The Number 8 Bus
The #8 bus drove past my house last night. This was odd to say the least, my road being what you might describe as "residential" with cars parked either side along it making much of it a bi-directional one-way street. So it was, to say the least, an odd sight to see the great big bus amongst the streams of other vehicles passing my window. Even though it was only a single-decker (the double-decker 8's being phased out some years ago due to the perils of traveling on the top-deck) it still looked incredibly out of place. Another indication that something not-quite-right was afoot.
I told S., who's in Panama at the moment. It was him that told me that Birmingham city centre had been evacuated. From the other side of the world came news of what was happening less than a mile away from me. Sure enough, there was a "real and credible threat" and a decision was "not made lightly" to evacuate 20,000 people from the city. Suspect packages were being blown up in a controlled manner, though the absence of any big bangs meant that the only explosives found in the area belonged to the bomb disposal squad. The last time I saw something like this I was in Cambridge: a bridge by my house was cordoned off the the police blew up a 'suspect' fish & chips supper.
It seems that terror is following me. I took a walk, being the inquisitive type, to see what was happening. As you might expect I saw traffic jams, police and helicopters. Just a normal Saturday night in Birmingham really. I decided not to go up to the cordon an annoy the police by asking stupid questions. The displaced people I passed (displaced from bars and clubs, rather than homes and loved ones) all seemed calm but lost. A group of "hens" were stood outside Subway wondering what to do, others were waiting for busses to make their way through the diversions and traffic to them. There seemed to be no terror in these people though. I don't suppose we'll know how close we came to seeing terror for the second time; the police are never keen on being too specific in these cases.
I let my sister know I was alive this time.
PS:
Found this just now, it's an interesting insight into the workings of Wikkipedia.
I told S., who's in Panama at the moment. It was him that told me that Birmingham city centre had been evacuated. From the other side of the world came news of what was happening less than a mile away from me. Sure enough, there was a "real and credible threat" and a decision was "not made lightly" to evacuate 20,000 people from the city. Suspect packages were being blown up in a controlled manner, though the absence of any big bangs meant that the only explosives found in the area belonged to the bomb disposal squad. The last time I saw something like this I was in Cambridge: a bridge by my house was cordoned off the the police blew up a 'suspect' fish & chips supper.
It seems that terror is following me. I took a walk, being the inquisitive type, to see what was happening. As you might expect I saw traffic jams, police and helicopters. Just a normal Saturday night in Birmingham really. I decided not to go up to the cordon an annoy the police by asking stupid questions. The displaced people I passed (displaced from bars and clubs, rather than homes and loved ones) all seemed calm but lost. A group of "hens" were stood outside Subway wondering what to do, others were waiting for busses to make their way through the diversions and traffic to them. There seemed to be no terror in these people though. I don't suppose we'll know how close we came to seeing terror for the second time; the police are never keen on being too specific in these cases.
I let my sister know I was alive this time.
PS:
Found this just now, it's an interesting insight into the workings of Wikkipedia.
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