On inconsiderate and muppit-like parking...

OK, it's a Sunday in not-so-sunny Basingstoke, and there I am, with my partner, going to see a movie at the Odeon at the Basingstoke Leisure Park, and most of the parking places are occupied. Including two spaces taken up by one extraordinarily selfish driver. I mean look at it. There is NO way on the planet anyone could possibly mistake this for careless parking, is there?

So, I photographed it. I also date-stamped and GPS co-ordinate tagged the photo. All the owner needs do, if terminally embarrassed, is write a polite comment here as to why he or she parked like Miss Piggy, and I'll be happy to obscure the numberplate.

In case you can't read the Tagging information, here it is:

[Image]
Model = hp iPAQ hw6900
Exif IFD Pointer = Offset: 65
GPS Info IFD Pointer = Offset: 163

[Camera]
Exif Version = Version 2.2
Date Time Original = 2008-05-25 14:01:07
Light Source = unknown
Flash = Off
Exif Image Width = 640
Exif Image Height = 480

[GPS]
GPS Latitude Ref = North latitude
GPS Latitude = 51°15'56"
GPS Longitude Ref = West longitude
GPS Longitude = 1°6'57"
GPS Altitude Ref = Sea level
GPS Altitude = 132m
GPS Time Stamp = 13:01:07 UTC
GPS Status = Measurement in progress
GPS Measure Mode = 3-dimensional measurement
GPS DOP = 0.5

And the location, to it's actual and exact position, is here.

Bear in mind that all GPS units have a tendancy to be a few metres off, so I corrected the location of the parking bay to the actual location on the map. Never the less, the photo is untouched!

Ball's in your court, have a nice day!

err..... "Oops?"!

So, there I am, on the phone to someone in a well-known bus company's depot, looking to recover some lost property for a mate. I get the stock answers of "Hello, (Company Name), how can I help" and so on; this is roughly how the rest of it went...

"Yeah, I'm looking for a mobile phone that belongs to a mate of mine, it's an LG (details deleted), black in colour with a kind of dragon motif on the back below the camera, lost on a route (withheld for the privacy of my mate) bus last night, around 10 pm or so. Can you tell me if anything like that was logged in as lost property last night when the bus came back in the depot?"

"Sorry, sir, I can't check the register right now; can you call back later?"

"Not really, I'm at work"

"Well, I can call you back if you like?"

"Yeah, that'd be great, thanks; the number's (censored)"

"Oh, you work for (he actually knew the phone number of the bus company I work for)?"

"Yeah, I'm in Customer Services at the moment"

"OK, well, tell the truth, we've had a bit of a cock up. Some twit sent our lost property register along with the last batch of stuff we sent to London Buses Lost Property last week by mistake, and we're still waiting for it to be returned!"

Cue me falling off my chair laughing my backside off!

What a way to start the Bank Holiday Weekend...

So. We've lost Ken, and gained Boris. Call me somewhat cynical, but even when the Tories have said that they're going to improve public transport, they've slashed it with wild abandon. Boris, old boy, be ye on notice: We workers on the buses are watching. That's not just from me: Everyone I've spoken to on the buses of late have been wondering just what changes (aside from your promising to get rid of the bendy buses) you're going to try to make, and what it's going to cost the industry.

Say what you like about Ken, he did OK by us.

I hope that we can say the same about you in four years time, but I have my doubts. You're a blue rosette bearer, after all, and that colour hasn't exactly got a good record when it comes to Public Services, has it?

Be honest now, 'cause we're watching!