So it's the last week in February, I've just parked my car at the end of a 30 minute journey, that took me an hour and five minutes to complete.
This increase to the time of my journey is due to "Lane Closures" because of "Essential Maintenance" that leads inevitably to "Burst Water Mains," requiring further "Lane Closures" on top of the scheduled "Essential Maintenance" that seems to have all been scheduled at the same time!
The conspiracy theorist inside me says the government is raising petrol prices and grinding us to a standstill to try and make us hate driving so much that we give in and jump on a bicycle or take public transport. This helps reduce our carbon emissions, making them look good to their chums around the world, and of course gets everybody signed up to an Oyster card, that some would say is and efficient way to track our movements, big brother style."
The realist inside me simply says that the local council and TFL (Transport for London) are just plain greedy! As I think back over previous years I wonder, is it any coincidence that February and March are notoriously bad for traffic. Is it also a coincidence that these two months immediately preceed the month of April, also known as "New budget month!"
So the mad dash is on, for local councils to spend what tax payers money they have remaining, so that next year they can ask for more. As a result, we "the council tax payers," we "the road tax payers" and we "the fuel tax payers" have to navigate the labyrinth of "Essential Repairs," "Required Maintenance" and "Lane closures," all so that come April, our council can go cap in hand to the powers that be and say "Please sir, I want some more."
But what can we say or do?
In this day and age, unfortunately, we can do nothing. Despite living in a “democracy,” we have no say on how things are run.
Would it be too hard to schedule maintenance work evenly across the year and then repairs, as necessary, then at the end of the year, if the budget isn't spent, shouldn't we see a reduction or at least a freeze on Council or Road tax, to reflect the left over money?
Of course it is not our democratically elected representatives place to concern themselves with the "little people" and it is not our place to question what those representatives choose to do for the benefit of...well, themselves.
So we protest, we voice our anger, and it either falls on deaf ears, or the government sets up a committee to investigate our complaints. This committee is created and the bill is passed to our local council, the amount will no doubt exceed how much it would have cost to keep our mouths shut, and the end result...a finding that the committee’s good buddies on the council have acted in the best interest of the people.
With a general election looming, I have to say, I have no idea who to vote for, as it seems to me that voting in the general election is similar to voting for someone in "I'm a celebrity, get me out of here." At the end of the day, they are interested in personal gain, their five minutes of fame and do not give a second thought to the voters that put them where they are.
Politicians are merely a bunch Katie Price's clamouring over each other for more, more, more.
Not sure how I got from traffic jams to "Politicians are a bunch of Katie Price's" but it felt good to get my ranting and rambling off my chest and into the public domain.
If you have an opinion on my thoughts, or know better and fancy trying to educate me, feel free to drop a comment below.
This increase to the time of my journey is due to "Lane Closures" because of "Essential Maintenance" that leads inevitably to "Burst Water Mains," requiring further "Lane Closures" on top of the scheduled "Essential Maintenance" that seems to have all been scheduled at the same time!
The conspiracy theorist inside me says the government is raising petrol prices and grinding us to a standstill to try and make us hate driving so much that we give in and jump on a bicycle or take public transport. This helps reduce our carbon emissions, making them look good to their chums around the world, and of course gets everybody signed up to an Oyster card, that some would say is and efficient way to track our movements, big brother style."
The realist inside me simply says that the local council and TFL (Transport for London) are just plain greedy! As I think back over previous years I wonder, is it any coincidence that February and March are notoriously bad for traffic. Is it also a coincidence that these two months immediately preceed the month of April, also known as "New budget month!"
So the mad dash is on, for local councils to spend what tax payers money they have remaining, so that next year they can ask for more. As a result, we "the council tax payers," we "the road tax payers" and we "the fuel tax payers" have to navigate the labyrinth of "Essential Repairs," "Required Maintenance" and "Lane closures," all so that come April, our council can go cap in hand to the powers that be and say "Please sir, I want some more."
But what can we say or do?
In this day and age, unfortunately, we can do nothing. Despite living in a “democracy,” we have no say on how things are run.
Would it be too hard to schedule maintenance work evenly across the year and then repairs, as necessary, then at the end of the year, if the budget isn't spent, shouldn't we see a reduction or at least a freeze on Council or Road tax, to reflect the left over money?
Of course it is not our democratically elected representatives place to concern themselves with the "little people" and it is not our place to question what those representatives choose to do for the benefit of...well, themselves.
So we protest, we voice our anger, and it either falls on deaf ears, or the government sets up a committee to investigate our complaints. This committee is created and the bill is passed to our local council, the amount will no doubt exceed how much it would have cost to keep our mouths shut, and the end result...a finding that the committee’s good buddies on the council have acted in the best interest of the people.
With a general election looming, I have to say, I have no idea who to vote for, as it seems to me that voting in the general election is similar to voting for someone in "I'm a celebrity, get me out of here." At the end of the day, they are interested in personal gain, their five minutes of fame and do not give a second thought to the voters that put them where they are.
Politicians are merely a bunch Katie Price's clamouring over each other for more, more, more.
Not sure how I got from traffic jams to "Politicians are a bunch of Katie Price's" but it felt good to get my ranting and rambling off my chest and into the public domain.
If you have an opinion on my thoughts, or know better and fancy trying to educate me, feel free to drop a comment below.
