And I was working in the ice-rink spring and summer that year.

• Straight Eye for the Queer Guy.

At work, God help me. Parts of the tube are in fact running. The city is quiet — most people seem to be remembering 2002 and aren't bothering. So I got a train to Liverpool St, the Met to Baker Street and walked from there. Bah!

The office is a ghost town. Lots of people are getting calls at home, which serves them right and teaches them that "working from home" is only partially a euphemism for "day off."

Tube drivers are paid a lot because it's actually an incredibly stressful job — driving a train with a thousand people's lives in your hands down a black tunnel where you can see nothing, several hours a day every day, does your head in. Not to mention the train suicides. The unsociable hours allowance is also a large chunk of the cash, and they get good holidays because they bloody need them. Take care not to fall into the trap of "I don't do it so it must be simple."

(I know nurses have it worse. That doesn't make it right.)

That said, Bob Crow is in fact a fuckhead. Ask arkady about this and stand back while she rants.