A different route
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Having noticed that Coventry's city centre hadn't had many holes in it for a while, the council recently decided to dig most of it up. The result is that navigating the city by any other means than on foot has become a bit of a challenge. Whole roads have effectively been rendered closed by the destruction of major traffic junctions, and alternative routes have needed to be taken by anything and everyone who would otherwise use them.
It happens every year. In the lead up to the new financial year, councils seem to use up any excess on their budget by digging holes wherever possible and perhaps erecting the odd peculiar landmark. To an outsider (like me), it often seems largely pointless, and the end result (unless there's a new structure to show for it) is often completely indiscernible from how the site had looked before the hole had been dug.
But anyway, the net result to me is that my bus route has been altered. The places where I'd normally get on or off of said bus, while still open, have effectively been cut off by road works elsewhere and, as such, I'm faced with an altered walk to and from work. The alternative route isn't much longer, but it takes me through a different part of the city centre than normal and means I have a whole new range of people and sites on my journey.
Admittedly, there appear to be fewer points of interest on this route. The scenery is no more or less exciting (though I currently don't have to walk past the empty shop whose alarm has been sounding non-stop for about six months). And while the people are new, there aren't many that stand out.
The most notable is probably a young chap with a peculiar walk. He seems to propel himself along by leaning forwards slightly at the waist and seemingly only moving his legs (broadly) in front of him to stop gravity having its way with him. It gives the impression that he's always walking up hill and I sometimes find myself tilting my head to make it look more natural.
One minor advantage of the change of route is that, since the walk is slightly longer, I sometimes end up getting a different bus than I would normally get on the way home. While not an obvious advantage in its own right, it does mean that I get to travel with a different assortment of passengers, one or two of whom are attractive enough to make the journey home that little bit more bearable.
As things stand, it's been at least three or four weeks now since the work started and the altered route kicked in. On my new route, I actually walk right past the junction that had been dug up and was affecting the links to and from my usual bus stops. It would appear that much of the actual work has been finished for a while now. Just a few temporary fences block the way, which is usually the part it takes them the longest to resolve. Chances are normality will be restored any day now. And then they'll dig something else up.