Jazzy D's Soul Notes

Eunice has passed and gone to Europe. Perhaps if it reaches Russia it could blow the troops around Ukraine away. Meanwhile, pics of the dereliction of the O2 Arena begs the question should we keep that carbuncle that is an eyesore to some and not to others, or simply demolish it?

Anyway, I was going to do a rail travel survey job for one of my companies but due to the havoc of yesterday, all trains are extremely delayed or cancelled altogether. I decided not to go and now it is raining hard.





It was going to be four journeys from Faversham up to Margate, then Canterbury West and then Ramsgate and back and only on a Saturday. I could do it next Saturday but I feel now that I cannot be bothered.

So I popped into my local pub and had breakfast there.

This morning i finished one of the reports from the visits yesterday. So now that both reports are done and the time has zipped past like a cheetah it is just a bit late now to do anything else today. The other factor is due to the fact that in Dover i had a couple of beers at the local Spoons pub, and all beers were just £1.95.I caught the last train home and arrived back just after midnight. Consequently this morning,after getting up to have a coffee, i felt that i needed a bit of a lie-in.

It was a strange day - yesterday that is - first the bus to Maidstone breaks down and a fifteen minute wait for a replacement bus to pick up the passengers. Then on my journey going toward Tunbridge Wells i had the bright idea of making the journey quicker by alighting at Paddock Wood and picking up the two trains to take me toward Hastings and the south coast to Bexhill. With foresight, that was a a wrong move. I should have stayed on the bus and then caught a bus to Hastings via Wadhurst from Tunbridge Wells. the thought only came to me whilst i was o a train that was delayed by thirty minutes.

What expired was a train malfunction in the Sevenoaks tunnel making all journeys from Charing Cross station London towards Ashford and Hastings severely delayed or cancelled. I get to Tonbridge to find that most of the Hastings bound trains were either cancelled or running over an hour late. Eventually three trains arrived closely together within a few minutes, Two to Hastings and one to Ramsgate. The order of arrival was meant to be Hastings slow train, the Ramsgate train , the Hastings fast train. But within the last minute they had changed the order despite the electronic display saying otherwise and i boarded a train headed towards what i thought was Hastings but actually going to Ramsgate via Ashford. Once we move off i realised my mistake when i noticed the electronic display on the train announced the next stop wood be Paddock Wood.I was on the wrong damn train!

I was angry. So after alighting at Paddock Wood i then got the bus to Tunbridge Wells.I then check out the station announcements at the royal town's train station. A Hawkhurst bus turned up a few minutes later and it was one that once it reached Hawkhurst changed its bus number to continue to Hastings.Trouble was, by the time i did that journey it might have been too late to do the two shops before they closed. So i opted for the train - less than an hour or so. Well,time flew by,the train did not appear and more delays occurred as now not that we had a broken down train in Sevenoaks tunnel but the engineers had to come out to repair some track.

I almost felt like calling it a bad day and forget about even getting to Bexhill and just go home.But i stood firm.A train eventual arrived and when i got to St. Leonards Warrior Square i walked down to the coast road to catch the bus to Bexhill. I arrived in the town with an hour to spare before the two charity shop / thrift shops closed.

Afterwards i took the bus back to Hastings and caught The Wave bus from there to Dover , had those two beers and then the train to home. This evening excursion was the smoothest journey of the day.Go figure.

Oh and whilst in Tunbridge i noticed that a number 7 bus stopped to allow a passenger to get off but the doors would not open up. No matter what the driver or the passenger did was to no avail. Even customers wanted to get on to the bus could not open the damn door.Not until the driver turned off his engine that the door would open for the passenger to alight or people to get on. Like i said - a strange day.