tcbutler.co.uk

Anyone who’s ever visited South East Asia will be familiar with this scenario. After a morning coffee with the guide book, you’ve planned your route for the day, taking in the back streets, the rivers, the sights, tastes and sounds of the city. You step proudly out onto the street, ready for whatever new experiences the day holds.

20 minutes later, you’re world-weary, cynical, and every 2 steps automatically barking “No thank you”, “NO” then “IF I WANTED A TAXI I MIGHT HAVE SAID YES TO THE TWELVE GENTLEMEN DIRECTLY NEXT TO YOU TO WHOM I’VE FIRMLY SAID NO”.

While they definitely serve a purpose, the self-defeating cycle of increasingly aggressive sales tactics which in turn put off the potential punters and make them harder to sell to has undermined the core value of their services, and tourists are so hardened to saying “NO” clearly and promptly as soon as eye contact is made that the very option of taking a bike is never considered.

For self-destructive sales tactics and generally being a blight on a tourist’s day: Rating:

As I relax on the sofa, with the oil radiator thawing out my frozen toes and a large glass of Glenfiddich in my hand, I reflect on an evening misspent.

A journey from the Norfolk coast to London, which should have taken around 3 hours, 2 trains and 1 tube, took around 6 hours, 4 trains, 1 bus and a very long tube. The root causes were A: rail replacement work by Network Rail and B: an unexpected overhead line fault somewhere near Chelmsford.

However, tonight will be remembered as a sample of both the best and the worst of British… (more…)

Yes, it happened. While I’ve been very impressed by the build quality of my beloved Eee PC, just the other week the first real sign of wear and tear became apparent. Quite simply, the C fell off. I don’t know where it is. But henceforth it shall be known as my Eeep. Undecided whether to remove all the other shiny letters so it looks all intentionally recessed and black, or to just deal with it and move on like a grownup.