I feel surrounded and trapped by holes in the road. And assorted other things. All of it is for my long-term benefit, and as an experienced maker of omelettes, I know only too well the truism about breaking eggs.
All over London, and, I believe, beyond (yes, even in the wilderness of 'outside the M25') holes are appearing for the repair of the Victorian Water Mains. Over the summer and into the autumn, it was a constant guessing game - where will my bus stop be today, will my bus stop even exist? This was exacerbated by Thames House (spooky!) landscaping works on Millbank. Brixton Town Centre is currently a mess, as a pavement-widening and landscaping scheme progresses - which will be excellent when finished. It holds up north-bound traffic in the morning, so I, like most people get off a stop early and walk.
In the evening, the southbound stops have been moved. Admittedly, not a great distance, but an inconvenience for those with mobility problems, heavy luggage or shopping, or uncomfortable shoes. Two stops combined into one makes it difficult to judge where to stand to catch the right bus.
I like to catch a specific bus that turns right to drop me nearer my house. However, there are gas works from the beginning of last month to the end of this that cause traffic congestion, adding ten or fifteen minutes bus time for the sake of a five minute walk. These gas works also mean that the buses from Clapham Common that usually stop outside my door have been diverted, necessitating an extra walk from that direction. And on weekday evenings, the Victoria Line and thus Brixton tube, closes early; it is often not open at weekends.
Two weeks ago the Victorian Water Main renewal project arrived in Gert Cottage Boulevard. They think we live in Norwood! I thought it was Brixton (Hill), but we seem to have been rebranded as Clapham Park although phone companies think we are Tulse Hill and Royal Mail, Streatham Hill. This was a minor inconvenience - apart from the tarmac we have walked into the house, the plant that has been damaged, the builder who yelled 'you forking count' (or somesuch) right outside my living room window. They did give us three days notice of one of the days we would be without water, although not the other two non-consecutive days. They've gone now and did tidy up well, even meticulously painting back the yellow lines in bright yellow paint on the fresh tarmac, so they look weird beside the years old faded barely visible double yellows!
Oh, and they seem to have damaged the phone line. I noticed my broadband connection was intermittent last Monday. I did nothing about it initially because these things often pass. But it has continued to be intermittent and deteriorating (forget downloading; forget surfing), so I called BT. They said there is a fault on the line and engineers will fix it tomorrow. Jimmy is startled that people in India can find a 'copper fault' outside our front door! It's currently a bit like Pay as You Go Dial-Up but not as quick or convenient.
And because things never go wrong singly, I think my mp3 player is buggered and the washing machine needs nudging on from 'rinse' to 'spin'!
