Setting up Robbie's new company has involved a lot of hard work but at last all the essential things have been dealt with and we can focus on some of the tasks that we had been putting off until we had time. One of those jobs was to choose a suitable office chair for Robbie, so one day last week I rang Verve Workspace for advice about the best choice of chair. They offer a wide range of chairs (as well as a diverse range of other quality office furniture) and they suggested that we should pop into their office so that Robbie could try some of the chairs. It sounds simple enough, but with Robbie nothing is simple!
When we got to their office Robbie was very impressed by the quirky design features. He hardly had a chance to react to the life sized sheep in the reception area, before he spotted an old red phone box set into the wall. Steve Allen, the owner of the company showed Robbie around. The phone box opened to reveal a walk in cupboard, then Steve showed him the kitchen, it has a map of London printed on the floor covering and it looks amazing. Robbie loved the boardroom which has a very bright spacious feel, one wall is painted with a special paint so that you can write on it as if it is a white board. Everywhere he looked there was something else to admire, so it was very hard to get him to focus on chairs but eventually he tried out a selection of chairs and he chose one that would give him plenty of support for his back.
He was very happy with his choice and I thought that the hard part was over - but I was wrong, he still had to choose the colour and fabric for the chair. He was given a chart with colour and fabric samples, he had a whole rainbow of colours to choose from, but being Robbie he chose the loudest, brightest red. He had got that determined look in his eye, but this was one of those occasions rare occasions when I was even more determined that Robbie wasn't going to get his own way. I can't live with a red chair, it would be like a permanent party political broadcast! Tense negotiations followed and Robbie drove a hard bargain, when it was clear that my veto on the red chair would not we lifted he insisted having his chair in a bright 'leprechaun' green instead. Unfortunately they don't make covers for office chairs, but I think it will be covered in a dust sheet when not in use because I am not a fan of green.
So now we are awaiting delivery of the chair and a large 'industrial strength' bookcase to replace the one that has collapsed under the weight of the Burgess book collection. It will be lovely to have things looking more organised.
There is more information about the Verve Workspace Offices on their blog
I am getting really concerned about Robbie, he is so tired. He exhausted himself yesterday evening by having a full scale tantrum about a missing pair of socks (I am not convinced they are missing at all), then afterwards he sat down and fell asleep. I couldn't wake him up and he was leaning off his chair at such a precarious angle this morning that I was afraid he would end up in a heap on the floor. I couldn't get him to wake up this morning, this problem has now reached ridiculous proportions, he has to get it sorted out. I have told him that from now on getting up in the morning and going to bed at night is his problem, I don't see why I should have to put up with his nastiness when I try to wake him up! If his work want him body and soul, they better park him in the office over night, because he is neither use nor ornament at home. He is like the dormouse at the mad hatters tea party, occasionally he pops his head up and says something totally irrelevant then he is asleep again before he finishes his sentence.
Robbie has been in so much trouble. How many times does he have to be told – when in a hole stop digging. Things came to a head on Thursday evening when I put a casserole in the oven for him before I went off to work, it would have been ready between 6.30pm and 7.30pm when he got home from work. The problem was that he didn't get home at 6.30pm or 7.00pm, he wasn't even home by 8.00pm, it was past 9.00pm before he got home. What annoyed me was that he didn't ring home to check if Laura and Sam were OK and to make sure that anything in the oven had been turned off. So Robbie arrived home to charcoal instead of casserole and nobody had been fed. That would be bad enough, but the thing that infuriated me was that he left the burnt casserole dish for me to deal with! Not the way to win friends and influence people!
The reason for his lateness was the extra work created by the company moving to new offices. By Friday morning Robbie hadn't managed to apologise, in fact he was adamant that it was my fault for not foreseeing his lateness. He has obviously got so used to me knowing when he is lying that he really expects me to have a crystal ball. There was no contact all day, then he rang when he should have been almost home to say that he was still at work and wouldn't be for some time. Another 'dinner in the dog' night! It was about 10.00pm by the time he finally got home and the best was still to come – he wanted to go out to play on Saturday!
Until recently I hadn't thought much about Robbie's colleagues. I guess my feelings about them were fairly similar to their feelings about me, a bit odd but fairly harmless. Now it's war! I have been really annoyed about Robbie being taken for granted for a while now, why is it always him who has to stay late in order to get everything done? Apparently they were so grateful for the work he had done on the move that they left some toffees on his desk to say thank you, but nobody stayed to help him. Someone gave him a ticket for a railway open day the next day, a nice thought, but after the week we'd had, not the best way to pour oil on troubled waters!
So Robbie went to the open day, not exactly with my blessing, but he was probably safer there than at home! He returned at about 9.00pm and moaned for the rest of the evening about the cramped bus replacement between Northampton and Birmingham International. So you will be surprised to hear that none of his 'bits' have been rearranged and he has been forgiven. You will have to ask him how he managed that, but I can assure you that he cleaned the casserole dish – I saved it for him!
I think I have mentioned before that Robbie's company is moving to new offices not far from their present building. He has known about the move for months and he has played an active role in the planning and preparation of the new environment. For months he has talked of little else. I know about the proximity of the post office, the kitchen arrangements, the layout of the toilets and the exact distance and route from New Street Station, I could go on, but I'm sure you get the idea.
Now we have moved on to the next phase, Robbie is in nostalgic mode, he keeps telling me how much he is going to miss Meridian. This morning when he got up he announced that it was his last ever Friday in his present building and he sounded so sad. As you would expect he has told me about the arrangements for packing in considerable detail, but I can't help wondering if they have really taken account of the Robbie factor. That man has taken hoarding to a new level, the house is bursting with train books, old timetables, railway maps, magazines, ancient catalogues, mementos from open days etc and assorted train related debris. I am fairly sure that his office will be much the same. I keep asking him to bring his junk home to make the move easier, but it hasn't happened - yet. They have only allowed a day for packing, but in Robbie's case it will probably take a week! I don't think we will ever be able to move house because the removal costs will be more than the price of the house!!
Laura told me that someone from Network Rail came in to her school yesterday to talk about their engineering apprenticeships. Laura is doing maths and science A Levels so she is probably the sort of candidate they would like to attract and I was interested in her reaction. She told me it was a big turn off, as it sounded excruciatingly boring and it didn't lead to a high enough qualification. It certainly didn't sound like an attractive proposition to her and her friends. Young people who have worked hard to achieve good A Level results want to go on to university to get a good degree, yet oddly Network Rail did not provide them with information about their graduate scheme. Laura was also put off by the O2 apprenticeship scheme, she said that it sounded more attractive than the Network Rail option, but the fly in the ointment for her was the requirement to live in Slough and she said that nothing in the world would induce her to do that. She claims not to be very keen on English Literature, but she would probably enjoy John Betjemen's poem about Slough!
Network Rail may be in a class of it's own when it comes to finding the most difficult and inconvenient way to do something but it seems they don't have a monopoly when it comes to potty ideas. Robbie's company seems to be having a moment of madness. They are moving into a new building shortly and the steering group have decided that individual bins will not be permitted and people will have to get up from their desk and walk to a communal bin. I'm not sure why they are called a steering group, if they can't foresee the consequences of their actions I hope I never encounter any of them behind a steering wheel!
The company already recycle, so paper and other recyclable materials are not put in to individual bins, but there is still a need for a bin, without it even a trivial task like removing a staple from document or discarding a broken paperclip would require a journey across the office, or more likely they will end up on the floor and someone else will have to come along and clean up. A bent paperclip could damage a vacuum cleaner or industrial floor machine. Post often creates bits of rubbish, sellotape, packing tape, wrapping from journals and advertising material and other oddments. There should not be a huge amount of rubbish in individual bins, but if each small item reprents a journey and a potentially distraction from the task the person was focussed on, it will prove extremely unproductive. I wonder if they have thought about the problems and unnecessary discomfort this will cause to people with disabilities, there will also be a potential fire hazard if everyone starts collecting their own rubbish in a carrier bag, not to mention the disruption to the office environment if everyone walks to the bin with each item of rubbish.
Of course I am not accusing the steering group of original thought, this is yet another batty government idea. Envirowise provides free government funded advice to companies – most free gifts are really not worth having! Quite honestly I don't think the government could manage their way out of a paper bag, everything they touch seems to turn to disaster, so perhaps they should give up on the 'nanny state' and the micromanagement and get on with sorting out the economy! That would leave the steering group free to use their common sense, surely the staff could have individual bins and empty them into the main bin at the end of each day.
Robbie caused consternation at work this morning when one of his colleagues found discarded clothing on and around his desk. They had conjured up images of an intruder who got into the office at the weekend just to get naked and zoom around on the swivel chairs but the truth was a little more down to earth. Robbie had changed at work on Friday before heading off to Liverpool to see his beloved Royal Scots Grey. He assures me that he changed in private and he didn't do a Homer and stalk through the open plan office in his knickers, he just carelessly abandoned his clothing on someone's desk. That must have been an incredible start to his week for his colleague, turning up to work on a Monday morning to be confronted by Robbie's washing!
On the subject of washing, I have won my battle with the European Washing Mountain and all Sam's belongings have been washed, ironed and put away. The washing machine nearly had a nervous breakdown, but it is finally done - until the next time. Our own little 'Mr Trebus' has wasted no time in cluttering up his bedroom again since he got back from Austria - I found two pots of honey up there today. I heard on the radio that due to longer lasting paint they will finally be able to take a break from painting the Forth Bridge. Unfortunately bringing order to Sam's bedroom looks as if it will be a never ending task for many years to come.
Robbie was late home tonight, and when he finally turned up he couldn't stop talking about the N word - Network Rail! Do you think they have ever been named as the other party in divorce proceedings before - or will ours be the first?!
