The last few days have been an eye opener
for sure, especially yesterday when I took part in the first part of my driver
training to become a Sainsbury’s Online driver, well a backup or standby driver.
I only found out about the course the day before and had little time to
prepare or get myself into any frame of mind.
The course was due to start at 9am but I
got into work at 6 as there were bits and pieces that needed to be done and I
had to take another risk assessment and read and digest 13 pages of driver do’s
and don’ts. I was the only one on the
course that was part theory and a lot of practical, more practical than I was
expecting. My exceptions were driving
around the yard getting use to the van I would be driving but Oh no I was
facing 3 hours out on the road too.
Added to that I was going to retrace an actual route one of our
experienced drivers had done that morning and the instructor wanted one with
difficult drops included. She was a
lovely lady and a very good instructor but a hard task master.
I have never been so apprehensive in the
work place before, I was going completely out of my comfort zone and possibly
beyond where my confidence is currently.
My confidence, by the way, is not in a very good place at the moment. Well it is but there are a number of things
that a trying their hardest to pull it back to where it was 6 months ago but
more on that later.
I have never driven a 3.5 ton box van
before and this was if anything a crash course, thankfully it wasn't. Three hours to learn as much as I can about driving a new vehicle! It started with carrying out tight turns and
reserving in the yard which went well even if far from perfect. That was after the vehicle checks which are
mandatory to ensure everything is safe and sound. Where was the check for my nerves and
confidence that is what I wanted to know?
So everything done that could be in the yard it was off out in and
around the town.
Things went well even if I was a little
close to parked traffic once or twice everything was under control. Not once did I feel out of control or unable to respond to a situation. Driving the van certainly
makes you think about your driving and I learnt one or two very useful tips
especially approaching roundabouts. To
start off with I had forgotten the reason for the drive out, to simulate a
shopping run as I was to busying getting use to the van. Slowly but surely things started to come
together and little by little my confidence grew.
It was good to hear that at the end of the
day I had passed the test which was module 1, only 2 more modules to go and I
was told there were only 2 in total, tut tut.
I ended the day exhausted but relieved.
I was also left with a profound respect for Sainsbury’s Online
drivers. Being an online shopper is hard
work, being a GA is even harder but being a driver is without a doubt the most
stressful and physical job of them all.
They are against the clock, it is physical, you are the face of the
company and they end up picking up flack for all the mistakes that have
happened prior to the delivery of the shop to the customer. Some of the places they have to deliver too,
drive down and work in only add to the stress or burden of responsibility. I take my hat off to them, the job lot, they
are amazing peeps for sure.
I have also spent the time since my last
post trying to sort out and face up to my next challenge, money or the lack of
it. I have never been financially mature
and have always struggled with money management. Never to the point of losing a roof over my
head or anything like that but I have been too casual for sure. Well I brewed a big cup of tea, my mug holds
a pint of tea, and got everything relating to money out and printed off
statements and lists so I could start to find out where I am.
I took 2 days for me to man up and start to
own the problem and I do feel ashamed about that but I have done it now. I know what is involved and what I have to
do. It is not a pretty picture but I
going to get on top of it and I am not going to let it happen again. It is also the reason I have had to rethink
my job situation, which is something I am still not entirely comfortable
with. It does have one positive side and
that is that I worked out how much I have been spending on alcohol and that has
now stopped. I have embarrassed and
shamed myself into a corner, I feel very uncomfortable about it and there is
certainly no pride or good reason to feel anything other than frustration at
myself.
I am trying to stand fast in the place I
have reached and not let all the changes and challenges I face get to me or
pull me backward. I am going to do this,
I am going to move forward and I will get myself into a position where I can do
more with my life and time and feel positive about it. I have been here before and it did not end well but I have experience on my side, hopefully that will come in use.
Over the next couple of months I think
things are going to be very challenging as I move on and face up to the next
step. As I have said before getting a
job outside IT was the start the next was to get the drinking and money sorted
out. Looks like I might be sorting both
out at the same time.
On a slightly lesser note I had two computer
or electronic device funnies occur over the last two days. Firstly my iMac would not let me log in,
nothing had changed but it point blank refused my password and no I did not
have caps lock on! In the end it required a remote
password reset in order to resolve the situation and a ticket has been logged
with Apple. The second was last night as
I settled down to read before going to sleep.
I powered on my Kindle eagerly anticipating Arthur Dents next
installment as he traverses the universe only to find it complete empty, the Kindle not the universe. It was void of apps, books, magazine I had
brought previously, only the default apps were installed. I hunted around and still nothing, not a sign
of a single page to be found, no pictures or documents and my calendar was
empty. Not that I had anything in my
calendar of note but that was not the point.
I flicked onto the settings app and turned
on Wi-Fi, I keep it off as it drains the battery a lot quicker otherwise. Strangely it remembered the security key for
my Wi-Fi that told me that it had not gone back to factory defaults or a
complete reset had been done. So unable
to find anything to explain I went to my Amazon cloud and downloaded all the
apps, books, magazines and documents again.
It did not take long but now I have the task of getting put in the right
place. So baring freak IT issues I can
resume my journey with Arthur Dent tonight.
Well that is all for now, until the next
time take care.
Si x
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