Sitting at my office desk here in Craven Arms I am drawn to just how tired I am feeling just dealing with the day to day issues of a tyre company and service workshop. There is little time to gather your thoughts and appreciate what you have around you, let alone sit and write about it, but here i am leaning back on my carousel chair typing away, just for the hell of it. It's been a very hard week so far, lot's of things going pear-shaped and a few customers with 'b's in their bonnets because of things not doing what they should be doing. The overall consensus from where i am sitting is that people have less time than ever and indeed less money more than ever..which all comes to the surface when you inform them that it will cost over £250 to get their beloved motor repaired. It's a definite case of devil if you do, devil if you don't.
My answer to most things is to sit back, weigh up the situation and act on it, though this in itself is not the complete answer as customers will throw you a curve you never saw coming just as you start to feel comfortable with your day !. The things we have to deal with on a day to day basis are as wide ranging as they can be funny, anything from a convertible hood that won't lift to a trolley with 4 flat tyres, it's always varied and never disappointing but extremely tiring.
This week our youngest apprentice Danny passed his driving test, he rang me full of the joys of spring as you can imagine, but then dropped the bombshell that the car he had bought almost 12 months earlier at the age of 16 had been badly damaged the night before in an "accident" with a hedgerow while his Dad was giving him a driving lesson....mmmm a bitter sweet day for young Danny as "the boss" was very unsympathetic to his request for a "loan vehicle" while his is repaired (no harm in asking though i guess!). Of course, being a busy workshop the rumour of Dan and his mishap soon spread and some serious mickey taking has ensued since, it's all about that big learning curve again !
It's about 5pm now and the rain is beating against the office window as outside darkness also descends, these winter nights are very depressing and the lack of some decent sunshine of late is taking it's toll on people and their sense of humour.
I am not sure about the clocks going back, it seems to me that they would be best left on British Summertime so that the kids can have some daylight when they get out of school, but who am i to say?. It gets harder day by day to separate the writing which I love with the running of a very busy and now thriving business, the two are very demanding and I find myself being pulled more and more to my artistic values than my garage owner ambitions, it's a tough time for me as my mind is in two places at once and as a result not committed to any one side which is extremely alien for a seasoned businessman. If I am asked for an honest reply then my heart is with writing which I am thoroughly enjoying at the moment, but i realise i have a duty to the staff i employ and my family as i have to earn a living while i am writing.
So there we have it, if you call in one day as you glide through our Town don't be surprised if you see a tall guy sat on a pile of truck tyres with a pen in one hand and a pad on his lap into which he is pouring his life story...you won't be seeing things I promise !.
My answer to most things is to sit back, weigh up the situation and act on it, though this in itself is not the complete answer as customers will throw you a curve you never saw coming just as you start to feel comfortable with your day !. The things we have to deal with on a day to day basis are as wide ranging as they can be funny, anything from a convertible hood that won't lift to a trolley with 4 flat tyres, it's always varied and never disappointing but extremely tiring.
This week our youngest apprentice Danny passed his driving test, he rang me full of the joys of spring as you can imagine, but then dropped the bombshell that the car he had bought almost 12 months earlier at the age of 16 had been badly damaged the night before in an "accident" with a hedgerow while his Dad was giving him a driving lesson....mmmm a bitter sweet day for young Danny as "the boss" was very unsympathetic to his request for a "loan vehicle" while his is repaired (no harm in asking though i guess!). Of course, being a busy workshop the rumour of Dan and his mishap soon spread and some serious mickey taking has ensued since, it's all about that big learning curve again !
It's about 5pm now and the rain is beating against the office window as outside darkness also descends, these winter nights are very depressing and the lack of some decent sunshine of late is taking it's toll on people and their sense of humour.
I am not sure about the clocks going back, it seems to me that they would be best left on British Summertime so that the kids can have some daylight when they get out of school, but who am i to say?. It gets harder day by day to separate the writing which I love with the running of a very busy and now thriving business, the two are very demanding and I find myself being pulled more and more to my artistic values than my garage owner ambitions, it's a tough time for me as my mind is in two places at once and as a result not committed to any one side which is extremely alien for a seasoned businessman. If I am asked for an honest reply then my heart is with writing which I am thoroughly enjoying at the moment, but i realise i have a duty to the staff i employ and my family as i have to earn a living while i am writing.
So there we have it, if you call in one day as you glide through our Town don't be surprised if you see a tall guy sat on a pile of truck tyres with a pen in one hand and a pad on his lap into which he is pouring his life story...you won't be seeing things I promise !.
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