Friday, August 29, 2003

Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?

As Graeme mentions below, a major power failure in London caused transport chaos during last night's commute. It was not quite the scale of the big US East Coast blackout, but power was cut to 1/2 million people in South London for 34 minutes. Every train and tube line was affected, with thousands of passengers stranded underground. The knock-on meant Victoria station did not clear all the passengers until 2:30am.

Me?

I got stuck at Streatham Hill station, about 2 miles from home. It was pouring rain as we waited about 20 minutes at the station. Luckily we'd made it to the station so I eventually gave up and cadge a lift the rest of the way home. I guess I was lucky both because I left when I did - about my usual time - and because I could get a lift. There were dozens on my train who had no other way home.

Meanwhile, I read that DC suffered a major blackout after storms clattered through the region.

posted by pete at 7:17 AM

Tuesday, August 19, 2003

Over 3,000 entries for Cool the tube reward

Following Peter's entry you may know that Mayor Ken Livingstone issued a £100,000 reward to anyone who could come up with an idea for cooling down the tube.

I've just found out through the BBC that a spokesman for London Underground said: "We have received over 3,000 entries from all over the globe.

"But we cannot comment on specific ideas as this would prejudice them and subsequent entries."

He added that they are currently looking at the best way to examine the suggestions but he said there was no deadline yet for submitting cool ideas.

The BBC asked people to submit ideas to them too and got over 2,000 entries which they passed on to London Underground.

posted by annie mole at 7:01 AM

Tuesday, August 12, 2003

Keeping Cool Strategies

Today looks like being the last day of the intense heat in London. In case you missed it, we peaked at 100 deg F on Sunday, the record high for Britain since records began.

Yesterday I had a not too bad journey into Victoria Station, then decided to keep cool and ride the bus the rest of the way to work. It's usually a 10-15 minute walk, which in this weather leaves me sweaty and uncomfortable. I grabbed a seat and hoped no one would sit next to me so I could keep cool. But, a hot sweaty guy sat next me. He proceeded to fidget the whole way, diving into his breifcase, talking on his phone, poking his elbows into me. So, I failed. Hot and steamy as I got off the bus.

We were talking the other day at work on keeping cool. One bloke said he figured out which part of the bus would be in the shade on the route he travels on. He moved around the bus accordingly and then spread himself out on the seat to dissuade other passengers sitting next to him. I said the best way to keep people away was to carry a can on Tennent's Super Lager (enjoyed by drunks across the UK) and talk to yourself.

The head of our unit said he adopted the strategy of Enoch Powell, maverick right wing politician. Powell, eccentric at best, always wore a heavy three piece suit and hat. He coped with the heat by putting extraneous things out of his mind and raising himself to a higher plane.

Hmmm. I'll stick to light clothing, no tie and bottle of water.

posted by pete at 7:10 AM

Wednesday, August 06, 2003

ANOTHER BORING HOT IN LONDON STORY

It was 35.5 degrees C (95.7 F) today in London - the hottest ever in the capital. I know it's not that much hotter than say Miami or Singapore on a normal day. But, remember, the average high temperature for London in August is 26 deg C.

I don't think I've ever seen so many people carrying bottles of water on the train. The Standard claims that street vendors are chargin up to £2 for a bottle of water. Thankfully I can fill up on cold water at work. There's also a cold one in the fridge ready for tomorrow's journey.

posted by pete at 9:07 PM

Time Moves On

Mystery solved I think. The clock outside Victoria Station was being cleaned. It's working again now.

posted by pete at 9:06 PM

Tuesday, August 05, 2003

Time Stands Still

The big clock outside Victoria Station - on your left as the train pulls into the station - has been stuck at 4 minutes to 9 for the past week or so. I don't know if this is significant. I don't know if it's to do with the heat. It may have something to do with the poor timekeeping of the railways. It just may be that they forgot to change the battery.

posted by pete at 7:26 AM

Sunday, August 03, 2003

DC Commute, Part 2

Part 1

…or I could have cycled to work…

Surprisingly, the Washington DC area has a very good network of cycle paths. The backbone of the system in my part of Maryland was the Capital Crescent Trail, so named because it was a crescent shape around the western side of the city. Intentionally or not, the system knocks the pants of Ken Livingstone’s London network.

The trail has been built on the track bed of the old Georgetown spur of the B&O railroad. This spur used to carry infrequent traffic from the mainline down the docks at Georgetown. For the last few years of its life, in the late seventies and early eighties, the only traffic consisted of coal deliveries to an old power station.

Eventually, after the tracks were pulled up, the right of way was converted to a paved path running part of parallel to the Chesapeake and Ohio canal. As you can read elsewhere, this canal has a fine old history dating back to the early 19th century (the end of the canal era). You can also ride up the towpath of the canal some 180 miles or so to Cumberland, Maryland (not the Cumberland Gap – that’s in Tennessee).

The Capital Crescent Trail runs up to Bethesda city centre. Before I left town there was talk of extending the paved route through to Rock Creek although there was a competing light rail plan.

I worked with a few cycling commuters in DC. I thought they were brave and foolish. I would not want to ride in the heat and humidity of June-September, or the cold of January-February. Add to that, despite the prevalence of dedicated cycle paths (admittedly shared with pedestrians and roller bladders), where I worked necessitated negotiation of several major vehicular arteries. And, on the streets, bikes get no respect from the traffic or the rutted and potholed surfaces.

Still, there were one or two who braved the traffic. One, working in my office, was knocked off their bike by a bus one morning, but no serious damage.

I stuck to four wheels, steel coating. But, I did take up cycling to keep fit and benefiting from the Capital Crescent, Rock Creek and several other interesting routes.

Link to Part 1

Part 3 (My Car) to follow...

posted by pete at 1:47 PM

Saturday, August 02, 2003

Dark Thoughts

The other night I had a very bad dream. It was a recurring end of the world dream. But, of more interest to this blog is that as that dream ended and I was waking up in a cold sweat I had an equally horrific thought run through my mind. Instead of living through Armageddon, I was stuck in a Metro station and all the lights had gone out - totally dark. Then it was being on a Victoria Line train in the pitch black - probably my Room 101.

Yeuch! Glad I woke up and glad I don't travel the tube to work anymore.

posted by pete at 9:07 PM

Friday, August 01, 2003

Baby Born on the Subway

OK it was in America, but on the 30th of July Joyce Judge gave birth in the carriage of a subway train in Boston in the rush hour and then calmly wrapped the baby in the scarf and got of the tube. People did actually let her sit down and it all seemed to go very smoothly.

posted by annie mole at 6:40 AM