Friday, February 01, 2008

Becoming Blogless


So, we've made it through January, and so far, it's been pretty kind to us on the whole, weatherwise at least.
But this morning I found it harder than usual to drag myself from my bed, even though it's Friday. It was quite noticeably colder too, and although none of the trains was delayed, I was becoming impatient on the platforms, because of the increased chill factor. I also feel more gloomy than usual, and for no discernable reason. It must be February.
I've recently been finding the commute more laborious than usual, and I think it's because every day is such a battle. Even when things are going well, it only takes the tube to stop for a few minutes at Edgware Road and the journey starts unravelling. I then end up taking a later, slower train from Paddington, and pull into Slough just as the Windsor train is pulling out, which means a 20 minute wait for the next service.
For non-commuters, 20 minutes probably doesn't sound like a lot. But if you factor in a 15 minute wait at Paddington, plus a couple of minutes on the two different tube stations I frequent on an almost-daily basis, and the time I get home can differ by up to an hour, and this is when the delays are just a few minutes. It's a daily battle of wills and elbows just to get a seat, and to get home in an hour and a half, rather than two, or two and a half, and it's so tiring.
For this reason, my thoughts have been turning towards the idea of working from home. I have fantasies where I wake up in the morning, make myself a cup of tea, and sit down at my computer in my dressing gown, ready to write something inspiring, for which I'll be paid goodly sums of money - or, at least, enough to cover the mortgage. Since moving to Windsor, this feeling has become stronger, because it's such a nice place to live, but I seem to spend most of my time struggling in and out of London, and it seems so absurd.
The comment in my last post from frequentlyfazed really hit the nail on the head, it's all just such a bloody grind, and it wears you down.
So, at the risk of making myself blogless, this year I'm going to channel my energies towards working from home, and leave the world of First Great Western behind. Maybe I'll find that it won't all be snug cups of tea and walks by the river, so keep watching - by next year, I could have a parallel blog up and running - ihateworkingfromhome.blogspot.com. But I doubt it.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I used to commute from Burnham to Maidenhead... 7 min by train. However, this journey from my front door to my office door took 1 hour! The trains were rarely on time, were always overcrowded, and the journey back home was even worse.

It got so bad that I could only do this for a year. Deciding enough is enough, I moved to Maidenhead.

I get to work in 10 min now, and I often just walk through the station to see how late the trains are running, and just chuckle to myself.

There is no way I will ever commute on a regular basis by FGW. I can write many pages about the absolutely horrible service and people I've encountered in my only year taking the train.

Never again. I'd rather not work and go on bennies.

Anonymous said...

So far this Jan.

1 Cancelled train.
45 minutes Late to Paddington from Pershore
20 minutes later from Paddington to Pershore
p.s only made 3 journeys this year...

Now go from Warwick Parkway for £15 return!

The new HST trains are horrible at night. You cant see out the windows and the lighting is too bright.

Lord Hutton said...

I love working from home. You do 8 hours work in 2 and the rest of the day is your own;-)

Ruth said...

I've given up counting the delays since Christmas (Reading to Paddington). Thankfully it makes no real difference which train I get so long as it's before 8 but I don't think I've been on a train that's left at it's advertised time. Thank god I don't have to do it every day any more.

Anonymous said...

I read all your comments and i find it hard to believe this happens. I have Travelled with FGW for 2 years now 3 - 4 times a week (Swindon - Paddington) and i have never had any problems, Sure there has been the odd late train but what do you expect when a train is travelling 300 miles across the country.

yesterday my train had to stop at didcot because the power plant was smoking like crazy and you could barely see the track, i hardly see this as FGW fault for being late to Paddington.

FGW are clean trains, there is always inspectors and they have first class. If you really want to see a bad train service take a look at South Eastern, £19 for 20 miles and dirty trains without inspectors being constantly harrased by gangs.

FGW are a joy to travel on compared, I feel safe and their ticket prices are fair for the amount of miles they travel (a car costs morein petrol and usage)