Ice cold

Ice cold, originally uploaded by Alan Perryman.

Spotted on Friday in Canary Wharf as I waited for a colleague for a meeting.

Cold.

Reflections and Resolutions

Goodbye 2011, hello world 2012 style. Reflecting, I am sad to see the back of 2011 – it’s been a hell of a year.

Movember

All me, honest

This month I have been growing a moustache for Movember. To be frank I have probably been a little slack – the pictures above are only the first 14 days worth and I haven’t pushed the donation link enough yet…

So if you do have a few spare pounds in your plastic, please go to http://mobro.co/piepowered and put them towards some great causes.

Demolition

100_0195, originally uploaded by Alan Perryman.

The economy might allegedly be stalled, but in London there’s still lots of activity going on – noticeably the demolition of numerous sites for redevelopment.

This is a new and temporary view of the Natwest tower…

A reminder

On Friday evening on the way between work and the comfort of the pub, I had the misfortune to bear witness to a road traffic accident. The roundabout on the south side of Trafalgar Sq. has never been my favourite piece of London to navigate but it’s slightly less stressful than Parliament Sq en route to the fast road east, the Victoria Embankment.

At the lights on the roundabout heading towards the Northumberland Avenue exit were myself (BorisBike as my steed) and a motorcycle courier – both of us forward of the double deck bus which had angled over both lanes and within clear sight lines for the bus driver. I am on the left on the nearside, the motorcyclist over towards the far side, quite probably in preparation to avoid the parked cars on Northumberland Ave.

The lights change and we move off, but as is fairly normal some pedestrians make a last dash in front of the traffic on the Northumberland Avenue crossing. The biker slows to avoid hitting them. The bus by now has moved behind me into the left lane.

Then rather suddenly: crash! A small Merc taxi with blacked out windows and diplomatic plates has hit the motorcyclist from behind. The impact gives the bike some unwanted momentum, it raises up throwing the biker off onto his back then lands down onto it’s right hand side. The bike screamed as the throttle twisted uncontrollably.

Thankfully the biker got up and was able to walk and after swapping details we all went our separate ways.

But it is an unfortunate reminder: it is a hostile environment out there on the roads.  With the encroaching darkness all it takes is for someone to be in a rush or not paying proper attention to cause disastrous consequences for someone else. Regardless of the mode you choose to use the road – please take time to think about the other users and how your own actions might impact upon them.

Friendly advice

Friendly advice, originally uploaded by Alan Perryman.

This is interesting – Google are now advertising advice on the tube with the Citizen’s Advice Bureau.

Is this a practical application of the “don’t be evil” philosophy?

Olympic

Olympic, originally uploaded by Alan Perryman.

The tower has definitely grown recently!

Picture

Picture, originally uploaded by Alan Perryman.

Got one of my pictures printed via snapfish as it was 50% off! Now, where do we hang that….

Sunset Yellow

Sunset Yellow, originally uploaded by Alan Perryman.

Shot from the train on the way north tonight, just north of Banbury. Lovely colours!

First code

First code, originally uploaded by Alan Perryman.

A very nerdy observation obviously…but I’ve seen my first bus stop with the code on it ready for the Real Time information.

In my opinion, it’s going to be such a game changer for bus transport – no more turning up and hoping…check before you leave the house!