Up the 'Orns. Down the Tube.

Decorating!

2008-05-06T15:14:00.004+01:00

Bathroom this time - I can't help myself but to have a go myself. In fact i've only decided to update this because I needed a break and the study is next door to the bathroom!!

I'm currently removing all the tile adhesive from where I removed the tiles a couple of weeks ago - anyone who has done this will testify that it is time consuming and a pain in the arse but absolutely essential if you are to do a good job when putting the new tiles up.

If it looks OK I may even post a couple of pictures of it when it's done although I wouldn't expect any picturres for a few days yet!!!!!!!!!!

New Mayor!

2008-05-06T15:07:00.002+01:00

Living well away from the capital, I don't get to have a vote at the Mayoral elections. But those that did decided it was time for a change.

Given who I work for I'm not really allowed to have an opinion on this blog about what I think as sites such as this one are monitored by the company "internet police" and an opinion would be seen as inappropiate!

All I will say is that we all need to keep an open mind about the new mayor as a majority of those that give a fig / were able to vote decided that he was the best one for the job.

As for Ken, he wasn't everyones cup of tea but he genuinely cared for London and has done some good things for the residents of the place.

And still the season lingers on............

2008-05-06T14:56:00.002+01:00

Watford may well not be champions of the championship yet but they still have an outside chance of reaching the promised land of the premiership.

I just happened to be in Blackpool last Sunday and was the holder of a ticket for the away stand at Bloomfield Road. Stand? Well kind of! The home fans kept appologising for the state of this temporary construction and there were even stories of a rather portly gentleman falling through the ply wood floor a couple of games ago when jumping up and down - suffice to say I stood very still throughout the match!!!!!!!!!

Tommy Smith ensured that the season was prolonged by another 10 days at least by equalising mid way through the second half. Watford now play Hull on Sunday at home and the following Wednesday away (I'll be there even though the boss does not know it yet)!!!!!!!!!

I also took the opportunity on the Saturday to go to a ground I've never visited before - Spotland - Home of Rochdale FC - and saw a rather entertaining 1-1 draw with Shrewsbury Town. Theres a lot to be said for lower league football and I feel more people should try it out for size.

Theres much more to football than the premiership.

Champions (Part 1 of 2?)

2008-04-06T10:10:00.003+01:00

My football watching "bit on the side", Kettering Town, overcame AFC Telford 3-0 at the A-Line arena yesterday to become champions of Blue Square North. Could this be one part of a champions double for me personally?

It's still possible, but in my opinion unlikely, following Watford's win, but poor, poor performance yesterday at home to Coventry City. The Golden boys scored their first two goals from open play since 26th february thanks to Nathan Ellington and Tommy Smith and this puts them in 4th place 2 points behind but with a game in hand over Bristol City who are top.

The game in hand is at home to FA Cup semi finalists Barnsley next Wednesday.

Well thank fuck for that!

2008-04-02T23:58:00.000+01:00

http://www.teamtalk.com/football/story/0,16368,2483_3375942,00.html

Still a bit late for my boys though!

Hull 3 Watford 0

2008-04-02T23:56:00.001+01:00

What a waste of a Saturday and another bizarre refereeing decision.

For the first time I can remember I was embarrassed to be a Watford fan........................

Roll on next Saturday for the next game!!!!!!!!!!

To Hull and back!!!!!!!!!!

2008-03-29T01:02:00.002Z

That's where I shall be going tomorrow to watch the latest episode in Watfords topsy turvey season.

Regardless of what happens in the last weeks of the season it is certainly going to turn into a nail biting finale to the Championship season.

In the words of the boss.................. COME ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Laminate flooring...................

2008-03-26T14:53:00.002Z

Some words of wisdom for you.

If you want to end up with sore knees and hamstrings which scream at you everytime you move a muscle, then I highly recommend that you lay laminate flooring in one of your rooms!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday is the first and last time I shall ever do so!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kettering Town 3 Nuneaton Borough 2

2008-03-26T14:45:00.003Z

On a horrid Saturday where as above the game was played in a blizzard, these two teams served up a local derby of excellent proportion. Craig Westcarr, Chris Beardsley and Jon Brady scored the goals which saw The Poppies go 7 points clear at the top of Conference North with two games in hand.

Things improved even more when John Dempsters goal at Boston on Monday afternoon coupled with losses by AFC Telford and Stalybridge Celtic put Kettering within touching distance of Conference National by going 10 points clear with two games in hand.

Kettering Town 3 Worcester City 0

2008-03-09T20:41:00.002Z

An entertaining and dominant performance from The Poppies.

After a sluggish start they took the lead through a Jon Brady free kick that took a wicked deflection on it's way in - so much so that if it would have been me I would have been embarrassed to claim it as mine!!!!!!!!

Kettering had to wait till the final 15 minutes to take complete control when Craig Westcarr finished twice from inside the box the first of them following a fine run and cross from John Paul Marna.

All in all £15 for me and Little Miss Corby well spent!

No Watford today!!!!

2008-03-08T11:45:00.003Z

We should have been playing Barnsley this weekend but they are slugging it out in the FA cup against Chelsea this weekend!

I therefore have to look to my footballing "bit on the side", Kettering Town, for my afternoons entertainment today. They are at home to Worcester City at 3pm.

I'll update later.........................

You don't know Jack Schitt........ Do you?

2008-03-03T18:56:00.001Z

For some time many of us have wondered just who is Jack Schitt?

We find ourselves at a loss when someone says, 'You don't know Jack Schitt!' Well, thanks to my friend’s generous genealogy efforts, you can now respond in an intellectual way.

Jack Schitt is the only son of Awe Schitt. Awe Schitt, the fertilizer magnate, married O. Schitt, the owner of Needeep N. Schitt, Inc. They had one son, Jack. In turn, Jack Schitt married Noe Schitt. The deeply religious couple produced six children: Holie Schitt, Giva Schitt, Fulla Schitt, Bull Schitt, and the twins Deep Schitt and Dip Schitt..

Against her parents' objections, Deep Schitt married Dumb Schitt, a high school dropout. After being married 15 years, Jack and Noe Schitt divorced Noe Schitt later married Ted Sherlock, and because her kids were living with them, she wanted to keep her previous name. She was then known as Noe Schitt Sherlock.

Meanwhile, Dip Schitt married Loda Schitt, and they produced a son with a rather nervous disposition named Chicken Schitt. Two of the other six children, Fulla Schitt and Giva Schitt, were inseparable throughout childhood and subsequently married the Happens brothers in a dual ceremony. The wedding announcement in the newspaper announced the Schitt-Happens nuptials.

The Schitt-Happens children were Dawg, Byrd, and Horse. Bull Schitt, the prodigal son, left home to tour the world. He recently returned from Italy with his new Italian bride, Pisa Schitt.

Now when someone says, 'You don't know Jack Schitt,' you can correct them. Sincerely, Crock O. Schitt

Shipwrecked!

2008-03-02T23:33:00.005Z

Anyone remember the news story several weeks ago now where during storms in the North Sea a container ship travelling from Ireland to Heysham in Cumbria got hit by a freak wave and ended up being washed aground near Blackpool? Well this is how it looked from Anchorsholme Beach this morning.

The ship was listed at about 40 degrees when the incident happened but has subsequently been battered onto it's side. Currently there is an exclusion zone around the boat and 8 people were arrested last week for trying to board the vessel, which still has much of the cargo it was carrying on board.

It is unlikely that they will be able to re-float the ship now and it would appear that salvage of the ship will take the form of cutting it up where it rests. An exact decision will be made on it's future next week.

It has actually become quite a tourist attraction with cars parked all over the place in Little Bispham and Anchorsholme which is where you get the best view of it from.

The man in the red coat is........................

2008-03-02T23:31:00.004Z

.................................Watford Manager Aidrian Boothroyd!

How many other managers would mingle with the fans in the stand before a game?

Burnley 2 Watford 2

2008-03-02T23:21:00.004Z

Turf Moor, the home of Burnley and the scene of probably the best game of football I've seen this season so far, great end to end stuff with some great goals and it threatened to get a bit nasty as well!

As it is the start of National Pie week this week I thought it prudent to try a pre-match pie at Turf Moor, after all I was in the heart of Pie eating territory. I was amused that the title of the pie I chose was Chunky Potato with meat - and for exactly the reason that there was loads of potato in it but scant evidence of any meat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The away end at Burnley keeps a dying tradition going of older grounds, which is perfectly captured in the picture above - that of the "obstructed view"!

Earthquake!

2008-02-28T23:49:00.002Z

5.2 on the richter scale apparently on Tuesday night with the epicentre in Market Rasen in Lincolnshire!

I stayed in London and was far too drunk to notice it when it happened!!!!!!!!

I'm told that my house in the midlands shook quite violently for about 15 seconds. It actually woke up Little Miss Corby, who was apparently terrified.

Do I want Watford to get promoted?

2008-02-24T09:07:00.002Z

On the face of it that question seems nonsense, but when you have experienced it, then it becomes an interesting conundrum!

Many fellow hornets have said that they would not be fussed if we didn't go up and I'm increasingly coming round to that opinion.

If you go up you get lots of money which is great, but you are still going to be in a relegation battle and you still wont be able to entice the quality of player that will keep you up, as Watford saw last time. We rarely got tonked like Derby have this season when we were there but with possibly the best side the manager could have hoped to assemble we were only competetive for around 80 minutes a game. So the money is nice but it does not buy you survival.

Then you have to put up with all the gloryhunting fans, around 6,000 of them tagged on last season to us!

And what about the grounds? Well my first ever visit to Old Trafford last season was, quite frankly a disappointment! There was in all honesty better facilities at Kettering Town. Fratton Park in fact would be a ground more at home in Conference North! White Hart Lane, while expensive to get into is the best football ground in the land - No matter where you sit the view is fine and the facilities are great. It's bloody expensive pretty much where ever you go too and following Watford Last season financially "cleared me out" to a degree.

Championship grounds however are cheap to get into (relatively speaking). Generally the facilities are good - whith the exception of Charlton (my god the pastie was unedible). I've so far enjoyed adding Scunthorpe and Southampton to my list of grounds visited and look forward to visiting Hull. I've enjoyed re-visiting many places such as Loftus Road, Molyneux, The Ricoh and Portman road (even if the natives were a bit strange there). Next season if we didn't get promoted, I would quite look forward to popping down to Wales to Swansea and Cardiff (grounds I've not yet been to) and I always enjoy a trip to The City Ground in Nottingham.

Don't even get me started on the consistently weird kick off times and the fact you can go weeks at times when you don't even play a game!

So all in all the premiership perhaps isn't as much the promised land it is made out to be in my opinion.

Of course having already renewed my season ticket for next season, I'd tolerate it if it did happen to us though!!!!!!!!!!!!

Knowing someone without meeting them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-02-20T21:32:00.002Z

Strange statement you may think but today I had just this experience!

LU's Duty Managers are going through a process called 360 degree review. Us centurions went through the same process at the end of last year.

What happens is that you nominate 3 peers and 3 direct reports. They are then sent a questionaire to answer about you managemnent style and behaviours. Your boss also completes one. There are places where you can write in comments to back up the scores you give in the questions.

Once this is done a report is compiled about you as a manager.

It is a fabulous self improvement tool, which, if used correctly can certainly open your eyes to who you think you are and who you actually are as a manager and leader of people. I remember when I received my feedback that the things that come out of the analysis almost make you feel violated in respect of the fact that no person should know that much about you!!!!!!!!!!!!

For the Duty Managers some of the Centurions have been selected to provide the feedback and to run through their reports. I did my first one of these today. I received the persons report yesterday and had a look through it. I formulated a mental picture of what this person was like and it was spooky how near reality was when I actually met him.

It has in effect really made me realise how valuable these sort of exercises are.

Seems I hit a bit of a nerve.....................

2008-02-18T23:23:00.002Z

.................................With my previous post!

Someone who thinks they know me who unfortunately posted as anonymous put forward some very unionistic views on the matter.

Unfortunately it is my policy that unless a post goes with a name they don't get aired on my blog!

Strikes achieve nothing these days except piss off the general Travelling public and alienate the union from them, actually strikes have only served to achieve this for about the past 10 years.

We have not had a strike for a while on the tube..........

2008-02-17T21:55:00.002Z

............Well this could become as potentially bad news to some customers who read this!

The RMT primarily but also TSSA unions have a problem about the following apparently:

Closure of ticket offices - About 40 are planned to close or have reduced opening hours. (Only 3% of tickets sold are now paper single tickets). Oyster accounts for nearly 80% of all tickets sold for travel on The Underground. It seems a little silly wasting money having someone sat in a ticket office doing nothing. Many companies would have made staff redundant but not London Underground. We are currently recruiting more staff and increasing staffing levels due to the current line upgrades taking place.
Heathrow terminal 5 station - T5 has been built by and is owned by BAA. London Underground's Piccadilly Line will run there because the extension was paid for by BAA. BAA are kind enough to let us have a Station Supervisor in place to deal with any train related issued on the Piccadilly Line platforms. The unions seem to think that London Underground staff should run the whole station! Rediculous when you consider only a small part of the complex affects us.
Refusal to work on grounds of safety - RMT claim LUL has changed its policy, undermining safety and breaching legislation.
RMT and TSSA are demanding the immediate re-instatement of the original policy despite the fact that there has been no new policy issued. There is a consultation document which clearly has draft written all over it which proposed to simplify the current document to bring it in line with other Train Operating Companies policies, of which RMT and TSSA have many members within these companies.
Direct recruitment of station supervisors, train operators and service-control staff - LUL is now systematically denying career opportunities to experienced railway staff and recruiting externally, apparently. This is despite the fact that we have not recruited as a company for supervisors since 2002! In the spirit of the current LU / Union agreement we are seeing the waiting lists for Train Operator and service control staff dwindle to such an extent that if we don't recruit externally soon then we wont have enough of these staff to run a railway in some locations.

There are a few other issues which are absolute nonsense as well which the RMT particularly seem to be spoiling for a fight with, I wont bore you with them here, I'm sure you will hear about them soon enough anyway.

Should I be surprised with this happening? The answer is probably no! We have on the horizon the Mayoral elections (will Ken want to upset the unions?) and the LU pay deal is also due for renegotiation over the next year, so I suspect that this is the start of posturing for position for these events.

With the opportunity which presents itself at the moment to London to have a really top class transit system over the next 10 years, I find it quite disheartening that organisations such as RMT and TSSA can be so stuck in it's ways that it is unable to accept change and modernisation to move things into the modern age.

Charlton Athletic 2 Watford 2

2008-02-17T21:32:00.002Z

A cold but sunny Saturday afternoon saw The Hornets come back from being 0-2 down at half time to claim a 2-2 draw. Watford were slow and sluggish in the first half and probably deserved to be behind at half time, but were much better in the second half as John Joe O'Toole ghosted in to get on the end of a Tommy Smith pass and then 80 seconds later Big Dan Shittu rose to head home a Matt Sadler corner. Jobi McAnuff had a couple of chances to win it, but a draw was probably the right result in the end. The point means Watford drop to second behind Stoke City on goal difference.

Kettering Town fought out a 0-0 draw at third placed Harrogate Town and remain 6 points clear at the top of Conference North

Valuable information?

2008-02-13T23:07:00.002Z

These blogs serve a purpose!

I was talking to The Station Supervisors boss last week at a LU event. He said to me "You know The Station Supervisor don't you". I confessed all wondering what tirade of abuse I would hear next, but instead he said "I read his blog all the time and I think it's great. It's a good barometer for finding out what the feeling is on the group about things".

Nice to see a blog being used as a Management tool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Denying a goal scoring opportunity?

2008-02-13T22:55:00.003Z

This picture shows Leicester attacking towards the right of the TV screen.

The Watford player (John Joe O'Toole) is seen clearly holding the Leicester players shirt, but with another player coming round (Leigh Bromby) on the cover 10 yards nearer to the goal he is defending.

So answer this question:

How the fuck does the referee wave play on and not see the foul when his shadow is the one on the left of the screen?

How does the Linesman (60 yards away) not only see the foul but then deem that O'Toole has denied a goalscoring opportunity when one of his colleagues will easily get to the ball, especially as the pass between the Leicester players was also over hit?

JJ got sent off for this but little did us Watford fans realise that it would be the catalyst for one of the most gutsy, battling performances for many a year. A Darius Henderson goal 5 minutes after the Sending off (which happened on 40 minutes) settled the game, but 10 man Watford didn't allow Leicester a shot on target in the whole of the subsequent time left in the game.

3 wins in the last three games have put us top of the championship once more and I firmly believe that our dodgy run is now at an end.

We are a point clear at the top and have not turned up for the past 3 months worth of games! We could have been nearly promoted by now if it wasn't for our loss of form!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Train Crash

2008-02-03T10:22:00.000Z

This is the picture of the front of the train which collided with a bridge on Friday on the Midland Mainline between Loughborough and Leicester. The driver was injured and had to be cut free from his cab but the six customers on board were walked to safety, shaken but uninjured.

The incident occured when a dumper truck knocked a footbridge off of it's pedestal and sent it crashing onto the track into the path of an East Midlands local service which was fortunately slowing down to make it's stop at Barrow upon Soar station.

All of my trains from Kettering to London pass this point and so you can imagine that there was chaos at Kettering on Friday morning when I sauntered down to catch my train at 0700. I waited until 0830 in the vain hope that there would be a train to London! Fortunately I had some work I could do from home, so retired back there to do that once I had thawed out!

For those that use Midland Mainline, I'm told thatthe line is open today and normal services are expected to resume on Monday morning

There's only one Steve Kabba...................

2008-02-03T10:11:00.000Z

..One Steve Kabba
He used to be Sheite
But now he's alright
Walking in a Kabba wonderland!

That's what reverberated round Vicarage Road yesterday evening as Watford recorded their first win at home in the league since October. Two further goals from Tommy Smith in the second half ensured a comfortable win for The Hornets.

So a first goal for Steve Kabba and for a forward having been brought to the club last January, that is a long time to wait. However he had not played a full competitive game for around 8 months before he came to Watford, so what did we really expect. Still, he looks fit and that is a bonus to us in our push towards the premiership.

Good news for my "other" team, Kettering Town. They thrashed title rivals Southport 5-2 at The A-Line arena to stay 8 points clear at the top of Conference North.

I am just so bad..........................

2008-01-27T10:34:00.000Z

..................at updating this thing recently!

My only excuse that I can offer is that I have been really busy! Poor excuse I know but I've not really been spending much time surfing the web recently.

So what have I been up to?

I've been busily following Watford, who seem to stumble from one bad result to the next at the moment. Some of my fellow fans really annoy me when we go through these phases as they seem to think that we have a devine right to be good! I'm afraid i've got some bad news for them in respect of the fact that Watford are currently punching above their weight. So whilst it does frustrate me that we are not doing so well I just can't get as angry about it as some seem to do.

Work is very busy at the moment. I've somehow become involved in presenting part of the company's Time for action initiative, which has taken up loads of time in this last week. I don't mind giving this time as I feel it is to a very worthy cause, that if done correctly will change the way we operate for the benefit of the staff and customers. It will put some out of comfort zones, but that is how we all individually become better! The problem with all of these commitments is that it means that I spen hardly any time back in my office, which I really don't like as I feel I lumber tasks on my colleague and am not sorting out the day to day stuff!

It's that time of the year when I'm having to consider what to put where in my allotment as well and some work needs to be done on it to get it ready for growing, so that will happen over the next couple of weekends.

Added to that I have some decorating projects to complete in my house, so all in all I'm going to be a busy boy in the coming weeks too.

Mind the gap!

2008-01-16T23:51:00.000Z

I gather one of my blog readers has a sore ankle after not doing the above whilst at Moorgate this morning!

This certain person happens to be a driver as well and was in charge of a train at the time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When I found out I had visions of customers watching it happen and all the quickly disembark from the train so as to avoid travelling in the charge of this person!!!!!!!!

Seriously though I hope it's not too painful, and after all, we all make mistakes (as the Dalek said climbing off the dustbin)!!!!!!!!!

A little poem for you.........

2008-01-15T22:57:00.000Z

Illegal Immigrants Poem

I cross ocean, poor and broke.

Take bus, see employment folk.

Nice man treat me good in there.

Say I need to see welfare.

Welfare say, 'You come no more, we send cash right to your door.

' Welfare cheques - they make you wealthy!

NHS - it keep you healthy!

By and by, I get plenty money. Thanks to you, you British dummy!

Write to friends in motherland. Tell them 'come fast as you can.'

They come in turbans and Ford trucks,And buy big house with welfare bucks!

They come here, we live together.

More welfare cheques, it gets better!

Fourteen families, they moving in, but neighbour's patience wearing thin.

Finally, British guy moves away.

Now I buy his house, then I say, 'Find more immigrants for house to rent.'

And in the yard I put a tent.

Everything is very good, and soon we own the neighbourhood.

We have hobby, it's called breeding. Welfare pay for baby feeding.

Kids need dentist? Wives need pills? We get free! We got no bills!

British crazy! They work all year, to keep the welfare running here.

We think UK darn good place. Too darn good for British race!

If they no like us, they can scram. Got lots of room in Afghanistan !

Preston 1 Watford 0

2008-01-13T23:23:00.000Z

Deepdale - The home of Preston - is a rare breed of Football ground for recent times. Gone, I thought, were the scenes post Hillsborough, where football stadia were ripped apart and actually made fit for Human consumption. Apparently not so, especially as my own second home - Vicarage Road - will take on a similar semblance next season.

I have to say that missing a stand seems to detract from the grounds atmosphere somewhat but I think Deepdale will be a ground to make Preston fans proud of next season.

I know Preston are third from bottom................

2008-01-13T23:20:00.000Z

.....................of the Championship but this sign seen by the visitors entrances seems to have been taken literally this season!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know everyone I do!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-01-09T09:53:00.000Z

Dave was bragging to his boss one day, 'You know, I know everyone there
is to know. Just name someone, anyone, and I know them.'

Tired of his boasting, his boss called his bluff, 'OK, Dave, how about
Tom Cruise?'

'No dramas boss, Tom and I are old friends, and I can prove it.'

So Dave and his boss fly out to Hollywood and knock on Tom Cruise's door
and Tom Cruise shouts, 'Dave! What's happening? Great to see you! Come
on in for a beer!'

Although impressed, Dave's boss is still sceptical. After they leave
Cruise's house, he tells Dave that he thinks him knowing Cruise was just
lucky.

'No, no, just name anyone else,' Dave says.

'President Bush,' his boss quickly retorts.

'Yup,' Dave say's, 'Old buddies, let's fly out to Washington '

And off they go. At the White House, Bush spots Dave on the tour and
motions him and his boss over, saying, 'Dave, what a surprise, I was
just on my way to a meeting, but you and your friend come on in and
let's have a cup of coffee first and catch up.'

Well, the boss is very shaken by now but still not totally convinced.
After they leave the White House grounds he expresses his doubts to
Dave , who again implores him to name anyone else.

'The Pope,' his boss replies.

'Sure!' says Dave. 'I've known the Pope for years.' So off they fly to
Rome .

Dave and his boss are assembled with the masses at the Vatican's St.
Peter's Square when Dave says, 'This will never work. I can't catch the
Pope's eye among all these people. Tell you what, I know all the guards
so let me just go upstairs and I'll come out on the balcony with the Pope.'

He disappears into the crowd headed towards the Vatican.

Sure enough, half an hour later Dave emerges with the Pope on the
balcony , but by the time Dave returns, he finds that his boss has had a
heart attack and is surrounded by paramedics.

Making his way to his boss' side, Dave asks him, 'What happened?'

His boss looks up and says, 'It was the final straw ... you and the Pope
came out on to the balcony and the man next to me said, 'Who the f***k
is that on the balcony with Dave?'

Watford v Wolves

2008-01-07T21:16:00.000Z

For the second round running Watford have picked up potentially the most unattractive tie of the round!

I would suspect that there will not be a particularly large crowd at Vicarage Road for this one again. Only just over 10,000 turned out to see Watford see off Crystal Palace with ease in round Three.

FA cup fever

2008-01-07T11:45:00.000Z

The draw for the fourth round takes place at 1330 today, and as it seems is regularly the case my team, Watford, are in the hat!

Last season we got as far as the semi finals and a good day out at Villa Park before loosing 1-4 to Manchester United - Man Utd lost in the final to Chelsea!

A quick joke.....................

2008-01-07T11:44:00.000Z

The Lone Ranger and Tonto walked into a bar and sat down for a couple of beers.
A few minutes later, a lanky, bow-legged cowboy walked in and said, "Who owns the big white horse outside?"
"I do,² the Lone Ranger replied. ³Why?" The cowboy drawled, ³You better take care of him. He¹s almost dead from the heat.²

The Lone Ranger and Tonto rushed outside and found Silver leaning against the hitching post, panting. They got him some water and soon Silver was looking better, but he was still panting. The Lone Ranger said, "Tonto, run around Silver as fast as you can and see if the breeze makes him feel any better.² Tonto replied, "Sure, Kemosabe," and began running around and around Silver.

The Lone Ranger returned to the bar to finish his beer. A few minutes later, another cowboy came into the bar and drawled, "Who owns that big white horse outside?"
³I do,² the Lone Ranger said, ³what's wrong with him this time?"
³Nothin',² the cowboy said, ³but you left your Injun runnin.²

Happy new year

2007-12-31T21:41:00.000Z

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..............

2007-12-16T11:49:00.000Z

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!!

2007-11-20T22:18:00.001Z

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!

2007-11-20T22:07:00.000Z

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..................

2007-11-12T14:18:00.000Z

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

East Midlands Trains

2007-11-11T20:53:00.000Z

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

2007-11-11T20:47:00.000Z

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.......................

2007-11-04T22:05:00.001Z

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

Damn!

2007-11-04T08:22:00.000Z

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

2007-11-04T08:16:00.000Z

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!

2007-11-04T08:12:00.000Z

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.....................

2007-11-04T08:03:00.000Z

...................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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-10-18T23:57:00.000+01:00

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?

2007-10-14T21:31:00.001+01:00

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...............................

2007-10-14T18:29:00.001+01:00

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

2007-10-13T22:41:00.001+01:00

A few pics for your reading pleasure.

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

2007-10-13T22:30:00.000+01:00

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

2007-10-07T00:11:00.000+01:00

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.

2007-10-04T21:34:00.000+01:00

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

2007-10-04T21:32:00.000+01:00

................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!

2007-09-30T22:03:00.002+01:00

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............................

2007-09-30T21:59:00.000+01:00

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................

2007-09-24T22:55:00.000+01:00

..................... 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

2007-09-20T22:05:00.000+01:00

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...............

2007-09-20T22:01:00.001+01:00

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

2007-09-20T21:57:00.001+01:00

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

2007-09-16T22:12:00.001+01:00

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

2007-09-16T10:09:00.000+01:00

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...............

2007-09-13T14:45:00.000+01:00

'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........

2007-09-13T00:17:00.001+01:00

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!

2007-09-13T00:12:00.000+01:00

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!

2007-09-08T22:42:00.000+01:00

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!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-09-08T22:16:00.000+01:00

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...............

2007-09-08T22:11:00.001+01:00

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.........................

2007-09-08T22:03:00.001+01:00

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-09-06T13:53:00.000+01:00

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..................

2007-09-02T10:38:00.000+01:00

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

2007-09-02T10:23:00.000+01:00

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

2007-09-02T10:17:00.000+01:00

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

2007-08-26T22:42:00.000+01:00

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!

2007-08-22T13:36:00.000+01:00

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

2007-08-20T14:44:00.000+01:00

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!

2007-08-15T23:59:00.000+01:00

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

2007-08-15T23:46:00.000+01:00

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

2007-08-15T23:35:00.000+01:00

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..............

2007-08-13T13:10:00.000+01:00

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

2007-08-13T13:00:00.000+01:00

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.........

2007-08-05T23:24:00.000+01:00

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

2007-08-05T23:20:00.000+01:00

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

2007-08-05T23:13:00.001+01:00

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

2007-08-05T23:06:00.001+01:00

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...........

2007-08-05T09:43:00.000+01:00

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

2007-07-17T22:48:00.000+01:00

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....................

2007-07-17T22:39:00.000+01:00

..............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!!!!!

2007-07-10T22:11:00.001+01:00

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

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

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

2007-07-09T21:29:00.000+01:00

This weekend I went here

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

2007-07-04T16:06:00.000+01:00

...........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!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-07-03T13:37:00.000+01:00

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

2007-06-28T21:16:00.000+01:00

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.

2007-06-22T23:48:00.001+01:00

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.......................

2007-06-22T23:40:00.000+01:00

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.........

2007-06-18T14:11:00.001+01:00

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

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

2007-06-15T20:16:00.000+01:00

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.

2007-06-15T20:03:00.000+01:00

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

2007-06-15T19:58:00.000+01:00

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

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

2007-06-15T19:45:00.000+01:00

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?