(no subject)

[tinyjo]

Went for a wander at lunchtime yesterday and came across the Lloyds building, which is utterly fab! It's got pipes and glass and metal and glass walled lifts which go up and down the outside. I want to have a play in the lifts! Actually, as you walk along Philpot lane (where my office is) you can just see it protruding over Leadenhall Market and the old buildings across the road which makes a fabulous contrast especially at dusk when they light bits of the Lloyds building up. It's very cool basically.

I am once again thinking seriously about a car. It would be very cool (I know - I'm an evil polluting capitalist) and I could (I think) use it to drive to work part of the way (stopping at Hillingdon and getting the Met line the rest of the way) which would allow me to sleep in a bit more but I'm still not sure. I think I'll have to sit down and do some serious budgeting, see exactly what I can afford and stuff...

Comments

[zoo-music-girl.livejournal.com]

You want to play in the lifts, eh? ;)

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/dynamic/lifestyle/londonlife/top_review.html?in_review_id=499752&in_review_text_id=462003

I can't believe you've only just discovered the Lloyd's Building! Guess you didn't need to go up to the Fenchurch St area much before you moved office?

[soulsong.livejournal.com]

Ooh, your office is just around the corner from mine at London Bridge. Of course, I'm hardly ever there. *smirk*

[smithi1.livejournal.com]

Grin, you aren't an evil capitalist polluter until you *get* the car. Thinking about it is ok, and causes no perceptible pollution although if the alternative was thinking about nothing, then that might mean you produced a tiny bit more CO₂ :)

I still think you should get a Smart car like soulsong who will, I'm certain, give you the inside scoop :)

[truecatachresis.livejournal.com]

Regarding car commute to London:

1) It will be more expensive. There's the initial cost of the car, the cost of wear and tear, insurance, tax, MOT costs (if buying second-hand) and of course the petrol cost. A quick estimate (not sure of the accuracy) works out that the petrol costs alone would be roughly equivalent to five annual season tickets to London. Also, stopping at Hillingdon means that your tube fare would presumably be more expensive. However, that's the point of "serious budgeting" as you put it.

2) It will probably only be a little quicker. You admit to getting the express bus, and buses aren't *that* much slower than cars. The actual time it takes to get you to Hillingdon might be cut by up to twenty minutes by travelling by car - but if it's traffic that causes the long journey, you will not be travelling that much faster.

3) You can *not* doze while driving. So, if the journey to London takes you an hour instead of an hour and twenty minutes, meaning that you were able to get an extra forty minutes in bed (because of the extra time you save tubing in from Hillingdon as opposed to stuck in the coach through London - another twenty minutes is a guess) that means that you cannot doze on the coach for that hour and twenty minutes. You've lost forty total rest minutes (more if you don't doze on the tube at all) for forty, admittedly better, sleep minutes. Is twice as much doze worth half as much sleep? Not only can you not doze while driving, you cannot afford to be sleepy while driving. This means you have to ensure you get reasonable sleep levels, or you are dangerous to yourself and others, as opposed to a bit dopey at work.

4) Driving on the motorway is both stressful and boring.

5) You've already admitted that cars are for evil polluting capitalists.