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Out & About
Apr. 2nd, 2008 10:11 pmYesterday marked my interview in east London, once more. This follows on from an assessment I had earlier with the same company. So, I went for the 0858 into London (started at Kings Lynn, so I had the next one as a back-up if need be)… enough space for all the passengers getting on, then it was stopping only at Letchworth and KX. After stopping briefly to visit the bank, I went for the tube, and the clockwise Circle/Met/H&C lines towards Liverpool Street. As I walked towards the ticket machines, I could hear the recorded announcements about “…A good service is currently operating on all lines…” and while I didn’t want to heckle them (they play those every day, not just on the 1st of April!), I hoped there wouldn’t be anything in it!
Got on a Met line train, and left Kings Cross. So far, so good. We got as far as Farringdon, and the driver mentioned something about signal failure at Baker Street, so we were held back there for a bit. We then went onto Barbican, where the driver made an announcement apologising that he would be turned back at Moorgate, and into the side platforms (adjacent to arriving/terminating Thameslink trains) at that. No Circle line clockwise, and the H&C/Dist/Met lines all partly suspended. I thought about walking above ground, but decided it would take just as long, so found the Northern Line. Ahem. Got to Bank, remembered that there was limited interchanging here… for ongoing escalator works. So, basically, had to make my way up the escalators, through the ticket barriers, onto the Central Line ticket area, then walk down a stationery escalator, which had been turned off for crowd control. Actually, make that “run in boots clattering down the metal treads”. Now, just as I made it to the Central eastbound platform, I looked up. Thought I could see a train pulling off… about to utter profanities, and could see that the doors were actually opening, not closing. Looked up at the passenger display ‘Hainault via Newbury Park’… Yes, correct train, and we sped away less than 30 seconds later. I got to my destination station with eight minutes to make it around the corner, and then managed to make it to the door, singing in with two minutes to spare. Yes, I’d made it there – by the skin of my teeth! – no thanks to my former employers…
… So, the interview went well enough. Less nerves this time, which was good. I’d left shortly before 1215, almost at the end of the hour allowed for the process. Called my beloved, grabbed a spot of lunch at Sainsbury’s, and then back to the tube. I took the Central Line to Holborn, and changed to the second westbound Piccadilly Line train in, which was for Heathrow Airport Terminals 123 & 5.
I wanted a nose around the new terminal, having heard so much new and good about it. Bad things so far included pointing out that the signs looked ‘odd’ for not quite being in the correct LUL typeface (for the tube station section) and the well-documented problems with the baggage handling system, but these will seem like mere teething troubles in years to come, perhaps. It’s also the first new section of tube line since the Jubilee Line extension opened in 1999. I arrived, and the first thing is the space – the tube station is a part of the huge vast areas. Not quite as silver as the JLE, but still lots of open plan space. Here is the view looking up the first set of escalators from the station ticket hall area…
… and onto the first part of arrivals… and once again, I was taken aback by the space. Compare it with T3, and you’ll see what I mean. Very thick glass floors did freak me out a little… but I got more used to it as the visit went on.
I then managed to make it up to departures of this astounding building, and here’s the view down… don’t look down if you have a fear of heights!
After this, I had a brief look around the bus stops (you can see all the pics I took here), and one particular surprise was a sight of another former Travel Dundee Volvo/Plaxton coach, this time on Woking-Heathrow RailAir work.
Once all that was done, I went for the Piccadilly line through to Kings Cross St Pancras, and then for the 1645 back to Kings Lynn, getting off at Royston once more. This got me in shortly before C, and I began to relax, and cooled my feet down!
Today, it’s been all in the house, but lots of domestic godessing. Tomorrow, not planning much, but who knows?
Got on a Met line train, and left Kings Cross. So far, so good. We got as far as Farringdon, and the driver mentioned something about signal failure at Baker Street, so we were held back there for a bit. We then went onto Barbican, where the driver made an announcement apologising that he would be turned back at Moorgate, and into the side platforms (adjacent to arriving/terminating Thameslink trains) at that. No Circle line clockwise, and the H&C/Dist/Met lines all partly suspended. I thought about walking above ground, but decided it would take just as long, so found the Northern Line. Ahem. Got to Bank, remembered that there was limited interchanging here… for ongoing escalator works. So, basically, had to make my way up the escalators, through the ticket barriers, onto the Central Line ticket area, then walk down a stationery escalator, which had been turned off for crowd control. Actually, make that “run in boots clattering down the metal treads”. Now, just as I made it to the Central eastbound platform, I looked up. Thought I could see a train pulling off… about to utter profanities, and could see that the doors were actually opening, not closing. Looked up at the passenger display ‘Hainault via Newbury Park’… Yes, correct train, and we sped away less than 30 seconds later. I got to my destination station with eight minutes to make it around the corner, and then managed to make it to the door, singing in with two minutes to spare. Yes, I’d made it there – by the skin of my teeth! – no thanks to my former employers…
… So, the interview went well enough. Less nerves this time, which was good. I’d left shortly before 1215, almost at the end of the hour allowed for the process. Called my beloved, grabbed a spot of lunch at Sainsbury’s, and then back to the tube. I took the Central Line to Holborn, and changed to the second westbound Piccadilly Line train in, which was for Heathrow Airport Terminals 123 & 5.
I wanted a nose around the new terminal, having heard so much new and good about it. Bad things so far included pointing out that the signs looked ‘odd’ for not quite being in the correct LUL typeface (for the tube station section) and the well-documented problems with the baggage handling system, but these will seem like mere teething troubles in years to come, perhaps. It’s also the first new section of tube line since the Jubilee Line extension opened in 1999. I arrived, and the first thing is the space – the tube station is a part of the huge vast areas. Not quite as silver as the JLE, but still lots of open plan space. Here is the view looking up the first set of escalators from the station ticket hall area…
… and onto the first part of arrivals… and once again, I was taken aback by the space. Compare it with T3, and you’ll see what I mean. Very thick glass floors did freak me out a little… but I got more used to it as the visit went on.
I then managed to make it up to departures of this astounding building, and here’s the view down… don’t look down if you have a fear of heights!
After this, I had a brief look around the bus stops (you can see all the pics I took here), and one particular surprise was a sight of another former Travel Dundee Volvo/Plaxton coach, this time on Woking-Heathrow RailAir work.
Once all that was done, I went for the Piccadilly line through to Kings Cross St Pancras, and then for the 1645 back to Kings Lynn, getting off at Royston once more. This got me in shortly before C, and I began to relax, and cooled my feet down!
Today, it’s been all in the house, but lots of domestic godessing. Tomorrow, not planning much, but who knows?
