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[VXL V6]

.......Parking in London isn't that bad, especially compared to parking charges at Chiltern stations, although quite a few have tiered pricing based on age/emissions .

I do like the way that certain London Councils charge you an extra amount because your car isn't ULEZ compliant. I mean, it's causing a lot of nasty emissions sat there with the engine turned off. thieving, robbing, money grabbing b**tards

[TheBoy]

.......Parking in London isn't that bad, especially compared to parking charges at Chiltern stations, although quite a few have tiered pricing based on age/emissions .

I do like the way that certain London Councils charge you an extra amount because your car isn't ULEZ compliant. I mean, it's causing a lot of nasty emissions sat there with the engine turned off. thieving, robbing, money grabbing b**tards

I'm sure Khan the Khunt is putting the money to good use (on the carparks he's responsible for).

NCP seem to do it purely on age, rather than emissions, but then they are about to go tits up anyway.

[tunnie]

I believe Chiltern are being nationalised this year.  We know that will mean the service gets worse, and ticket prices will increase, and the taxpayer will have to cough up more.....


....but can the service get any worse?



Oh, yes, and this morning's trains were one of Chiltern's new (to them, still 2nd hand) Explorer trains, brought in with much fanfare in Feb this year to aid reliability and make journeys more comfortable....    ...obviously it was running late.  As for comfort, due to less seats per carriage and one carriage reserved for 1st class, I've yet to actually ever get a seat, so can't really comment.

Sad to see Chiltern at this state, I really rated them 2007-2009 era.

Have you considered driving to Reading and then Elizabeth Line?

Its a shit show, partly Chiltern's fault, still using utterly shagged rolling stock that came from British Rail before privatisation, and partly Network Rail's fault to actively slow down the existing routes to make HS2 look somehow viable.  Fastest train from Bicester North to Marylebone is just under an hour, they stopped the 32m services.


Not sure why I would drive to Reading?  May as well just drive into London - the only shitty bits are the sequence of traffic lights around your old neck of the woods, and the first 800yrds of the Marylebone Road as you come off the Marylebone Flyover.  It's an hour to Reading, probably 2hrs to get into the centre in rush hour.  It's an hour to the North Circ.  So going to Reading doesn't really make much sense.

Parking in London isn't that bad, especially compared to parking charges at Chiltern stations, although quite a few have tiered pricing based on age/emissions .

thought it would be sub 1hr to Reading, guess I forget how far it is from Brackley.

[Sir Tigger KC]

There's these things called 'apps' these days.     

You should try them, as you could have done all that from the comfort of your armchair.   

No (usable) receipt for expenses.

Can't speak for Chiltern but on the South Western Railways app you can download a printable receipt or if you want a physical ticket rather than the virtual ticket on your phone, you can get a code and pick up your tickets from the ticket machine and it gives you the same receipt as you'd get from the ticket office. 

I'd be very surprised if Chiltern (and TFL) don't have some kind of feature on their app for a receipt. 

If not, you should write in!     Mr Angry from Brackley here.....   

[LC0112G]

Microwave has gone pop, tripping the downstairs ring main circuit breaker in the process. Reset the CB, but the uWave is dead as a doornail. Just looked online, and this model is discontinued, and f-me similar current ones are £700-£1K. Think I paid £59 for my first one.

Also since the power has been off I've now got to go round resetting half the world - non static IP address has changed. Grrrr.

[TheBoy]

thought it would be sub 1hr to Reading, guess I forget how far it is from Brackley.

Yeah, the viable options are A34 down to Newbury, M4 to Tilehurst, then fight the local traffic to the station. Or M40 to Handicross, A404 to Maidenhead, then M4 to Reading, then the particularly shite traffic up the Basingstoke Rd into town.  Trying to go cross country via Oxford and Nettlebed is too slow, and dumps you at the bottleneck over the bridge has you get to Caversham.

[TheBoy]

There's these things called 'apps' these days.     

You should try them, as you could have done all that from the comfort of your armchair.   

No (usable) receipt for expenses.

Can't speak for Chiltern but on the South Western Railways app you can download a printable receipt or if you want a physical ticket rather than the virtual ticket on your phone, you can get a code and pick up your tickets from the ticket machine and it gives you the same receipt as you'd get from the ticket office. 

I'd be very surprised if Chiltern (and TFL) don't have some kind of feature on their app for a receipt. 

If not, you should write in!     Mr Angry from Brackley here.....   

You can't buy the car park ticket from the App.

As for buying the train ticket via the app and picking up a paper ticket from a ticket machine, well, that relies on the ticket machine having electricity, which was the problem in the first place

And another pet hate of mine, one that will get me on that stupid, pointless new train ASBO thing they are talking about, is people trying to scan their phones to get through the gates at stations and underground.  You know the type of person, they wait in the queue for the gate, then look for their phone, then spend ages trying to find the app, then it won't scan....     ....just opps off out of my way!


As an aside, I tend not to prebook tickets with Chiltern (despite the fact my company tries to insist on it) - had my fingers burned too many times, given the frequency they cancel trains.  Getting refunds is laboriously hard and takes forever (and nowadays, not everything entitles you to a refund).  So I always go to the station, check the boards that the train is running, and reasonably on time, then buy the ticket.  If it's all cancelled, or longer delays, I don't and make other arrangements.

[Andy B]

....
 You know the type of person, they wait in the queue for the gate, then look for their phone, then spend ages trying to find the app, then it won't scan....     ....just opps off out of my way!
 ......

That's the same type of person that it seems as a complete surprise that the traffic lights have turned green in front of them ..... then they have to look at where 1st gear is & then take the hand brake off .... 

[Doctor Gollum]

....
 You know the type of person, they wait in the queue for the gate, then look for their phone, then spend ages trying to find the app, then it won't scan....     ....just opps off out of my way!
 ......

That's the same type of person that it seems as a complete surprise that the traffic lights have turned green in front of them ..... then they have to look at where 1st gear is & then take the hand brake off .... 

That always throws me in the US... Their lights go straight from red to green. At least here you get the amber one to tell you they're about to change...

[YZ250]

....
 You know the type of person, they wait in the queue for the gate, then look for their phone, then spend ages trying to find the app, then it won't scan....     ....just opps off out of my way!
 ......

That's the same type of person that it seems as a complete surprise that the traffic lights have turned green in front of them ..... then they have to look at where 1st gear is & then take the hand brake off .... 

In their later years, we used to take my parents food shopping. They would have their trolley and we’d have ours, and we’d follow them through the checkout so that we could help them pack their food. When my mum’s items had gone through the checkout, I said loudly to my wife, “You watch, they’ve been stood in the queue for ten minutes but she’ll choose now to rummage through her purse to find her money off vouchers.”  The cashier had a right go at me, telling me that I was rude and I’d be elderly one day. My mum explained to her that I was her son and I was winding her up. It was an awkward moment with the cashier but it stopped me from doing it in future after the ear bashing from the cashier. 

[Andy B]

....
 You know the type of person, they wait in the queue for the gate, then look for their phone, then spend ages trying to find the app, then it won't scan....     ....just opps off out of my way!
 ......

That's the same type of person that it seems as a complete surprise that the traffic lights have turned green in front of them ..... then they have to look at where 1st gear is & then take the hand brake off .... 

In their later years, we used to take my parents food shopping. They would have their trolley and we’d have ours, and we’d follow them through the checkout so that we could help them pack their food. When my mum’s items had gone through the checkout, I said loudly to my wife, “You watch, they’ve been stood in the queue for ten minutes but she’ll choose now to rummage through her purse to find her money off vouchers.”  The cashier had a right go at me, telling me that I was rude and I’d be elderly one day. My mum explained to her that I was her son and I was winding her up. It was an awkward moment with the cashier but it stopped me from doing it in future after the ear bashing from the cashier. 

you've just described MY Mum when I've taken her shopping. And then she tells me the PIN for her card loudly enough for the whole store to hear! 

[Sir Tigger KC]

There's these things called 'apps' these days.     

You should try them, as you could have done all that from the comfort of your armchair.   

No (usable) receipt for expenses.

Can't speak for Chiltern but on the South Western Railways app you can download a printable receipt or if you want a physical ticket rather than the virtual ticket on your phone, you can get a code and pick up your tickets from the ticket machine and it gives you the same receipt as you'd get from the ticket office. 

I'd be very surprised if Chiltern (and TFL) don't have some kind of feature on their app for a receipt. 

If not, you should write in!     Mr Angry from Brackley here.....   

You can't buy the car park ticket from the App.

As for buying the train ticket via the app and picking up a paper ticket from a ticket machine, well, that relies on the ticket machine having electricity, which was the problem in the first place

And another pet hate of mine, one that will get me on that stupid, pointless new train ASBO thing they are talking about, is people trying to scan their phones to get through the gates at stations and underground.  You know the type of person, they wait in the queue for the gate, then look for their phone, then spend ages trying to find the app, then it won't scan....     ....just opps off out of my way!


As an aside, I tend not to prebook tickets with Chiltern (despite the fact my company tries to insist on it) - had my fingers burned too many times, given the frequency they cancel trains.  Getting refunds is laboriously hard and takes forever (and nowadays, not everything entitles you to a refund).  So I always go to the station, check the boards that the train is running, and reasonably on time, then buy the ticket.  If it's all cancelled, or longer delays, I don't and make other arrangements.

Stop making excuses. Everything has an app these days! 

[ronnyd]

....
 You know the type of person, they wait in the queue for the gate, then look for their phone, then spend ages trying to find the app, then it won't scan....     ....just opps off out of my way!
 ......

That's the same type of person that it seems as a complete surprise that the traffic lights have turned green in front of them ..... then they have to look at where 1st gear is & then take the hand brake off .... 

HAND BRAKE?  Most of the buggers around here just sit there with their foot on the pedal, blinding the poor sods behind them with their brake lights.

[Doctor Gollum]

Poxy bloody airline.

Get an email to check in for flight tomorrow. Check in, get seat confirmed in row 1.

4 hours later, aircraft change bumped back 5 rows, can't access seat options because already checked in.

Phone up, go through the options only to be told I have a text coming explaining how to manage my booking.

Eventually find a chat bot to kick. No use so puts me through to a text eejit in India. Confirms that the seats have been changed and that the boarding card I have is no longer valid. Get nowhere with that or at least getting meal priority adjusted to accommodate the seat change. This went really well too as it's within 48 hours of departure and that I should request it sooner.

No shit, if I had known two days ago that you were going to bump me back 5 rows I would have ordered it.

Lots of "sincere apologies and regret" can I help.with anything else? No thank you, the day has been disappointing enough already.

rather retards. I wouldn't mind, but it's a full fare ticket.

Rant over.

At least it's not raining in Maspalomas

It's the second full fare flight in a row they've screwed up, and I am starting to understand why the customers are always pissed off.

Mind you the day started with Mum locking herself out of the house...

[Andy B]

......
HAND BRAKE?  Most of the buggers around here just sit there with their foot on the pedal, blinding the poor sods behind them with their brake lights.

I hear this from various places. If I sit at the lights in my ML using HOLD, my foot is no where near the foot brake, but the brake lights are on. If sitting with brake lights on was such a heinous crime, then the likes of Merc wouldn't wire their cars as they do. (it used to do the same when MB used SBC - fly by wire brakes)
It never bothers me whether I'm high up in the ML or almost sat on the ground in the Smart Roadster .... maybe it's an aging eyes problem