The Not So Pleasant Journey Home

Traffic on Slades Hill while twiddling thumbs on the top deck of the 307 this afternoon. This was minutes before the darn diversion.

It normally takes me 55 minutes to get home from work in the afternoon. Today it took me 110 minutes, mainly because of this. Instead of taking the train from Liverpool Street to Enfield Town, I made a wrong decision and took a different train from my usual station (Moorgate) to Finsbury Park. I had the option of going on to New Barnet and then taking the regular 307 bus, but I decided it against it at Finsbury Park and switched to the Tube. Luckily the Underground was not as busy as I expected due to the flurry of cancellations on my usual train line. I got to Oakwood (my nearest Tube station) at a reasonable time (50 minutes after leaving work) and it normally doesn't take more than 25 minutes to get home from there. But today there was an incredible amount of traffic on the single-lane road towards home and the bumper-to-bumper traffic made the bus journey ever so tiresome and boring. At one point a whole bunch of other disgruntled passengers just got off and started walking towards their destination. I had no idea when I'd get home. Then just when you thought things couldn't get worse, a diversion was created just before the last uphill journey to my bus destination. The bumper-to-bumper traffic changed directions and extended the delay. Eventually I made it to my bus stop and finally experienced some good luck. There's a bus I can take to cut the last walking leg by several minutes. The 191 had arrived at the bus stop around the corner just as the 307 was pulling in. Initially I didn't make much of an effort to catch the bus, but when I realized I might have a chance I made a dash for it. The doors had just closed when I half-appealed to the driver to let me in. He did and didn't even bother to get me to re-validate my Oyster card after it failed the initial swipe. To everybody's annoyance (I assume) I was the only person to get off at the very next stop. I got home just in time to pee. It's a bit weird to arrive home at half past seven and still find it sunny outside. It messes with my dinner timings. Chicken Jalfrezi tonight!

London Mayoral Election - Who To Choose?

In less than 10 days I have to vote for our next Mayor. Unfortunately, I am still undecided. Read on to find out why.

Here's the easy part: I definitely will not be voting for Richard Barnbrook. He's the BNP candidate. I will also definitely not be voting for Gerard Batten, the UKIP candidate. I'm pro-EU. Then there's Matt O'Connor of the English Democrats. I like the idea of Putting England First, but I also seem to recall some anti-EU connection with them so I probably couldn't vote for him. Next up on the list of least likely candidates I'd vote for is Lindsey German of the Left List. Her campaign is full of utopian Marxist drivel. 'Nuff said. Then there's Alan Craig of The Christian Choice. Crazy as it may seem, I would consider voting for him, but the problem is all the religious stuff. I like the ideas of promoting family values, championing London's poor, reducing poverty, ending corruption etc. I don't know what they'd do with the congestion charge, airport expansion and public transport prices - three of the major issues I'm concerned about.

Then there's Siân Berry of The Green Party. I like almost everything about their platform except their commitment to oppose all airport expansion not just in London, but also the South East. Call me a hypocrite, but I'd like to expand air travel in London to compete with other global hubs while finding alternative solutions to combat global warming. I'm also not convinced about Green solutions to dealing with the increase in gun and knife crime in the city, as well as how they would finance public transport price reductions. Economically speaking, there is not much different between them and the Left List but I think they're a lot less driven to kill the market economy.

Then there's Brian Paddick of the Lib Dems. I think it would be great for any city to have a gay mayor, especially my very own London, but unfortunately the Lib Dems are the Greens with a bigger, though not Tory-like commitment to the free market. Paddick is also opposed to Heathrow expansion. I'm not sure if he opposes the construction of a new, alternative Heathrow, but I'm going to assume he does. There, he won't get my vote. On the question of crime however, I'm inclined to believe him when he says he's better placed to deal with it than the other candidate: he's a former senior London police officer. He gained a decent reputation for the way he handled drug crime.

And finally, this leaves us with Red Ken of New Labour and "fill in your own adjective" Boris of the Conservatives. After 8 years of Ken Livingstone and his increasing arrogance, it wouldn't be a bad idea for change. It is just as well I support Boris's plans to improve security and increase investments to the police force. I also like his idea of banning drinking on Tube trains and other measures that will 'crack down on the culture of casual disorder.' On that alone and having a change I'd be inclined to vote for him but then I realized he's also going to scrap the proposed 25 squid congestion charge. I just cannot agree with him on that. I want as many cars, and especially gas guzzlers, to be charged as much as possible and in as many places as possible - not just Central/extended-areas (of Central) London. Unlike airplanes, there are suitable and reasonable alternatives to cars within a city - public transport.

Kenny and I on the other hand, agree on almost everything. He has indirectly contributed to the growth of London into the world's most magnificent global city, a factor which contributed no small part to my moving here almost a year ago. More importantly, he brought in the congestion charge and wants to expand its mandate. He also supports airport expansion (I think), or even if he doesn't, his party does. I'm less sure about his commitment or ability to control/reduce public transport prices but it has to be said, election oriented as it may have been, that he produced a 10p reduction in Oyster bus journeys in October last year. During his tenure he has also been instrumental in introducing the Oyster card system and over the next few months, its geographic access reach will expand. It also has to be said that despite his Red Ken label, Livingstone has not shown off his Left List colours by actively seeking to derail City profits. At the same time he has annoyed the Right by actively supporting the anti-War movement and if the Economist is to be believed, entertained Islamist elements during his mayoral reign. The Economist also labels him a PM-wannabe megalomaniac. That he may be, but he is one of only two candidates with a realistic chance of winning the election and the one I connect with best. That said, I am interested in change but only if it is worth it. Crime has worsened under Livingstone and I like Johnson's solutions. Meh... I wish this would be easier!