Well what can i say, I know i previously stated that I wouldn't be continuing with my journey, but 4 days is a long time in Matt's world!
I had a really bad day leading up to the morning of the 1st training day, and if your sitting comfortably i'll begin..............
As I was packing the last few things into my case i just thought i should read the room confirmation email from the Derbyshire again, and right at the very bottom it said "YOU MUST RING TO CONFIRM THAT YOU WANT THE ROOM BEFORE TURNING UP." And I hadn't, so a bit annoyed with myself and a bit panicky i started out slightly earlier so that when I arrived at the SW Head Office i could phone them then, the drive up was as smooth as a baby's proverbial, but as I approached junction 28, where you turn off i couldn't see the turn off to SW, so ended up driving round some very scenic areas of Derby, eventually i did find the HO, but as i got in there were no and i mean NOT ONE parking spot! so now it's getting very near me being late for the whole thing, i decided to leave the car at the end of a parking area in the road but just as i was parking a guy wearing a SW jacket said I'm afraid you can't park there sir! to which i snapped back well it's training and there is nowhere to park how stupid is that! i continued, this is ridiculous this is no way to run a company! he then said "well if you go round to the back and go through the bollards at the back there's parking for about 50 cars, to which i said, so where are the signs for that fact!!! (if i see him again i will apologise for being a Jerk!) anyway i parked and dashed back to the reception where by this time everyone had gone up and had a drink and a chat i had a huge luminous green badge given to me with my name on and thats when the very polite lady at the counter said could you please sign in and that was when i realised i had left my reading glasses in the car!!!!:sigh: so i had to go back and get them!
when i got back (again) they had now all finished their drink and were making their way into the the meeting room, so i dashed up and joined them and couldn't find anyone i knew so i just sat in a gap, the first thing Debbie said was please can i ask you all to turn your phones off, AHHHH! i still hadn't phoned the hotel to confirm!
so i thought i know i'll do it at break, so the first section rushes by and it's break, i get into the restaurant get myself a tea and turn the phone back on and would you believe it the Bleddy thing won't come back on!
why i don't have a clue but someone up there somewhere was having a right old laugh at my expense! tea break was over and by this time i'm beggining to think this probably isn't going to be my day!
so i keep trying to get the phone back on up until we are all back into the meeting room and by this time i'm almost besides myself with nerves and panic! so the section leading to lunch starts and 20 minutes into it my phone springs to life Yaay!
so i'm thinking i'll phone them at lunch so lunchtime comes and i go out to the foyer and dial the hotel
"welcome to the Derbshire if you are phoning for a reservation push 1 if your phoning for a large party or wedding resevation press 2" and so on and so forth so the one i pressed was 0 for the operator and all that did was ring 6 times and then you heard
"welcome to the Derbshire if you are phoning for a reservation push 1 if your phoning for a large party or wedding resevation press 2" so i pressed the 1 option and it rang and rang and then .........
"welcome to the Derbshire if you are phoning for a reservation push 1 if your phoning for a large party or wedding resevation press 2" by this time i was almost in tears this so far had used up 30 minutes of the 45 minute break and i was at the end of my tether, i went back into the meeting room that was empty and stood there thinking what can i do? I know now, obviously all i should have done was told the reception team about my predicament but my mind was racing at this point so all i could think of doing was running so like an idiot i picked up my stuff and calmly walked out. I sat in my car for 10 minutes looking at the clock as it was getting closer and closer to 2pm and the now obvious fact that i couldn't go back in even if i wanted to because i had wound myself up so much! I phoned the wife and told her my pathetic tale of woe and she said "if you really feel you can't go back in, then don't" so i did no more than start the engine and drive off. :wave_cry: With my mind still working overtime, i ended up driving to the nearest service station and buying a Giant Twix and Giant Mars bar and a bag of Minstrels and i sat in the car crying, eating them:cry:I know it must seem pathetic and idiotic, but it just seemed right and i suppose it was where i used to be safe. The morning after this had all happened I woke up with a huge empty feeling in the pit of my stomach and the only way i could describe it is, it felt like i had lost my long time love we had split and i still obviously loved her! odd maybe but thats exactly how it felt.
Fortunately i have made a few friends on this site and one of them has been a Rock for me during this insane period Thank you Roanne, there were other details in this tale of woe but so as not to leave you too brain dead i have (actually) shortened it. I have today spoken to my TD and am back in the fold and all i have to do now is get her to listen to me when i say i want to start later than advertised (in the year) thank you for trudging through this, and hopefully it will be a happy ending...................more to follow.
Matt
