife.blogspot.com/

Pointless posting the link though, I suppose, as most of you have come here via his site!!!!!

Retirement.

On Friday evening I went to a retirement party. The person retiring had worked for London Underground for 44 years!

That is an incredible amount of time to devote to one company and got me thinking about why so many employees of London Underground "stick around". I'm a mere boy of just over 17 years service on the job, but if anyone would have said to me, at the age of 18, that I would have worked for the same company for 17 years I would have probably laughed in their faces!!

In my 17 years I have actually enjoyed coming to work for about 15 of them (I currently really enjoy coming to work - those two years I didn't are way behind me now). I wonder how many people outside of London Underground can honestly say that about work! I think that is why people stick with London Underground, because when you become bored with what you do there is always somewhere else you can go to work, either in a different environment or a different role.

I mean if you hate a job with a passion then you surely have to move on to preserve your sanity, don't you?

Watford 1 Manchester City 1

Cue the we're in a different league to you chants at the remaining games of the season!!!!

Mercifully, like a sick animal being put to sleep, the Hornets finally confirmed that it will be Championship football for them next season. Most of us have been fully aware of this inevitability since the harsh reality of a long, cold winter set in when we lost tamely at home to Sheffield United back in November.

Strangely, Saturdays game felt remarkably similar to that evening in November in respect of the fact that the Hornets were not at their best and neither were their opponents. The game was played in sunny, warm weather (maybe a slight difference from November then) and both teams seemed to treat it like you would a pre-season friendly with little effort and no real quality.

The first effort on either goal appeared to be the Man City goal, Lloyd Doyley passing the ball back to Ben Foster and rather than putting his foot through the ball he decided to pass it to Chris Powell. Alas he "studded" it to Vassell who had the simple task of sidefooting it into the unguarded net!

This didn't spark Watford into life though and the lacklustre performance continued.

It was only when Duggie Rinaldi played Tamas Priskin through on 75 minutes and the Hungarian cooly finished that Watford decided to put a bit into the game. Marlon King, making his first full start since his long lay off just missed a difficult chance with 10 minutes left and that was it! Three meaningfull chances in the whole game. Watford relegated with a whimper!

Still, on the bright side, at least Luton were relegated before us!

Duty Manager Interviews

Someone in March asked me about how I felt people did.

Now that everyone has been told yes or no, I can be totally honest!!!!!!!!!!

I thought that generally the standard of people I saw was quite average with the odd one or two clearly standing out from the rest. I would recommend that anyone who gets an opportunity to be on the "other side" of the job application fence gives it a go it was a good experience for me.

Another thing which became apparent is that Station staff are at an advantage when it comes to this sort of process due to the structure of the Station grades. It is far easier to gain the experience by going from CSA to Supervisor grades as you actually get a chance to manage staff. The problem is that too many people look short term when they are a CSA and look at the money that a Train Operator makes, yet in the long term going the Supervisor route would be beneficial in the long term.

Having said that, I'm aware that some of the top scoring applicants in Interviews, role plays and presentations were Train Operators! Why? Because they put loads of effort into preparation!

What's the old saying "Fail to prepare, prepare to fail"!!!!!!!!!!!

At the start there was around 840 people who registered an interest in the Duty Manager role. A grand total of 47 people are now embarking on their new career as a Duty manager! If you were one of them - Bloody well done - It's a hard process to come through!

Watford 1 Manchester United 4

Expected result but proud of the boys!

Well,most people would have left the game happy:-Man United fans off to a record Breaking 18th final at the new Wembley.

- The FA as they have one half of their "dream" final.
- The police for there being little trouble.
- Watford fans for their team putting up a performance to be proud of.
- Marlon King for his return from injury.

One person who may not be so happy with his performance was Referee Howard Webb, who made some strange decisions all afternoon, for and against both sides, so at least he was consistent. Seemed to me strange that for one so experienced he seemed to let the occasion get to him.

Watford got off to the worst possible start conceding an early goal when Rooney slipped inside Marriappa and hit a blistering shot into the net past Richard Lee.I feared the worst for the Golden Boys at this stage, but in all fairness the storm was weathered,and after some pressure where Edwin Van Der Saar showed that Man U actually have a real need for Ben Foster to return to them, Watford equalised. Tommy Smiths Cross acrobatically volleyed in by the in form Hammeur Bouazza.

The joy was short lived however as Rooney capitalised on an error from Jordan Stewart and despite being denied a goal himself by a save from Richard Lee, the ball fell at Ronaldo's feet for a tap in from 2 yards out - That was a mere 2 minutes after The Hornets had equalised!

Half time at 2-1 then and the second half started right against the script!

Watford took the game to United. For 15 second half minutes you thought, Hang on here, maybe just maybe we could just do this. It was certainly most satisfying to see the soon to be Champions (on three fronts in my opinion) panicking and just hacking the ball away from their own penalty area. In fact this phase of play only came to an end when Man Utd started to manage the game, with players going down and breaking the tempo of the game up.

Uniteds third came on the break with some poor defending assisting, Smith crossed for Rooney to grab his second.United scored their fourth when Richardson broke free having been played onside by Stewart, cut in, and dinked the ball over the advancing Richard Lee.4-1 in the end - A result that flattered United and was acknowledged by Uts's assistant manager Carlos Queiros in his post match interview for the BBC.

Still we have been used to harsh results this season and can take heart from the fact that out season has ended far later than some of our more established colleagues in the premier league.

Bad mistake this evening

I watched Man Utd systematically rip apart Roma. They ended up winning 7-1!

How the fark will my poor little Watford be able to cope on Saturday in the Cup Semi-final?

I will now worry myself sick till Saturday evening now!!!!

Good link for football fans.........................

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/060719

Very interesting article and a "safe" choice made in the end.

Watford 4 Portsmouth 2

Well there's a novelty!

A fantastic Golden Boys victory, even with the luxury of conceeding a goal in the last 10 minutes and it not mattering in the slightest!!!!!!!!

Not only 4 goals but 4 really good goals too, particularly Skipper Gavin Mahon's rocket just before half time. Stars for the hornets today though were wide men Tommy Smith and Hammeur Bouazza, who ripped Pompey apart continuously throughout the game.

Relagation is only a matter of time but it sends us off to Villa Park next Saturday with a little more hope of pulling off the impossible. It does beg the question, why we have not done that to teams more often this season? I saw the Watford of last season today - In the opponents faces playing at a high tempo, mixing long ball with neat short passing and very exciting to watch.

Most importantly and, I suppose strangely we were a team brimming with confidence. How a set of players who have constantly taken a lot of stick from the press and some of their own fans can still play like that is admirable.

Just to round off a good day Kettering beat Harrogate 3-1 and Luton lost to a last minute goal to QPR!

Unusual!

Today is a Saturday during the football season and I'm doing something quite radical for me. I'm not going to a football match of any description!

I toyed with the idea of going to Watch Watford at Middlesborough, but decided it's a long way to go on my own and that I can't really afford it! They may well loose as well!!!!!!!

Kettering are away at Lancaster, so that is out of the question.

I have to admit that I was tempted by the thought of popping over to Cecil Street to take in the Southern Premier league game between Rothwell Town and Dunstable Town (only a mere £6 on the gate there), but have decided that I will pop down to my allotment and crack on with the clearance work I am doing down there.

If you are really good I may provide some pictures of my progress!!!!!

Taxi driver!

One of the perils of being a parent!

My daughter has been to see my mum and dad in Blackpool for the first week of her Easter Holidays. I took her up there last Thursday evening and came back on Friday.

Tonight I go up there again to pick her up and come back tomorrow. Then when we get back home she is going to have lunch and then I have to take her to her other nan and grandad in South East London that afternoon!

Lucky I'm not off to Middlesborough on Saturday to Watch Watford as well!!

She is then off to Scotland with them to see my brother in law. I have to pick her up from south east london next friday after I finish work.

She certainly has a better social life than I do!

Kettering Town 3 Farsley Celtic 2

On Tuesday night I popped down to Rockingham Road - Home of the mighty Poppies to take in a game that if they won they would go top of Conference North. Promotion from this league gets you to Conference National - just one league from the football league.

What an entertaining game I saw. Kettering raced into a 2 goal lead in the first 30 minutes only for Farsley to stop them in their tracks with a scrambled goal. Half time 2-1.

In the second half Craig Westcarr scored one of the best goals I will see this season. Running from his own half, beating 4 men and finishing with a shot into the right hand corner of the Farsley goal from the edge of the box.

Farsley made it 3-2, which led to a nervy last 5 minutes.

A very enjoyable evening - all for only a £10 admission fee!

Watford 0 Chelsea 1

Seems to have been ages since we last played a game! Oh wait a minute is has been!!!!

The only problem is that we are still suffering from the same old problem. Granted we looked much better than we have done for a long time yesterday and created a few chances as well, but as the second half progressed we gradually dropped deeper and deeper into our own half, inviting pressure. If you do this then sooner or later you are going to give a goal away. Defenders get tired, physically and mentally, you give one of them a bit of space (Shevchenko in this instance), great cross, and any striker who is worth his salt pops the ball home (kalou).

Still, as said it was a good performance from the Golden Boys, which even almost brought grudging praise from the match of the day pundits. An interesting lesson for other teams who play Chelsea is that if you match them person for person in their narrow midfield, then they don't know how to play against it. As Aidy Boothroyd said after the game, one of their players is worth more that Watfords annual turnover.

Normally I would be gutted to let in a late goal and lose the game but yesterday I wasn't - I guess when it happens so frequently it stops hurting!

My Allotment

Trust me! It's all the rage!!!!!!!

Today I received the key to my garden kingdom. It's a bit overgrown but I do like a challenge. I'm going to start preparing it on Sunday so I will have to draw out a plan as to how I eventually want it to look and what I want to grow in it!

It has cost me £20 for the year and £1 for membership of the allotment association. I also had to pay £2 for the key to the site.

England

How do such well paid and exceptional players serve up such poor, ininspiring football?

Employee Relations...........

I spent a very interesting day today on an Employee relations course (yes, I was surprised how this subject could be interesting too)!!!!

One of the advantages of being in my position within the company is that you are able to get fairly frequent contact with the real senior managers. Today I had the pleasure of the company of Jerry Duffy our Employee Relations Director. He's a brash scotsman but rather likeable and he was sharing with us some details about how the pay negotiations with the trade unions went to secure our 3 year pay deal a few weeks ago.

Interestingly ASLEF - one of the Train Drivers unions - rejected 3 days leave or 3 days pay (over £1000) for the flexibility of an extra 30 minutes work from time to time for it's drivers, to scupper the late night working at weekends. The thought occurs to me how many of it's members were aware of this? He also revealed that he likes Bob Crow of the RMT and feels that there will be a real opportunity to work in partnership with him and his union in the near future.

Death in the workplace.............

Yep, a sad day today.

As my profile states I am a manager on the tube. I work on the Northern Line.

Yesterday evening at around 1720hrs we had a Train Operator collapse at his controls between Woodside Park and Totteridge & Whetstone. Despite some very quick and heroic actions by some of his colleagues and prompt action by the London Ambulance Service, he sadly passed away in Hospital about an hour later. It transpired that the driver had suffered a Heart attack. All the more surprising was that this man had hardly ailed in his 59 years of life, he didn't even have the need to wear glasses!

The mood at work today has been very sombre.

When this kind of tradegy occurs I think it makes us all feel mortal.

Football...........................

This is a subject very close to my heart! People who know me would tell you that you can't stop me talking about this subject once you start me!!

I have followed Watford Football Club for the last 30 years. I have seen some good times following them and seen some really bad times following them. When I first started following them they played in Division 4 of the Football League. I watched a momentous rise through the divisions until they finished 2nd in the top tier of English football in 1983 under Graham Taylor. Saw them loose to Everton in the 1984 Cup Final at Wembley. I then saw the same manager bring them up into the premiership via the play offs in 1999 - I never thought I would ever see little Watford win at Wembley!

The last two years of following them have been an unexpected pleasure; seeing us get into the premiership under the leadership of the Brightest young English manager, although watching us struggle this season has been a little painful. However it is not all doom and gloom being pretty much rooted to the bottom of the Premiership this season! On April 14th I shall be having a little trip to Villa Park in Birmingham to watch the Hornets compete in one of this years FA Cup semi finals. It's all good being a Golden Boy!!!!!!!!!

Finally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been threatening to do this for some time! So here I am I have at last taken the plunge. I hope you enjoy reading about my relatively normal life.