Tubes Trains and Taxis

Well Wednesday was London day. If there ever was an advert for NON reliance on public transport Wednesday would be it.

It started innocently enough, even though I was shattered having finished work at 23.30 and not go to sleep till 2am. There is something to be said for being organised though suit and shoes were lined up ready/ notepad was in my bag and I was all set.

I got up at 6am in order to make sure my unruly hair had at least the appearance of being straight and not resembling a large brownish/red ball of frizz. If I had realised that it was going to rain all day and the sweaty humid air from the tube was just going to make it do that anyway I would have opted for another hour in bed - oh for hindsight.

Anyway hair straight, make up on and crippling shoes donned I was ready and we left the office at 08.30 to join the major commuter rush to London - the trip as far as Crewe (The train junction of the world) was fine as far as trips went. Then we hit issues - those issues being delays and lack of class knowledge with the train system. A handy hint for you all - if you can not find a seat in "normal" class when the journey has started and there are no seats available they tend to de-classify first class and you grab a nice comfy seat at no extra cost.

We were not so lucky and I ended up spending my trip to London sitting next to some soft of financial worker who decided that A) His elbows felt more at home as he hunt and pecked for the correct key to type on his laptop when wedged between my ribs B) He was going to use the plug socked on MY side of the seat, forcing me to have a laptop cable draped across my knees for a few hours C)Even though he had to move / get some orange juice / answer his phone / read the orange juice carton / shuffle his papers onto my side of the table / fall asleep. I would be perfectly happy to just sit there having daggers thrown in my direction every time my phone went off. - Great!

The train was then routed via Birmingham due to some sort of issue with the signals adding an extra 40 minutes sitting next to my highly irritating and irritable. (Oh and eye spy via text message on a train is not as good an idea as it sounds)

By the time we arrived in London and found the toilets ( half a mile away from the platform we got off) we were ready to brave the tube stations. I had forgotten just how hot clammy and sweaty these places were. Sardines crammed into a can does not even begin to describe it thousands of mingling lost people hurrying from line to line unable to wait the full four minutes till the next tube. - Did I mention delays?

There must be an issue with signals in London - dealing with traffic lights I should have realised this but the though never occurred to me AND aparently without fully functioning signals tubes can not run. When we eventually managed to squeeze on to the correct metal beast and traverse our way to the correct station it decided to rain. Not one or few spots, not a quick downpour but a torrent of water falling from the sky. Even with an umbrella it was hopeless. So we tuned up to the meeting almost two hours let and looking looking like gorillas in suits after a torrential storm.

However we did manage to keep the account and the meeting went well - must be my natural charm and charisma :P

The trip back was not much better all trains were cancelled going out of Euston - causing yet more delays, then when when they did finally announce that the train was departing it was mad dash of over 100 people to clamber onto yet another train.

Honestly HOW Scully runs in heels after walking round all day I don't know - I have new found respect for her - after dashing alongside a train in a suit and rather un-sturdy high heels all I needed to do was shout "Freeze FBI" brandish a gun - re-straighten my hair and I could have my own mini Scully moment. If it hadn't have been for the fact that there were three of us doing the same thing and some strange blond woman who decided to canter along with us. - I had a short flash that I may have produced mass panic by all the running and people would assume there was a bomb somewhere in the station if I had gone with my instinct grabbed the tall man in the business suit next to me and yelled "There's not time!" as was my original instinct I'm sure people would have either panicked or looked at me like I was a freak - probably the later of the two, thank God for restraint.

Next time we go to London for a meeting we are driving!