All our lives have been made easier with the use of the many forms of electronic equipment available these days. When not at her desk, Gill uses her BlackBerry to respond to the many clients’ emails received each day. Sometimes she may be sitting on a train, other times her emails may be typed whilst sitting in a car park.
One sunny afternoon at the beginning of September, she sat on a park bench in Lincoln’s Inn Fields typing up the day’s overnight manifest to email there and then – hot desking, or what!
by Frank on October 27, 2008
Some say coincidences are happening around us all the time, it’s just whether or not we are receptive to spotting them. During a couple of days the other week, three extraordinary coincidences happened to Gill and me.
I was driving up in London, guided by my SatNav, and as I was going past Prince’s Gate in Knightsbridge, Gill walked out of one of her embassies after a particularly long wait and was gob-smacked to see the van drive past. What are the chances of that happening?
The coincidences continued. I had been thinking about one of our clients who had not used us recently and within the next half an hour they had phoned to say they needed a courier. As I recounted this coincidence to Gill, she said she had also been thinking about another client who had been quiet of late. You know what I am going to say now – the client had phoned before the day was out!
How spooky is that, perhaps Gill and I should consider a career thinking up winning lottery numbers, if only! So in conclusion, be afraid, very afraid. If you haven’t needed a courier lately and we should think of you, you will be compelled to pick up your phone and ring Frank Brown Delivers…
by Frank on October 27, 2008
Lodging visa applications at embassies in London is Gill’s job and it’s one she thoroughly enjoys. Nearly all of the embassies she has visited belong to countries she would love to visit and therefore, for her, she experiences a snatch of what it would be like to actually go to the country itself!
It’s true to say that for the British, queuing becomes an anxiety-ridden experience when confronted by a haphazard embassy queue. Everyone eyes each other trying to work out the order of the queue, who is next in line and who is before me? If a first-timer should try to unknowingly jump the queue there are cries from the seated queuers of ‘take a ticket’, ‘it’s not your turn’ and the poor individual slopes off duly chastened.
There are, of course, lots of old hands making multiple applications on behalf of companies and on one occasion a businessman approached one of these agents. ‘Please could you come outside and answer some questions for me’, the agent was taken aback. ‘No, if you want to ask questions ask at the desk, I can’t answer your questions’. This conversation persisted, getting more heated and with everyone ear-wigging. Eventually the businessman explained that he was applying for a visa for himself on that day but a number of his colleagues would also need visas in the near future and he felt the agent’s company could help. There was an audible sigh of relief amongst all the visa agents assembled and the one being questioned replied ‘oh, it sounded like you were the police’, to which the others piped up one after the other in agreement.
For Gill, all the embassy staff she has encountered have been charming, courteous and very forebearing of us ‘speed merchants’ who need to be elsewhere before they’ve arrived and can’t handle anything but orderly queues. She is always particularly touched when a lady who works at the Libyan embassy smiles each time she sees her now. For Gill walking into an embassy amounts to walking into the country itself. The embassy’s queues and their bureaucracy are a reflection of the country itself and it is a privilege to have this tiny insight into the country, its people and its culture. Gill is travelling vicariously…
by Frank on October 27, 2008
Driving for long periods, interjected by short spurts of energy whilst loading up or unloading does not make for the healthiest lifestyle! Not to mention the chocolate bars bought at the checkout to soften the shock of the cost of diesel when filling up our vehicles!
I have a couple of ways of counteracting the unhealthy diet and stress involved in driving on today’s busy roads. Check out the Chef on the Road café at Redhill Aerodrome for a beautifully cooked, delicious full English breakfast – I recommend their Full Monty, comprising just about everything right down to Black Pudding and 2 rounds of toast.
This sets me up for a long day on the road or, at weekends, a well-deserved treat after a round of golf. Tucked away overlooking the green runway at Redhill Aerodrome, the Chef on the Road is a well-kept secret serving delicious, wholesome food. And, for the brave amongst you, you could always toy with the idea of a flight in a Tiger Moth!
To counter my stress levels, I have regular reflexology sessions with Georgina Wills – based at the Chevington Chiropractic Clinic just outside Bletchingley. Not everybody fancies the idea of their feet being handled but Georgina’s confident touch makes my feet putty in her hands and there is absolutely no sense of feeling ticklish. Your feet just lap up being pampered and you come away feeling as if you are walking on feather pillows. Of course, not only are your feet rested and relaxed, the process of reflexology addresses the well-being of your whole body.
by Frank on October 27, 2008
