Jim Haysom | This Is Your Life an internet professional in digital advertising

Season Ticket Refunds & Compensation for Snow Disruption in February

Great news that Southern Rail are issuing refunds and compensation to season ticket holders for the snow disruption on 2nd and 3rd February 2009.

Having walked past a poster today and enquired at the ticket office, they will give you a form to complete and send freepost to the refund office at Southern railways.

You have to enclose your expired Season Ticket, because refunds cannot be made without it. Seems these snowy days caused havoc to commuters across the country and I've seen statements online from the other operators such as South West Trains and South Eastern Trains who are giving refunds and compensation also.

Funniest thing is, at the bottom of the form, there is an opt-in request for special promotions and other Southern services. If that includes half price season tickets, then I'm all in for giving my consent for the direct mail communication.

Train suicides, fatalities, trespass incident and breakdowns

Is the credit crunch causing a rise in fatalities and suicides on the railway lines? It seems to me that this week has been a bloody depressing week, if the train jumpers are jumping midweek, just before the end of the month and pay day.

It's been three evenings on the trot that the trains have been severely disrupted on my commute home. Tuesday was a broken down train at Balham, Wednesday was trespassers on the line which was updated to an incident in the Brockley area and tonight was a fatality in the Balcombe area.

I'm surprised I haven't seen any advertising for people to get advice whilst at the train station. You have gotta to have given it some thought, rather than it being a spur of the moment thing.

It must be a horid experience for the driver and passengers caught up in it. I've known people who have witnessed incidents and people being involved with the London Underground. And whilst the speed on which the tubes are travelling into platforms is pretty quick, it nothing compared to a train passing through a station that is not on the stopping route.

If we see warning signs on the motorway for 'don't drink and drive', 'don't text and drive' and 'don't drug and drive', why isn't there the 'don't jump and die' notices at train stations? Maybe people are that angry or upset, they have no consideration for the thousands of commuters it effects.

On leaving my station there was four coaches for the onward journeys as the train terminated at my station because of tonights fatality. But I also noticed a poster near the exit, and it said 'Consider your fellow passengers'.

So it's pretty clear that you shouldn't speak loudly on your mobile phone, play loud music on your MP3 player, or put your feet on the seats. Can we please add another request... Don't jump in front of trains or play on the tracks, please seek help!

Just wish I added that in the passenger survey form I was given this morning at the station and completed. But you never know who will read this post or even comment. I'm sure other commuters feel the same frustrations.

Where can I buy a Bournemouth fridge magnet?

The stag weekend was a blast, and all the chaps came away with some more dirt to dish, as well as a nice hangover. But the morning after breakfast was one of quite a few laughs.

Apart from the nine of us feeling a bit worse for wear with less than 7 hours sleep, the restaurant was the venue for another priceless moment of comedy.

There was another group of guys having breakfast and got up to ask the waitress "where can I buy a fridge magnet?". This in itself was out of the blue, but he was deadly serious. A dead pan voice delivering this monotone one liner!

The waitress was confused. She was not English either. So imagine the laughter that was dying to be released when she responded, "You want to put what into my fridge?".

After repeated requests of him asking the directions to a shop that sells such souvenirs, the reataurant manager came over. He too was not English, and struggled with this ask for seaside tat.

It came to a point when the guy started asking if the manager knew what a fridge was! We couldn't believe it.

This guy's fridge must be a hommage to the destinations he gas been too. I can just imagine it. Magnets of seaside panoramics from Blackpool, Weston Supermare, Brighton, and soon to be Bournemouth, neatly arranged on the White door.

Some of our stag group went for some fresh air after breakfast and a stroll down to the beach. Unfortunately there wasn't any shops open for us to buy a fridge magnet, so we came back empty handed as well. Maybe next time. Not.

Don’t forget your advanced hotel booking

Have you ever been that organised that you buy a present, book a hotel room, or get a greetings card, so much in advance that forget you ever did it?

It's now dawning on me this week that I may have made an advanced booking at a luxury hotel for a friends wedding, but I can't remember the name of the hotel or its exact location. Nor can I seem to find the hotel reservation in my email, though I'm convinced I've done it.

Thankfully the wedding is not this weekend, but the stag do is. So I have the chance to ask my friend what the hotel is likely to be, as it will be within a 20 mile radius of the wedding venue.

The last thing I want is to pay for the pool, spa and three pillow wide bed, and not enjoy it.

Snow shoes, igloo and fondue

When it comes to team building and fun events, it's hard to beat snow shoe walking up a mountain, kicking back in an igloo drinking mulled white wine, followed by a traditional Swiss meal of fondue with bread and potatoes.

You certainly work up an appetite after walking across deep snow for about an hour, wearing only your warm winter clothes, a flashlight on your head and shoe shoes that are a modern day version of tennis rackets on your feet.  Walking in single file, you had to concentrate not to fall over and roll down the mountain!

Taking a well earnt rest at the igloo Stockhorn by the frozen lake, it gave you an opportunity to sit on sheepskins over the ice blocks in the cavernous snow house.  With ice sculptures all around, you take in the mavel of this special candle lit ambience whilst drinking the hot spicy wine, knowing that you are in the middle of a vast white landscape.

Being over 1,700 metres up from the gondola lift base station, the air was crisp, the snow was powdery and was a real work out for a lot of my colleagues on this this teambuilding night out.  It was rounded off nicely with a traditional Swiss meal of fondue and some alcohol.  Click the link to find out more about this cuisine, you'll be surprised what it's all about.

Reminiscing holidays with Google Earth

Do you ever find after viewing the many photos from an amazing holiday once back home, they seem to find themselves sitting in a drawer or shoe box for years getting dusty?

Back in the days of 35mm film and my Canon EOS 30 SLR camera, I would take rolls of film when on holiday. Just because you couldn't view the image straight away, you had to take the extra to make sure you got that special photo.

I have got some of the special photos blown up and framed, from Thailand, Dubai and the Maldives. However now digital cameras have made it quicker and easier to share, there are some cool photo websites that you can use, such as Flickr and Photobox.

But seeing lots of photos of a place you have been to on these sites is engaging in 2D, it's the 3D that really gets me excited.

Google Earth uses the satelite images you find in Google Maps, and stitches them all together and adds roads, terrain and more to give it a real experience.

What better way than to reminiscing those holidays in 3D. There is also a solution to upload your photos and tag them so others looking at a location can see exactly what it's like.

It makes reminiscing down memory trip lane a much more rewarding experience, when you can see photos from other people around the world, and contribute with you little piece of history too.