Lizzeh.com / “Baptism of Fire”

So today was my first day of work here in Reading. Since I will be staying in a hotel in Reading until I find a flat/apartment, I had to travel down there early this morning to start my work week.
Holy crap, what a day. I start off with needing to take a train to London King’s Cross rail station. No problem with that. As soon as I get there, you need to walk across to the King’s Cross Underground station. The minute I get to the circle line platform, waiting in front of a train that’s letting passengers out, an announcement bells out “Due to a reported emergency, all passengers must exit the station”. GAH! WHAT? So of course everyone turned around and headed out of the station, up the 3 flights of stairs that I just carried my luggage down from (I borrowed a crap piece of luggage from the bf, I’m getting rid of it since it’ can’t roll and has a broken handle!!!), and left the station, to be left outside walking in the pouring rain and wind. :\ Right, so I kept walking outside, following the mass of people that had luggage and other big bags with them, figuring they must know where to go. A few wet rainy blocks down, Euston railway/underground station appeared. Great, I thought, I’ll go there and find my way through the tube…after all, I’m a jetsetter, I know how to travel in London. So waiting there in the mass of people wanting to take the underground, this woman gets off the phone with her friend, and apparently they opened King’s Cross again. Do I go back and walk the few blocks in the rain that I came from? Or do I stay put? Will they close King’s Cross again? Who knows. I decided to stay where I was and continue my journey from Euston. I decide to take the Victoria line to Oxford Circus, then change to the Bakerloo line to go to Paddington. Sounds good right? Wrong! I get to Oxford Circus, get on the Bakerloo northbound, get to the Regent’s Park stop, when lo and behold, they announce that the trains are severely delayed. Ok I thought, not a big deal as I’m not in a rush, just want to get to work in one piece. The trains were so delayed due to a signal failure at Paddington (of course, the one place I WANT to go, why couldn’t it be suspended AFTER Paddington station???), that they were suspended. Great I thought, what do I do now? Do I wait there on the train? Do I get out of Regent’s Park (where of course, no other lines cross) and walk outside to get to another tube station? I decided to get off the train, and use the lift (elevator) which of course, only 1 of the 2 that were there was working. Then an announcement says that they needed to REVERSE the trains out from Paddington, that’s how bad things where. Lovely! So I decide to get back on the train, go to the Baker Street stop, and take the Circle line to Paddington. Finally I arrive at Paddington in one piece. Beautiful station btw, King’s Cross is a dump! then I breathe, get a coffee and croissant, and get on a train bound to Reading. I get picked up and do my thing at work, looking for apartments as well, which sucks when you need one as soon as possible, but don’t want a studio or something grotty.

This definitely sums up my first workday Monday: