Notes from today
 

1) If you book on the first flight out of Manchester to Lodinium on a Budget Airline(VLM) don't actually expect them to get out of bed to fly you even if you had to get out of bed at 4am to get there. And don't expect any notice or apologies either

2) When you go to London for a conference don't expect to spend more than 5 minutes actually looking at central london. ( Hotel was oh, 100 yds from the Tube station)

3) Whilst the Tube is relatively efficient ( 30 mins for ~10 miles) give me the crowded M60 anyday, reasons
a) being I REALLy don't want a sweaty armpit 5 inches from my face.
b) when an ignorant bloke in his 60s arm has hit you in the head 5 or 6 times, don't expect him to be too chuffed when a rather pee'd off East lancastrian rather abrubtly asks ask him to move his chuffing arm further down the grab rail
c) I don't want to listen to your MP3 player headphones

4) Automated Ticket machines have an inherrant inability to print receipts meaning I now have to argue the toss with my finance team for ~£30 of expenses(both the Dockloads Railway and teh Manchester Airport car parking failed to print receipts despite trying to do so)

5) Be REALLY grateful that you aren't expected to find upwards of £300K for a basic flat in a not very nice area of the east end or find upwards of £300/week to rent somewhere half reasonable

6) Old people don't suit ipods

7) Forget actual eye contact with anyone, and its seems its almost a mortal sin to actually smile at people.

8) Hotels are now all fully staffed with eastern Europeans who whilst very plesant seemed to struggle with my accent and sent me halfway round teh hotel when teh room I actually needed was that one there, right behind teh desk


:D

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Had fun ian? ;)

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Oh yes, lots

Strange, didn't see a single iPhone anywhere :D

Oh yeh, its crap so I won't :D

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had a good day Ian?? :D

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Wasn't released till 6:02pm, and I refrained from making a cheap shot about the iphone in my post :p

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I hated people like you when I lived in London.:D

I hope you didn't stand on the wrong side of the escalator as well, blocking the right hand side, left for people in a hurry.

Sounds like you had fun....not.

The only way to survive is to switch off, and join the blind drones, drudging on, and on, and on, everyday.

Took me about three years, before I stopped shouting at ignorant people.:D

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I though they were already on eBay?

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Sounds like you had a wonderful day love.

Cheered me up that has :)

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So when is the big move to live there:D

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Err,, Thanks but no thanks, I'd move to Yorkshire first!

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London is a fun, joyful, pleasant & friendly place isn't it :rolleyes: erm NOT LOL, i came home with bruises after a day trip there being shoved & pushed without a buy or leave of an apology their too busy rushing. Lovely place shame about the inhabitants, glad i live up norf:D

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US models!

I love the tube in London. A zone1 and 2 all day ticket is really cheap for the amount of times you use it when you're looking around!

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Lets get real here, there's no way London is that BAD :eek::eek::eek:

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Couldn't agree more

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London is tame compared to NY.

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Cor Blimey entwisi you could moan for England!..who would want to smile at a miserable bloke like you anyway?...you remind me of a time when ,on a very crowded tube train a nicely suited up exec type man shouted out "they should not be allowed" when a young women with a pushchair managed to squeeze into the carriage. Stay in Lancs, you obviously can't handle the heat my son! :)

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Sorry for teh bad time you had Ian. That's one of teh big reasons I'm trying to get a flight over where I don't need to leave Heathrow. (Yeah, Heathrow certainly aint no picnic either, too many bloody foreigners!) (LOL).

I hope to hop from one Britsih Airway flight to one right up to Manchester.

Keep Smiling Mate!

Brian

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Go on the train next time, link's to tube, flying to the 'smoke' is a pain in the axxe. do not go to N/Y,London is easy by comparison, nice and compact. This old chap want's to know what Ipod is.(is) it contageous):D

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Been to London twice, well 3 times third time was an accident (missed turn-off and ended up driving through).............hated every minute, haven't been back since. :eek:

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I have only been twice in my lifetime.
I think the people live there for higher wages but all that is used up by high accommodation costs. I suppose the access to more quality cultural venues is also an attraction, but Manchester is quite good for that too.
So I conclude that they continue to live there because they don't know how good it is up here.
For goodness sake - I hope they don't start moving north en masse :eek:

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Steady on there, Old bean. Dont be too hasty!
Why would you ever want to go and live in the Third World? :rolleyes:

Perhaps Mr Tealeaf would care to enlighten us and give a balanced view of life in the Smoke.

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lived in south london for a few months (late 60s), been down loads of times, last year, being the most recent, seems to me like nowt has changed.:rolleyes:

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I lived there for sixteen years, all throughout my twenties and thirties, and it was fantastic.

Well, fantastic once you get used the fact that you have to switch on your auto-pilot, if you don't want to go stark raving mad.

The nightlife is amazing. If you want to go clubbing on a Saturday afternoon, and via different clubs, not come home until Monday morning you can do. Happy days.:rolleyes:

I was talking to Lettie and Sparks this week, whilst sipping a glass of Merlot in the Octagon Theatre bar, about the fact that we have a much better arts scene in the north west, than London does. Besides the Battersea Arts Centre, the Royal Court, and the Round House, theatre in London is pretty much about getting tourist bums on seats. The theatre we have an hours drive from Hyndburn, is much more challenging.

I'll never regret living there. I loved my job, had good friends, made a packet by buying my flat at the very bottom of the slump, and had some wild old times, and did some amazing things. Though I'm glad I moved back when I did. London wouldn't be much fun when you're old and frail. I've seen elderly people mugged and attacked, as well as pushed from pillar to post on the tube. I worry about old Teabag, now he's getting on.:D


"Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford."
— Samuel Johnson

You're wrong Doctor Johnson. Life outside of London is pretty damn good. It's just that we're just keeping it quiet, so we don't get too many ignorant gits, with flat Thames Estuary vowels, moving up here.:D

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Ianto.W Would have gone on teh train but for 2 main reason.

To get to my 9:30 meeting meant I had to drive to Crewe in order to get a train that got me there in time

The plane was £108 return, teh train was £267.....

Whilst I wasn't paying I think its a total rip off

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Seems like every country has its London ... we call ours Toronto (pronounced "Tronna" or shortened to TO). Kingston is ideally located: halfway between TO and Montreal, and only 170 klicks from Ottawa (Oddawa). I go to TO a few times every year just to remind myself how good it is in the boonies ... not quite buccolic, but at least we see the odd deer downtown on quiet summer nights.