Open a window...

Observation No. 3. Continuing the London public transport theme. I was lucky in that the time I spent in London earlier this month was hot and sunny (high twenties most of the time), I guess I take good air-conditioning for granted here in Australia (as everyone does, it would be a tough place to live without it). But why has the London Transport system not heard of it? OK, so some of the many and varied types of train carriage may posses something that masquerades as air con but in reality puts out about as much cold air as old lady with one of those old folding fans and an arthritic wrist.

Now I know I sound like I am bagging London, but surely an air-conditioning upgrade would be for the city’s own good. It just wasn’t pleasant sitting in a fetid, stifling atmosphere deep beneath the streets – both on the platforms and on the carriages. Ok, so cold, fresh(ish) air would only be of benefit for a small part of the year and the installation costs would, no doubt, be prohibitive, but really think of all the deliriously happy commuters London Transport would have on it’s hands. I bet their heaters are good though…

Travel broadens the mind, and posterior...

My trip to the UK now seems very distant. I have started my second week back at work and I have to wonder – how do people do this? The trip itself, apart from reminding me how good it is to actually do something constructive, entertaining, and mentally refreshing ,rather than sit behind a desk at work and tick off the hours of my life, wishing for 5.00pm to arrive, has afforded my the opportunity to make some comparisons between Melbourne and London life. Here are a couple:

Observation No.1 – London tube travellers stand on the right of the escalators allowing those who want to walk, run, or trip headlong down the escalators to do so without impediment. Conversely in Melbourne the escalator users stand on the left, allowing faster upward or downward movement on the right. Why is this? Who decides what side of the escalator is for standing and which for moving under your power? Actually, I should just add to this observation that that the London tube users are quite well disciplined in this regard, and it is very rare, in my experience, to come up behind someone who doesn’t understand the accepted etiquette. In Melbourne though, the whole idea of one side for standing and one for walking/running is much less rigidly adhered to. I think there are a couple of reasons why this happens, either the Australian attitude toward such things is so laid back that such a highly structured method of doing things like this is just not seen as Aussie by some, or maybe there are just more 'unobservant' people about in Melbourne who cannot quite comprehend what is going on around them through the simple act of looking. As you may be able to tell, I am one of those people who prefer to walk on an escalator rather than cease all movement as if my legs don’t work when being propelled by mechanical means, and do not warm to those who decide to block my way.

Observation No.2 – The seats on London’s tube system are quite comfy. I was continually amazed by the fact they had such things as adequate padding and, on many carriages, armrests! Again, this makes Melbourne’s ‘state of the art’ railed public transport seem like it has been designed by some form of masochist who derives pleasure from knowing he has inflicted a world of pain of the bottoms of it’s users though the use of 3mm of cheap foam over the rock hard plastic seats.

A London Underground train pulling up at Stamford Brook station. It had very comfy seats...

An unplanned trip to London...

Well, nearly two months since my last entry. Some people just shouldn’t be allowed to own a blog. However I do have an excuse this time. I needed to make a unplanned visit home to England where I was kept a bit busy, therefore unable to attend to my blogging duties. OK, so the time I spent in England does not quite cover the time I have been away from the keyboard, but it’s the only reason I am putting forward for my lax posting.

Unfortunately though the holiday is over and the evil spectre of work is looming before me tomorrow morning. Now I am happy, still basking in the fading, but still visible light of my time away, knowing the spell will be rudely broken tomorrow morning by the alarm, and I know it will be just like waking from a good dream and knowing reality never quite matches up.

More details of this unplanned British trip coming soon...