I have a lot of old video games, they're not worth anything to sell, and so they spend their time gathering dust on the shelf.
However, as I'm now perma-skint a few have been dusted off lately, and it's a real eye opener to go back to these games.
My bro and I played through the original Halo, and it's still remarkably playable today, in fact I'd say overall it's still the best in the series.
I've also just played through Jade Empire again, not my favourite BioWare title if I'm honest, but since I've played Mass Effect 1 & 2, and KotOR to death, and bro still has Dragon Age I decided to give it another play through.
It actually stands up pretty well to the test of time, and is still a solid enough game. The only problem was with the X360's woeful backwards compatibility. In fact if anything I enjoyed playing it more this time as I picked up more of the subtleties of the plot.
So, to sum up... retro gaming rules!!
Wednesday, 17 November 2010
Munich part deux
Right, so where was I? Oh yeah, going on about the exhibition stand... well for the most part it was ok but the counter top was shit... they'd promised a brand spanking new one, but what we got was clearly old and had been knocked about a bit.
The 2 fitters went off to the local DIY store to try and find a solution, and returned with some chrome coloured edging stuff which worked quite nicely.
We left the exhibition hall around 6, and piled into the car to go to the hotel. The German girl helping us out got a little confused by the fact it was an English car, and in her attempts to get into the passenger seat she wandered off to the driver's side of the car!!
The driver, we'll call him MG, got a bit lost despite having his sat nav... apparently neither he nor his sat nav knew about the road tunnel in Munich... so getting to the hotel took a bit longer than expected. Boss man took every opportunity to complain about this, with such helpful remarks as "I feel like I've been in this car for 3 hours".
Of course that made the journey go much faster...!!
The hotel was shit... there's no other word for it, it was small and the decor was hideous. Oh, and the receptionist was a real bitch. She had a massive attitude problem from the off, which wasn't helped by the boss asking for a bigger room, and one of the group changing rooms twice.
Anyway, I got settled into the place, and having discovered that the only English tv channels were pay per view, and cost €12 for 24 hours... so not worth it!!
So having had about 20 minutes to chill for the first time since Sunday it was time to go out to eat. We went to a place called Mozart's, where I had steak and chips... the Germans don't know how to do steak and chips like the English do!!
After dinner MG took me on a brief sightseeing tour of Munich... in the dark. It's tough to say really as you couldn't see too well, but it looked like a beautiful place with some spectacular architecture.
Then it was back to the hotel to crash... alarm set for 06:30 on Tuesday morning
To be continued...
The 2 fitters went off to the local DIY store to try and find a solution, and returned with some chrome coloured edging stuff which worked quite nicely.
We left the exhibition hall around 6, and piled into the car to go to the hotel. The German girl helping us out got a little confused by the fact it was an English car, and in her attempts to get into the passenger seat she wandered off to the driver's side of the car!!
The driver, we'll call him MG, got a bit lost despite having his sat nav... apparently neither he nor his sat nav knew about the road tunnel in Munich... so getting to the hotel took a bit longer than expected. Boss man took every opportunity to complain about this, with such helpful remarks as "I feel like I've been in this car for 3 hours".
Of course that made the journey go much faster...!!
The hotel was shit... there's no other word for it, it was small and the decor was hideous. Oh, and the receptionist was a real bitch. She had a massive attitude problem from the off, which wasn't helped by the boss asking for a bigger room, and one of the group changing rooms twice.
Anyway, I got settled into the place, and having discovered that the only English tv channels were pay per view, and cost €12 for 24 hours... so not worth it!!
So having had about 20 minutes to chill for the first time since Sunday it was time to go out to eat. We went to a place called Mozart's, where I had steak and chips... the Germans don't know how to do steak and chips like the English do!!
After dinner MG took me on a brief sightseeing tour of Munich... in the dark. It's tough to say really as you couldn't see too well, but it looked like a beautiful place with some spectacular architecture.
Then it was back to the hotel to crash... alarm set for 06:30 on Tuesday morning
To be continued...
Oooops.... that was close
So there I am driving the other half to the station this morning, and traffic is a nightmare. Some genius seems to have changed the timings on some traffic lights meaning that there are cars backed up for miles, and everyone seems to have decided it was a good idea to drive around the station at that time of day.
Now I don't have all the time in the world, unfortunately. I have to be in work by 08:15 while the other half wants dropping off around 08:00. Usually this isn't a problem but today... well it just wasn't going to happen.
So anyway, after I've dropped her off I'm waiting to turn out of a side road... I can't go anywhere as the traffic is all backed up, but I'm at the front of the queue to get out of this road... the traffic starts to move, and I can see my freedom...
There's a car coming from my right, but it's turning left so I'm ok, I pull out... oh £$%& there's another car behind it that's not turning.
It was one of those deer in the headlights moments, nothing I could do but sit and hope... luckily they stopped in time, and while listening to all the abuse under the sun, which I fully deserved, I went on my not so merry way.
Now I don't have all the time in the world, unfortunately. I have to be in work by 08:15 while the other half wants dropping off around 08:00. Usually this isn't a problem but today... well it just wasn't going to happen.
So anyway, after I've dropped her off I'm waiting to turn out of a side road... I can't go anywhere as the traffic is all backed up, but I'm at the front of the queue to get out of this road... the traffic starts to move, and I can see my freedom...
There's a car coming from my right, but it's turning left so I'm ok, I pull out... oh £$%& there's another car behind it that's not turning.
It was one of those deer in the headlights moments, nothing I could do but sit and hope... luckily they stopped in time, and while listening to all the abuse under the sun, which I fully deserved, I went on my not so merry way.
Car insurance
Now, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong here, but I was always of the belief that as you get older your car insurance gets cheaper, assuming you have no accidents.
So why is it then that all of the comparison sites are quoting me at least £100 more for my insurance renewal this year? I mean seriously I've now held my license for 2 years, have 2 years no claims, and all the other details are exactly the same as last year... yet they want more money?!
I seriously don't get it, either I've been lied to all these years, or insurance companies are moving the goal posts... greedy bastards!!
So why is it then that all of the comparison sites are quoting me at least £100 more for my insurance renewal this year? I mean seriously I've now held my license for 2 years, have 2 years no claims, and all the other details are exactly the same as last year... yet they want more money?!
I seriously don't get it, either I've been lied to all these years, or insurance companies are moving the goal posts... greedy bastards!!
Friday, 12 November 2010
Munich - part 1
Ok, so the whole Munich thing is going to be broken down a bit as there was just too much to talk about in one blog. So here we are with part 1.
On Monday morning I was out of bed at 3am... I wasn't aware that there actually was a 3am before this week, but apparently there is and it turns out it's too bloody early!!
So anyway, I got picked up at 4am to go to the airport and fly to Munich, and we got to the airport around 5am. Got checked in and through security, and went to Wetherspoon for a drink.
The flight out was at 06:20 on EasyJet... first time I'd flown with them, and they're shit. Unallocated seating on planes is a massive pile of wank. How hard is it to give people an allocated seat FFS. Of course not only do EasyJet not have allocated seating, they also don't pull up to airport terminals so everyone was standing in the freezing cold and pouring rain trying to get on the plane.
So the scramble to get on the plane ensues, and everyone tries to push and shove their way around to get the seats they want, and finally the plane takes off.
We landed in Munich at around 09:30 (local time), and were meant to be getting picked up. The boss says he told the guy picking us up to be there at 10, the guy says it was 10:30 and in any case we were there at 09:30, so we decided to take the train.
Looking at the train map we needed to get the S8 train, but the S1 train arrived first so the boss decided that'd do and we got on that one, even though it's going the long way.
We got to the exhibition centre around 75 minutes later, and the place was gigantic... 16 halls, over 5500 exhibitors, and I wouldn't like to guess how many visitors would be there over the course of the week.
So we get to our stand, and everything is not quite right with the counter top that the stand company have sent. It was supposed to be brand new and it was a bit battered and worn. In the end the fitters managed to recover the situation, and we got the finishing touches on the stand.
To be continued...
On Monday morning I was out of bed at 3am... I wasn't aware that there actually was a 3am before this week, but apparently there is and it turns out it's too bloody early!!
So anyway, I got picked up at 4am to go to the airport and fly to Munich, and we got to the airport around 5am. Got checked in and through security, and went to Wetherspoon for a drink.
The flight out was at 06:20 on EasyJet... first time I'd flown with them, and they're shit. Unallocated seating on planes is a massive pile of wank. How hard is it to give people an allocated seat FFS. Of course not only do EasyJet not have allocated seating, they also don't pull up to airport terminals so everyone was standing in the freezing cold and pouring rain trying to get on the plane.
So the scramble to get on the plane ensues, and everyone tries to push and shove their way around to get the seats they want, and finally the plane takes off.
We landed in Munich at around 09:30 (local time), and were meant to be getting picked up. The boss says he told the guy picking us up to be there at 10, the guy says it was 10:30 and in any case we were there at 09:30, so we decided to take the train.
Looking at the train map we needed to get the S8 train, but the S1 train arrived first so the boss decided that'd do and we got on that one, even though it's going the long way.
We got to the exhibition centre around 75 minutes later, and the place was gigantic... 16 halls, over 5500 exhibitors, and I wouldn't like to guess how many visitors would be there over the course of the week.
So we get to our stand, and everything is not quite right with the counter top that the stand company have sent. It was supposed to be brand new and it was a bit battered and worn. In the end the fitters managed to recover the situation, and we got the finishing touches on the stand.
To be continued...
Thursday, 4 November 2010
Lets get physio...
So you may recall in an earlier blog I mentioned my bad knee, injured playing football many moons ago.
Well after about 15 years I decided I should probably get something done about it, so I hobbled off to see my GP a few weeks ago about it.
In typical GP fashion he was largely uninterested, without looking at my knee he said he'd refer me to see a specialist... I'm sure GPs used to look at ailments before offloading you on someone else, or is that my imagination?!
So, last night I went off to see the specialist about it. After poking and prodding at my knee, and trying to manipulate my knee to see how much pain he could cause he decided that he'll refer me for physio, and that I need to lose weight (that's a real revelation isn't it? Everyone knows I'm fat, but I like my food!!).
Anyhow, in the process of messing about with my knee the bastard crippled my hip!! Seriously I got a shooting pain through my head, had a massive body spasm as the pain shot through me, and nearly kicked him in the head in the process.
I literally limped out of the place, but he seemed unconcerned as it wasn't pain in my knee... cheers doc!!
So, now we wait for the physio appointment... and to see who they refer me to.
Well after about 15 years I decided I should probably get something done about it, so I hobbled off to see my GP a few weeks ago about it.
In typical GP fashion he was largely uninterested, without looking at my knee he said he'd refer me to see a specialist... I'm sure GPs used to look at ailments before offloading you on someone else, or is that my imagination?!
So, last night I went off to see the specialist about it. After poking and prodding at my knee, and trying to manipulate my knee to see how much pain he could cause he decided that he'll refer me for physio, and that I need to lose weight (that's a real revelation isn't it? Everyone knows I'm fat, but I like my food!!).
Anyhow, in the process of messing about with my knee the bastard crippled my hip!! Seriously I got a shooting pain through my head, had a massive body spasm as the pain shot through me, and nearly kicked him in the head in the process.
I literally limped out of the place, but he seemed unconcerned as it wasn't pain in my knee... cheers doc!!
So, now we wait for the physio appointment... and to see who they refer me to.
Tuesday, 2 November 2010
The Force Unlea... oh... it's over
Now as I mentioned in an earlier blog I do rather enjoy my video games, and one that I've been looking forward to for a fair while is Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2. Having played the original, and enjoyed it immensely, I was quite excited to have the chance to play through this.
Having completed it now there are a couple of points I think need making. This is not a game without problems, the plot is pretty thin on the ground for starters, the levels all tend to progress in a pretty similar way without enough really large scale fight scenes against seemingly impossible odds, and a little more variety in the environments would be nice...
All of those fade into the background compared to one massive, glaring problem with the game... it's only four hours long!! Seriously I got home at around 3pm on Friday to find it on my door mat, and I finished at around 10pm. During this time I'd stopped to pick the missus up, have dinner, watch a spot of telly, have a drink, and take a dump...
How can LucasArts justify charging full price for a game that's shorter than most DLC available for games? Lair of the Shadow Broker for Mass Effect 2 was around the same length, and cost £8. Fallout: New Vegas cost the same as TFU 2 but is infinitely replayable, and boasts hundreds of hours worth of gaming.
So how, Mr Lucas, can you justify to your fans that you charge the £10 per hour for your new video game?!
Having completed it now there are a couple of points I think need making. This is not a game without problems, the plot is pretty thin on the ground for starters, the levels all tend to progress in a pretty similar way without enough really large scale fight scenes against seemingly impossible odds, and a little more variety in the environments would be nice...
All of those fade into the background compared to one massive, glaring problem with the game... it's only four hours long!! Seriously I got home at around 3pm on Friday to find it on my door mat, and I finished at around 10pm. During this time I'd stopped to pick the missus up, have dinner, watch a spot of telly, have a drink, and take a dump...
How can LucasArts justify charging full price for a game that's shorter than most DLC available for games? Lair of the Shadow Broker for Mass Effect 2 was around the same length, and cost £8. Fallout: New Vegas cost the same as TFU 2 but is infinitely replayable, and boasts hundreds of hours worth of gaming.
So how, Mr Lucas, can you justify to your fans that you charge the £10 per hour for your new video game?!
Why did I get out of bed this morning?!
Today started as one of those days. My dodgy knee was aching, I had a bit of a headache, and I really didn't feel like getting out of bed.
It didn't get too much better from there, at least in the early stages, having gotten ready to go out I loaded my suitcase into the car to go to Munich (a colleague is driving over so offered to take my stuff over as I'm only taking hand luggage).
Get in the car to take the other half to the station, and the traffic is mental. Barely moving from about halfway to the station. Why? Because some genius decided that rush hour is a good time to have road sweepers on busy roads...
...you've got to be kidding me, blocking a major route to a busy commuter station at 8am... get a f*cking clue people. You want the road sweeper along there then fine, but do it at 10am when everyone's in school / work already and your inept f*ckwittery causes the least possible inconvenience.
So I finally dropped her off, and on the return journey there's a lane closed on the dual carriageway, while some men stand around and look at a wall... that's great lads, top work there, you stare at a wall like a pro. But how about getting out of the sodding way, or actually doing some work... either would be a good shout if I'm honest here fellas!!
Luckily things did pick up when I got to work. The boss wasn't in to notice that I was slightly late, and when he did arrive he'd got bacon rolls on the way in... result!!
It didn't get too much better from there, at least in the early stages, having gotten ready to go out I loaded my suitcase into the car to go to Munich (a colleague is driving over so offered to take my stuff over as I'm only taking hand luggage).
Get in the car to take the other half to the station, and the traffic is mental. Barely moving from about halfway to the station. Why? Because some genius decided that rush hour is a good time to have road sweepers on busy roads...
...you've got to be kidding me, blocking a major route to a busy commuter station at 8am... get a f*cking clue people. You want the road sweeper along there then fine, but do it at 10am when everyone's in school / work already and your inept f*ckwittery causes the least possible inconvenience.
So I finally dropped her off, and on the return journey there's a lane closed on the dual carriageway, while some men stand around and look at a wall... that's great lads, top work there, you stare at a wall like a pro. But how about getting out of the sodding way, or actually doing some work... either would be a good shout if I'm honest here fellas!!
Luckily things did pick up when I got to work. The boss wasn't in to notice that I was slightly late, and when he did arrive he'd got bacon rolls on the way in... result!!
Monday, 1 November 2010
Sophie's Choice
As you'll be aware if you read my "Tw*ts on trains" blog I was in Sidcup on Saturday night, at a restaurant called Sophie's Choice.
It's a crap name for a restaurant tbh, and as it turns out it's a crap name for a crap restaurant.
The missus and I arrived at about 19:40 on Saturday, the table was booked for 19:45 but we were the first of the party there (her family doesn't know the meaning of punctuality!!). So we ask the waitress where our table is, she goes and checks, then tells us it's upstairs.
We make our way upstairs, where the staff have no idea and say that our table might be downstairs. After a few minutes they finally figure out which of the 6 or 7 tables is ours, and we take our seats.
The waitress comes to take our drink orders, I order a sparkling water and the missus wants a vodka and coke.
Several minutes later the waitress returns with a sparkling water... but she's forgotten what the missus wants... cos it's tough to remember 2 things, and not like a waitress could ever need to remember multiple things is it?!
Soon another 3 people turned up, taking us to 50 of 9 having arrived... only a few minutes late. Their drinks are equally slow turning up, but now we have menus as well... this is progress!!
The other 4 people belatedly show up, and get some drinks ordered. Do we get more menus? No, so now we're sharing 5 menus between 9 people... not the end of the world I grant you, but not ideal really.
What seems an eternity later the waitress comes to take our orders... I'll have the pate and then sirloin steak, medium rare, with chips.
The pate was meant to be duck and orange... it wasn't, it was duck with a slice of orange on the side, and it was not very nice at all. Far too bitter.
Ok, onto the steak. Medium rare? Not really, no, but it'll do. It wasn't until I was halfway through that I realised my medium rare steak was sat across the table, being eaten by the future sis in law who'd ordered medium... waitress got them mixed up, but I'd eaten half by then so it was a bit late to swap. The medium rare did look nice though...
The dessert was actually quite nice, shame it turned up at breakfast time the next day!! Seriously is it that difficult to be offered a dessert menu within half an hour of finishing your main? Surely not!!
And then onto the crowning achievement of this most mediocre of eateries... the bill.
The discussion had already been had that the missus and I were only paying for what we had, not subsidising the bunch of winos she calls family. So she hands over the cash to cover ours... then the debates start "well I only had one glass of wine and she had 5", "well I had no wine so why should I pay for any of it?"... etc. In the end they all decide to pay the same amount, and the debit cards come out.
Card number 1 goes into the machine, the transaction starts and then the machine freezes. They do it again, now there are 2 receipts... has she been charged twice? Nobody knows, and now the machine is broken. They must have another machine? Nope, just one for the whole place.
Well at least they must have an old manual one as a backup? Nope, just the one broken electronic one.
Now hands are diving into pockets seeking cash, what should be a simple end to the evening becoming ever more complex. Now the waitress is talking about people phoning up later to pay... what a mess.
Unfortunately I never did find out how it all resolved in the end... I had a train to catch.
It's a crap name for a restaurant tbh, and as it turns out it's a crap name for a crap restaurant.
The missus and I arrived at about 19:40 on Saturday, the table was booked for 19:45 but we were the first of the party there (her family doesn't know the meaning of punctuality!!). So we ask the waitress where our table is, she goes and checks, then tells us it's upstairs.
We make our way upstairs, where the staff have no idea and say that our table might be downstairs. After a few minutes they finally figure out which of the 6 or 7 tables is ours, and we take our seats.
The waitress comes to take our drink orders, I order a sparkling water and the missus wants a vodka and coke.
Several minutes later the waitress returns with a sparkling water... but she's forgotten what the missus wants... cos it's tough to remember 2 things, and not like a waitress could ever need to remember multiple things is it?!
Soon another 3 people turned up, taking us to 50 of 9 having arrived... only a few minutes late. Their drinks are equally slow turning up, but now we have menus as well... this is progress!!
The other 4 people belatedly show up, and get some drinks ordered. Do we get more menus? No, so now we're sharing 5 menus between 9 people... not the end of the world I grant you, but not ideal really.
What seems an eternity later the waitress comes to take our orders... I'll have the pate and then sirloin steak, medium rare, with chips.
The pate was meant to be duck and orange... it wasn't, it was duck with a slice of orange on the side, and it was not very nice at all. Far too bitter.
Ok, onto the steak. Medium rare? Not really, no, but it'll do. It wasn't until I was halfway through that I realised my medium rare steak was sat across the table, being eaten by the future sis in law who'd ordered medium... waitress got them mixed up, but I'd eaten half by then so it was a bit late to swap. The medium rare did look nice though...
The dessert was actually quite nice, shame it turned up at breakfast time the next day!! Seriously is it that difficult to be offered a dessert menu within half an hour of finishing your main? Surely not!!
And then onto the crowning achievement of this most mediocre of eateries... the bill.
The discussion had already been had that the missus and I were only paying for what we had, not subsidising the bunch of winos she calls family. So she hands over the cash to cover ours... then the debates start "well I only had one glass of wine and she had 5", "well I had no wine so why should I pay for any of it?"... etc. In the end they all decide to pay the same amount, and the debit cards come out.
Card number 1 goes into the machine, the transaction starts and then the machine freezes. They do it again, now there are 2 receipts... has she been charged twice? Nobody knows, and now the machine is broken. They must have another machine? Nope, just one for the whole place.
Well at least they must have an old manual one as a backup? Nope, just the one broken electronic one.
Now hands are diving into pockets seeking cash, what should be a simple end to the evening becoming ever more complex. Now the waitress is talking about people phoning up later to pay... what a mess.
Unfortunately I never did find out how it all resolved in the end... I had a train to catch.
Tw*ts on trains
Right, so on Saturday night I had to go to Sidcup with the other half, to go to dinner for a couple of her family members' birthdays.
Since I had no idea where the place was, and she was only vaguely aware of where it was we decided to go by train rather than get horribly lost by car... although getting horribly lost would've been a better use of the evening.
So, we're on the train to Sidcup, and there are some rather loud chavvy types sat in the carriage we're in for the first part of the journey... they're pretty annoying, but relatively easy to ignore.
The train then pulls in at Higham and 2 girls dressed as witches (well, I say dressed as witches, they had witch hats on and that was about the extent of the costume) get on the train with some bloke.
They start to play music on their phones which majorly pisses me off to start with, but that particular bugbear is for another day.
As the train thunders onwards they start talking, and one of them utters the following gem, which helps sum them up quite nicely "I love Halloween cos I can dress like a slut". Now if that's not a mark of a classy young lady then I don't know what is!!
So, being astonished by the depths which society is sinking to we get off of the train at Gravesend to change trains.
The second leg of the journey was pretty quiet really, which was a pleasant change from the first leg.
The restaurant was rubbish, you'll see more on that in my "Sophie's Choice" blog entry.
The first leg of the trip back wasn't too bad either if memory serves, other than the fact that by this point I had a rotten headache and desperately needed painkillers and sleep. We reached Dartford, and had to wait for another connection... whose idea was it to go by train again?!
While talking to the missus about my need for painkillers a girl sat on the bench behind us said "we've got some cold relief stuff if that's any help". Her other half then proceeds to empty his pockets of more stuff than I ever thought one person could keep on them, but has lost his cold relief tablets. Ah well, the thought was there, and that one intended act of kindness did help brighten the day a little.
Then some more chavs turn up... I hate chavs!! These 2 lads are calling each other every name under the sun, then one decides to go to the vending machine on the other platform... the other asks him to get something from the machine for him. Chav number 1 doesn't bother, and tells chav number 2 it's because he's a dickhead (or some such thing). Then chav number 2 goes to the machine and the same happens again but in reverse.
A glance up at the train info monitor shows that the train is going to be late... shocking!
Then a group of 5 or 6 eastern European sounding girls wander along the platform dressed as burlesque dancers, wanting to know how to get to London. Now at midnight on a Saturday it's not easy to get to London as you maybe aware.
Chav 1 and 2 see a chance to get shot down by some foreign totty and wander along the platform after the girls, loudly talking about which is most attractive (always the best way to impress the girls). Their pursuit of said girls ended fairly rapidly as the train approaches.
We decide to get on a different carriage to these 2 wonders of modern society, and by did we pick the wrong carriage?!?!
Up until this point the other people on trains had been a vague annoyance, but now it was to get worse. I don't know if it was just because I was tired and had a headache, or they genuinely were worse than all of the others, but the people in this carriage were doing my head right in!!
The worst was some scummer from Gravesend, who loudly exclaimed "I've been banned from every pub in Gravesend cos everyone else is dickheads". Not quite sure how that works if I'm honest? If you keep your head down and don't get involved with other people then you don't get banned from pubs, which makes this guy just as culpable as every other "dickhead" in Gravesend.
Now I lived in Gravesend for 11 months, and I know it's not short of dickheads and pissheads. In fact living next door to a charming drinking establishment a number of them kept me awake in the early hours.
So anyway, this charming chap, and his new friends are having a right old laugh, while everyone else on the carriage shoots them looks that could kill. Thankfully all but 2 got off at Gravesend as half lived there and half needed to change onto a train to go to Rainham.
Now that I've vented that I would just like to ask anyone reading this to do me one favour. The next time I decide to get a train somewhere, slap me, and tell me to drive!!
Since I had no idea where the place was, and she was only vaguely aware of where it was we decided to go by train rather than get horribly lost by car... although getting horribly lost would've been a better use of the evening.
So, we're on the train to Sidcup, and there are some rather loud chavvy types sat in the carriage we're in for the first part of the journey... they're pretty annoying, but relatively easy to ignore.
The train then pulls in at Higham and 2 girls dressed as witches (well, I say dressed as witches, they had witch hats on and that was about the extent of the costume) get on the train with some bloke.
They start to play music on their phones which majorly pisses me off to start with, but that particular bugbear is for another day.
As the train thunders onwards they start talking, and one of them utters the following gem, which helps sum them up quite nicely "I love Halloween cos I can dress like a slut". Now if that's not a mark of a classy young lady then I don't know what is!!
So, being astonished by the depths which society is sinking to we get off of the train at Gravesend to change trains.
The second leg of the journey was pretty quiet really, which was a pleasant change from the first leg.
The restaurant was rubbish, you'll see more on that in my "Sophie's Choice" blog entry.
The first leg of the trip back wasn't too bad either if memory serves, other than the fact that by this point I had a rotten headache and desperately needed painkillers and sleep. We reached Dartford, and had to wait for another connection... whose idea was it to go by train again?!
While talking to the missus about my need for painkillers a girl sat on the bench behind us said "we've got some cold relief stuff if that's any help". Her other half then proceeds to empty his pockets of more stuff than I ever thought one person could keep on them, but has lost his cold relief tablets. Ah well, the thought was there, and that one intended act of kindness did help brighten the day a little.
Then some more chavs turn up... I hate chavs!! These 2 lads are calling each other every name under the sun, then one decides to go to the vending machine on the other platform... the other asks him to get something from the machine for him. Chav number 1 doesn't bother, and tells chav number 2 it's because he's a dickhead (or some such thing). Then chav number 2 goes to the machine and the same happens again but in reverse.
A glance up at the train info monitor shows that the train is going to be late... shocking!
Then a group of 5 or 6 eastern European sounding girls wander along the platform dressed as burlesque dancers, wanting to know how to get to London. Now at midnight on a Saturday it's not easy to get to London as you maybe aware.
Chav 1 and 2 see a chance to get shot down by some foreign totty and wander along the platform after the girls, loudly talking about which is most attractive (always the best way to impress the girls). Their pursuit of said girls ended fairly rapidly as the train approaches.
We decide to get on a different carriage to these 2 wonders of modern society, and by did we pick the wrong carriage?!?!
Up until this point the other people on trains had been a vague annoyance, but now it was to get worse. I don't know if it was just because I was tired and had a headache, or they genuinely were worse than all of the others, but the people in this carriage were doing my head right in!!
The worst was some scummer from Gravesend, who loudly exclaimed "I've been banned from every pub in Gravesend cos everyone else is dickheads". Not quite sure how that works if I'm honest? If you keep your head down and don't get involved with other people then you don't get banned from pubs, which makes this guy just as culpable as every other "dickhead" in Gravesend.
Now I lived in Gravesend for 11 months, and I know it's not short of dickheads and pissheads. In fact living next door to a charming drinking establishment a number of them kept me awake in the early hours.
So anyway, this charming chap, and his new friends are having a right old laugh, while everyone else on the carriage shoots them looks that could kill. Thankfully all but 2 got off at Gravesend as half lived there and half needed to change onto a train to go to Rainham.
Now that I've vented that I would just like to ask anyone reading this to do me one favour. The next time I decide to get a train somewhere, slap me, and tell me to drive!!
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