train train, take me away...

Ugh, I've had a right morning of it.

Allow me to elaborate (i.e- moan endlessly about tfl):

I got up a little later than usual (only by five minutes), got washed and dressed and all that jazz and was quite surprised to be ready by 0735. Mum had made me a half-hot cup of tea while I was makeup-ing (a half hot cuppa is where you make tea about half way up the cup, then add cold water or milk etc to fill it up), which I was immensely grateful for. I love my mum.

So we left, and I got to the station at about 0750 and caught the 0758 towards London Liverpool Street. I have to change at Stratford, to get the Jubilee line to Canary Wharf, so I did what I usually do and changed. The train was waiting at platform 14, so that was good at least. The train went off as per usual, a bit slower though, and dragging it's heels a little. Nothing seemed particularly out of the ordinary until it stopped... then the driver's voice came over the intercom, telling us that there was a "slight problem" with the signals at Canary Wharf, so there'd be a little bit of a delay. It was fine, I was really early; it was only 0815. Then about five minutes later, the driver told us we'd be going to West Ham (next stop) but we'd have to wait there for a while. Ok, no problem. I might even get to work early enough to get a pastry. Only it wasn't a while, it was 0835 before the driver even got back to us. He still hadn't heard from central control, so had no idea when we'd be moving, only that there was a fault in the signal at Canary Wharf. Great, so much for my early start. I was going to be late. Joy.

Ok, so I used my head here. If I got the Eastbound train back to Stratford on the opposite platform, I could get the Docklands Light Railway to Canary Wharf- yay! Clever Lini! Ok, so I left the stationary train and made my way over. The next train went right through, deserted, not stopping... how rude! The next one in was packed. Literally, not another mortal soul could have fitted on. That doesn't stop people trying though, not in London. Turns out (as the station announcer from West Ham control said) that all the platforms at Stratford were full of trains trying to go Westbound (the way I wanted to go really!) so there was no room for the Eastbound that was at West Ham... am I confusing you all?

Ok, so I had another flash of inspiration- get the District line to Bow Road and get the DLR from Bow Church. Excellent idea! Clever Lini! Everyone else had the same idea, but at least I was at Bow Road by about 0915. Now Bow Road and Bow Church aren't the same station. They're like 300metres apart. That's a bit of a walk for asthma face here (especially when I'm in the process of changing my meds cuz they're not working!) but I did it. Without dying. Go me. God, can you believe I used to be an athlete? High jump (held the school record at one point), long jump, 100m sprint, gymnastics, badminton... I even spent most of each weekend walking the beach roads in St. Osyth... ugh, now I'm just lazy.

So, at Bow Road, I'm waiting and waiting... getting less patient as time progresses as it's now gone half nine and I'm actually really late now. The first train comes in and stops... but doesn't admit passengers. The second comes in five minutes later, and there is NO room at all! The third comes again in another five minutes, but is only going to All Saints- not helpful. Two more trains go with crammage. Now it's 0950 and I'm really pissed off. The next train towards Lewisham is going to have me on it, even if I'm standing on a pregnant disabled person's lap I reckon. The train comes in. I cram on. Someone's poking me in the back and I'm near a smelly man but it's ok... for now. Only five or six stops to go. I get to Canary Wharf at 1000-ish and have to navigate my way out of the shopping centre part of the complex. I have never been to a place (and I've been there a few times) that more deserved the title 'shopping complex'!

I finally made it to work at 1015. That's an hour and a quarter later than I need to be there, if you hadn't worked that out for yourself. So that's £10 I've lost from my paycheck. Not to mention the two hours I lost going to the doctors, and the two and a half from attending a job interview last Friday. So my pay check is going to be down by about £40. That's how much it costs to pay my (cell) phone bill.

Is tfl going to reimburse me? No. That's why I think they're all a bunch of words beginning with c that are synonymous with a lady's genital bits. Yes, you heard right.

Here's a map of the undeground system. Maybe it'll be a fun thing for you to check out. It's not for me! I know my way around it, and having to change my route is irritating!

Though there was no room for crochet, I did read nearly 100 pages of 'Tears of the Giraffe' by Alexander McCall-Smith. Good book- I <3 Mma Ramotswe. So that's another of the 52 in 52 down.