So its been a while, but unusually its not because I have had nothing to say - its because so much is going on so quickly it has taken me quite by surprise!
I am in fact writing this sentence sat in the back of a Mercedes Sprinter crew cab pickup, hurtling (insane driver) down the A34. So its not because I have forgotten about you, but where do I start?
Last weekend (Easter weekend) I and some friends went to a four day offroading weekend near Wales. Some things are bent, some broken. But the big news is that since last Monday I have been working, actual paid work even! So I will start with the work;
Nothing glamorous, I have been doing temporary work with a vehicle hire company collecting, dropping off anything on four wheels - from Fiestas to 3.5 ton luton body vans. Many things have happened during the short course of my employment so far. For example yesterday I had to drop a new van off to a customer and collect their broken van. When I arrived I found the broken van in 'limp home' mode meaning it could do no more than 2500rpm and it had no power at all. On hills I was reduced to 10mph, and I owe a big apology to the rush hour traffic between Andover and Reading... Sorry about that chaps!
Today I had an early start (7am an hour away from home) and I was to be the 'runner' for four drivers dropping vans off in Colchester, Essex - a few hours drive from the depot. A runner is someone who follows the delivery drivers and takes them home afterwards. Today's drivers were Tom (normal, and my age but drives like a rocket is up his arse), Neil (hereby named Wurzel after the old tv icon he resembles), Farai (Some uncommunicative and hideously scarred little colored chap from South Africa) and Alan (A round and aging windbag who is as politically correct as a Gollywog and an utterly unhinged driver).
Personally I prefer Tom and Alan, Tom is actually normal and it is possible to have conversations with him. Alan is very funny and seems to have first hand experience of every burger van or greasy spoon in southern England. Wurzel talks only occasionally and when he does he strikes you as someone who doesn't interact socially a lot and Farai barely utters a word and its hard to know where to look as his whole face is a bit of a mess. Also when he does talk its uninteligible anyway. He often laughs after saying something uninteligible, I can only assume he is trying to tell jokes so I laugh with him - for all I know he could be insulting my parentage. Speaking of Farai actually we have been trying to work out why he looks like he does, I think he got tortured and fled South Africa - hence his appearance and inclination towards not offering any information about himself. Tom thinks he caught and recovered from (we hope) some exotic desease and feels he is here to take advantage of our relaxed government and claim benefits. Alan believes it is a genetic mutation and that he is also here to claim benefits for being black in the UK. We would bet money on it but as we are all working at this place because we have no money it seemed like the wrong thing to do. See I could have claimed its because we are all too moral to bet on another mans misfortune but frankly that would be a lie.
In addition to the driving work though things have been moving apace (or so it seems) on alternate and even permenant employment. just after starting my current job I got a call from a very eager employment agent who feels I would be a perfect fit for a two month role almost on my doorstep doing sales and general admin, customer support and some warehouse work. It is more per hour than the driving job, stable 09:00-17:30 hours and close enough to walk in - not that I will.The agent said I should be a shoe in for the job as I am the only applicant he is aware of that they are considering. So provided I don't fuck the interview up I could even be turning a job down (sadly the driving job which I am greatly enjoying).
To top it all off I am now only awaiting a security clearance and medical to get a start date for work at an MOD facility as permenant staff, the medical is booked for the 2nd of May and the initial security clearance interview on the 1st of May. Once both have been passed (Still an undisclosed amount of time) then I am ready to start when they are... Hurrah!
Behind the doors approaching lies the rest of my life.... Or something.
I am in fact writing this sentence sat in the back of a Mercedes Sprinter crew cab pickup, hurtling (insane driver) down the A34. So its not because I have forgotten about you, but where do I start?
Last weekend (Easter weekend) I and some friends went to a four day offroading weekend near Wales. Some things are bent, some broken. But the big news is that since last Monday I have been working, actual paid work even! So I will start with the work;
Nothing glamorous, I have been doing temporary work with a vehicle hire company collecting, dropping off anything on four wheels - from Fiestas to 3.5 ton luton body vans. Many things have happened during the short course of my employment so far. For example yesterday I had to drop a new van off to a customer and collect their broken van. When I arrived I found the broken van in 'limp home' mode meaning it could do no more than 2500rpm and it had no power at all. On hills I was reduced to 10mph, and I owe a big apology to the rush hour traffic between Andover and Reading... Sorry about that chaps!
Today I had an early start (7am an hour away from home) and I was to be the 'runner' for four drivers dropping vans off in Colchester, Essex - a few hours drive from the depot. A runner is someone who follows the delivery drivers and takes them home afterwards. Today's drivers were Tom (normal, and my age but drives like a rocket is up his arse), Neil (hereby named Wurzel after the old tv icon he resembles), Farai (Some uncommunicative and hideously scarred little colored chap from South Africa) and Alan (A round and aging windbag who is as politically correct as a Gollywog and an utterly unhinged driver).
Personally I prefer Tom and Alan, Tom is actually normal and it is possible to have conversations with him. Alan is very funny and seems to have first hand experience of every burger van or greasy spoon in southern England. Wurzel talks only occasionally and when he does he strikes you as someone who doesn't interact socially a lot and Farai barely utters a word and its hard to know where to look as his whole face is a bit of a mess. Also when he does talk its uninteligible anyway. He often laughs after saying something uninteligible, I can only assume he is trying to tell jokes so I laugh with him - for all I know he could be insulting my parentage. Speaking of Farai actually we have been trying to work out why he looks like he does, I think he got tortured and fled South Africa - hence his appearance and inclination towards not offering any information about himself. Tom thinks he caught and recovered from (we hope) some exotic desease and feels he is here to take advantage of our relaxed government and claim benefits. Alan believes it is a genetic mutation and that he is also here to claim benefits for being black in the UK. We would bet money on it but as we are all working at this place because we have no money it seemed like the wrong thing to do. See I could have claimed its because we are all too moral to bet on another mans misfortune but frankly that would be a lie.
In addition to the driving work though things have been moving apace (or so it seems) on alternate and even permenant employment. just after starting my current job I got a call from a very eager employment agent who feels I would be a perfect fit for a two month role almost on my doorstep doing sales and general admin, customer support and some warehouse work. It is more per hour than the driving job, stable 09:00-17:30 hours and close enough to walk in - not that I will.The agent said I should be a shoe in for the job as I am the only applicant he is aware of that they are considering. So provided I don't fuck the interview up I could even be turning a job down (sadly the driving job which I am greatly enjoying).
To top it all off I am now only awaiting a security clearance and medical to get a start date for work at an MOD facility as permenant staff, the medical is booked for the 2nd of May and the initial security clearance interview on the 1st of May. Once both have been passed (Still an undisclosed amount of time) then I am ready to start when they are... Hurrah!
Behind the doors approaching lies the rest of my life.... Or something.
