Currently enjoying the novelty of the a1 western bypass not being nose to tail.

As expected, here's what really annoying me today... Being effectively cut off from the world for the whole of today as once again Arriva are stuck in the mindset that people don't want to go anywhere today, everyone wants to be at home with their families, the truth is, right now I don't, had Christmas dinner round my brothers house yesterday and because I have this curse where I struggle to talk to people, it was me sat bored receiving no attention whatsoever for five hours which ended up with being not only being bored but also a bit depressed. I am not the sort of person who can bare just sitting around doing nothing, I honestly can't even sit down and listen to music at home, I have to be pacing up and down the floor to make it feel like I am doing something, so you can only imagine how bored mental I am going to be today especially as my most of my Christmas presents will not keep me amused for the whole day, can't really get much enjoyment from looking at socks, no matter how bright and colourful they are! Unfortunately I haven't managed to sleep in until lunchtime and instead because my brain is a prick, I woke up at 08:30 today so the torture has now been extended by at least another two hours. Although I have DVDs to watch, they will only entertain me for so long. The thing that really irritates me about Arriva not running a service on Boxing Day is the fact that I know some of the members of this forum and also some of my friends from college have a service bus service today run by Go North East today, whereas if I want to leave Newton Aycliffe today, the only way of doing so would be to book a taxi and I don't know if any of you are aware of this, but on Boxing Day taxi companies can charge double the usual fare, my parents went to Tesco from my house on another bank holiday and it costed £6 odd just for a five minute journey! So I dread to think how much it would cost to go to Darlington and back today, you'd probably be paying something ridiculous like £30 for the pleasure of travelling today.

So once again, I am in for a long day of climbing up the walls because there is nothing to do but look at the socks I got for Christmas.

EDIT: Just remembered, my speakers broke after I came home on Christmas Eve, so I can only listen to music through my headphones.

(26 Dec 2015, 9:45 am)Jimmi wrote As expected, here's what really annoying me today... Being effectively cut off from the world for the whole of today as once again Arriva are stuck in the mindset that people don't want to go anywhere today, everyone wants to be at home with their families, the truth is, right now I don't, had Christmas dinner round my brothers house yesterday and because I have this curse where I struggle to talk to people, it was me sat bored receiving no attention whatsoever for five hours which ended up with being not only being bored but also a bit depressed. I am not the sort of person who can bare just sitting around doing nothing, I honestly can't even sit down and listen to music at home, I have to be pacing up and down the floor to make it feel like I am doing something, so you can only imagine how bored mental I am going to be today especially as my most of my Christmas presents will not keep me amused for the whole day, can't really get much enjoyment from looking at socks, no matter how bright and colourful they are! Unfortunately I haven't managed to sleep in until lunchtime and instead because my brain is a prick, I woke up at 08:30 today so the torture has now been extended by at least another two hours. Although I have DVDs to watch, they will only entertain me for so long. The thing that really irritates me about Arriva not running a service on Boxing Day is the fact that I know some of the members of this forum and also some of my friends from college have a service bus service today run by Go North East today, whereas if I want to leave Newton Aycliffe today, the only way of doing so would be to book a taxi and I don't know if any of you are aware of this, but on Boxing Day taxi companies can charge double the usual fare, my parents went to Tesco from my house on another bank holiday and it costed £6 odd just for a five minute journey! So I dread to think how much it would cost to go to Darlington and back today, you'd probably be paying something ridiculous like £30 for the pleasure of travelling today.

So once again, I am in for a long day of climbing up the walls because there is nothing to do but look at the socks I got for Christmas.

Even I have a bus service today...Sorry just thought I would rub it in a bit enjoy your socks 😛

(26 Dec 2015, 9:53 am)MrFozz wrote Even I have a bus service today...Sorry just thought I would rub it in a bit enjoy your socks 😛

Yes, you have a bus service today, even Bishop Auckland and Spennydorm have a bus service today! (X21)

Go North East, do you fancy running the 7 next year?

I'm not Davie's friend, who really enjoys socks!

(26 Dec 2015, 9:58 am)Jimmi wrote Yes, you have a bus service today, even Bishop Auckland and Spennydorm have a bus service today! (X21)

Go North East, do you fancy running the 7 next year?

I'm not Davie's friend, who [b]really enjoys socks! [/b]

Davie has been quiet recently.
Has he got some new socks and succumbed to temptation?

(26 Dec 2015, 9:45 am)Jimmi wrote As expected,  here's what really annoying me today... Being effectively cut off from the world for the whole of today as once again Arriva are stuck in the mindset that people don't want to go anywhere today, everyone wants to be at home with their families, the truth is, right now I don't, had Christmas dinner round my brothers house yesterday and because I have this curse where I struggle to talk to people, it was me sat bored receiving no attention whatsoever for five hours which ended up with being not only being bored but also a bit depressed. I am not the sort of person who can bare just sitting around doing nothing, I honestly can't even sit down and listen to music at home, I have to be pacing up and down the floor to make it feel like I am doing something, so you can only imagine how bored mental I am going to be today especially as my most of my Christmas presents will not keep me amused for the whole day, can't really get much enjoyment from looking at socks, no matter how bright and colourful they are! Unfortunately I haven't managed to sleep in until lunchtime and instead because my brain is a prick, I woke up at 08:30 today so the torture has now been extended by at least another two hours. Although I have DVDs to watch, they will only entertain me for so long. The thing that really irritates me about Arriva not running a service on Boxing Day is the fact that I know some of the members of this forum and also some of my friends from college have a service bus service today run by Go North East today, whereas if I want to leave Newton Aycliffe today, the only way of doing so would be to book a taxi and I don't know if any of you are aware of this, but on Boxing Day taxi companies can charge double the usual fare, my parents went to Tesco from my house on another bank holiday and it costed £6 odd just for a five minute journey! So I dread to think how much it would cost to go to Darlington and back today, you'd probably be paying something ridiculous like £30 for the pleasure of travelling today.

So once again, I am in for a long day of climbing up the walls because there is nothing to do but look at the socks I got for Christmas.

EDIT: Just remembered, my speakers broke after I came home on Christmas Eve, so I can only listen to music through my headphones.

Yep, apparently Arriva staff should have more time with their families according to an 'anti-GNE'....

Once GNE operate a frequent service between Ashington & Newcastle all year the better. Leaving places like Darlington, Newton Aycliffe, 'rural' County Durham (Esh Winning etc), Blyth, Morpeth, Ashington, Widdrington, Amble, Alnwick and Berwick, probably over 150,000 people without a bus service is ridiculous.

(26 Dec 2015, 11:01 am)GX03 SVC wrote Yep, apparently Arriva staff should have more time with their families according to an 'anti-GNE'....

Once GNE operate a frequent service between Ashington & Newcastle all year the better. Leaving places like Darlington, Newton Aycliffe, 'rural' County Durham (Esh Winning etc), Blyth, Morpeth, Ashington, Widdrington, Amble, Alnwick and Berwick, probably over 150,000 people without a bus service is ridiculous.

I still think Arriva are missing commercial opportunities, I am interested to see how the X21 does today, it would be incredibly embarrassing if the X21 carries decent passenger numbers, especially as Arriva's competing service is a so called 'premium quality' bus service. Still can't see how places the size of Darlington, Stockton and Middlesbrough can have no bus service whatsoever, not even a basic level service on some of the core routes.

So bloody secure, I can't even open it!

(26 Dec 2015, 11:01 am)GX03 SVC wrote Yep, apparently Arriva staff should have more time with their families according to an 'anti-GNE'....

Once GNE operate a frequent service between Ashington & Newcastle all year the better. Leaving places like Darlington, Newton Aycliffe, 'rural' County Durham (Esh Winning etc), Blyth, Morpeth, Ashington, Widdrington, Amble, Alnwick and Berwick, probably over 150,000 people without a bus service is ridiculous.

They did didn't they..Till about 6-7 years ago

(26 Dec 2015, 11:13 am)Jimmi wrote I still think Arriva are missing commercial opportunities, I am interested to see how the X21 does today, it would be incredibly embarrassing if the X21 carries decent passenger numbers, especially as Arriva's competing service is a so called 'premium quality' bus service. Still can't see how places the size of Darlington, Stockton and Middlesbrough can have no bus service whatsoever, not even a basic level service on some of the core routes.

I agree, it is embarrassing, Murton has a half hourly service, but places like Aycliffe and Sedgefield have nothing.

I cant see why companies cant run to there Sunday timetables and treat Boxing Day like any other Bank Holiday

(26 Dec 2015, 11:49 am)MrFozz wrote They did didn't they..Till about 6-7 years ago

The routes in question were transferred to Arriva in the Ashingtn/Hexham depot swap.

(26 Dec 2015, 11:01 am)GX03 SVC wrote Yep, apparently Arriva staff should have more time with their families according to an 'anti-GNE'....

Once GNE operate a frequent service between Ashington & Newcastle all year the better. Leaving places like Darlington, Newton Aycliffe, 'rural' County Durham (Esh Winning etc), Blyth, Morpeth, Ashington, Widdrington, Amble, Alnwick and Berwick, probably over 150,000 people without a bus service is ridiculous.

They get as much time off as most people. If they work a boxing day, they get a day off in return for it, so it's not like anyone is losing out. Apparently they couldn't get enough volunteers to work today. So either the incentive wasn't there, or they weren't asked in the first place. My opinion is that there's certainly some of the latter in there, because it's quite clear to me that the MD is not the one running the company here.

Brother was so looking forward going to Morpeth to spend his Christmas money on remote control cars. Will have to do that tomorrow now and there will probably be nothing left, so a probable 45 minute wait for a 35.

(26 Dec 2015, 5:51 pm)GX03 SVC wrote Brother was so looking forward going to Morpeth to spend his Christmas money on remote control cars. Will have to do that tomorrow now and there will probably be nothing left, so a probable 45 minute wait for a 35.

This is the other thing that infuriates me about there being a lacking of Arriva services in the region today, everytime I try to get shoes when there is a sale on, by the time I get there, all the size 8's will have gone. Annoyingly I only have time to go to Darlington tomorrow as I'm going out tomorrow night, in the glitz and glamour of Witton Gilbert!

You can tell Jimmi has been cooked up in the house for two days... He appears to be putting that selfie stick he got for Christmas to good use!

(26 Dec 2015, 6:53 pm)Dan wrote You can tell Jimmi has been cooked up in the house for two days... He appears to be putting that selfie stick he got for Christmas to good use!

Haha! That photo was taken on December 5th, although I did for some reason find myself taking selfies at 00:44 before heading to bed last night, no idea why! No selfie stick though, instead I have to use the camera on the screen side of my phone.

(26 Dec 2015, 9:45 am)Jimmi wrote As expected,  here's what really annoying me today... Being effectively cut off from the world for the whole of today as once again Arriva are stuck in the mindset that people don't want to go anywhere today, everyone wants to be at home with their families, the truth is, right now I don't, had Christmas dinner round my brothers house yesterday and because I have this curse where I struggle to talk to people, it was me sat bored receiving no attention whatsoever for five hours which ended up with being not only being bored but also a bit depressed. I am not the sort of person who can bare just sitting around doing nothing, I honestly can't even sit down and listen to music at home, I have to be pacing up and down the floor to make it feel like I am doing something, so you can only imagine how bored mental I am going to be today especially as my most of my Christmas presents will not keep me amused for the whole day, can't really get much enjoyment from looking at socks, no matter how bright and colourful they are! Unfortunately I haven't managed to sleep in until lunchtime and instead because my brain is a prick, I woke up at 08:30 today so the torture has now been extended by at least another two hours. Although I have DVDs to watch, they will only entertain me for so long. The thing that really irritates me about Arriva not running a service on Boxing Day is the fact that I know some of the members of this forum and also some of my friends from college have a service bus service today run by Go North East today, whereas if I want to leave Newton Aycliffe today, the only way of doing so would be to book a taxi and I don't know if any of you are aware of this, but on Boxing Day taxi companies can charge double the usual fare, my parents went to Tesco from my house on another bank holiday and it costed £6 odd just for a five minute journey! So I dread to think how much it would cost to go to Darlington and back today, you'd probably be paying something ridiculous like £30 for the pleasure of travelling today.

So once again, I am in for a long day of climbing up the walls because there is nothing to do but look at the socks I got for Christmas.

EDIT: Just remembered, my speakers broke after I came home on Christmas Eve, so I can only listen to music through my headphones.

We were lucky to have the car and the driver in the family at home to, well drive, this morning. Big'un was trapped indoors, yesterday because the ridiculous rules his brain makes up insisted that nothing was open. Husband and Littl'un enjoyed chatting with the ducks in Hardwick park, in the morning, before the rain landed, while Big'un stayed at home getting cross with the Da Vinci clock he was trying to assemble.

Wouldn't have wanted to be out this afternoon, TBH, as the roads were already quite bad with flood water, this morning. At least all the salt from the other week finally got washed out of our wheel rims!

BBC Iplayer on my PS4. I'm trying to watch Mrs Brown's Boys, but it keeps buffering. I've tried turning the BBC Iplayer app off, and restarting it, but nowt different is happening. At least my dad is on the mend though.

(26 Dec 2015, 11:49 pm)Davie wrote BBC Iplayer on my PS4. I'm trying to watch Mrs Brown's Boys, but it keeps buffering. I've tried turning the BBC Iplayer app off, and restarting it, but nowt different is happening. At least my dad is on the mend though.

Last nights was fantastic. Its a shame they don't make any more regular series anymore alongside the Christmas Specials.

(26 Dec 2015, 11:55 pm)S813 FVK wrote Last nights was fantastic. Its a shame they don't make any more regular series anymore alongside the Christmas Specials.

I agree it is a shame. I'm enjoying what I've seen saw far.

Thats Nice

I have hated the whole Christmas holidays this year. It has just totally killed me. One thing that has pushed me beyond breaking point is the shopping, jam packed shopping centres is my worst nightmare, been to Darlington this afternoon and the thing that pushed me over the edge was when I went in CeX and I tried to squeeze through a gap through a gap only big enough for one person, so of course some inpatient prick also tried to get through so ended up doing that thing where you move one way and they move the other, he gave me such a dirty look. This and other people just badly stressed me out, to the point I thought I was going to collapse.

I really need help, but lord knows I ain't getting it.

(26 Dec 2015, 11:49 pm)Davie wrote BBC Iplayer on my PS4. I'm trying to watch Mrs Brown's Boys, but it keeps buffering. I've tried turning the BBC Iplayer app off, and restarting it, but nowt different is happening. At least my dad is on the mend though.

Great on my phone...4G connection

As Marcus has his own dedicated thread for his bus related outings/reviews, could we set Jimmi up with a dedicated 'What's annoying you today?' thread? 

(27 Dec 2015, 2:09 pm)Jimmi wrote I have hated the whole Christmas holidays this year. It has just totally killed me. One thing that has pushed me beyond breaking point is the shopping, jam packed shopping centres is my worst nightmare, been to Darlington this afternoon and the thing that pushed me over the edge was when I went in CeX and I tried to squeeze through a gap through a gap only big enough for one person, so of course some inpatient prick also tried to get through so ended up doing that thing where you move one way and they move the other, he gave me such a dirty look. This and other people just badly stressed me out, to the point I thought I was going to collapse.

I really need help, but lord knows I ain't getting it.

I can't even think of any publicly funded services that would deem you as not coping and take you on, jimmi. You'd mostly be seen as able to go out and budget independently and left alone because you're not obviously outwardly in crisis.

In terms of self help, it would be worth looking at some adaptive strategies. There's lots of stuff out there on sensory processing, so even if it's something you worked on at school, it's well worth re-visiting for yourself.

A lot of people with neurological challenges get a lot of mileage out of mindfulness techniques. T'Internet is over-run with that stuff!

And it goes without saying that if you don't get pip, it's worth a bash, if only to cover the cost of some private CBT or similar. Worth talking to your gp about what's available, anyhow, i you're finding yourself falling apart so often.

(27 Dec 2015, 2:22 pm)Dan wrote As Marcus has his own dedicated thread for his bus related outings/reviews, could we set Jimmi up with a dedicated 'What's annoying you today?' thread? 

I'm 3rd in the rankings for posts in this thread. Including this post I am 43 posts behind the top poster. Other annoying threads however...

(27 Dec 2015, 2:23 pm)BusLoverMum wrote I can't even think of any publicly funded services that would deem you as not coping and take you on, jimmi. You'd mostly be seen as able to go out and budget independently and left alone because you're not obviously outwardly in crisis.

In terms of self help, it would be worth looking at some adaptive strategies. There's lots of stuff out there on sensory processing, so even if it's something you worked on at school, it's well worth re-visiting for yourself.

A lot of people with neurological challenges get a lot of mileage out of mindfulness techniques. T'Internet is over-run with that stuff!

And it goes without saying that if you don't get pip, it's worth a bash, if only to cover the cost of some private CBT or similar. Worth talking to your gp about what's available, anyhow, i you're finding yourself falling apart so often.

I was actually getting some help, mainly to try and sort out my anger problems however they seemingly forgot about me for several months, now I just feel like a name and address they can send their newsletters and such to. Honestly don't know what is going on in my head that causes me to react in this way.

(27 Dec 2015, 2:55 pm)Jimmi wrote I was actually getting some help, mainly to try and sort out my anger problems however they seemingly forgot about me for several months, now I just feel like a name and address they can send their newsletters and such to. Honestly don't know what is going on in my head that causes me to react in this way.

It's almost definitely worth getting in touch to find out what's going on, particularly if you can feel yourself slipping again.

(all that said, busy shops tend to trigger my fight or flight response - there's been a few Saturdays when big'un has sat down somewhere and refused to budge because he's stressed and has got stuck, while I've paced back and forth with steam coming out of my ears because I'm stressed by the crowds, myself, and wondering how the hell I'm going to get a boy on the verge of a big meltdown home safely! I take it as a rule of thumb that, if somewhere is too busy for me, I need to get him away from there as soon as possible. Easy in Newcastle, but impossible at the Metrocentre.)

Just to elaborate on my previous post, and what I just said in parenthesis, it's about recognising your triggers and doing something about it, whether that's getting away or doing something to combat the sensory assault and social demands (because panicking that someone is giving you a dirty look is reacting negatively to a social demand) of getting through a crowded shop. Big'un used to lose whole days to the effects of this sort of thing but, fingers crossed, he comes around a lot quicker, now. His school has helped him a lot with that. At home, he asks to do something calming for him, like counting money.

The internet isn't working!

(27 Dec 2015, 5:05 pm)Davie wrote The internet isn't working!

The Internet is fine for me?

(27 Dec 2015, 5:30 pm)Adrian wrote The Internet is fine for me?

The Internet in my house.

(27 Dec 2015, 5:36 pm)Davie wrote The Internet in my house.

Ah. Your connection to the Internet, you mean?