Working in Kensington for almost 10 years has upsides (FABULOUS shops) and downsides (it's bloody miles from where I live) but there are a few things I've noticed recently that drive me mad about it. Well, they make me shrug a bit anyway...
* If you don't push the 'Wait' button at a pelican crossing, the lights will never go red to allow you to cross. I don't think people in Kensington have quite got that concept yet.
* Red lights at pelican crossings apply to EVERYONE. That includes the following people: 1) Young chap in the clapped-out fiesta who 'beeped' us pedestrians who dared to cross the road when the green man was visible, whilst he revved his engine and inched forward aggressively. 2) The cyclist who narrowly missed me and several other pedestrians as he ran the red without even slowing down last week. 3) the chap with the trailer on his bicycle who almost crashed this morning when he realised the lights were red (I think the stationary cars and preceding amber light should have been your cue)
* So far the cleaning of the pedestrianised square, on which my office is situated, has taken 3 chaps more than 4 days to jet wash and they are still going. It's about the size of an average primary school playground. It looks no different to how it did on Monday when they started. They must be getting paid by the hour.
* Famous people only come out to play in the shops I used almost every day on the days I decide not to bother. Adele spent a couple of hours in the kids section of H&M the one day I didn't go in last month. Prince Harry went into the office next door on the day I worked from home.
*Cycling on the wrong side of Kensington High Street is, apparently, perfectly acceptable if the traffic lights are red.
* Grandmothers navigating pushchairs seem to think it's also perfectly acceptable to steer their charges into the paths of oncoming traffic if the pedestrian crossing isn't working fast enough for them.
* I am not phased in the slightest by the armed policemen walking up to the Police Checkpoint at Kensington Palace Gardens even though they are carrying bloody great rifles with their fingers poised on the trigger. I feel this should scare me slightly more than it does.
* The Circle line.
* If you don't push the 'Wait' button at a pelican crossing, the lights will never go red to allow you to cross. I don't think people in Kensington have quite got that concept yet.
* Red lights at pelican crossings apply to EVERYONE. That includes the following people: 1) Young chap in the clapped-out fiesta who 'beeped' us pedestrians who dared to cross the road when the green man was visible, whilst he revved his engine and inched forward aggressively. 2) The cyclist who narrowly missed me and several other pedestrians as he ran the red without even slowing down last week. 3) the chap with the trailer on his bicycle who almost crashed this morning when he realised the lights were red (I think the stationary cars and preceding amber light should have been your cue)
* So far the cleaning of the pedestrianised square, on which my office is situated, has taken 3 chaps more than 4 days to jet wash and they are still going. It's about the size of an average primary school playground. It looks no different to how it did on Monday when they started. They must be getting paid by the hour.
* Famous people only come out to play in the shops I used almost every day on the days I decide not to bother. Adele spent a couple of hours in the kids section of H&M the one day I didn't go in last month. Prince Harry went into the office next door on the day I worked from home.
*Cycling on the wrong side of Kensington High Street is, apparently, perfectly acceptable if the traffic lights are red.
* Grandmothers navigating pushchairs seem to think it's also perfectly acceptable to steer their charges into the paths of oncoming traffic if the pedestrian crossing isn't working fast enough for them.
* I am not phased in the slightest by the armed policemen walking up to the Police Checkpoint at Kensington Palace Gardens even though they are carrying bloody great rifles with their fingers poised on the trigger. I feel this should scare me slightly more than it does.
* The Circle line.
