Train Travel

Yesterday I took my first e-journey by train, using a QR code on my phone to pass through the ticket gates, rather than a paper ticket.

When you buy a ticket on-line and collect it from a railway station vending machine, you get half a dozen pieces of paper without a clue as to which one is actually the ticket. This can leave you fumbling around at the ticket gates, annoying the hell out of the people behind you waiting to get through.

Also, you run the risk of the ticket machine at the station where you collect your ticket being out of order, which has happened to me more than once at Yate.

Of course, you have to ensure your phone is adequately charged, or you're stuffed. There again, you can print out the QR code as a safety measure.

Picked up No.1 Son's BMW M114d from Sheffield and swung by Leicester to pick up a replacement loom for the SL500. The BMW is lethal - it doesn't have a limited slip differential (apparently it was an option when new), making the rear end extremely twitchy when you put some power into the wheels, especially in wet weather - it was a nightmare to drive. He's going to get an LSD fitted ASAP. My SL500 and the BMW are about the same power, but the SL500 is infinitely easier to drive when applying power, regardless of the weather, as it stays in the straight line.