A Rant - "Grumpy Old Man" kicking in one month early ..

I reckon my day today just about sums up “England today” – naturally some beer has been drunk today, but there’s one for starters – “heavy drinkers = d*ckheads” – I beg to differ from the start. It’s now 2337 – and I’m writing this “as it comes” – today I have had one pint at Stalybridge (Phoenix “Bantam Bitter”) @ 1145, one pint of Grolsch at Manchester Piccadilly @ 1315, one pint of Guinness at Cammel Laird Social Club at half-time, another at full-time, two pints of Hart “Ice Maiden” at Stalybridge on the way home (@ 2025-ish), finishing with two pints of Jennings “CragRat” at the Britannia in Mossley. Now in front of pc with a can of Morrisons “finest” (!) – what have I seen today to make me so depressed ? Remember I’m not including the football in here – that’s another story to come tomorrow.

You have to start with the state of the railways don’t you – no trains to Manchester today from Mossley due to “engineering works” – these “works” have been going on for several weeks – and it’s always the weekends when people suffer. In days gone by, the work they’re actually doing at Stalybrige (replacing a junction of track – on the freight line no less) would have been carried out overnight with the minimum of aggro to the punters – and would have been done and dusted in a tenth of the time. Not anymore. The replacement buses – I was aiming for the 1215 to Piccadilly – it turned up at 1239 (“sorry folks it’s the traffic”) – who worked out the timetable ?? When it didn’t turn up at 1215 the two “co-ordinaters” at Stalybridge just disappeared from the station forecourt – when it did arrive it was 99% full and the poor driver was on his moby saying “there’s no-one here !” – pure bloody laziness, hiding in their little warm office while the punters are left to rot/get cold outside.

And yes the traffic was bad between Stalybridge and Manchester – because the public transport system is so p*ss poor – and everyone seems to have an urgent need for one motor car per person (a 4x4 is a bonus of course – urgently needed on the long flat run into Manchester). There were various gridlock points as well – based around the ridiculous “out of town” shopping areas (the Snipe if you know it) – where no thought has gone into traffic management – just throw up a few warehouse buildings for MFI, Comet, Argos, B&Q et al – no worries – people will happily queue up to get there (or get pushy by lane-hopping and hoping there’s some softy who will let them in – I hate that).

We got to Piccadilly at 1308 – therefore missing the 1249 connection to Liverpool.- we’ll try a drink whilst waiting for the next train to Liverpool. Try the “Balcony Bar” – good food – good ales – good fun. Oh really ? Overpriced beer (nothing real of course) – so went for the £2-80 Grolsch – it arrived in a plastic glass. The place does not allow any glass or bottles anywhere – must be due to the fact that all alcohol drinkers are evil b*stards who will throw stuff and break stuff.



Yeah I had a great time !

At least the train to Liverpool turned up on time (thank you Central Trains) and connections to Rock Ferry worked well. I had to ask directions when I got to Rock Ferry and it was suggested “Why not get a taxi ?” Answer was “Why ?” – it turned out to be less than a 15 minute walk – has everybody lost the use of their legs these days ?? One man in a taxi is not very eco-friendly – 8 in a mini-bus not so bad (although that’s usually because the other 7 are too bloody idle !!)

After the game – a walk back to Rock Ferry and back to Lime Street. The train to Manchester was packed – hey it’s the weekend – Liverpool at home – Reading fans need to get back to Manc for connections - ever though of extra carriages ? The train was awash with what can only be described as tw*ts – gobby (why do people find the need to shout to their friend 24 inches away ?) , rude, unhelpful, smoking on the train even ! Now I’m a smoker who will stick up for smoker’s rights (God help next year !) but – you just don’t do it on trains anymore – less than an hour to Manchester – I can live with it – so why couldn’t the ignorant b*stards do the same ? Don’t think I’m just tarnishing people from Liverpool (or Reading) – try catching the 2300 from Manchester Victoria to Mossley on a Friday or Saturday night – not much different.

Back in Manchester it was a 50 minute wait for a bus – dare I try the Balcony Bar again – no, I had a look – too full, not enough staff (saves money I guess - people are happy to queue up – or get pushy – see earlier) – I just had a wander around – no doubt looking very suspicious on the CCTV - spotted a couple of signs which made me laugh though. No rubbish bins always makes me laugh – “security and safety” – sorry no “paranoia and paranoia” – plus the actual mess that is made does actually create more work There are waste paper bins in Dublin stations and in Dublin Airport – and I think they’ve coped with the “safety and security” problem for a lot longer than us over here – amazing what a 9/11 or 7/7 incident can do – think backlash. Not unlike the “oh some chap smashed a glass – therefore you’re all drinking out of plastic”. The cookie advert made me laugh too – golly 41p for one biscuit – it must be a bargain, because it’s on a big poster – and people fall for it – the “rip off” side of England is all too plain on a railway station – when just a couple of minutes away on the approach you can save large amounts of money buying anything from fags to coffee.



Blimey - give me 16 !!!

Never mind (now there’s a truly “British” attitude – sadly an outdated one it seems), we got to Stalybridge, we drank beer, we got another bus, we got back to Mossley, we drank more beer, we went home.

Can we apportion blame – no point really, the “blame and claim culture” is alive and well in England – it’s always someone else’s fault – some folks seem to live off it without thinking of actually changing some aspects of THEIR lives.

God knows what brought this on – football later today ….