Please do not litter

Newspapers blown about the tube station platform on a gusty day, or caught at the bottom of the escalators, or left on the seats and floor of the tube carriage- familiar sights on the London underground.  I would prefer it if they were not but it seems people are not inclined to dispose of their papers properly- i.e. in bins.  There aren't that many bins in or near tube stations for security reasons so anyone with a paper that they do not want to keep at the end of their journey needs to think about taking it away with them and disposing of it when they do find a bin.  Its not hard but people do not generally like to do it.  Mostly, people will leave read papers on the seats in the tube or at the tube station with the excuse that it would be convenient for someone else to pick it up and read if they don't happen to have any reading material.  Not a bad thought, except newspapers that get left behind are mostly free press papers that people pick up at the door of the tube station so most people pick up their own on the way in anyway.  Plus, if the spirit of generosity was the sole reason for leaving reading material on the tube then it is rather suprising that newspapers that are not free are less commonly left behind, and I am yet to see a book left on the tube when a reader is finished with it.  Maybe that's because the latter two take longer to read but, with the number of these read everyday, I suspect the rate of these being left for altruistic reasons are lower than expected.

At the end of the day, anything that is left on the tube and on station platforms is litter and, therefore, leaving papers on trains and platforms is littering.  TfL staff do have to clean up after people who do that and people who need seats have to remove such items from the seats in order to be able to sit down, often putting them on the floor and making a mess.  So please be considerate and take your litter with you when you leave.

Car club?

With the imminent arrival of Baby, and the near completion of all the shopping and home preparations, my thoughts have turned to organising life after the initial trials and tribulations of having a new arrival in our little family unit.  One thing on my mind is staying active during the period of maternity leave. One factor that may affect how effective I will be could be transport. I have decided that I will use at least some of the time on leave to do some home improvement and having the use of a car might be occasionally useful.  My other half drives to work and I don't think we need to be a two car household so car club membership might be a good option for us.

There are car club parking spaces near us with apparently  good small compact car availability; it was catching sight of these hire spots that started me considering car club membership.  The ones I saw belonged to a company called zipcar, which operates car hire services in the UK and in North America.  The pricelist and insurance cover seems reasonable.  By the time I have factored in the time and effort of going out with baby on public transport, ferrying shopping and Baby's paraphernalia, car club does seem to be a good option.  The thought of not having to wait around and be able to just go when needed is also appealing.  I guess between now and making a decision the sensible thing to do would be to keep an eye on vehicle availability in the hire spots near me.  Any advice or experiences to share, anyone?

Cycling in UK urban areas

Those of you who have been reading some of my entries will know that I have an interest in cycling safety in London, bourne out of personal experiences of the potential dangers of cycling in the city.  This article in the Guardian caught my eye this morning.  The poll results did not surprise me but I would like to briefly discuss some of the points raised in the article.

Wholesale 20 mph on urban roads.    Decreasing the speed of traffic whilst cyclists and motorists share the same roads would help but I don't actually think drivers stick that strictly to the speed limit in certain areas and that better monitoring of adherence to speed limits, and traffic regulations in general, may be just as important.

More cycle lanes.  These would undoubtedly make cycling less stressful.  However, recently there have been reports of deaths on cycle lanes that could have been better designed, so its not just about quantity but also about quality.

More considerate behaviour from other cyclists.  We can be our own worst enemies.  Some cyclists break traffic regulations because they believe their actions keep them safe from unreasonable drivers.  This isn't sensible and provokes other road users into similarly unreasonable behaviour.  Causing ill feeling between road users by antisocial behaviour is not the way forward.

I am glad that we are discussing these issues openly and hope that some good will come out of this in the long run.

Oh dear! Escalators.

I don't remember my first encounter with an escalator but my younger sister's was not a comfortable experience for her.  While going up the escalators at Westminster tube station last night I was reminded of just how uncomfortable this could be for young children.  

It is half term and children all over the country have a week off.  Quite a few of these children were out and about with their parents yesterday.  In front of me on the escalator up towards the District line platform in Westminster station was a family of four- mother, father, daughter and son.  The kids were aged probably between 6 and 10, with the girl being older.  Each parent looked after one child as they approached the escalator- the father was with the daughter and the mother was with the son.  

I was under the impression that the father thought his daughter more capable than she really was at getting on the escalator.  He kept chatting to her as they approached the first step and then only realised that there was a problem when she refused to step on.  This was the morning rush hour and a queue was building up behind them so he half pushed her onto the escalator.  She turned back to look at her mother and brother with a worried look on her face.  He gave her a bit more attention when they stepped off- putting his arm around her and talking her through getting off.  As soon as she stepped off she shrugged him off, turned round to look at her mother and brother again and then walked off slowly with her hands in her jeans pocket, shoulders hunched up.  Her father turned to his wife and said 'I think I've been sacked'.

The mother was a bit more careful with the son getting on and off the escalator and they negotiated this without problems.  Note to self- be considerate when the time comes for sprog to learn how to use the moving stairs.

Musical chairs

Something quite extraordinary happened today.  I was on my way home from work and there were no seats on the tube when I got on at Westminster station so I stood next to the handlebar by a priority seat and leant on the glass, thinking people will get off at Waterloo, which is just a stop away, and I'll be able to sit down.  I don't expect to be offered a seat on the tube- most people don't offer.  On this occasion, the lady in the priority seat opposite to where I was standing offered me her seat and as she stood up, the man I was standing next to started from his seat (which was also a priority seat), apologised to me and the lady and offered her his seat.  The kind, considerate actions of these two people more than compensate for the usual rude behaviour I have gotten used to seeing on a daily basis.  People don't want to believe it and for a while I wondered if I was being over-pessimistic and just remembering all the bad things.  However, I met a woman at the weekend and she had the same experience when she was pregnant- she brought it up while in conversation; I didn't prompt her- so I don't think I was exaggerating.  If we want women to find it possible to work and have children then social attitudes need to change to facilitate things, like the commute to work, for pregnant women.  I personally want to stay at work for as long as possible; I may be pregnant but that does not mean I am uninterested in, or want to give up on, my career.  It makes economic sense to help women stay in work and have children.  Giving up a seat for someone less able to stand is a pretty small thing to do to keep things going for everyone so why not do it?

Stuck on the island

Closing a section of road off at night for resurfacing is the logical thing to do.  However, closing it from 9 p.m. when there is still a significant amount of traffic on the Isle of Dogs, which is where the road is, is probably not that smart.  Especially since the section of the road is part of the main road that circles the Isle and forms the eastern terminus of the road that takes cars in to and out of the Isle of Dogs, and there are road works at the western end which means that traffic is controlled by temporary lights and a bizarre roundabout system resulting in cars being stuck on the Isle with all the diversions.  The people who are involved in planning the roadworks on the different sections of the road obviously don't speak to each other.  Don't tell me- it all needs to be done in a hurry because the Olympics are coming to town and we need to get things done on time.

Watch that pony!

One of the things I did shortly after arriving in the U.K. was to learn how to ride a horse.  It was something I had always wanted to do but was out of reach where I am from- horses were things you saw on TV, not in real life.  No prizes for guessing that I am a city girl through and through.  So when I moved to the U.K. and found myself living near fields with stables and horse riding lessons, I jumped at the opportunity to get close to horses.  I enjoyed my riding lessons and though I haven't ridden in a good few years I think I should still be OK on one.  

Having learnt to drive in East London, I have not had any opportunity to drive near horses.  I know what to do in principle because its something that my driving instructor talked about briefly when I mentioned to him that I have issues driving down country lanes.  At the time I had still not encountered equine obstacles, even on country roads, and was merely concerned about driving on very narrow, often winding, roads.  In trying to explain how best to drive on these roads, he mentioned horses and other animals that could potentially be in the way while driving along country lanes.  However, I had not actually met any animals while driving, not even sheep and we often go walking in the Lake District.  I met a pony today while driving through Kingston.  It was being ridden by a little girl and led by a lady that may have been her mother.  They did notice us and moved towards the side as much as they could and I tried to give it as much space as I could while I drove past.  Of course this happened on a narrow stretch of road that had parked cars on both sides and we were just going round a bend so I couldn't really see if there were any cars coming towards us at speed.  I was very glad my partner was sitting next to me and talked me through it.  I was nervous but would probably have felt a lot worse had he not been there.  One never stops to learn new things.

Kindness on a cold day

It snowed in London two nights ago.  Nothing heavy, just a light dusting of the snow, enough to give the city a light cover of white powder.  The next morning there were problems with transport in the city.  

Train failure on the Jubilee line led to accumulation of passengers on the platform at Canary Wharf, intent to make their way to work on Friday morning.  I had delayed my depature time from home, as was usual since my bump became big enough to be a concern, to avoid the worst of the rush hour but there were queues at each of the doors for the tube at Canary Wharf at 9:30 a.m.- an unusal thing.  I eventually got on a train that was not too crowded but was beaten to the only free seat in the carriage by a passenger that was in the queue in front of me.  This led to me standing, holding onto the handle bar by one of the priority seats, for three stops, with more people coming on to the train at every stop, before a passenger about half way down the row of seats I was standing next to saw me and offered to give me his seat.  He had to speak rather loudly as the train was quite crowded and said he'd be happy to give me his seat, did I think I could get to it?  Even with him being loud, the two passengers in the nearby priority seats didn't look up and continued to stay in their seats.  I gladly accepted his kind offer- although I wasn't uncomfortable on my feet, the train was getting crowded and I was worried about being bumped into by the other standing passengers.  So thank you kind person, whoever you are; Mr. Westminster, shall we say, as he got off at Westminster station.  As for the rest of you who didn't think to act in kindness, I hope you never find yourself in a position where you need a seat and do not get offered one.  Or maybe I do.

After snow comes ice

It snowed in London last night.  This was predicted by the weather forecast and, in a sense, people were prepared for it even before the predictions were made.  I don't mean that Londoners have suddenly developed psychic ability to predict the arrival of the white stuff, but rather that the regularity of the event has helped people prepare themselves somewhat for its arrival and there is less chaos this year in comparison to the fairly recent past.  It is just light snow; these things are relative and it may be considered heavy for people who are not used to it but it is nothing like the extreme conditions the more polar countries experience each year.  The latter are more used to snow and are more able to cope with it because they have developed systems to help them get through the worst of winter.  

In the U.K. we are still trying to adjust to the change in the winter weather conditions.  Snow is still relatively novel in London, and there is some discussion as to how much we should invest in infrastructure to deal with the problems associated with snow given that it is fairly rare, but I am happy to report that the preparations this year have been an improvement on last year's debacle.  A lot of this is down to a change in the general public's attitudes towards travelling in adverse weather conditions; the authorities also have better contingency plans this year.  Technology has also helped a lot.  For example, we were out visiting yesterday afternoon and were invited to stay for tea.  The use of information obtained via our smart phones meant that we could keep track of the weather and traffic conditions discreetly and make decisions as to when we should be leaving to avoid the worst of both.  We enjoyed our extended visit and were not particularly bogged down by the logistics of travel.  Obviously having the necessary driving skills to navigate through adverse weather conditions is required as well and it would not have been advisable to drive if one were not confident to do so in the snow.  However, that was not an issue and knowing how best to have a comfortable journey home helped under the circumstances.  From what I have read  on the news websites this morning, while there were travel disruptions due to the snow, the country seems to have coped quite well- we're geting there.

Conditions are predicted to be icy over the next few days; take care of yourselves if you are heading out.

No standing on the top deck

I love sitting on the top deck of a double decker bus.  The first row by the big front windows is best if that is available.  I love it when the tree branches brush against the bus, and I love watching the cyclists zoom past.

There are some people who love being on the top deck so much that they will stand on the top deck when there aren't any seats left.  This is bad because its not safe to stand on the upper deck or the stairs.   The drivers have a recorded warning that tell people not to do it and the drivers use it whenever they see anyone standing on the upper deck or the stairs through the little cameras around the bus.  People seldom pay any attention to the recorded message.  Bus drivers mostly don't take it any further.  Except for one driver who refused to move the bus until all offenders were either seated or had moved to the lower deck, most just keep playing the recorded message until the rule-breakers eventually leave the bus and cease to be a problem.  Respect to the bus driver who stood up to his errant clients.

When escalators don't work

I needed to get to a volleyball game in Bethnal Green this evening and as usual had planned an hour for my trip there from work.  That is usually ample time to get to Liverpool Street station on the Circle line, followed by a short bus ride.  Unfortunately, as usual, the plan didn't work out quite as I envisaged.  I have gotten so used to the tube, especially the Circle line, not functioning as expected that I was not suprised that I was late by approximately 30 minutes.

I waited for about 15 minutes for a Circle line train and when none appeared checked the schedule board on the platform.  None were scheduled to go East.  So I decided to take the next District line train to Monument and change for the Central line for Liverpool Street.  It didn't take long to get to Monument but the interchange for the Central line was less than straightforward.  The downward escalators were out of action and all that was available to get to the platforms were staircases that were wide enough for only one person at a time.  On this occasion I found myself stuck behind an older lady and her young ward.  Neither of them could go down the stairs particularly easily and were further hindered by the scooter they were trying to carry down with them.  This provoked much annoyance from the queue of commuters that steadily built up as we slowly progressed downwards.  Escalators need maintenance but this alternative arrangement is far from satisfactory.  It is also not safe in the event of an emergency.  All in all the combined non-appearance of a Circle line train and the problem with the escalators added an extra 30 minutes to what should have been an hour-long journey.  Transport around London needs to be better than this to cope with the Olympics.