The first commute of 2024....


Surprised to see how busy it was this morning.



Taken with Mini 3 Pro.


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DAFlys Posted at 1-2 01:05
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The back-to-work-after-holidays exodus

Blériot53 Posted at 1-2 01:16
The back-to-work-after-holidays exodus

Yes,    Id have thought it would be more a WFH day today, but they were queuing out of the station when I passed.

DAFlys Posted at 1-2 01:33
Yes,    Id have thought it would be more a WFH day today, but they were queuing out of the station when I passed.

Roads not too busy here. Car is being inspected now. We're in the café

I am glad I don't have to deal with commuting any more...retirement is wonderful!

Early start. Like the red blur.

Blériot53 Posted at 1-2 02:26
Roads not too busy here. Car is being inspected now. We're in the café

Roads were murder here,   literally water coming up out of the tarmac in several places and lots of flooding.   Finally home though to relax.

WN1X Posted at 1-2 03:33
I am glad I don't have to deal with commuting any more...retirement is wonderful!

Same here,  and hopefully I can keep it up for a few more years.  

DAFlys Posted at 1-2 06:03
Roads were murder here,   literally water coming up out of the tarmac in several places and lots of flooding.   Finally home though to relax.

Tyres sorted, but a broken coil spring needs fixing.  Happy New Year

Blériot53 Posted at 1-2 06:25
Tyres sorted, but a broken coil spring needs fixing.  Happy New Year

Oh boy.      They are frustrating as the part isn't usually very much,  it's the labour to fit it that hurts.  

DAFlys Posted at 1-2 07:30
Oh boy.      They are frustrating as the part isn't usually very much,  it's the labour to fit it that hurts.

No cakes with the coffees this month

DAFlys Posted at 1-2 01:05
[view_image]

Really great low light shot DA.    Lots of early commuters heading back to the grind of in office working.  

Blériot53 Posted at 1-2 02:26
Roads not too busy here. Car is being inspected now. We're in the café

Does the UK have annual inspections?  Nice that there is a cafe nearby.  

WN1X Posted at 1-2 03:33
I am glad I don't have to deal with commuting any more...retirement is wonderful!

I'll 2nd that.  

DowntownRDB Posted at 1-2 09:28
Does the UK have annual inspections?  Nice that there is a cafe nearby.

The annual M.O.T. (Ministry of Transport) test is mandatory for all cars over 3 years old.
Mine came  up in mid-December, but the broken coil spring was likely caused by the terrible holes in the road surface around here. It only came to light this morning on the way to the tyre shop - a graunching noise when riding over the bumps.  It was fine last time I was out in it, last Tuesday.

Blériot53 Posted at 1-2 09:53
The annual M.O.T. (Ministry of Transport) test is mandatory for all cars over 3 years old.
Mine came  up in mid-December, but the broken coil spring was likely caused by the terrible holes in the road surface around here. It only came to light this morning on the way to the tyre shop - a graunching noise when riding over the bumps.  It was fine last time I was out in it, last Tuesday.

Oh no, sorry to hear about the broken coil spring.  Long story short I represented a client in suing a small city for not repairing their deep pot holes.  His front tire fell into a hole so deep that it tore out all the front end suspension on that side of his car and then the car rammed into a fire hydrant.  The city was suing him for damages to the fire hydrant.  So i counter sued for neglect in maintain roads in a safe driving condition and for the damage to his car from the deep pot hole and from the water damage caused by the fire hydrant.  I won the case for him and the jury found the city at fault and awarded him a sizeable amount of money and my attorney fees.  It wasn't long after that the city maintenance crews finally got out and started doing their jobs of filling and patching the holes.  

Seemedlike a busy day all over. Nice shot.

Blériot53 Posted at 1-2 08:02
No cakes with the coffees this month

Best save the pennies for that repair. .   And I checked the premium bonds this morning and I won nought.   

DowntownRDB Posted at 1-2 09:27
Really great low light shot DA.    Lots of early commuters heading back to the grind of in office working.

It's been surprisingly busy this week so far,  I was extra early this morning and the amount of people about before 6am made it feel much later.  

BetterBizTech Posted at 1-2 17:41
Seemedlike a busy day all over. Nice shot.

thank you Charles.   

DowntownRDB Posted at 1-2 15:30
Oh no, sorry to hear about the broken coil spring.  Long story short I represented a client in suing a small city for not repairing their deep pot holes.  His front tire fell into a hole so deep that it tore out all the front end suspension on that side of his car and then the car rammed into a fire hydrant.  The city was suing him for damages to the fire hydrant.  So i counter sued for neglect in maintain roads in a safe driving condition and for the damage to his car from the deep pot hole and from the water damage caused by the fire hydrant.  I won the case for him and the jury found the city at fault and awarded him a sizeable amount of money and my attorney fees.  It wasn't long after that the city maintenance crews finally got out and started doing their jobs of filling and patching the holes.

Our "wonderful" prime minister has vowed to spend an enormous sum over the next 3 years to fix all the potholes in the roads. But the car repair centres are raking in the money fixing damage caused by such neglect.

DAFlys Posted at 1-2 22:57
Best save the pennies for that repair. .   And I checked the premium bonds this morning and I won nought.

Our lottery ticket was just loo roll as well

Blériot53 Posted at 1-3 01:23
Our lottery ticket was just loo roll as well

It's the first time ive not won something for over 6 months.  

DAFlys Posted at 1-3 01:24
It's the first time ive not won something for over 6 months.

Aw. Don't expect me to cry for you though

DAFlys Posted at 1-2 23:03
It's been surprisingly busy this week so far,  I was extra early this morning and the amount of people about before 6am made it feel much later.

Lots of companies here notified their employees that effective January 2nd working from home was terminated and they had to return to work in the office.  So traffic here is also much heavier now.  

Blériot53 Posted at 1-3 01:16
Our "wonderful" prime minister has vowed to spend an enormous sum over the next 3 years to fix all the potholes in the roads. But the car repair centres are raking in the money fixing damage caused by such neglect.

As a whole the national infrastructure needs repairs and replacements here in the US also.  Part of the state and federal taxes we pay are supposed to provide funds for this but it seems the funds always get used for other "pet" projects.  Since that major lawsuit loss most of the nearby cities are taking much better care of their roads withing the cities.  However, state roads and interstates are getting beaten down by the increased amount of cars and trucks on the road.

DowntownRDB Posted at 1-3 10:19
As a whole the national infrastructure needs repairs and replacements here in the US also.  Part of the state and federal taxes we pay are supposed to provide funds for this but it seems the funds always get used for other "pet" projects.  Since that major lawsuit loss most of the nearby cities are taking much better care of their roads withing the cities.  However, state roads and interstates are getting beaten down by the increased amount of cars and trucks on the road.

Steep increases in the Annual Road Tax are doing little to improve the infrastructure here either.

DowntownRDB Posted at 1-3 08:12
Lots of companies here notified their employees that effective January 2nd working from home was terminated and they had to return to work in the office.  So traffic here is also much heavier now.

That almost sounds organised.  

Blériot53 Posted at 1-3 23:10
Steep increases in the Annual Road Tax are doing little to improve the infrastructure here either.

I'm thinking part of the problem is the roads were designed for a lot less traffic and with the volume of today's traffic and the extra heavy trucks they are just taking a beating like never anticipated when designed.  Many of the newer roads are using a newer technology for design and materials and seems they are starting to hold up a little better.  I guess when we shift to flying cars they road conditions will not matter anymore.  

DAFlys Posted at 1-4 00:15
That almost sounds organised.

Fortunately, the companies gave notice back in early December.  This gave the employees plenty of time to decide whether to look for another job or make the decision to drive to work once again.  Many companies stuck with working from home as it turns out that their employees were being more productive from home.  

DowntownRDB Posted at 1-4 04:12
Fortunately, the companies gave notice back in early December.  This gave the employees plenty of time to decide whether to look for another job or make the decision to drive to work once again.  Many companies stuck with working from home as it turns out that their employees were being more productive from home.

SWMBOd company is putting together an app to track the days they go into the office,  its quite ridiculous as the client that provides the office has just sold off their HQ and want the staff only in a couple of days a week to save money on facilities.  

DowntownRDB Posted at 1-4 03:59
I'm thinking part of the problem is the roads were designed for a lot less traffic and with the volume of today's traffic and the extra heavy trucks they are just taking a beating like never anticipated when designed.  Many of the newer roads are using a newer technology for design and materials and seems they are starting to hold up a little better.  I guess when we shift to flying cars they road conditions will not matter anymore.

I'm re-assured to think I won't be around to see that day

DAFlys Posted at 1-4 06:24
SWMBOd company is putting together an app to track the days they go into the office,  its quite ridiculous as the client that provides the office has just sold off their HQ and want the staff only in a couple of days a week to save money on facilities.

Always amazes me at the differing ways that companies take to work from home initiatives. Sounds like the company that SWMBO works for may be in a pickle for a place to physically work from if the owner sold off part of the facilities that they previously rented.

DowntownRDB Posted at 1-4 14:29
Always amazes me at the differing ways that companies take to work from home initiatives. Sounds like the company that SWMBO works for may be in a pickle for a place to physically work from if the owner sold off part of the facilities that they previously rented.

The have a new HR manager who's appears to be trying to make their mark.   A lot og whispers about people leaving if it goes through but I doubt that will happen.  

DAFlys Posted at 1-4 23:21
The have a new HR manager who's appears to be trying to make their mark.   A lot og whispers about people leaving if it goes through but I doubt that will happen.

Hopefully, the company will not suffer from the new HR making changes.  I always hated changes just for change sake.  If it's for a good reason then go for it, otherwise if it isn't broken it doesn't need fixing.

DowntownRDB Posted at 1-5 03:40
Hopefully, the company will not suffer from the new HR making changes.  I always hated changes just for change sake.  If it's for a good reason then go for it, otherwise if it isn't broken it doesn't need fixing.

They had mugs made for everyone with their names on them to appease them,  it's not worked.  

DAFlys Posted at 1-6 01:15
They had mugs made for everyone with their names on them to appease them,  it's not worked.

That was a pretty cheesy effort on the company's part.  

DowntownRDB Posted at 1-6 08:15
That was a pretty cheesy effort on the company's part.

That did full names too which hasn't impressed some of them.  

DAFlys Posted at 1-7 00:31
That did full names too which hasn't impressed some of them.

I don't think I've ever seen one with full names.  Usually just first or last name.