Hitting the Target: a Problem of Habit

When I started writing this blog nearly five years ago, I didn't aim for it to be just a diary.  I didn't even aim for it to be extracts from a diary.  I thought it would be interesting to provide an insight for others into what I had found a fascinating, but unexpectedly intrusive way for an ex-accountant to earn a living.  From time to time I've digressed completely from tales of the courier life to provide the odd observation about life in general, to comment on pet grouses, and so on ... even bravely to dip the occasional toe into politics!  On balance, I suppose I've met that original aim about forty percent of the time, but I hope you, dear reader, have found the end result interesting whatever its diary-like divergence from its purpose.

I intend to keep writing it in permanent retirement ... for a few more months at least.  If I find I'm running out of topics to cover, then I hope I have the courage to kill it while it's still healthy, rather than let it stagger to an ungainly demise.  As to its diary-like qualities, this decline has perhaps been inevitable since, in order to fuel a portrait of a courier's life, examples have to be drawn from the ... diary!  It has become a habit to look first at the week's job-list to remind me of what I've done during the week and hence to pick up any commonality or running theme that may have developed.

It's amazing how easily habits form, not only in connection with the blog, but also in the life it has portrayed.  I remember in the early years, for example, there seemed always to be problems resulting from the roadworks to widen one section after another of the M25, there was a constant battle to avoid the delays, and one had only to mutter 'M25 ... roadworks' to be excused for any and every delay. More recently, the same has been true of a long swathe of the M1, from Northampton up to the M6, although this week I was pleased to discover that it's now clear and free-flowing up to junction 18!

During the course of my courier career I've used a total of six vans, in addition to the car I used for the first few weeks.  Of these, five have been Vauxhall Combos, and the other a Renault Kangoo.  The first days in the Kangoo were strange; the cab was so much bigger compared to the old Mark I Combo, because of the storage space behind the seat, and although the van was rated to carry a heavier payload, there wasn't enough space to make full use of this facility, because the body of the van was so much shorter.  The habit of fitting large items into the Combo had to go.

The next change, into a Mark II Combo, brought its own difficulties.  The space behind the seat, that I'd then got used to in the Kangoo, had reduced once more, while the overhead 'pod' of the Mark I had been sacrificed for the new streamlined shape.  Even the most recent van change was awkward when, for the first time,  I acquired a Combo with a solid, steel bulkhead, so there was now nowhere to fasten my trolley.  I took the bold step of giving it away, since I rarely used it, and haven't really missed it in the last four years.

The biggest batch of habits to be changed is yet to come; in a few days I shall say farewell to this van that has served more than a quarter of my career, and which I have nursed beyond the not insignificant 300,000 mile mark.  I shall acquire in its place a small saloon whose dashboard will bear that same familiar format I've worked with for nearly ten of those courier years.  But that's where the similarity will (have to) end.  From the start, I must learn to keep my 'bits and pieces' in the boot!

Perhaps the biggest upset will be losing the box from the passenger footwell. As well as restraining certain hidden items (like a hard hat ... what will become of that?!) this has acted as a 'table' for all the paraphernalia I might want to utilise during a journey.  In this case, definitely a bad habit to be expunged as soon as possible!

By contrast, one thing this new phase of life will not easily give up will be the driving style.  I'm sure I shall - for a while, at least - still be impatient with slow deciders, cautious drivers and learners, although I hope I'll always allow space for delivery vehicles of all sizes, being sympathetically aware of the many challenges they face.

But, even when greater all-round visibility will make it less essential, I'm sure I'll always extol the virtues of reversing into a parking space!