It's the Name of the Game

You could call it a lot of things, but my name for it is Co-ordination and, let's face it, it's not really a game, but a way of life.

It must be getting on for a year now since work started on the site just along the road from my front window.  Ages were spent preparing the ground in the first place; then, as the building itself began to take shape on one side of the site and I began to wonder whether it was going to be a commercial or residential construction, on the other side came an almost constant rat-a-tat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat.  I thought it was a pneumatic drill and I wondered what could possibly need all that drilling; curiosity got the better of me and I strained to see what was causing that loud and repetitive sound.  It was a digger, fitted with a sort of giant tea-strainer, sifting the big lumps of concrete from the demolished building out of the finer stuff so that one could be loaded in a lorry for one destination while the other went somewhere else.  It was all highly organised.

Tradesmen of one sort and another came and went and, eventually, the building was - to my untutored eye, at least - finished.  Far from being a block of flats, it had become obvious that it would be a showroom and as spring passed an enormous SEAT sign appeared.  I was at one point expecting a great Easter Opening event, but nothing happened.  A selection of shiny new vehicles has been occupying the front arena for several weeks, but no more positive announcement has appeared than 'opening here shortly'.  My latest guess is that they are waiting for the new 20 registration to make some spectacular promotional offers.  However spectacular, I fear they will be well beyond the range of my finances.

But the excitement continues.  For quite a while now, living as I do by a road with several car showrooms in the immediate vicinity, a familiar sight is the comings and goings of car transporters ... magnificent vehicles capable of carrying nearly a dozen cars at a time.  Since my retirement has brought with it the option of walking into town past these prestigious establishments, I have been more impressed by the efficient way the drivers of the transporters go about the business of unloading their cargo.  Often, if I'm not in a hurry, I'll stop and watch the sequenced performance of what some would see as 'street theatre'.

This week, in conjunction with the forthcoming opening of the new showroom, I haven't even had to go outside to watch this fascinating operation.  With a transporter stopping right outside my window, all I have to do is walk across the room.  The more I watch, the more I become aware of the skill these drivers possess, not just to drive such enormous articulated vehicles around, but also to unload them when they get to their destination!  There is a definite sequence of which car can be removed first and, if their consignment is not all for the same showroom, someone has to know whose cars to place whereabouts within the framework so that unnecessary shunting off and on is avoided.  And then, with my eye for detail, I notice that the engineer has to know not only which pistons to operate and in what sequence to move the correct ramp into place, but which of the myriad of levers available will achieve this.  To say he has my admiration is something of an understatement.

I spoke the other week of tweaking my trusty holiday planning spreadsheet ready to organist this year's excursion to the Emerald Isle.  That process may have sounded like a polished procedure simply waiting to be engaged.  It was devised when I had the motorhome, and usually involved little more than two or three activities to be catered for having once settled on a site.  This is the first year I have taken responsibility for a whole series of exploits to be undertaken in a foreign country, not only involving opening hours, travel times and days of admission, but also the matter of finding suitable places for meals and other considerations.  Inevitably, a system built for one purpose needs amendment to be used for another, and as another requirement has come to mind, further refinements have had to be made.  On more than one occasion I've thought 'I wouldn't start from here', and at least one phase has had to be completely re-drafted in order to be effective.

As I move through the final days of preparation, actually beginning to put my plans into operation, I find myself reflecting on the methodical operation of those car transporter drivers, successfully loading and unloading thousands of pounds-worth of cargo, dealing with everything from negotiating the roads to folding the straps neatly after releasing each individual wheel from its secure mounting point, and I've wondered whether, given a couple more decades of working life, this is a job I could have done ... and enjoyed.

If all goes 'according to plan' - or, conversely, if I manage to 'wing it' - there will be no blog next week, but if you are desperate for an update, think of me in a different environment, being very glad that 'going foreign' won't mean being without English-speaking help and guidance if I find myself in need.  And in any case, I'm hoping that 'need' won't involve the use of the techniques I've been praising here!