A test of the emergency broadcast system. Woo.

also, thank fuck that those that actually had a say in the matter overwhelmingly voted no to the manchester congestion charge. of course, living just outside the boundaries of the county, my opinion doesn't count, despite the fact that any job that i would want around here would be within it, therefore i'd have to use the really shitty public transport that is provided, or get a car and pay the fecker. because, of course, it goes outside of the area therefore we can charge whatever the fuck we want and put on as bad a service as we like. example - since the early 90's, prices have gone up 200%[1], more so on shorter routes, weekend services are close to non-existant, the services themselves have reduced routes, if i want to use a train there's basically no sunday service either and most summers see the entire thing replaced by buses because i live on the main line which they've been trying and failing to upgrade for the past decade.

[1] - i have no idea how much that is in real terms, but if i want to travel ONE WAY into town, and that isn't even the city centre, just the shitty satellite town in between, that'd cost me £2.60, or about $4 (would be nearer $5 before the pound went down the shitter). compare that to NYC where you can travel on ANYTHING all day for $7.