The rain caused chaos with ATO yesterday; I lost count of the number of times the train ground to a halt halfway into a platform or between stations, in the end I just put it into Coded Manual and drove the thing, Wood Lane even made an announcement advising us to go in Coded. So much for us just opening and closing doors all day!

While the Victoria Line seems to be suffering repeat overrunning engineering works we are suffering from Christmas shoppers; overcrowded stations closing, Passenger Emergency Alarms getting pulled down on trains, security alerts when someone’s left Granny’s present on the train or platform, even the occasional “passenger action” which probably is two people continuing the fight they started in Hamleys over the last “Let’s Rock Elmo” on the WB platform at OXO.

The ASLEF reps have been busy drumming up support for the Boxing Day strike, I’ve been asked by just about every rep on the line if I’ve sent my ballot paper in, one of them has even asked me twice. I explained that I’d be on Annual Leave that week but they didn’t seem to mind so I’ve sent it in despite my earlier reticence. So just like last year I will be manning the picket line at my local pub watching West Ham on Sky Sports except this year I will be getting paid. I will just have to drown the guilt in beer…..

Doing ATOR with two weeks of early shifts a few months back was enough for me, I’ve finally given up on following the roster and trying to sort duties out on my own; I have joined a Mafia. A Mafia is a group of TOps who join together to exchange duties so from now on someone will give my earlies to someone who likes doing them while I get lates and nights in return. From now on I won’t start work until noon at the earliest, the mornings are mine to do my domestic duties.