Water, water everywhere ... and lots more besides!

I began this month by thinking about twos, and followed up last week with two hospitals.  This week, apart from another hospital to add to my collection, I can bring you tidings from no less than three airports, with their varying stories.

The week began with a fairly undemanding Monday: a regular collection from Daventry for a customer in Royston, another from Bedford, and a couple more local jobs to Luton and Cambridge, and the joy in the evening to go bellringing for the first time in about three weeks.  By Tuesday morning it was my privilege to be top of the list.

Called at about 9.30, I was despatched with a box of equipment to the theatre of Hereford County General Hospital.  The journey was straightforward, and in places quite spectacular, with only one closed road to delay me, and superb views of the flooding around Worcester and Hereford, where the Teme and Lugg respectively had covered a number of fields in each direction.  Respect for those suffering from this tragic situation combined with consideration for other road users to preclude the taking of any photos and, having left so early in the day, I was home again in time to be given a job for Wednesday morning.

On the face of it, this ought to have been a routine job.  I was sent to Heathrow airport to collect some items for our customer in Hitchin.  I'd been given the name of a contact and his phone no. - what could go wrong?  My suspicions were aroused when I examined the address on the computer the previous evening.  It appeared that terminal 2B is still under construction, and it was by no means clear where would be the point of access.  I decided that I would phone my contact while still on the M25.  It was well that I did, for instead of turning towards the airport, I was told that I needed to leave the motorway and head west!  A subsequent U-turn then brought me to a control area adjacent to the motorway, where things began to liven up.

The problem was that the point of collection was 'airside', in other words I was subject to all the normal constraints that apply to passengers travelling on an aircraft . . . and not only me, but my van as well!  After all the scanning - including the removal of boots - inspection and examination (I still haven't worked out why the contents of three bottles of plain water had to be poured out, while I was allowed to retain a container of screenwash!) I was given a sheet of driving instructions and, followed by a security vehicle, drove to another location on the airport where the same searches were carried out, this time including a body search!  Eventually the security vehicle led me to the collection point which was, as I'd expected, on a building site.  Minutes later the escorted journey was reversed, and soon I was heading back to home territory, some three-and-a-half hours after my arrival!

The week's excitement was just beginning; once this collection had been delivered (during that day's allotted downpour!), I was sent to Stansted airport, where disciplines were only a little less severe, to collect a pallet of goods that had arrived for one of our customers in Stevenage.  Once these had been delivered, some of the boxes were labelled, prepared for despatch to their customer, and re-loaded onto my van, to be taken to Rochdale for 6.0 am delivery the next day.

During the course of this journey and the two local jobs that followed, I had become aware of an intermittent noise.  Experience has taught me that noises can be expensive and shouldn't be ingored.  So, after delivering a cooker this morning to a building site on the outskirts of Oxford, I phoned the garage. The staff there have always been understanding of my situation, and the immediate reaction was, yes, bring it in and we'll have a listen.  Sadly, new brake parts were called for, but these were rapidly obtained and fitted, and I was back on the road - happily silent - within a couple of hours.  Two local jobs completed my day, including a visit to the third airport of the week, at Cambridge, the co-operation of whose security and goods-in staff was a welcome contrast to the heavier formality of recent days.

After I'd exchanged the van for the comfortable surroundings of my lounge, I realised how tiring the week had been, with only five hours' unsettled sleep on Wednesday night, and the need for another early start this morning in order to make the requested 8.0 delivery.  When the phone rang an hour later to enquire whether I'd like to match this week's hospital count to last week's, with a trip to Bristol this evening, I decided enough is enough, and echoed last Friday's positive 'No thanks.'

Now the weekend is off to a good start!