I missed my usual 07:40 train this morning through my own Monday morning silliness. Halfway through the morning drive I looked in my wallet for my parking pass. It wasn't in its usual slot, so I assumed I'd left it at home. I quickly spun the car around and drove back to the house to retrieve the pass. However, a frantic 5-minute search in my room yielded no pass or any clues as to where it might be.

I'm then hit with a sinking feeling...

The Queensgate Customer Service desk closes at 5:30 pm, so the only day I can pop into the shopping centre and apply for a replacement pass is Thursday when the it is open till 8 pm. Until then, I'd have to use the station carpark and pay the princely sum of £10 a day for the privilege. A £40 sting just for misplacing my pass is not the kind of crotch punch one needs on a Monday morning.

I dashed back to the car and was about to hit ignition when I realised I'd left my wallet in the house. As I grabbed my wallet I wondered why it felt bulkier than normal - I'm not the kind of chap who carries a wad of cash around. Upon closer inspection I found two very badly folded £10 notes in the hidden pocket....along with my pass. Cue a flashback from Saturday evening... It was just after the England game and I was at the pub where I'd had my fair share of Ireland's finest export. As I cack-handedly paid for the next round of drinks, I emptied most of my wallet onto the pub floor. Rather than put it all neatly back in its place, I just stuffed my belongings in wherever it fitted. Hence the money origami and pass in the last place I'd think to look.

Of course, by this time I knew I wasn't going to make the 07:40 without some pretty reckless driving. So, I resigned myself to a trip on the never-on-time 07:46. The train journey itself was uneventful, though I did have one of those moments where one wakes up from a snooze with a sudden jolt and a gormless expression. Naturally, this prompted some funny looks from the other passengers.

It could have been worse - I might have knocked my magma hot coffee over my lap and hard-boiled the family jewels in front of a very pretty lady. That, however, is another story...

I popped into a packed Starbucks for an expensive coffee and something to eat once I'd made it into the City.

If I was going to be late, I was going to do it with style...

I'd like to welcome another co-author to GNER commuter.blog.co.uk. Shahmacher joined us on Sunday to increase our little band of bloggers to 3. You may have seen a few of his comments in pervious entries so you may already have gathered a little bit about him. Welcome fella.

With 3 of us blogging it's going to be interesting to see what happens to this blog now. The number of visitors and page views keeps rising so I guess somebodies getting soemthing out of it as well as me. I also thought about what might happen if GNER loose their franchise? Am I going to have to change the name of this site? Perhaps ECMLcommuter might have been more appropriate. In my defence I'm not a soothsayer and when I started this thing GNER still had and still have 9 years of their franchise left.

On the train front I'm working from home today so haven't been in. Yes I know i'm typing this while I'm supposed to be working but, my misses is childminding today which means I've got loads of time because I'm staying at my desk until after 6.30 when they've all gone home. I've got the Modfather and The Jam playing at a reasonable volume to block out the noise and the screams and I'll be quite happy thanks.

The one thing that's really annoyed me this weekend is how GNER are cutting prices left right and centre for everyone but their most loyal customers. Tickets booked on-line prices have been slashed by 10%, propotionately speaking, London to Scotland tickets haven't been cheaper for decades. Click the links if you dont beleive me: -
http://gner-news.newslib.com/story/7056-161/
http://gner-news.newslib.com/story/7056-163/
http://gner-news.newslib.com/story/7056-172/
http://gner-news.newslib.com/story/7056-174/

What do commuters from Tinsel Town get? A warning that GNER believe they are about to meet performance targets and remove what little compensation their most loyal customers are entitled too and a massive increase in parking fees?

Obviously they're trying to put more bums on seats but all this is happening at a time when they're getting so much bad press about their troubles at home and their owners troubles in the states. GNER can't affect what happens in the land of the free but what happens over their directly affects them. Mean while they have troubles at home to deal withsuch as lower passenger growth than forecast and and promises to government to live up to. So some are claiming they can't afford price cuts and need to increase prices. What one do you think is right has got the strategy right? GNER or their critics?