This challenge is much harder than I imagined it was going to be.
Cardiff Bus 1A goes from Wentloog Business Park into town but only three times day, in the afternoon, coinciding with the finishing times for workers. To make things more difficult for me the bus travels there โout of serviceโ so to catch the 1A I therefore had to somehow get myself there. The answer was to catch a 44 or 45 to Trowbridge and then walk down a dodgy footpath, over the main railway line and onto the industrial estate.
I tried it yesterday and failed. It was a horrible wet day and I got soaked. I managed to get to the 1A bus stop in Wentloog but the bus never turned up. I got even wetter trudging back up to Trowbridge.
My misery was compounded by the fact that Iโd picked up a book to read in a charity shop about Peace. The back cover professed it would tell me how to bring about world peace even though I wasnโt a political leader or campaigner. It quickly transpired that the answer being put forward was to pray. Things got worse when I Googled the author, a French Canadian, who had won his fair share of prizes but then had some withdrawn for sexual scandals.
I had it all planned yesterday too. After the bus adventure I still managed to salvage the day and go to a meeting of the Cardiff Scientific Society where Professor Sir Colin Humphreys spoke about โNext generation ultra-low-energy consumption 2D semiconductor materials and devices beyond siliconโ. This was a very topical lecture given the announcement yesterday about Microsoft investing ยฃ billions in datacenters in UK. To power them we will need more nuclear power stations and still have the most expensive electricity in the developed world. We can only hope that the inventions of Sir Colin Humphreys come to reality, cutting the energy needed to power these datacenters and keep out lights on. I canโt help thinking UK has got the raw end of this trade deal. Once datacenters are built they sit there not employing people but using up massive amounts of electricity. Whereas the US gets a multibillion dollar investment from GSK employing a highly skilled workforce.
Anyway, back to the bus. I tried again today. I binned yesterdayโs book and bought a new one. The bus turned up on time and picked up four other people on the industrial estate before we got to Tremorfa where we joined the conventional City Circle route into town.
I headed over to the Great Western, (maintaining the transport theme) and ordered myself a pint of Jemimaโs Pitchfork, went upstairs and found a quiet corner for a read of Richard Ayoadeโs Ayoade On Top. He has a unique style of humorous writing with a rich vocabulary. I was a third of my way down my pint when my corner got invaded by a group of noisy school children, who had no intention of buying anything. In fairness they were fine, having harmless fun playing a card game. I took my hearing aid out and continued to read.
I wonder what the next bus adventure will bring me.
Cardiff Capers 