In the Twinkling of an Eye

I don't think it's down to the hot weather (at last!), but I can't help wondering how swiftly one weekend succeeds the previous one, even though there were five days in between: I know there were five - I counted them one by one as they sped past!

Though, now I come to think of it, Monday certainly didn't do any speeding.  I had one job, for which I waited almost until lunchtime, and then I had to go down to Hertford to get it!  It only went as far as Bracknell, so I was back to the office by 4.0pm.  Compensation came on Tuesday, however.  As I settled down with a cup of coffee to check off last week's invoice, I was called in to be given instructions.  Collect a tender in Hitchin to be in Leicester by 11.0, and then go home.  Tomorrow morning, go to a customer in Letchworth at 7.0, and collect another job for Leicester.  That sounded fine, but then it got better.  I was on my way to the pick-up when I had a call to say that the morning collection was now for a big van.  When I got the tender, I discovered that this was not for Leicester but Loughborough.  It was another case of 'post-code generalisation', which I explained a few weeks ago here.  It has a Leicester post-code, therefore it must be going to Leicester .... or not!

When I rang in, according to standing instructions, to advise of this discrepancy, I was told to get this to its destination as soon as I could, and then go to an address in Warrington, which I ought to reach by the required 11.0.  Here I was to meet a certain lady and 'collect' something for a customer in Letchworth.  Collection, I discovered, was a polite euphemism for what was actually required.  I put two and two together and assumed that this customer was dispensing with the services of their local rep in that area, whom I was to meet at the given address, a safe storage facility.  Once inside, I was introduced to the particular cabinet and, while the lady was sitting in the office completing the formalities to discontinue using it, I emptied the contents of the room into the van.  I have rarely seen my van more full than on Tuesday afternoon, although I have often been surprised just how much it will hold.  Eventually, all was secure and I set off for a smooth and - amazingly - non-stop journey home.

The snag came when I went to collect a job for delivery in Suffolk on Wednesday morning.  This consisted of two heavy boxes and a reel of cable which was greater in diameter than the space between the wheel-arches of the van.  As I made to get in the side door to help ease this monster into position, I found my way hindered by the fact of the door being locked - even though the back doors were not only unlocked, but wide open!  It transpired that, in that smooth journey home from Warrington, one item had slipped from its perch and fallen on the lock button, pushing it firmly inside the door assembly.

That job was the first of six on Wednesday - only the third time this year that this figure has been reached.  None of the others was spectacular and, between the first three and the last, I managed to visit the garage with this door-locked problem.  It's lovely when you see someone who knows how a thing is put together.  It must have been the work of two minutes at most to tweak the knob off with a small screwdriver and then release the connecting rod with a pair of fine, angled pliers.  The only lingering weakness is that the knob is re-fitted very loosely, and shouldn't actually be used.  Since the only time I ever open the door is with the radio-controlled key from the outside, this causes me no problem whatsoever.

The highlight of Thursday came as SatNav directed me to Basingstoke along a narrow Hampshire lane.  At one point it seemed to go through a kind of gorge, with the earthen walls stretching at least 20 feet above me and, as I sped past, I could see projecting from them the roots of the trees above.  If only there had been time to stop and somewhere to park the car, it would have made a wonderful picture.  And so to Friday, when first the Repeating Genie sent me on a routine job back to Basingstoke, and then back to that narrow main street at Coddenham of which I wrote last week, this time for a medical delivery to a modern health centre which required little imagination to place it in an alpine village, rather than only a few miles from the Suffolk coast.

Today has been pleasantly warm and sunny, apart from the 90 minutes of the football match I attended in the afternoon, when an obstinate black cloud sent the whole ground into an autumnal shiver, while Hitchin Town beat Oxford City 2-1.  And now I'm wondering what delights next week will hold for me - whatever they are, I'm sure they will be shared next weekend!