Weird Week!

As the world of work gets more and more strange, I'm running out of adjectives to describe my weeks.  I have already described here how unusual it was to go to Ireland twice within a week; I was home by about 2.0 am on Tuesday so, after sleep, prayers, breakfast and admin, it was around 11.00 when I drove to the office to collect my invoice for the previous week, and advise my readiness for work.

I returned home for more admin, and soon returned to the presently all-consuming work on those Sturgeon family histories.  To my surprise, as the working day drew to a close, there was no mention of a job for the morning, so I made sure I was promptly prepared on Wednesday, lest there should be a call at 7.30 as was once my fate not too long ago.  With all at the ready, I settled down at the computer again, and waited ... and waited.  Just to be sure, I rang the office just before lunch to check that I was still on the list.  Yes, it was a very slow day for small vans: one had been sent off early to Plymouth, but nothing but local work since then; I was top of the list.  And so it was at the end of the day; at 4.30 I was called to be assigned an 8.30 collection in town for Birmingham, and took advantage of the opportunity to do some essential shopping that I'd been putting off in case I should be sent off on a job.

Thursday's trip to Birmingham was no problem, but I have to marvel at the 'thinking' behind the SatNav technology.  My destination was to the south side of the city, but I was directed along the M6 and through the city centre.  I sometimes wonder whether it was any less efficient in the days of maps and driver experience.  On my return, I told it to avoid the M6, and had a much more direct and relaxing journey home.  Next I visited the garage, where I amazed the folks there with the news that, in the ten days (including a weekend) since the van was serviced, I had covered more than the advised 2,000 miles by which time they wanted to re-inspect a suspect shock absorber.  While this was being looked at and given the 'thumbs-down', I was called to collect a local job from the same estate.  By the time I'd returned from this, the new shock absorber was sitting in the workshop, and within a further half-hour it had been fitted.

As I totted up my situation for the week to date, I reckoned that two days with no work had soaked up the 'bonus' element of the Irish job, and I was about on target so, comfortable but not ecstatic, I settled down for the evening.  I had barely started eating my evening meal when the night controller called.  A job had just been called in from a printing company in Broxbourne to go their site at Knowsley, north of Liverpool: would I be interested?  Given the performance of the last three days, I decided that a job on the sheet was better than a hope for tomorrow, so I explained my situation and said that, once I'd finished my meal, I'd be on my way.  That seemed OK, so by 7.30, I was heading north again.  After a couple of comparatively restful days, my return journey was considerably less drowsy than that coming home from Ireland on Monday.  Even so, I still stopped for a doze midway, and arrived home just as day was breaking.  I went straight to bed, and slept for about three hours; it would have been more but first the window-cleaner, then the neighbour leaving for work, and finally the postman disturbed me, and by 9.0, with further sleep out of the question, I got up.

I rang in about 11.0 after I'd caught up with admin and social media, and eventually came another first.  For the first time ever, I think, I was sent to Kettering to make a collection with the intention of calling our customer once I had it loaded, to find out where it was to be taken - it could be anywhere in the UK!  In the event, after a voicemail message and a fifteen-minute wait for a return call, I was sent to a small industrial estate near Walsall.  Responding to a call to ring the office when I'd made the delivery, I was asked to go across to Dudley to collect something for a firm in Letchworth.  I'd just set SatNav and was preparing to move off when the office called again - our esteemed customer had cancelled the job.  He'd been in touch with his suppliers, who were only prepared to wait until 4.0pm for me.  SatNav had just told me that I should be there by 4.03 ... talk about precision!

I had no alternative but to return home, at the end of a week that surely must be the only one in over 11 years that I've worked five days (or more) and done only five jobs albeit, thanks to the visit to Enniskerry, with no significant drop in income.  Now, with three busy Saturdays before me  - the bank holiday next weekend, the regular family history society meeting that always clashes with the FA Cup final, and then a charity market the following week - I've got a month to plan my next family history research day but, with past performance an all-too-reliable indicator of future likelihood, it will be interesting to see what hampers that schedule!