Second week - Tuesday 19 December

Back on the 0707 today due to a late night and the work's Xmas do. The train turned up OK, and when I go tto Didcot I was in luck as the 0754 DID-OXF was delayed until 0815, so I got into work 10 mins early. Had to wait at Didcot for about 20 mins though, but spent the time marvelling at the progress of the 'refurbishment'. The radiator is now purple and so is the windon sill. The sliding doors are stuck open: not sure if this is good or bad as they made a terrible sound opening and closing. The dribbles down the window have gone too. Still lots of people standing around though as there aren't enough seats.

Had to work late today. Tried to catch the 1806 but it was cancelled. Got on the 1821. I spoke to one of the 'long-coated men' at Oxford in the hope that they could ring Didcot and hold the train for us so that we can make the connection (FGW allow 5 mins for this connection!). Basically, he wasn't interested. I have to say that we are disappointed with the attitude of the Oxford station staff. The chaps on the gate who check the tickets are very nice and one of them even says hello, but the 'long-coated men' are not that nice or cheerful. The Didcot station manager, on the other hand, is extremely friendly and helpful.

Anyway, back to the journey. Met Brenda on the platform, which was great as I hadn't seen her for ages and it was nice to have a chat. We sensibly decided that if we got the connection great, if not we could have a beer from the Spar shop, so we couldn't lose really!

Made the connection, but the train was heaving, again. We got seats though.

When train pulled into Bath station I chatted to the very nice train manager. He said that we should have had a 'proper' train and that's why we were overcrowded. Apparently, there was a technical problem with the original train, and he was unsure about whether to run the Adelante or cancel the service. I told him that I was glad he ran it as we always like to get home in the evening. FGW train managers deserve a medal, they must put up with so much abuse. It's nice to see some of them still have a sense of humour and talk to the customers.

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Journey to work/meeting punctuality: 86%, 6/7 (I might have to stop winging soon!)
Journey home punctuality: 100%, 7/7

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FGW alerts:
0645 Hereford-PAD starting 0742 Worcs due to earlier mech problems. 0730 Carmarthen-PAD starting 0830 SWA; buses Carmarthen-SWA.
Services cancelled: 0540 Chelt-PAD, 0834 BRI-SWIN, 0952 SWI-Chelt, 0604 PNZ-Newton Abbot, 0902 N'ton Abbot-Plymouth.
Full advertised service. No problems reported.

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Texts:
DT: Morning Max! Hope commutes going well. I am at Swindon and guess what, my train has been cancelled!