…is launched today. It’s not just a clean lick of paint, but a fundamental change in the way that we deliver content. The result of spectacular efforts by a very gifted team…
You can find out more about some of the back end loveliness from Nik Silver’s blog.
Life often puts us in places we never thought we’d find ourselves. And when it happens - you can often surprise yourself at how you survive under the circumstances.
And so, for what has to be the tenth time in as many weeks, I find myself on platform 8 at Guildford station, waiting for the 08.37 to Reading.
It’s not that I’ve started going to the same place in Reading (or its delightful environs) at the same time - just that every meeting I seem to arrange seems to involve me taking this train at this time.
Today, for the first time ever, it’s set to be on time. The first time, it was delayed because of a horse on the line at Dorking (I kid you not). Last week, there were some signal problems…don’t worry, that’s as far as I’m going with the reasons for delay.
Anyway, being here, now is a by product of two previous decisions: one to live in Surrey, the other to go and work at GMG (which includes our regional titles). Had the estate agent said: ‘you do realise that given your new job, if you decide to live here you will spend a lot of time on platform 8 in Guildford station waiting for the train to Reading, I might have had a rethink. Or maybe not..
It’s not that there’s anything wrong with being here - as stations go it’s perfectly charming..it’s just one of those stark reminders of how life changes.
A decade ago, I might have been on at least nodding terms with barmen in some of London’s more credible establishments. These days, I find my self saying hi to the people selling cappuccino at various Surrey train stations…and so on.
One of the reasons I stopped music blogging was because I started to get loads of e-mails from PRs.
At first, it was a real novelty to be sent a CD by a no-hoper band from Wales or Seattle or wherever. Soon, it became a bit of a pain to check my e-mail and find I was basically on the list of a load of PRs who had suddenly woken up to bloggers..and often didn’t realise I was from the UK so were introducing me to UK bands: ‘Hey..have you heard of Gomez’ etc.
It was all too similar to being a music journalist - and, with all respect, not a career I’d ever chose for myself, let alone a hobby.
However, still the e-mails come - and they are mostly ignored, except every so often (and not often enough) I get something from Hush records in Portland (home of the Decemberists). They have a neat scheme where they let bloggers download an album for a limited amount of time, and last week it was Laura Gibson’s If You Come To Greet Me.
And how utterly lovely it is. I know we’re getting a bit tired of singer songwriters these days, and she might be a little too Norah Jones for some tastes…but sometimes with music how you stumble across it is almost as important as what it actually is…and I feel everything I’ve been liking recently has just been too obvious to share…
Anyway - here she is on MySpace, sure you can work out the rest.
I’ve been waiting for my new Brompton about as long as I’ve been waiting for my home broadband connection (four months, to be precise).
I ordered it on one of the hottest days of the year, and collected it today in a complete downpour. Still, it survived it’s first ride from the office to Waterloo in the pouring rain.
I never thought I’d be a Brompton rider, but once I started commuting there was no alternative (well, yes, there was..but they were all a little too fiddly or time consuming for my liking).
My first one was bought on eBay. There is nothing wrong with it - except I needed a few more gears to deal with some of the Surrey hills, and a little less heft was only going to help as I hiked it on and off the train every day. So, this one has titanium everywhere, ultralight everything and, if I’m honest - cost more than the car I throw it in the back of.
So why did I have to wait four months for it? Because there was such huge demand during the summer, and I wanted to have normal handlebars on the ultra-light frame - which is basically a custom build (I feel I might as well have ordered a Morgan for the time it took).
My fear is that Brompton (who manufactur everything in the UK) eventually get taken out of the market by japanese imports..rather like our motorbike industry. My tip - if you fancy one for the summer, buy one now (most places have got them in stock).
Oh, and I recommend Bikefix on Lamb’s Conduit Street.
I’m writing this on the train. And it’s rather exciting, because I’ve finally managed to get the laptop/3g phone set up necessary.
It’s a relief because for the last week, I’ve hardly been in the office and instead had to lurch from one hotspot to the next. Regardless of the cost of this at £6 an hour, my caffeine intake has gone through the roof.
It also means…tada..I can blog on the train. Which I intend to do, in order to get me back into the blogging swing of things.
Most important - I’ll be using this at home, because - guess what…the man from BT came round today to say we definitely won’t be able to get broadband (this was after BT sent me all their whizzy home hub stuff saying it should work, but at 256K).
There is a leased line on the way…although having promissed this for the first week in september, then october, then november…it now seems they have to dig up a chunk of the A3. If you see roadworks somewhere near the junction with the M25 in the next few months..you can probably blame me.