Two Halves, and lots of Changes!

I think I may have used that idea of a 'game of two halves' before, but I make no apologies, for the week I'm about to describe has been definitely lop-sided.  It started very sluggishly, since I was out late last Friday evening, and drove straight from the delivery to arrive slightly late for the first event at church in what was to be a busy - almost 'festival' - weekend, with a visiting speaker and lots of activities.

The working week therefore began with a phone call to say I was available, and it was some while later that I was sent to Cheshunt, with a collection in Harlow on the way back.  A couple of hours at home preceded a later collection in Milton Keynes, for delivery in Hitchin the next morning - and that not until 8.30!  This was followed by a trip to Colchester to deliver just off the A12, near the football ground, and Tuesday finished with a journey to Northampton General Hospital, and a letter to Luton County Court en route. Two action-packed not-very-ambitious days, with the usual bellringing practice in between.

Wednesday began in the same vein, with a trip from Luton to Cambridge, to take some electronic equipment that had been repaired, and then a return trip with more items for the next repair cycle.  After another wait at my desk at home, came a collection in Letchworth for Ware.  Just as I was beginning to despair of getting my teeth (or, more accurately, wheels!) into something exciting, things began to change in my favour.  As I was about to pull into the gateway for this collection, came a phone call, announcing an alternative plan.  In the next street was a consignment for a hospital in Grimsby!  At half-past Wednesday, the week was about to kick off!

Grimsby is a place I haven't visited much in this career - only three times, in fact.  But it certainly hasn't proved to be grim.  My recollection is of sunshine, and this was no exception.  When I was nearly there, a call outlined my work for the following morning, with a collection at 9.0 in Coventry.  As I turned for home, came the next change of plan.  The bad news, I was told, was that the Coventry job was too big for my van; the good news was of two other jobs that would definitely go together.  One was an envelope for Bristol, and the other some equipment to be collected in Bedford at 8.30 for 'Newport'.  Unsurprisingly, I discovered that this didn't mean Newport itself, but one of the many places that are unpronounceable (at least on first sight) with an NP postcode.  In this case it was Coedkernew.

I was up in good time, and almost to the pick-up point.  "All change!" again. The customer now required delivery to a CH postcode instead ... which would rule out the Bristol job for me, of course.  I'd just come to terms with this amendment, when further phone calls announced that this change was being reversed.  A casual comment when signing for the goods revealed that someone had read the invoicing address and reacted over-swiftly to an apparent error that wasn't.  So by 9.0, I was on my way to the delights of the M4 and the Severn Crossing.  It's the first westbound crossing I've made for some years, and was aghast at the toll charge of £13.10!  Having an inkling of the answer, I decided to ask the attendant about the charge for a motorhome.  "Is this a motorhome?" he asked.  I couldn't decide whether he was serious or not ... and perhaps this was his view of me, too.  "No, I'm just asking the question." "£6.50," he said.  "... And it's twice as big as this, and a bigger engine as well" I offered.  "Yes," he said, "some of them are as big as a battleship.  I don't make the rules, though.  A van is a van is a van; it's £13.10, but if it's a motorhome, however big, it's £6.50"  Having enjoyed this little banter, I bade him 'diolch' and went on my way.

After effecting my delivery, I decided that I'd had enough of motorways, so when I reached junction 24, I turned off towards Monmouth ... forgetting completely that I needed diesel!  SatNav did its best, found me an Esso near Abergavenny, but a) it was about 5 miles beyond the town, and b) the post code was clearly incorrect, because it fetched me up on a narrow lane with not a house in sight, let alone a filling station.  I headed for Hereford, where I was successful, with my gauge just on the edge of the 'pink-light' zone, and then made for home.  I hadn't gone far before I was spotted by one of the many City Sprint offices ... Birmingham, I think ... who gave me two jobs out of Worcester, one for Birmingham (easy once I'd found the place), the other for a beautiful residential school for the disabled at Mirfield.  Doing these was well worth my while, but I had to question whether M6 & M62 was really the best route from Birmingham to West Yorkshire!  By the time I got home it had been an almost 18-hour day, of which an hour was taken out for a meal at Hartshead Moor services, and half an hour for a snooze at Gonnerby Moor services.  The total circuit was 619 miles!

I heard something today about the mind being fatigued more readily than the body, and I had to agree with this contention.  Yesterday's experience was typical.  While I listened to the test match commentary I found myself tiringly frustrated by the lack of action, but in the evening, when my accompaniment was a succession of podcasts, and I was able to follow the sequence of thought in these, my fatigue was much less noticeable, although I slept well once I was home!

This afternoon, once I'd surfaced and caught up with the administration of the long day, I presented myself for 'light duties', and did little more than 100 miles in three short jobs, including collecting work for other drivers.  Now, after three weeks on the road, I can plan for another week of R&R, the tale of which I shall share next weekend.