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... I bought this in Somerfield Cheadle Hulme today - now if I was someone who would take offence at inferences in an earlier blog post about trains in Second World War Germany, I feel it only fair to offer this filth up to the intolerant masses - who should really be watching "I'm a Railway Executive - Get Me Out of Here (in a car)"
I give you .... MY PURPLE ONE (oooh err) - and all the double entendres that go with it - disgraceful ...
Where do you start - don't worry this is going to be a fully justified attack on public transport - libellous even....let's go for it ... Network Rail - incompetent; Northern Rail - complete crap; First Trans-Pennine - useless- feel free to mix'n'match - that's a start anyway - I wouldn't trust any of those three "profit centres" to organise my Christmas party - they couldn't organise a p*ss up in a brewery !!!
Go back to Monday when the first train is over ten minutes late - this naturally has the "knock on" effect leaving me arriving at work over 30 minutes late - and therefore playing "catch-up" on my hours before I've even got to work - and what makes it worse is that I know this before I've even left Stalybridge !!!
Trains in the evening have been dutifully "late" - one thing that p*sses me off at Stockport is that you cannot board a Virgin Train heading towards Manchester - it's set-down only - and NO-ONE has ever given me a valid reason for this - whether it's Branson's arrogance/power trip (he should NEVER be allowed to forget that if it wasn't for Mike Oldfield and "Tubular Bells", he'd still be a "one bit" record shop owner in Notting Hill Gate) - but as such he's become a powerful w*nker who similarly appears to care little for his customers - "New Virgin" if you like - something like "New Labour" - nice people who suddenly get the power trip and become greedy bar stewards - remember Jack Straw and Harriet Harman (just two examples - there are many many more) who were once quite radical - look at them now ...... xenophobic fascists by any other name )
Meanwhile back on the platform ... so I'm down on hours even before arriving at work on Monday ... and Branson's Pendolinos (phew the speed ....) slow me down coming home - cus they get in the way of the trains that I AM allowed to catch (sorry this is me who spends over a grand a year on season tickets)... and then we get the absolute cr*p that is platform 13 on Manchester Piccadilly and the trains to Stalybridge - mostly the 1712 - an interesting time that is NEVER MET - EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK - EXCUSE MY SHOUTING BUT THIS TRAIN IS LATE EVERY DAY .. aah that's better - in fact today it was SO late I wandered off to catch the 1725 - because that left earlier .... late last week there was something in the papers about First Trans-Pennine having a 12% rise in passengers - it's just a crying shame that the size of their trains remain the same - they were overcrowded before this rise - now they're little more than cattle trucks in peak hours - our local paper this week shows our local MP - James "Photoshop" Purnell - suffering on a peak-hour train and saying "It's unacceptable" - sorry little Jimmy it's been unacceptable for many many years - 1995 ??? - John Major ??? - don't take this the wrong way, but I often think that the passengers on the 0735 to Auschwitz had a better ride (and it was probably on time) - and before the pc/moral high ground people start to whine - I'm talking about the train ride - not "what happened next" (I put this rider in because there are so many people out in "real world" today who are looking for something to hang their self-publicising hat on (think the Russell Brand/Jonny Woss/Jeremy Paxman type thingies - you get my drift) - so trains to Man Picc vs trains to Auschwitz is probably a handy hanger for these same sad people ....just get back to your John Sargeant petitions or something equally vital to the state of the nation ....)
To return to trains - the beauty of some of these late late trains is the "automated robowoman" - the guard can press "Button A" and we get the monotone/really emotional (ha !) announcement that "First Trans-Pennine apologise for the delay and the inconvenience caused" - that ALWAYS makes me feel better/comforted that they really really care ... my arse .... 'tis much the same on the platforms with these new "multi-million pound" high-tech passenger information systems - that say that the 1712 train is "on time" - despite the clock saying 1715 - and then - all of a sudden - the train becomes due at 1721 - I particularly like the one at Stalybridge where trains can "change places" regarding what comes in next ... I look at these things and think ... money well spent - a bit like the improvements to Stalybridge Booking Office - due for completion in July 2008 - still nowhere near finished - or the revamp of Greenfield Station that's ground to a halt because the contractor has allegedly "gone bust" - which naturally brings me on to the ... CONGESTION CHARGE ......!!!!
For those outside Greater Manchester ... the idea is to bring in a Congestion Charge - a little like Ken Livvies Greater London thingy (OK I guess it's Boris's Baby now) - but in Manc it's "Vote YES for the Congestion Charge - and we'll spend £3 billion on improving public transport". Now I - as a public transport user/sufferer - feel that the Congestion Charge is an absolute disgrace - because it's far too low.... I know many people who are opposed to it -they are the people who worship at the altar of the internal combustion engine - they are the people who make Mrs Smiffy's parking of our one car next to impossible when you live on a terraced street where two people - one house - two cars is the norm - on a street where I often think 70% of the people only ever leave the street on four wheels - they never walk !!!
However my support for the £3 billion public transport "sweetener" is tempered by the "view of the cynic" - how much of that £3 billion will actually go into public transport improvements - how much will be wasted on "consulatative exercises", "consultants fees", "meetings", "publicity exercises" and other such crap - my cynical guess is a good chunk - we will not get £3 billion of improvements - they talk of extra carriages on trains - that means that some of the £3 billion will go into private "profit making" companies - and the people who own the rolling stock are as much "profit centres" as Northern Rail/First Trans-Pennine etc - naturally the same goes for the deregulated (i.e. private profit based) bus companies - Stagecoach/First Bus etc etc.
So really a great idea will end up improving the lot of private companies - no doubt the people who run the congestion charge hardware/software will be some subbed-out profiteers on behalf of Greater Manchester Council - emphasis on the "on behalf" - they'll be in it for profit - and bollocks to the customers.
So yes the public transport users will get screwed for profit - as will the car owners/congestion charge payers - there'll be many many people making a few bob out of this on both sides.
Oh and before I forget - talking about useless tossers who don't give a monkeys about the customers - check out the new Northern Rail timetable (starts 14th December) - at present trains leave Mossley at 0654, 0724 and 0757 for Manchester - the new timetable shows me 0654, 0724 and then 0807 !! Yep - if you miss the 0724 - you've a 43 minute wait - at peak time !! My guess therefore is that more people will go for the already overcrowded 0724 - and God help those who get on at Ashton (two stops down) - it's already full at Mossley ! No doubt there will be copious apologies for the overcrowding - but never mind, Northern Rail will be able to post a good percentage increase on passenger traffic next year - with actually giving a toss !!! Magic isn't it ....
Just in case you've forgotten - the idea was to point out - Network Rail - incompetent; Northern Rail - complete crap; First Trans-Pennine - useless. I guess tomorrow I will be using the trains in my leisure time - no doubt they will be similarly p*ss poor (that is of course assuming they've not been replaced by buses - it is the weekend after all and no-one travels by train on Saturdays/Sundays do they ???)
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in the usual place - you'll see paint - no plants - and a yellow ladder
now with a roofy painty bit - and this link now works !!
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It's 2147 (don't care what it says after the "publish"...) - here's last night's pix from Curzon Ashton vs Garforth in the Unibond Challenge Cup ...
Another wet night game !!
Curzon play second-placed Bamber Bridge on Saturday - and at 2145 I was reliably informed that Mossley have gone to second-placed BB tonight and whupped 'em 2-0 - now that's a shock after the Lilywhites' abject surrender against bottom club Salford on Saturday ....funny old game and all that b*ll*x. Wonder how everything else is doing tonight (Droylsden, Alty etc) - we'll find out later ....
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....but it's too late to do justice to pics - yes "Curzon Ashton 0 Garforth Town 1"was the match of choice - twas a bit of "smash and grab" that won it for Garforth rather than "Brazilian samba" - blimey that whole Brazilian thing is one load of toss - I reckon the only link is Simon Clifford and Socrates - the link being "smokers" ... anyways you'll get some pics tomorrow evening - I won't be doing owt else this week - after tonight the kit is drying out (hence the delay on the pics..)
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.... straight to pix at ..
Lancaster City vs Woodley Sports pics
Woodley started the better side - and thoroughly deserved the 1-0 lead ... however the equaliser has to be put down to keeper error, and I felt heads seemed to drop after that - Lancaster's second (from what I could see at the wrong end) was another defensive error - and the third goal was a sublime free kick - no messing - the second for Woodley came too late really...
Evening - stayed over in Lancaster - to see boy and lady friend - went to the "Latinos" tapas bar (buena comida !!) followed by some Harviestoun "Bitter & Twisted" in the "Merchants" (actually I'd had a pint in there pre-game - oh yes and one in the "John of Gaunt" (Black Sheep Bitter !!).
Today - a walk around Slaidburn and Easington Fell on the way home - pics from that ... here goes a couple ... the cairn on Standridge Hill
Sunset over the River Hodder - near Dunnow Hall
Football this week - no idea - certainly will not make Bamber Bridge v Mossley on Tuesday night - or Droylsden v Darlo FA Cup replay ... let's wait and see for now ...
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You can now see the roof - and there's stuff going on inside - either I'm on the wrong platform during the light or it's always too dark and locked away when I get there in the evening .... hey ho ..
There's roof beyond blue and white plastic !!
Lancaster calls tomorrow ...last time I came back from there, I ended up appearing on Youtube - for those who havent, I offer up
I was NOT drunk !!
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.. as in Cheshire Senior Cup ... OK 2-0 to Altrincham but apart from the first ten minutes there was next to nothing between the two teams (but I guess scoring two early goals makes it a bit simpler) ... another wet one for the snapper - but enjoy what you can from these ...
A wet November night in Stalybridge
Plans have changed for the weekend - early thoughts (after doing the previous round at Calverton Miners Welfare) were to go to Glossop for their FA Vase game against Biddulph Victoria - but a 'required' trip "oop far north" to see boy at University has scuppered that one - thus you will find me watching Lancaster City vs Woodley Sports on Saturday ...
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... OK it started on Thursday evening and ended about 0300 this morning !! Slightly less hectic today - drop our Michelle at station - she has the future of rock'n'roll to sort out - again - in the morning (and she's been up and down from Stoke to Manc to see both Todd and Airbourne); some shopping; some cooking (sooooooo rock'n'roll - the potatoes tonight were a hybrid of Dauphinoise and Lyonnaise - with added leek - ever the rebel !!)
Work tomorrow ? Nope - training course in Manchester with an 0930 start - a veritable lie-in ...
Football this week will probably be Stalybridge Celtic - again - on Tuesday against Altrincham in some County Cup thingy. Both Ashton United and Curzon Ashton (sorry "Cup Heroes Curzon Ashton") are at home later tonight - but it's ju-jitsu for small boy ... and Mossley have nowt till Saturday. Saturday throws up even more options - I need to "ummmm" and "aaahhh" about that ... meanwhile ... for posterity ...
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Now that was one powerful play - might have been written 2,500 years ago but so relevant to 21st Century society/living/attitudes ... greed, arrogance, "power corrupts" and all that kerfuffle. There was some totally pointless "dancey bits" (why ? why ? it was a short play but short does not necessarily mean "not good" - just unnecessary padding ...) Some good performances as well - for Creon read George Bush/Tony Blair....apres play some drinkies in the bar followed by a late 192 down to friends in Longsight - more drinkies till about daft o'clock. Home to this - off to Stalybridge very soon to check out the Buffet Bar Conservatory construction progress, before Stalybridge Celtic v Tamworth (they're top y'know) - home - then back to Manc to meet our Michelle ... and Airbourne - the "credit crunch AC/DC" - and I mean that in the nicest possible way !!!
Whilst on the music slant I got an e-mail today (thanks to Sophsky !) - PowerQuest WILL be playing Manchester - 8th December @ Satan's Hollow £7 adv or £8 on the door ... also .. 143 hits on this site yesterday following the Todd posting (some kind of record for me that) but now ...to football ...
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Didn't drink - as was driving into Manc for the Todd gig (remember Manchester - 24 hour city - unless you need to get home after an evening out - ha !!)
Drinking now mind - hence the "late late show" - two more pix on the Buffet Bar diary
Now with me being "out" tomorrow , we'll wait till Saturday as I'm down for the Celtic v Tamworth game ....can 'catch up' then ...
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Starting on some of the "internals" - like ceiling - and insulation ... see the latest 'additions' at
Buffet Bar Conservatory as @ 05 Nov 08
(note I have to keep changing the file name as I've yet to work out how - if at all - I can just add to an existing 'project')
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A grand night out - apart from the result !! Go straight for the pix if you desire ....
hey hey it's the Shay...
Straight from work - and a stop in Huddersfield enabled a pint of Copper Dragon (drank in the "Head of Steam") and a bottle of Coach House "Blueberry Bitter" (purchased in the "Head of Steam") for the short hop to Halifax.
Off the train and into the "Three Pigeons" - a belting boozer indeed - and just a spit from the ground. You can see the floodlights through the window ... some Ossett Brewery "Pale Gold" was quaffed ...
What made the ground that much more impressive - apart from the decent floodlights for the snapper - was that the ground belonged to the club ... many are impressed by a trip to FCUM - but that's someone else's ground - last night I was at Halifax's ground - and yes ... go for finishing it off, because you will move up - just like Telford have done - kept their ground and started on the long road back .....
The game - hot on the heels of the 0-5 reverse on Saturday - wot I missed - you (I ??) could have expected far worse - but Mossley came out of last night really well - a hard-working performance, a couple of impressive debuts from Hirst and Berkeley... and all that seperated the teams was a dodgy pen (and that's from the Halifax fans as well) and a 92nd minute "extra"...if only that shot from Matty Berkeley had gone t'other side of the post (apparently the Halifax Courier "on-line" report called it a "sh*t" - that's some typo !!)
Thanks to Stu for a lift home across the foggy M62 - allowed time for a small tincture in the "Brit" !!
Tomorrow sees a pilgrimage ... yes it's Todd Rundgren @ Manchester Academy - Todd was one of my childhood heroes - and remains so, cus he keeps pumping out product - and good stuff too - check out "Arena" - it is a return to the good old stuff indeed...in true "You can't take professional..." mode - I'm back to "BabyFuji" for the evening - it really would be grand to just - one day - wangle a "press ticket" to a gig and take the big bugger and lenses - as my "BabyFuji" is pretty "old hat" as compacts go (only 5.1 MP - positively antique !!)
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It's been a bad week fror death - Simon's stepson, - the guy I saw at Quorn on Saturday (yes despite my mate Dave's best efforts, the guy passed away on Sunday afternoon) - tonight I hear that Brooks Mileson - ex Gretna FC benefactor - has gone as well ...
Sh*t happens ...not nice ...but it happens ......
Late Edit from Unibond site ..ref the Quorn game where I was ....
http://www.unibondleague.com/news.php?nid=7026
Sh*t continues .......
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..well small boy decided against ju-jitsu - first day back at skool , tired I'm sure !!! Gave me a little extra time to take pix of the Conservatory roof before getting home - see :
we have roofpix !!!
Tomorrow - Halifax ...........
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One week off - you can guarantee that various lumps of sh*t have hit various fans (ventilation not football) - probably take all morning to clear the e-mail backlog (might have a quick webmail peep after this !)
Plenty to look forward to this week: Monday - taxi service for Mrs Smiffy (salsa) and small boy (ju-jitsu); Tuesday - a trip to the Shay to watch Mossley play FC Halifax Town on Tuesday - pix to follow natch; Wednesday - working on it; Thursday - Todd Rundgren at Manchester Academy with our Michelle; Friday - Royal Exchange to see "Antigone" (Sophocles) with Mrs Smiffy followed by party/p*ss up at mates in Longsight; Saturday - Football in afternoon (either Trafford v Mossley or Stalybridge v Tamuff) followed by Airbourne at Manchester Academy with our Michelle; Sunday - that's next week innit ?
Still need to update the Stalybridge Buffet Bar Conservatory "diary" from the No roof pix yet !! position ... being away from Thursday to Saturday this week meant I missed the roof going on (I was suitably txtd with the info - cheers Graham !) - will check it out tomorrow morning at about 0730 (from the "other platform") and then later on the right side .... Sylvia said it would be all ready for Christmas - it'll be interesting to see if they've "opened the door" ...
..but first some sleep I guess .... but first - a couple off the "babycam" from the weekend ...
A ride on the 'Waltzer' at Belper Fair on Friday night was followed by a few scoops in the Mucky Duck and a walk down to the "New Ming Court" (ex "Spread Eagle") for some seafood - from that walk ....
Saturday on the way to Quorn - honest we were at a red light when I "whipped out me compact" !!! A bus in Loughborough implying nuns are NOT eco-friendly ....!!!
Now sleep ... when this can is empty .....
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I've been away a bit - OK got back from Belper on Wednesday morning after the Droylsden game - back to Belper on Thursday afternoon (Mother-in-Law has had central heating fitted - and the house was in rather a mess so it was a couple of days of hoover/duster/paint and general "tidy")
Today was a trip to Leicestershire to see Quorn play Belper Town - as I was driving back to Mossley tonight I assumed the role of "Des the Driver" ferrying Darlo, Penfold & Jordan to the game .... the game ... Belper should have been, if not home and dry, but certainly "indoors and towelling themselves down" by half-time - but it was only 1-0. When the penalty was missed/saved in the second half there was almost an air of "you know exactly what's going to happen" amongst some of the Nailers' faithful - sure enough on 85 minutes-ish, the equaliser arrived - two points lost I'm afraid ... some pix at
Quorn unsuitable for Vegans - unlike Tofu
I kept getting scary messages on my phone - "One Down" - "Two Down" - "3-0" "Now it's four" - "It gets worse - five" - if you've checked out today's scores you'll know these msgs came direct from Seel Park Mossley ..... looks like I was lucky today (to miss it that is) - Mossley off to the Shay on Tuesday night to meet FC Halifax Town. While Mossley did beat Halifax at the beginning of September the newly-formed club finally seem to be finding their Unibond feet - so we look at this trip with a soupcon of trepidation I feel - one for the "train crew" I hope - something for me to check ....
One final mention from today's game at Quorn - at half-time an old guy collapsed in the Social Club (heart attack) - Penfold (see above) has the St John training and together with the Quorn FC physio helped to keep the guy alive until the ambulance arrived - let's hope the guy pulls through ...
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