The Joy of Commuting February 23, 2008
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Being Freelance , trackbackIt’s 0630, and the alarm goes off although I am already awake. I have NEVER been a morning person, and this is not natural albeit better now than in January. A few minutes dozing, and its ten to seven. I get out of bed, and the organised personality kicks in. Feed cat, turn on boiler, turn on shower, brush teeth while water heats, loo, into shower, clean, out again. Moisturise, check bag and pack laptop, makeup, clothes, make sure cat has food for the day and out. Drink a glass or two of water somewhere in there. From bed to pavement in twenty minutes flat.
A quick stroll through Somers Town, the park with many gates then the Purchese Road Open Space to St Pancras. Perhaps cold and misty, but still rather lovely, and St Pancras is grand. Come in through the back of Kings Cross, and on to Platform 2 on the far side of the station, via Caffe Nero for a small Americano and muffin, and then onto the train.
Breathe, boot the laptop and relax. The brain slowly engages and autopilot has done its job. I’m on the way to the Cambridge client, but first have to check up on the Virtual Company client. I’ve told them that if they email or call me, I will respond by 1000 the next day, and this is when I do it. Check their progress spreadsheet, email my technical lead if there are any problems, deal with whatever I can.
The train slips quickly out of Kings Cross, and up through North London. Hitchin is the only town I know at all on this line, and we’re there in about half an hour. After that, through Cambridgeshire where it is often bright and misty. The train is empty, and the world slips by. It takes about an hour and twenty minutes, door to desk, but on the train and or pleasant walking, it’s a good way to start the day.
Or, on other days, it is a little different. Out of bed, and head to Euston rather than Kings Cross. Victoria line to Green Park and then a switch to the nightmare that is the Heathrow branch of the Piccadilly line. No hope of working here, let alone relaxing. Getting a seat is a major achievement. Somewhere in the wilds of West London, my supplier’s offices are a fifteen minute walk from Boston Manor. Its normally easy to get there, but getting back can be very very hard. Someone decided to pull the passenger alarm at Finsbury Park on Monday, and so I, and a few thousand of my closest companions (for that afternoon), got to sit for an hour outside Gloucester Road station. If you ever have the urge to pull the passenger alarm, and noone’s dying, just don’t. There are about 1000 people on each rush hour tube, and 2 tubes per station, so anything blocking Central London pisses off about 20,000 people. That’s an awful lot of bad karma.
It is easier to travel sixty miles to Cambridge than ten to Brentford. There is a moral there somewhere.
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