Train to Turkey - Leg 2 - London to Brussels

07 Jul 2019

Early start on our second day after arriving on the sleeper. We were up and ready for the journey ahead, day two should leave us in Cologne, Germany in time for tea which means we have some serious mileage to get through and the two tightest connections of the trip. From Paddington we took the Hammersmith and City line to St Pancras for connecti... Read more

Train to Turkey - Leg 1 - Penzance to London

06 Jul 2019

We’re on our way! The weather in Cornwall was fantastic, a tropical 25℃ with unspoilt sunshine, it better stay like this across Europe, we’re going to have a mega time if it does. Before we could get going with Leg one we needed a final positioning trip to get to Penzance, we travelled as a four so we could be waved off in proper Cornish fashion... Read more

CoolHead Visit London

04 Jun 2019

What do you do when your favourite Finnish brewery has a tap-takeover in London? Well, there’s only one option. Hosted at the fantastic Brew By Numbers in Peckham Rye, CoolHead brought ten beers to showcase for one day only with a chance to meet with their Head Brewer. Brew By Numbers or BBNO have a great unit under two railway arches in Peckha... Read more

May 2017 - The Missing Blogs

18 Feb 2018

May started with a challenge which I had not been looking forward to; mine and @geekyjames’ first Tough Mudder. For those that don’t know, Tough Mudder is an outdoor obstacle and endurance course, the ethos is to build camaraderie among participants in order to complete the obstacles, many of which are not possible without teamwork. We decided t... Read more

Speaking at WAN Summit London

21 Oct 2017

It has been an incredibly exciting week; it is not too often that I get nervous and even less frequently so in a work environment - but to do so was very worthwhile. For the past few months, I have been preparing to talk at WAN Summit London, a relatively notable industry symposium attended by Network Managers, IT Executives and Enterprise Servi... Read more

A Quick Update to the Rail Map

14 Oct 2017

It hasn’t been the busiest year for rail travel, in fact, I have barely used the train at all compared to last year. That’s mostly due to much less commuting, instead spending more time working from home but is probably because of the unfortunate expiration of my 16-25 Railcard. Trains now seem and well, are, expensive – that’s a big frustration... Read more

Commuting.

09 Jan 2014

My daily commute is long. It’s also very expensive. I’m not sure which should be more important to me, time or money. I currently get the train. I leave home at 07:15 and take the 07:41 Southeastern High Speed service from Strood to St Pancras International arriving 08:16, I then walk to the Metropolitan line and usually arrive at Baker Street... Read more

Getting Locked on a Train

09 Jun 2013

This weekend I thought it would be good to travel a little off piste. Marylebone station is now just around the corner from work and I was keen to explore and see what it was all about. Marylebone is indeed a very interesting and unique station, the youngest of any London termini and the only station with no track electrification. The station ha... Read more

Tower Lifeboat Station

01 Jun 2013

Without a doubt one of the more unique RNLI stations, this branch was set-up in 2002 following a request from the government. It has grown to become the busiest station in the UK, manned 24/7. Because of the unique city location the boats moor on a dedicated floating pier, known as Lifeboat Pier. The station officially has three Class E inshore ... Read more

A Change of Scenery...

24 Apr 2013

It’s been a good (almost) 2 years, I’ve met some fantastic people, some not-so-fantastic people and learnt lots along the way; but unlike a bad smell I’m not one to hang around. As of the 20th May I’ll be moving on to newer things and I’m the most excited about a new job I have ever been. That said, Atos has been a very important learning cur... Read more

Waterloo to Andover

21 Apr 2013

I’ve been looking forward to this journey for a while. Atos have a Data Centre based in Andover and an opportunity to visit in person finally arose! Unfortunately it wasn’t a particularly intensive task, but hey ho. The journey was good, I was surprised how quickly the line snaked its way out of the city and into the countryside, there were a... Read more

Stratford to Romford

29 Mar 2013

Today SWMBO was in Romford, London seeing her family; I seized the opportunity to venture further than Stratford on Greater Anglia… It was busy! But a good, quick trip. I took the Jubilee from Westminster to Stratford then caught the train towards Shenfield. Took around 45mins in total. I’m convinced the Greater Anglia is the most dull operati... Read more

Charing Cross via Sidcup

24 Mar 2013

This week I’ve been doing some work at a building on Parliament Street, London. My usual commute is on the Southeastern High Speed service to St Pancras, this is great because it’s a short 15 minute walk to the office which means I can leave my door and be at my desk in about an hour. The problem with St Pancras, especially during peak hours is ... Read more

IBM Adventures

25 Feb 2013

Had an interesting day today… Network design work has one major downside: I don’t get out much. There I was, slaving away, when suddenly a P1 appeared! I don’t usually do support but when there is nobody in the whole of London from Atos available guess who the buck falls to…. Anyway, I was secretly excited because I’ve never been to this facilit... Read more

First Trip on a Class 43

22 Feb 2013

Probably the most iconic of all British trains, the Class 43 is something to be proud of and we still are nearly 50 years later. Somehow I’ve never had the opportunity to travel on one, until this week. Atos have an office at Winnersh Triangle near Reading which fate had it I needed to visit, without a seconds thought my tickets were booked! I ... Read more