So my second day at work was great, but the commute sucked and always will do - have to live with it.
Today, I left the office at 5.30pm still not really sure how the hell the buses work in this little town.
There's a bus stop just on the corner near the office, but the timetable is completely whack.
It turns out that the 200 bus, even though it is listed as arriving at 17:39, never actually stops there, but rather, a few minutes walk away at the traffic island which spins traffic to various other villages.
I found myself standing at a bus "shelter" in a blustery and rather chilly rain storm cursing when the bus failed to arrive on time. 10 minutes late, 15 minutes late - what the hell ?
I then saw a 200 bus nipping along the other way and quickly ran across the street to chat with the driver. As he told me "there should be another bus along the way now", suddenly there it was on the other side of the road.
I acted quickly and got the driver to flick his lights to get the other bus to stop.
I thought my luck was out when he told me he couldn't stop at Hook because the main road was closed due to a festival, but he dropped me 5 minutes walk away.
You must understand that the weather is really rather foul at the moment - 9c, blustery wind with all sorts of rain, dark. On the train to work, it only gets light toward the end of my journey. When I leave the office at 5.30pm it's been dark for an hour already. That's ok, I kinda like it.
Walking in the rain and pitch black would be close to suicide.
It's all very well walking in the morning light with a mild drizzle, but on a dark evening, walking on muddy country sidings along busy roads is best left to foxes, badgers and nutters.
It's a new reality for the next 2 weeks - about 5 hours commute there and back door to door.
It leaves me train time and weekends to get bit 'n pieces done.
And now, I suddenly understand the concept of bad diet, or at least, food on the go.
For the last two nights, after work, I've got to The Swan around 8.40pm and ordered hot food - it's essential to my survival I think.
In the mornings, it's a cup of Amt coffee at the station and one of those energy bar/oat bar type things.
Lunch is a quick snack - I've found a great deli that serves organic stuff.
For the commute, music and a book are essential.
This evening I got myself a few cans of cider for the journey, cranked up the music on my cheap 'n nasty CD mp3 walkman and chilled.
I've been playing at living in London until now, the new reality is working and commuting.
That's ok, it's a means to an end - I think ? - whatever.
Put on the Gorillaz loud and tune out for a while ...
