So yesterday was the day from Hell!
I did the Ikea show from 12 till 4am, got a couple of hours shut-eye in the studio then on the road to Swindon for a 6 hour stint at the GWR Appeal.
It's the 25th time they've done this and the way it's done is really quite good. The main studio has the major lots and they go to quick sales every 15 minutes. However, the interesting thing is that Ralph Bernard, the chief executive of the ENTIRE COMPANY sits in the second studio who barks orders at you every 20 seconds. Very very funny.
So at 4.00 I eventually finished (after chatting with the captain of Swindon Town....who's from Blackley) and set off for my hotel. Obviously because I'm an idiot I didn't print out directions to get there and so had to find it from memory. I knew it had Chippenham somewhere in the address so I drove round Chippenham for half an hour, to no avail.
Then after looking on my phone for a Travelodge in Chippenham it gave me "Leigh Delamere - Westbound" which is on the M4...near Bath...notclose to Chippenham by any stretch of the imagination!
I eventually arrived at Leigh Delamere and found that, obviously, I'm booked in on the other side of the motorway. I asked the lady behind the counter (who looked a bit like somebody stapled a sticker of Patricia Routledge's face on Jabba The Hut) whther I could tranfer or would I need to drive to Bath and come the other way.
"There be another way" she said and told me about a country lane which I can get onto by driving to the other side of the car park etc...
So I did? Could I find this slip road? Could I buggery! I was on the motorway before I knew it!
To be fair it's very likely that this road didn't exist or that it's manned by pixies who don't open the protal unless you provide them with fairy dust! Either way, it wasn't there!!
I finally got there and checked in, the towels were still in the bath, an empty wine bottle was still in the bin and there was no tea, coffee or bog roll. It was only £19 though!
Had a quick 45 minute kip and back into work. It was manic for the last couple of hours but great fun and it sounded good as well. We raised £51,000 at the end and Ralph did his annual "this is my last year" thing.
My favourite part was when he went round saying his thank you's. Roo got a massive hug, Jez got a big manly handshake, Simon Fyles got a long-lost son hug and then Ralph's eyes met mine. He looked me up and down, realised that he didn't recognize me and so with not a flicker of relaxation on his smile looked away and tried to start a new conversation with someone! I've been snubbed by Ralph Bernard...I'VE ARRIVED!!!!
I managed in that 24 hour period to get 3 hours sleep. As a result this morning I feel hungover despite having no booze at all!
I did the Ikea show from 12 till 4am, got a couple of hours shut-eye in the studio then on the road to Swindon for a 6 hour stint at the GWR Appeal.
It's the 25th time they've done this and the way it's done is really quite good. The main studio has the major lots and they go to quick sales every 15 minutes. However, the interesting thing is that Ralph Bernard, the chief executive of the ENTIRE COMPANY sits in the second studio who barks orders at you every 20 seconds. Very very funny.
So at 4.00 I eventually finished (after chatting with the captain of Swindon Town....who's from Blackley) and set off for my hotel. Obviously because I'm an idiot I didn't print out directions to get there and so had to find it from memory. I knew it had Chippenham somewhere in the address so I drove round Chippenham for half an hour, to no avail.
Then after looking on my phone for a Travelodge in Chippenham it gave me "Leigh Delamere - Westbound" which is on the M4...near Bath...notclose to Chippenham by any stretch of the imagination!
I eventually arrived at Leigh Delamere and found that, obviously, I'm booked in on the other side of the motorway. I asked the lady behind the counter (who looked a bit like somebody stapled a sticker of Patricia Routledge's face on Jabba The Hut) whther I could tranfer or would I need to drive to Bath and come the other way.
"There be another way" she said and told me about a country lane which I can get onto by driving to the other side of the car park etc...
So I did? Could I find this slip road? Could I buggery! I was on the motorway before I knew it!
To be fair it's very likely that this road didn't exist or that it's manned by pixies who don't open the protal unless you provide them with fairy dust! Either way, it wasn't there!!
I finally got there and checked in, the towels were still in the bath, an empty wine bottle was still in the bin and there was no tea, coffee or bog roll. It was only £19 though!
Had a quick 45 minute kip and back into work. It was manic for the last couple of hours but great fun and it sounded good as well. We raised £51,000 at the end and Ralph did his annual "this is my last year" thing.
My favourite part was when he went round saying his thank you's. Roo got a massive hug, Jez got a big manly handshake, Simon Fyles got a long-lost son hug and then Ralph's eyes met mine. He looked me up and down, realised that he didn't recognize me and so with not a flicker of relaxation on his smile looked away and tried to start a new conversation with someone! I've been snubbed by Ralph Bernard...I'VE ARRIVED!!!!
I managed in that 24 hour period to get 3 hours sleep. As a result this morning I feel hungover despite having no booze at all!
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