Home Alone

For the past five weeks I've had a mate staying with me as he has split up from his wife.

Today he moved into his new flat and on arriving home, it felt really strange to know that I'm in my own house. I've realised that I have got used to the company again, so now I have to readjust to living alone once more.

Roll on Friday when I see my kids again and noise resumes.

Update:

Another friend of mine was going to move in shortly as she needed to get away from her husband, however he has left the family home instead, so she is staying at home.

There must be something in the water

Congratulations.

Last night The Rail Staff Awards were held at the ICC Birmingham, this is an award ceremony for the staff of all the rail services throughout the country.

I would just like to say well done to all those staff nominated and a huge congratulations goes to one of the members of LULs own for being a winner.

As I never name a member of staff on this blog with out their permission, however she does work on my group and she has won the award for Newcomer of the Year.

So well done, and it's nice to see that staff are being recognised.

Update:

I received a nice piece of information today, five members of LUL staff were all nominated for an award at the Rail Staff Awards. Two are from my group with one winning, so congratulations once again.

Why Should I Bother

That's how I feel at this precise moment, and the reason for this is yesterdays Team Talk exercise.

The whole point of the exercise is to promote the company and the standards to the staff on how to give customers a better all round customer service when on the our stations, when we had the same thing last year on a more personal basis with our GSM and another DSM, I felt fired up and willing to do my part, as did most of the other staff, yet after this afternoon, I now feel deflatted and wondering why I should help my GSM with his figures.

The DSM who was at the exercise duly arrived at my station today (for a totally different reason) and straight away his first statement is that he wasn't impressed with my behaviour yesterday.

I'm now thinking, hang on, I'm the one who asked a perfectly sensible question, it's you who flew off the handle and lost your rag.

I tried to explain that the question wasn't based on what happened over the weekend but what has happened over a multitude of weekends, his reply well if you were running this business you would do the same. My colleague The Hamster even tried to explain but still the DSM still wasn't interested.

It's amazing that one DSM last year had a go at some of the Station Supervisors for not having staff on the gates of closed stations giving customers travel information yet other another DSM will nick my staff because they can't get things right at the bigger station next door.

So much for the Customer Satisfaction Index.

It's Time To Listen

I feel a bit disgruntled today as something that happened on a team exercise has really pissed me off.

There is something going on with one of the members of staff at my station which I can't go into for certain reasons.

However yesterday at a Time to Talk (this means we can ask questions to the management team) session with my own local management, I asked one simple question that was basically shot down in flames, one simple question that had a particular manager telling me to stop being sarcastic, one particular question that saw me being ignored whenever I asked any question, one particular question that left me feeling ostracized, one particular question that left me asking myself "What the fuck am I doing here if we are not allowed to ask questions?", one particular question that almost saw me getting up and walking out of the session as I'm a 40 year old man not a child, one particular question that made the DSM look like a spoilt child throwing his dummy out of the pram.

To say that I was pissed off and still am, is an understatement.

I know that next time any of these Time to Talk invites come around, management will be told no thank you, I'd rather do my own shift.

This is the first time since we found out about the ticket office closures that I feel let down by management.

Another Week Of Nights Are Over.

To tell you the truth, apart from messing about chatting to my colleague next door, I have not enjoyed this week of nights at all.

The worst part of this week is the crap I've eaten. As I sat at work bored out of my skull with the tedium and guilt of eating so much, I tried to work out what I've eaten over the my course of nights and days.

10 x packet of biscuits.
9 x assorted packets of crisps.
8 x crumpets with Philadelphia cheese on top.
7 x huge dinners contain stir fry, super noodles and mushrooms
7 x pints of milk.
5 x 4 finger Kit Kats.
4 x pitta bread.
2 x tubs of taramasalata.
2 x slices of fried bread

No wonder I feel ill.

I think it's time to diet again before Christmas, might try and lose a stone so i feel more comfortable.

You Might Feel Daft

But try this please.

A Bad Set Of Nights

For some reason this has just been one of those weeks that no matter what I try I just can't get into my shift pattern.

Apart from a bad first days sleep, I just haven't been interested, my colleague at the next station has asked me a few times if everything is ok, and as far as I know things are fine.

I hate weeks like this.

The End

Unfortunately one of my colleages and a fellow blogger has been dismissed from LUL for alledge gross misconduct.

He is going to appeal against the decision and hopefully LUL will reinstate him.

If everything doesn't go as planned, I wish you luck in the future and hope you and your family will ok.

HA HA

I'm glad I've now set comment moderation as I now believe my retarded banjo playing serial commenter is based in British Columbia, Canada.

Is this person just the Whore of Babylon? Is this person still bed wetting? Is this person the proud child of a fatherless relationship?

Isn't it a shame my readers will never be able to see its inane comments again, isn't it also great that I have a lovely button called DELETE.

I thank you.

Who's The Idiot Now

It's 00:20 on a peaceful and uneventful night and I'm sitting in my office waiting to see off my last trains, I received a call from my CSA asking for police assistance.

As he had requested the police I asked him why

My CSA told me that he had an abusive customer who was trying to travel without a ticket, so for my CSA's safety, I duly oblige and call the police telling them I have an customer being abusive towards my member of staff and that the customer is trying to travel without a ticket.

As I was about to make my way towards the ticket hall area, the customer dodged passed my CSA and made his way to the platform.

My CSA followed the customer down to the platform and all the time I could hear raised voices of my CSA and the customer. The argument carried on between them both, but my CSA was being more vocal and hardly letting the customer get a word in.

I made my way over to the other platform and after speaking with both my CSA and the customer, I found out what the abusive words the customer had said to my CSA.

"IDIOT"

I thought, hang on was this the reason I had just call the police?
Was this the reason I was standing on a platform at 00:30 with a bewildered look upon my face?
Was this the I was looking at my CSA and thinking the customers right you are a f**king Idiot?
Was this the reason I felt truly embarrassed to be doing my job?
Was this the reason I was thinking what the f**k am I doing here?

I asked the customer why he had called my CSA an idiot, and the customer explained.

The customer told me, that whilst in a car with his dad, he had got into a blazing row and just got out of the car and didn't know where he was, he saw my station and admitted that he chanced his arm at the gate line to see if he could get free trip home.

My CSA did his job correctly and declined the customer entry and told him to purchase a ticket, but as the customer went towards the machine, the machine developed a fault and closed.

This is when all the argument started as the customer couldn't buy a ticket and my CSA still wouldn't let him in. So the customer in a fit of rage, the customer called my CSA an idiot. I could think of a lot of worse words that the customer could have called my CSA., but to call the police for the word "IDIOT" was not one of them.

So once more after speaking to the customer I asked him to apologise for calling my CSA an idiot and then I would let him get his train home.

The customer duly agreed and apologised to my CSA and I let him board the train.

Now you might think that the customer will feel they have got one up on us, but watching as the train departed, there was no smirk on his face, no obscene gesture, no wave, no nothing, he just wanted to go home after a bad argument with his father.

It's Been A Hard Days Sleep

So with my first night put to rest I arrived home feeling fairly refreshed, now this is surprising as normally after I arrive home after a first night, I'm generally bolloxed.

I hit the sack around 10:50, closed my eyes and just lay there, I tossed and turned and I looked at the clock and watched the minutes go by, 11:15, 11:20, 11:30

I curled into the fetal position and still sleep wouldn't come I looked once more at the clock once more, 11:45, I closed my eyes in disgust, when i opened them again.

1:15 WHAT!!!! I'd fallen asleep and had woken up 90 minutes later ARGH!!!!!

I lay in bed wondering what woke me and why oh why couldn't I get back to sleep, I got up, I messed on the PC checking emails, MySpace and Facebook, I went back to bed and I closed my eyes once more. In my head I'm thinking Why did I wake up? What woke me? Why can't I get back to sleep?

I checked my mobile for messages, I rang a friend and finally I watched Monty Python and The Holy Grail.

Still sleep wouldn't come.

4:40 and I'm still awake, next thing the alarm on my mobile woke me up, and with a quick flick of the thumb I silenced it for good, I settled straight back to sleep until 6:30 when my radio alarm started to sound.

I'm now up, feeling heavy headed, out of sorts and basically all over the place so roll on tomorrow morning when i have to go through this all again.

Comment Moderation Is Now In Place

Unfortunately due to Mr/Mrs Cretin, I've had to start using comment moderation on my blog.

I know it's a shame that one fool amongst my regular and usually polite readers (he knows who he is) has forced me to do this, but I don't want my regular readers to have to read the useless drivvel and inane comments of one anonymous coward.

It's a real shame that they let people like my anonymous reader loose with a keyboard, it's also a real shame that being that brave to comment that they aren't brave enough to write their own blog, so other people can read about their thoughts on their own personal issues.

Yes I know my blog isn't always grammatically correct and I my use "punctuation" (as one of my colleagues is always telling me) isn't always right, but then again it's my blog and my style of writing, if you don't like it, then don't read it.

Also I know that I have large tattoos but as I am slightly over 6' 2" (188 cm) tall and overweight (so I don't need you to remind me) being around 18 stone (114kg), I would look pretty stupid with a tattoo the size of a ladybird.

A couple of important thing you missed though is that I'm bald, have one eyebrow (due to alopecia), have three earrings in one ear, I used to have my nipples pierced (which I might do again). So if you think you can upset me, think (which might be hard for you being an amoeba) again, I have enough shit going on in my life not to worry about the arse droppings of a gutless malcontented anonymous reader.

Now Fuck off.

First Night Back

As is always the case on my first night back, I wake up very early, 7:45 to be precise.

I hate when this happens beause no matter what I try, I just can't seem to fall back to sleep.

Dear Mr/Mrs Anonymous

What is it with you and the fat digs, do I really look like I give a monkeys about my weight or any other part of my body.

I have more problems in my life then my weight, yes I'm overweight but then again I'm also bald, so big deal, if you can't be sensible and leave a proper comment why comment at all?

Do yourself a little favour and grow up, because the childish immature fat comments just make you look like a fool.

Now play nice.

OUCH!!!!

Unfortunately I'm off sick this week, as last night I decided to move my old monitor, you know that big huge 19" CRT monitor which is bloody awkward to carry.

As I lifted the monitor and moved it, I twisted my back and put in an unusual position and as I sometimes suffer from lower back muscle spasm, I set off a huge bugger last night and ended up flat on my back on the floor with the monitor sitting on my chest. Not a pretty site at the best of times.

To say I'm in pain is a bit of an understatement, even as I'm trying to type this I'm leaning at an angle to my right as it fooking hurts to stand up straight.

Nurafen at the ready then.

Whoops

Today I did a bit of a f**k up, whilst showing a couple of trainees some "live learning" I was explaining how the new fire alarm panel works.

This means showing them how to operate the panel, silence the "Inspector Sands" announcements and what to look for on the panel to find out where the problem lies.

However when I went to reset the panel I accidently hit the "Evacuate" button and sent out the "Ladies and gentlemen, due to a reported emergency, this station is being closed and evacuated".

OH BOLLOX.

Luckily it only went out once and I was just about to do a live PA explaining that the station wasn't closing, when my CSA impressed me by telling me he was on his way to platform 2 to evacate the platform and put out the station closed boards.

Life Seems So Short

Whilst I was working last Saturday I received a phone call from a manager who travels home on the same train as me, she asked me if I knew a certain member of staff, when I said I did she told he had died on the Friday.

I've know the person in question since 1990 when he was a Station Foreman and I was a Leading Railman (CSA) on the Northern line.

He was only 39 years of age and leaves a wife and daughter behind.

My you rest in peace.

Another Day Of Misery

For some strange reason I've been waking up at stupid times all week, and today was no different, I'm off to work at 1pm and what time do I wake .... 7am.

I looked at the clock and thought f**k me not again, I feel tired out of sorts and generally exhausted so hopefully I don't have to many problems at work tonight as TfL in there infinite wisdom have blocked MySpace and Facebook from being used at work ... Bastards.

Oh well life goes on.