About an hour before my appointment on Tuesday i had a phone call from the consultants secretary, no one had reported on my scan so could I postpone my visit for another week!!!! Why make the appointment if the hospital can not have the results!!!!!!!!!!!!!
On a personal basis it has been quite a sad couple of weeks for me. Apart from the sad news of Jane Thompson's passing I have attended two fatalaties in a work capacity and last night I received news that one of my old school friends has succombed to cancer.
Andy
Thursday, 10 June 2010
Saturday, 5 June 2010
Now where were we?
With such a lot going on recently I seem to have lost the thread of my rail memories!
After Sole Street I was appointed to the exalted position of Divisional Relief based at Swanley. As the job title implies you covered leave, sickness and vacancies. This meant that you never knew from one week to the next what or where you would be working. It did not do wonders for your social life as you can imagine as you could be working in London late one night and be on the coast the following morning. In fact it did cause the break up of my relationship at the time and in many ways I still bear the scars of her betrayal which hurt me very deeply at the time. The plus side of course was that there was always lots of overtime which added to scale expenses and a 15% allowance for not working regular shifts led to some rather pleasant pay days!
The other plus was that I met many people who 40 years on are not only fellow railwaymen but good friends as well. It must be remembered that the railway than was very different to that of today and after work it was not unusual for the last one in the pub to buy the beer!
During my time on relief one of my favourite stations to cover was Orpington and when the chance came up to apply for a job there I did and I was succesfull but that can wait until another time.
On a personal note I had my regular 3 monthly CT scan on Thursday and get the result on Tuesday. Although I am certain nothing has changed there is always that nagging worry..........
Andy
After Sole Street I was appointed to the exalted position of Divisional Relief based at Swanley. As the job title implies you covered leave, sickness and vacancies. This meant that you never knew from one week to the next what or where you would be working. It did not do wonders for your social life as you can imagine as you could be working in London late one night and be on the coast the following morning. In fact it did cause the break up of my relationship at the time and in many ways I still bear the scars of her betrayal which hurt me very deeply at the time. The plus side of course was that there was always lots of overtime which added to scale expenses and a 15% allowance for not working regular shifts led to some rather pleasant pay days!
The other plus was that I met many people who 40 years on are not only fellow railwaymen but good friends as well. It must be remembered that the railway than was very different to that of today and after work it was not unusual for the last one in the pub to buy the beer!
During my time on relief one of my favourite stations to cover was Orpington and when the chance came up to apply for a job there I did and I was succesfull but that can wait until another time.
On a personal note I had my regular 3 monthly CT scan on Thursday and get the result on Tuesday. Although I am certain nothing has changed there is always that nagging worry..........
Andy
Sunday, 30 May 2010
Jane
This is not quite the entry that I was planning.
It is with great regret and sadness that I have to say that Jane Thompson passed away this afternoon.
Her fight with renal cancer can has been a long struggle which she fought with immense courage and determination. Even though we never met and comunicated only through blog entries she gave me such determination to carry on with my own fight against cancer I feel at a loss to put in words my devastation at her passing. My thoughts are with her husband and children there loss is imense.
Andy
It is with great regret and sadness that I have to say that Jane Thompson passed away this afternoon.
Her fight with renal cancer can has been a long struggle which she fought with immense courage and determination. Even though we never met and comunicated only through blog entries she gave me such determination to carry on with my own fight against cancer I feel at a loss to put in words my devastation at her passing. My thoughts are with her husband and children there loss is imense.
Andy
Friday, 21 May 2010
Return to Sole Street
Hello
Today I went back to Sole Street to undertake an audit. I was pleased to say that the station is in good condition and still retains most of its london Chatham and Dover railway heritage. It brought back many happy memories and I took a couple of photos on my phone.
Station entrance
Station entrance
Looking towards Rochester
The original LCDR waiting shelter on the down side
Networker class 465074 arrives with a semi fast service from Victoria to Gillingham
Andy
Andy
Thursday, 20 May 2010
TWO WEEKS!
Well its actually nearly two and a half weeks since I last posted!
In this time we have a new government and a fairly historic one to boot! History alone will tell if the Conservative- Lib Dem coalition will be succesful but I think another election will be called possibly as early as this October once the honeymoon period is over but again only time will tell.
Work is rather hectic at the moment but I did manage to escape to Hastings the other day but my plans to have fish and chips for lunch were scuppered by a fatality on the line. Hastings probably has the best fish and chip shops in the UK and lunch is a highlight of a trip there, at times I think life can be extremely unfair!!!!
Andy
In this time we have a new government and a fairly historic one to boot! History alone will tell if the Conservative- Lib Dem coalition will be succesful but I think another election will be called possibly as early as this October once the honeymoon period is over but again only time will tell.
Work is rather hectic at the moment but I did manage to escape to Hastings the other day but my plans to have fish and chips for lunch were scuppered by a fatality on the line. Hastings probably has the best fish and chip shops in the UK and lunch is a highlight of a trip there, at times I think life can be extremely unfair!!!!
Andy
Monday, 3 May 2010
Great Balls of Fire
Excuse the slightly humerous title but it reveals a serious and worrying situation.
Here in Maidstone we seem to have an arsonist on the loose. It started last week when fires were started in the toilets in Sainsbury's, Chequers Shoping centr and McDonalds, This was followed by a fire in a flat in Durham Close.
Worse was to come on Saturday, a fire was discovered in the lighting department at B & Q in Larkfield which fortunately was quickly dealt with. Half an hour later a serious fire was discovered in the Homebase store at South Aylesford. This started in the middle of the store in the timber department and as it is a DIY store it was full of flammable materials, paint white spirit etc it spread rapidly. The store has been completely destroyed and at one stage the temperature inside reached 600 degrees centigrade.
Fortunately no one has been injured in any of these incidents but I only hope the authorities catch the person responsible sooner rather than later.
Another piece of sad news has reached me about one of my fellow bloggers Jane. She has been suffering from kidney cancer for some time and unfortunately her condition has deteriorated over the last 24 hours. You can visit her blog at A Journey of another kind. Her fight against cancer has been truly inspirational and has been a great strength in my own fight.
Andy
Here in Maidstone we seem to have an arsonist on the loose. It started last week when fires were started in the toilets in Sainsbury's, Chequers Shoping centr and McDonalds, This was followed by a fire in a flat in Durham Close.
Worse was to come on Saturday, a fire was discovered in the lighting department at B & Q in Larkfield which fortunately was quickly dealt with. Half an hour later a serious fire was discovered in the Homebase store at South Aylesford. This started in the middle of the store in the timber department and as it is a DIY store it was full of flammable materials, paint white spirit etc it spread rapidly. The store has been completely destroyed and at one stage the temperature inside reached 600 degrees centigrade.
Fortunately no one has been injured in any of these incidents but I only hope the authorities catch the person responsible sooner rather than later.
Another piece of sad news has reached me about one of my fellow bloggers Jane. She has been suffering from kidney cancer for some time and unfortunately her condition has deteriorated over the last 24 hours. You can visit her blog at A Journey of another kind. Her fight against cancer has been truly inspirational and has been a great strength in my own fight.
Andy
Saturday, 1 May 2010
Yummy
Hello
You know those competions in free newspapers and you wonder if anyone ever wins them? Just before Easter just for devilment I thought I would enter one wher the prize was a 1 kg Belgium chocolate Easter Egg- well guess what turned uo today!
It is almost to good to open!
Andy
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