FOR WHOM THE BUS FARE TOLLS

Wednesday 6 February 2008

As George in Flick's favourite "Peppa Pig" would say, "I'm not very well". I've had two days off work and apart from a trip each day to collect the car I've been moping about the house feeling rather sorry for myself.

I hate to say I told you so but this story from the BBC backs up what I said on 31 January and 25 January about Stagecoach and bus fares. They're saving money by not paying the bridge toll but they won't pass it on to passengers because the Scottish Government have frozen Fuel Duty Rebate/Bus Service Operators' Grant/whatever you want to call it and it'll cost the bus industry £7.5m in 18 months. My heart bleeds purple piss for them.

What gets me is how price hikes, sorry "reviews" are now an annual occurrence. We all remember when football teams used to bring out a new strip every three or four years and then the money-grabbers decided to change it (and the away/third/cup/testimonial kits) every season. Now it seems that bus fares are going the same way. Stagecoach may blame the Government for the apparently going against their own green claims but they have a part to play themselves. I wonder how long it'll be before Stagecoach goes into property management.

When I'm ill I like nothing better than to cuddle up on the settee and watch "Diagnosis Murder". Okay, so it's no "Morse" or "Poirot" but I don't have to think about it. Only I didn't get to indulge myself today because it was a bloody repeat!! I have myself all psyched up. I had the hankies, the hot drink, the remote control; all within arms reach, but what do I get, a bloody repeat! Still, at least I have my health...just.

On my £1.20 ten-minute bus trip to pick up the car this lunchtime I saw a sight I hadn't seen in quite a while. I saw someone using a telephone box and, no, they weren't peeing in it of skinning up in it, they were actually using the phone. I thought everyone had a mobile phone. Even some tramps have got mobiles, and it's usually better than mine! The BBC Online has a piece on this very subject in today's Magazine section.

Whilst still on the subject of phones, I really must thank David Hepworth for introducing me, and no doubt many others, to "Don't Hang Up". The premises of this radio show was quite simple. The presenter would call a phone box somewhere in the world and record the conversations with whoever picked up the phone. The one linked on David's blog is brilliant, albeit dark, and I recommend it to everyone. Only nine of them were made and "Speechification" has two of them.

The GLW calls the National Lottery a "stupidity tax" and I can't argue with that but with this week's Euro-Millions set for a "Superdraw" jackpot of £95m who can resist a wee shot. I often while away bus journeys wondering just what I would do with that sort of money. Obviously, that sort of money is too much money and I would share some of it out between friends and family. I know who my friends are and thier loyalty would be rewarded. I'd probably want a big house, somewhere in Edinburgh, a decent car and a nice long holiday. Oh, the joy of never having to work again.

The GLW are continuing our de-cluttering of the house. Tonight, before I settle down to watch the England match, I'm going to bag up all those videos that have sat at the back of the shelves in the study gathering dust (Blank ones, not pre-recorded). I've no doubt there are many gems held within them but we haven't looked at them in years and any films that we want can easily be purchased cheaply enough. They've gotta go.