Incidentally, I've come across the original text when commuting home via LTN after a 5-day "out of base" assignment. My first thought was "if you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen"...
Although not without problems, I had a blast at my temporary base - flown to some new places, met nice people, had some good food and excellent wine...
Only later, after the hassle of transiting thru LTN I have found some sympathy for the author. However, most of the problems he describes seem to be specific to the UK - ie. the general unwillingness to help and anal retentive jobsworths on every corner (like: "only one piece of luggage allowed", "no coffee on the bus", "where's your id" etc.) No offence guys, but rest of Europe seems to be happier and easier to deal with
