User Blog The Riverina Pub - The Commute

Blog Topic

1. Sports
2. Culture
3. Life
4. Yarn
5. Rant

Hi Everyone

Million Thank you's to @tajhay for setting up these blogs. I plan to cover off in this blog series:
1) Various Life Rants and Yarns
2) Random Thoughts about Sports
3) Thoughts about Life
4) Whatever else comes to mind

Why did I choose the name of the Blog? The Riverina Pub was a bit of a dive in Hamilton East in the 1970s and 80s and sadly closed before I got old enough to go there. Mothers and Wives shuddered at the name of the den of inequity whenever it was mentioned. One of my life long dreams will never be fulfilled as will never get to set foot in that terrific establishment. But it lives on in the name of this blog.
You are all invited to grab a seat, get a beer and read the blog entries and hopefully respond positively.
Blog Rules:
Rule 1: There will be no disparaging of John Wright in this blog by the visitors. He is to be regarded as the great player he was.
Rule 2: Some of my views may be controversial. Not many, most will be light hearted, if they are controversial especially about sports, roll with the punches and recognise you are in the Riverina and have another beer !!!


So with that, lets take you to the very first instalment of the blog...

The Commute

I commute to work a couple of times per week and it is a loooong commute. 40 minutes by train plus waiting time for the train to arrive.

In peak hour to go home to Upper Hutt from Wellington, in rush hour, the trains take us tired-from- the-working-the-whole-day-civil-servants back to the Hutt Valley once every twenty minutes.

But wait, to help cater to the extra demand at 5pm an extra train is inserted right at 5:13pm just precisely at the time those who leave at 5 o’clock on the dot from work can catch the train.

I hate the 5:13pm train and everyone associated with it.

If you hop on board the train at 5:10pm or 5:11pm there won’t be any seats and the passengers who already have a seat snigger underneath their breath at you that you will have to stand for 40 minutes while they got their early to secure a seat. They all apparently hurry to the 5:13pm to get a seat and it is full by 5:08 at the latest and the passengers who get a seat think they are superior to any one who didn’t organise themselves well enough to do similar.

The word Supercilious comes to mind “behaving or looking as though one thinks one is superior to others.” The passengers on that train are supercilious.

The passengers on the 5:22pm and 4:57pm train are perfectly normal. It is just those jerks on the 5:13pm train that I take issue with.

I won’t catch the 5:13pm train now and I advise you if you are in Wellington to avoid it also. Even if I have to wait an extra 15 minutes for the 5:22pm to arrive. I mean they must all leave work slightly early and organise their afternoon around getting a seat on the 5:13pm train. How dare they be so organised and so smug about securing a seat.

“Sorry Kath gotta cut this conversation short as my train fills up fast”.
“But we havn’t finished discussing this important issue Steve and you report to me”.
“Gotta go Kath. Nothing personal”.

If you ever here of a train being derailed leaving Wellington it was nothing to do with me. Just saying.

 

[wizard of Tauranga]

RANT ABOUT LIFE

I commute to work a couple of times per week and it is a loooong commute. 40 minutes by train plus waiting time for the train to arrive.

In peak hour to go home to Upper Hutt from Wellington, in rush hour, the trains take us tired-from- the-working-the-whole-day-civil-servants back to the Hutt Valley once every twenty minutes.

But wait, to help cater to the extra demand at 5pm an extra train is inserted right at 5:13pm just precisely at the time those who leave at 5 o’clock on the dot from work can catch the train.

I hate the 5:13pm train and everyone associated with it.

If you hop on board the train at 5:10pm or 5:11pm there won’t be any seats and the passengers who already have a seat snigger underneath their breath at you that you will have to stand for 40 minutes while they got their early to secure a seat. They all apparently hurry to the 5:13pm to get a seat and it is full by 5:08 at the latest and the passengers who get a seat think they are superior to any one who didn’t organise themselves well enough to do similar.

The word Supercilious comes to mind “behaving or looking as though one thinks one is superior to others.” The passengers on that train are supercilious.

The passengers on the 5:22pm and 4:57pm train are perfectly normal. It is just those jerks on the 5:13pm train that I take issue with.

I won’t catch the 5:13pm train now and I advise you if you are in Wellington to avoid it also. Even if I have to wait an extra 15 minutes for the 5:22pm to arrive. I mean they must all leave work slightly early and organise their afternoon around getting a seat on the 5:13pm train. How dare they be so organised and so smug about securing a seat.

“Sorry Kath gotta cut this conversation short as my train fills up fast”.
“But we havn’t finished discussing this important issue Steve and you report to me”.
“Gotta go Kath. Nothing personal”.

If you ever here of a train being derailed leaving Wellington it was nothing to do with me. Just saying.

Get there at 5.08 and join in being supercilious.

If you can’t beat ‘em, join em!

 

[kos]

You are bloody lucky Wrighty that you have an easy commute by train
I did Ngaio to Wgtn by train in 2002/2003 and it was great.
But in the 80 s it was a 60/90 minute grind by car Blacktown/ St Peter’s in Sydney
In the 2007/2021 it was up to 90 minute grind by car Gc to Bris
Enjoy the trains mate it beats the car grind in Auck Syd Melb Bris etc etc
lol the commuter trains didn’t work in Auck this am broken points at Britomart

 

[Wrighty]

You are bloody lucky Wrighty that you have an easy commute by train
I did Ngaio to Wgtn by train in 2002/2003 and it was great.
But in the 80 s it was a 60/90 minute grind by car Blacktown/ St Peter’s in Sydney
In the 2007/2021 it was up to 90 minute grind by car Gc to Bris
Enjoy the trains mate it beats the car grind in Auck Syd Melb Bris etc etc
lol the commuter trains didn’t work in Auck this am broken points at Britomart

Hey terrific post. Was hoping for this type of banter in the Riverina. Yes at least I can fall asleep or read. Train sure beats the bus !!!!

 

[Worried2Death]

Hey terrific post. Was hoping for this type of banter in the Riverina. Yes at least I can fall asleep or read. Train sure beats the bus !!!!

There's only one way to defeat those supercilious fools with seats Wrighty, learn to sleep standing up.

 

[Matiunz]

RANT ABOUT LIFE

I commute to work a couple of times per week and it is a loooong commute. 40 minutes by train plus waiting time for the train to arrive.

In peak hour to go home to Upper Hutt from Wellington, in rush hour, the trains take us tired-from- the-working-the-whole-day-civil-servants back to the Hutt Valley once every twenty minutes.

But wait, to help cater to the extra demand at 5pm an extra train is inserted right at 5:13pm just precisely at the time those who leave at 5 o’clock on the dot from work can catch the train.

I hate the 5:13pm train and everyone associated with it.

If you hop on board the train at 5:10pm or 5:11pm there won’t be any seats and the passengers who already have a seat snigger underneath their breath at you that you will have to stand for 40 minutes while they got their early to secure a seat. They all apparently hurry to the 5:13pm to get a seat and it is full by 5:08 at the latest and the passengers who get a seat think they are superior to any one who didn’t organise themselves well enough to do similar.

The word Supercilious comes to mind “behaving or looking as though one thinks one is superior to others.” The passengers on that train are supercilious.

The passengers on the 5:22pm and 4:57pm train are perfectly normal. It is just those jerks on the 5:13pm train that I take issue with.

I won’t catch the 5:13pm train now and I advise you if you are in Wellington to avoid it also. Even if I have to wait an extra 15 minutes for the 5:22pm to arrive. I mean they must all leave work slightly early and organise their afternoon around getting a seat on the 5:13pm train. How dare they be so organised and so smug about securing a seat.

“Sorry Kath gotta cut this conversation short as my train fills up fast”.
“But we havn’t finished discussing this important issue Steve and you report to me”.
“Gotta go Kath. Nothing personal”.

If you ever hear of a train being derailed leaving Wellington it was nothing to do with me. Just saying.

when I see you say long commute I find it funny the relativity of situations.
When I lived and worked in Hastings and New Plymouth I could walk to work, when I lived in Wellington I’d commute from Karori to Upper Hutt which seemed a lot at the time. In Sydney We live around Norwest (roughly between Parramatta and Penrith) and it takes my wife about 1hr40mins door to door for her office in Paddington(CBD adjacent), I’m lucky enough to be about a 10 min drive from the office but travel into the inner west for sport a couple of times a week which can take between 40mins and 1.5 hrs depending on what traffic you hit.
As for crowded trains Tokyo around Shibuya peak hour is another level lol

 

[Wrighty]

There's only one way to defeat those supercilious fools with seats Wrighty, learn to sleep standing up.

Magnificent. Grab a beer. Have a seat in the Riverina!!!

 

[Wrighty]

when I see you say long commute I find it funny the relativity of situations.
When I lived and worked in Hastings and New Plymouth I could walk to work, when I lived in Wellington I’d commute from Karori to Upper Hutt which seemed a lot at the time. In Sydney We live around Norwest (roughly between Parramatta and Penrith) and it takes my wife about 1hr40mins door to door for her office in Paddington(CBD adjacent), I’m lucky enough to be about a 10 min drive from the office but travel into the inner west for sport a couple of times a week which can take between 40mins and 1.5 hrs depending on what traffic you hit.
As for crowded trains Tokyo around Shibuya peak hour is another level lol

Very interesting Matiunz. I have googled it and Dr Google says a regular commute is 30 minutes or less and a long commute is 30 minutes plus. Every minute you spend above 30 minutes commuting is fatiguing and requires recovery time when you get home. The article I read went further to say that people with long commutes will typically not socialise or join a social club / activity on work nights while those with short commutes will as they are more refreshed after work.
The article finished by saying happiness studies show a positive correlation between how many clubs or activities you belong to, People with no social clubs (eg a sports team, or pub quiz night team) are unhappy or less happy than people with those things in their lives and the optimal number was two clubs per person.
Welcome to the Riverina!!! What beverage can I serve you???

 

[tajhay]

On the train whilst i type this. Fortunately only a 20 min commute once a week (WFH other days).

And funnily enough i consult for Syd Trains.

 

[kos]

when I see you say long commute I find it funny the relativity of situations.
When I lived and worked in Hastings and New Plymouth I could walk to work, when I lived in Wellington I’d commute from Karori to Upper Hutt which seemed a lot at the time. In Sydney We live around Norwest (roughly between Parramatta and Penrith) and it takes my wife about 1hr40mins door to door for her office in Paddington(CBD adjacent), I’m lucky enough to be about a 10 min drive from the office but travel into the inner west for sport a couple of times a week which can take between 40mins and 1.5 hrs depending on what traffic you hit.
As for crowded trains Tokyo around Shibuya peak hour is another level lol

Gee has your wife considered a job closer to home !
Is she driving or using pt?

 

[marv.]

nice one @Wrighty

train ain’t so bad.
no trains where i live in the bays. just the stop/go where they’re building the new path and seawalls and then petone foreshore for an hour before you even get to the motorway!

self employed means i don’t need to fuck with the traffic very often but when i do, jeez a train would be nice.
weather permitting of course. this morning would have been vile!

 

[Wrighty]

nice one @Wrighty

train ain’t so bad.
no trains where i live in the bays. just the stop/go where they’re building the new path and seawalls and then petone foreshore for an hour before you even get to the motorway!

self employed means i don’t need to fuck with the traffic very often but when i do, jeez a train would be nice.
weather permitting of course. this morning would have been vile!

Great post but given your tough weather this morning sounds like you need to take the edge off. What I can get you from behind the bar?

 

[marv.]

Great post but given your tough weather this morning sounds like you need to take the edge off. What I can get you from behind the bar?

haha 2 lagers and a strawberry daiquiri please good sir.

 

[Wrighty]

haha 2 lagers and a strawberry daiquiri please good sir.

Coming right up

 

[Viking]

As for crowded trains Tokyo around Shibuya peak hour is another level lol

Up to 4 million commuters pass through Shinjuku station every day. I first navigated the Tokyo train system in the days of paper tickets and maps in Japanese with only a few signs in English.

 

[Matiunz]

On the train whilst i type this. Fortunately only a 20 min commute once a week (WFH other days).

And funnily enough i consult for Syd Trains.

Tell them the worst phrase in the English language is “rail replacement bus”

 

[Matiunz]

Gee has your wife considered a job closer to home !
Is she driving or using pt?

She’s using PT but only goes in once a week the rest is WFH, type of job where its specialised enough can’t really change location. We used to live inner west (renting) so was a much quicker commute however the commute for me was about 45 min drive. We brought a house a bit further out just before covid hit so mostly WFH made it less of an issue. Ironically I’m now less than 10min drive from my office now but rarely go in.

 

[run_it_str8_again]

Wellington. I flew in for a meeting somewhere CBDish. Got told to catch the train to Porirua where I was visiting a mate and his family. I saw twenty taxis waiting for people with more money than me. But I still asked how much to get to my destination and it was over $100 (about 15years ago).

I saw hordes of zombies entering that train station and I refused to do it. So last resort at a garage across the road from train station I asked a taxi driver who was at the bowser filling up how much he'd charge and he said he'd take me for $35. So I took the deal. Got told it was a good deal by my mate.

Now about Sydney commuting. I used to drive Carlingford (Pennant Hills road) to Bella Vista x5 per week. It would take 15min on the weekend and up to 90min easily during the week. I moved to the Central coast and it took about the same amount of time but my back yard was close to the ocean and was worth it at the time

 

[wizard of Tauranga]

Up to 4 million commuters pass through Shinjuku station every day. I first navigated the Tokyo train system in the days of paper tickets and maps in Japanese with only a few signs in English.

We spent a few weeks in Tokyo years ago for a wedding with 18 month old twin babies. We had a big double push chair and you could literally walk full speed ahead through the sea of people and it would open up and close around behind you in a beautiful example of organised chaos.

Trains would be full and you just push in and a gap magically appeared where it shouldn’t be possible. Fascinating how it all worked.

Awesome country. Awesome people.

 

[Rick O’Shay]

The Riv brings back good memories of the Tron in the early 70's Always a stop off when playing there.

Superseded by the Hillcrest tavern, famous for Leopard Lager on tap and Dwarf throwing.