Wednesday 29th August 2007: We are back!! In fact we've never been away as the service has carried on as normal after a major problem
with the web site. In the last two months we've had two major bad days with Black Saturday at the end of July when THREE papers got held up by the floods. The Mail came in at 7:30am, the Mirror at 8:30am and the Western Daily Press at 11am! The imaginatively named Black Sunday came in mid August when six papers were late due to an accident on the motorway. The arrived at 7:45am but this co-incidenced with me finishing early as I'd arranged to meet some of my in-laws at Warwick Castle for the day! Anyway, lets look forward and not back as we press on...
Over the last couple of weeks since the football season started (and don't get me started on the 15 points deduction for Leeds!) the papers have been pretty much on time whereas normally the start getting a bit later. Yesterday was before 4am and today was only a few minutes after. For every good point there is generally a bad one though and the Times are at the brunt of our virtual rant today with their apparent problem over putting one copy of Times 2 inside each paper. Today seems okay but yesterday many of the papers had either two copies or none at all! The end of the holiday season is rapidly approaching with the kids back to school next week sparking a town wide street party for parents everywhere. Our deliverers have been pretty good in general and only on odd occasions have I had to hike some them out of the marking up room at 8am. Finally a bit of an oddity this morning. We often get letters or cheques put through our door as we close in the afternoons, however waiting for me this morning was a tiny box about the size of a matchbox with a small empty plastic bag inside. The box should contain an ornamental metal cat apparently but the moggy has done a runner leaving us the mystery box. Silly season has arrived!
Thursday 30th August 2007: No problems today with papers on time although the Sun and Times were a little later than the
main batch but nothing that we couldn't handle. Therefore this gives an ideal chance to let you hear of our latest `behind the
scenes` problem! Usually it's me trying to use a paperweight as a mouse or falling backwards off of the office chair, however for
once this involves my business partner who, along with her daughter last weekend, decided to buy a little four-seater boat to
use on their weekends at their caravan. However as they tried it out and drifted aimlessly off of the Dorset coast, their attempts
to get back to shore only resulted in drifting nearer to the Isle of Wight than the coast of England. With a mobile phone that
resembled a sponge and about as useful as one to make a call, they were eventually spotted by the lifeguard who alerted the coastguard
who then hauled them back to land! "Row, row, row your boat," has now become the new adopted shop theme song.
Friday 31st August 2007: Papers nicely on time again although they are all quick think today with the usual extra pages for the Friday entertainment sections and although the various tributes and memories to Diana, Princess of Wales who died ten years ago today. A couple of papers have done reprints of the day after and there area number of different angles for one of the stories of anyone's life that falls firmly into the catagory of `where were you when you heard`. Along with Sept 11th 2001, it's probably the biggest news story of the last decade but maybe after thsi weekend it would be nice if the media coult let her rest in peace rather than continually using her for column inches.
Saturday 1st September 2007: By 4:20am this morning we were getting a little worried as the Sun and Times hadn't arrived yet (they are usually
very early at weekends), however as the main van pulled up to unload, so did the other one straight behind him. This meant for a manic half an hour as we did all the inserts but still better than having to wait for the missing papers. We supply two local hotels on a daily basis and both seemed to need extra Mail this morning, leaving us short with only the tatty ones left for sale. But that's the way it goes sometimes. Other days they want very few. Otherwise a normal, average morning which is excellent for a Saturday.
Sunday 2nd September 2007: I've never really been much of a drinker or late night party goer, largely due to the early
mornings that have dominated my working life, however I do smile when I see the state that some stragglers get themselves in. Early on
Saturday's and Sunday's many of the `last night` brigade are making their way as we are starting the new day and today we had four teenage
lads lingering by our door at around 5:30am. It turned out that one of them knew my work
colleague but and borrowed his phone to make
some calls and whilst they weren't causing trouble, they were quite loud, brash and more of a nuisance than anything. Eventually they
moved on and I went on to do a round where I heard a soft tapping sound whilst going to one house. As I came down their path, a chap
was knocking gently on the front door next door and whilst probably not wanting to wake the street, he also wasn't having any
luck
getting into (presumably) his own house either! I came back down the road a few minutes later and he was sat on the doorstep with legs
stretched out and head in hands. He looked to be asleep! Go out by all means, have a few drinks and a good time but I wouldn't want
it if it meant ending up asleep on a doorstep at 6:30am!
Tuesday 4th September 2007: Papers in before 4am today which gave us a flyer as the colder mornings begin to draw in. This time of the year often sees various deliverers leave as they start work properly and 2007 is no exception with three leaving in the last few days. One Sunday lad has been with us for the best part of four years and has got a job at the nearby Longleat and the daily lad that's finished has been with us for around two years. All are covered though (or will be from tomorrow) and although it's a shame to see them go, it's hopeful that they have had some experience of work, expectations and guidelines with us that will stand them in good stead for the future.
Wednesday 5th September 2007: Nice crisp morning today but very little wind making conditions just about ideal (I sound like
a commentator for the London Marathon now!). New girl started today and seemed to do well with no problems that we've heard of. In
addition to the round, she was also starting a new school! It never rains eh. My own daughter also starts her new school today as
she enters Frome Community College. Whilst parental pride is obviously high, so is the fact that it's making me feel considerably
old!
Thursday 6th September 2007: With all the kids now back to school, it's nice to see our marking up room totally clear and
empty of paper rounds by 7:15am whereas during school hols there is usually a dozen left at that time. No major snags today with
all the local stuff in on time again. The Somerset Standard certainly do seem to have solved their problems that dogged them (and
us) earlier in the year and whilst I like to think that it was our constant complaining that did it, there was probably more to
it than that!
Friday 7th September 2007: A bit of a bad morning for our wholesalers today. Even before the papers arrived we had a phone
call asking us to keep an eye out for a missing bundle that had been mis-marked at the depot. Our driver arrived shortly afterwards
but there was no sign of it. After unloading and checking we had all of our full bundles, it became apparent that we were missing
our Times Ed Supplements (important to teachers) and 43 of our 163 Telegraphs (important to Telegraph readers!). It turned out that
they'd been put on the wrong van completely and eventually arrived to us just after 7am which was still early enough to catch a good
chunk of our kids. As they read their daily paper, people probably don't realise what goes on before. There's enough work at our
little link in the chain but plenty goes on (and potentially wrong) before it even gets to us. Thankfully it's rare for this sort
of thing to happen and in general the wholesalers/drivers are excellent.
Saturday 8th September 2007: Papers in around 4:40am which isn't too bad, however the driver had a helper with him whose attempts to get the papers off of the van as quickly as possible led to us standing well back or risk getting decapitated with a rogue and high flying bundle of Daily Mirror. That said, they did unload amazingly fast for a Saturday! Our Telegraph jinx struck again with a bundle of the weekend/property/gardening sections missing. Having spent time doing a letter to go out with the missing papers and inserting all 44 in the papers, the missing ones arrived at 6am! Still better that way than not getting them at all.
There was an increase in price for the Times, Tele and Guardian today and whilst we knew about the Times increase days in advance,
we had no warning of the other two and only realised when a customer pointed it out. So thanks Tele and Guardian, that was really
helpful!
Sunday 9th September 2007: Early with a vengeance today as the driver arrived shortly after I did and we were all unloaded
by 3:40am which is amazing and gives us a flying start. In truth, it started a fairly ordinary morning as things went fairly smoothly
although one new lad had trouble finding one particular call which is a little tricky. Another of our papergirls had her last day today
and she's been with us for between two and three years, however school and education has to come first in a long term point of view.
Tuesday 11th September 2007: Good start today with all papers in by 4:10am. The Indy have a free insert every day this week to get beginners started on computers, however a large number are missing today which will doubtless cause a few problems. Otherwise all seems well with the newspaper world. The mornings are getting colder and today is
noticeably cooler than it has been of late and it won't be long before the gloves and Leeds United hat
and scarf make their customary appearance. Finally, where were you six years ago today? I was in London and driving back in the early afternoon with the news breaking on the radio. Driving past Heathrow and listening to what was happening in New York was a very strange experience!
Wednesday 12th September 2007: Bit of an odd start and we can only hope that the day doesn't continue in the same vein. Firstly there were no messages on the
answer phone which is unusual as we supply two nearby hotels who always ring overnight with their orders. Closer inspection noted that the phone was not back in it's cradle properly and therefore off the hook! Thankfully I did manage to get hold of both hotels in the meantime. Then our driver mentioned that when he collected our returns overnight, the bundle
collapsed as he hoisted it into the van. Another black mark for us! Then one of our delivery adults forgot one of her bundles as I'd put it in a different place out the back. Not a major problem in fairness but added to the slightly unreal feeling of the day! As I type, it's 6am and things have been fairly normal for the last hour or so - we live in hope.
Thursday 13th September 2007: Having walked by two other shops on the way in today and not being able to see Standards through
either security shutter, I was (pleasantly) surprised to see ours in and waiting for us when I got in, especially after last weeks
comment! Despite the late international football, the papers were all on time as well and it was the very
epitome of a normal
morning. It's definitely getting colder though and I must admit that I had the heater on the office after the calm had replaced the
early storm of the papers arriving. We noticed today that the Guardian has increased in price for it's Monday to Friday edition!
Again, no notification for us and quite a large jump of 10p a day - more than 10%.
Friday 14th September 2007: Papers were a bit later today but nothing to give us undue headaches. This is pretty normal
for a Friday as we usually get a wadge of the weekend inserts arrive with the papers. One car parked over the road from the office
had some pasta (of all things) thrown over the back of it overnight and the empty plastic case was left on the floor by the wheel!
Clearly someone didn't enjoy their takeaway too much although a bin may have been a more appropriate place for it.
Saturday 15th September 2007: Not the best of starts today when I accidentally leant on the car horn as I pulled away which no doubt pleased the lighter sleeping neighbours at stupid o'clock! It
didn't get much better as the usually early Sun and Times arrived at 4:30am and after ploughing through those inserts (including free Toys R Us catalogue in the Sun - ARGH!!) the big lot turned up just before 5am. The local Western Daily Press was almost on a re-run which would have been horrendous and the
Independent were late and, at the time of typing (6:45am), still aren't in. The late WDP was blamed on the late rugby although I reckon it was down to Leeds beating Bristol Rovers 3-0 - six wins in a row now and out of the bottom three for now! Anyway, onwards. One of our adults had around two hours sleep
late night after his wife fell over and broke her arm and spent most of the night in Bath's RUH casualty department! To makes matters even worse, she's supposed to be helping a friend get her wedding dress on ready for her wedding later today! Things can only get better.... Stop Press! Indy's in at 7:15am so not too bad.
Sunday 16th September 2007: My usual Sunday morning co-worker had the day off today as he was out last night celebrating
his birthday although oddly he did text me early in the evening to ask what time X-Factor was on! Strange! Anyways, today went well
with the papers in lovely and early although the darned things were very thick, especially the Times, Tele, Observer and Mail.
The latter had another exclusive with a new film called The Riddle free on DVD with the paper before it's cinematic release! Two
of our Sunday deliverers were off ill today but with the early papers, we handled it with relative ease.
Tuesday 18th September 2007: Not too much to report this morning which is usually a good sign. Papers in pretty early despite the football finishing quite late lst night, although The Sun have no mention of the game at all. The mornings continue to get colder although it's all relative as we've been used to warm mornings over the last weeks or so. In a couple of months, today's pre-dawn temps will be considered `warm`!
Wednesday 19th September 2007: Two of our early adults, whilst in for their rounds, were unable to do any extras due to various appointments today so when our driver pulled up and uttered those words, "We have a re-run on..." my heart sank. Thankfully the late paper was the Sport of which we have half a dozen and not a single one on delivery! If we could hand pick a paper to be late it would be the Sport! Earlier when I arrived at the office, there was a mobile phone (cell phone to our American readers) left on the table. I assumed it belonged to my business partner and, as she relies on it for her alarm call, thought I'd be ringing her at 5:30am as a wake up call (speaking from experience here!). On closer inspection, it was a plastic kids toy Transformers phone! Well it looked real from a distance! Tell you what though, these Transformer toys are good fun to play with, erm....so I've been told.
Thursday 20th September 2007: One of our early adults was off ill today, meaning a lot of additional work, however as so
often happens, almost everyone else rallies round and either comes in early or does a bit extra and even with another lad ringing
in sick, we were all sorted by 7:30am. Yours truly here was a few calls into the round that I was doing and realised I'd put the
wrong paper in the pile for a customer. Cue a quick call via mobiles to another chap that I knew was coming up near me yet
might still be near the office. Thankfully he was and picked another paper up for me. What did we ever do before mobiles eh?
Friday 21st September 2007: Our early adult was back today although he's still not 100%, however one of our other is away
for the day due to an early hospital appointment, resulting in more re-arranging rounds and extras for various ultra-helpful souls.
The ill lad was still off which added to the workload as did papers arriving just after 5am and a van packed full of weekend bags
which slipped and slid everywhere when you tried to stack them. With all the technology these days, they still haven't figured how to
pack mags in plastic without the strapping sliding off as soon as you pick them up.
Saturday 22nd September 2007: Papers nice and early today with everything in by 4:20am - lovely for a Saturday. I had one of my customary mental blanks whilst loading a couple of bundles into the boot of our of our early adults' cars and reached up to pull the boot lid down and couldn't work out why it wouldn't budge. On looking up, I had a nice strong grip on the canopy of the fabric shop next door where the car was parked outside! That aside, nice smooth morning and we can look forward to Frome's carnival this afternoon.
Sunday 23rd September 2007: Quite a good morning today with early papers and very few problems which is always nice. Even the weather stayed dry which is a bonus and all the kids were in. The only mainor snag was some Tele and Express bits which got left in Bristol my mistake but even they were in by 6:45am and caught most of the deliverers.
Tuesday 25th September 2007: Yesterday (my day off) was pretty wet by all acounts with a couple of our early adults stopping half way round their rounds and waiting whilst the rain eased off. Today was better with the rain no harder than a light drizzle. Papers all in by 4:30am, although one of our lads is away for a couple of days which meant a bit of extra work for one of the early brigade. Otherwise all seems okay at the moment although it's struggling to get daylight. Just like summer all over again.
Wednesday 26th September 2007: Firstly, and most importantly, Happy Birthday today to my wife! 37 yet doesn't look a day over 16!! Okay, that's the creeping bit out of the way :) Papers lovely and early which was just as well as one of our early adults, whilst in to do the rounds, wasn't available should anything go wrong later. Shock horror, after my moan earlier this month about not being notified of price increases, today we have been told that the Observer is going up on Sunday. Now that's how we like it. Plenty of advance notice so that we can change our accounts in advance and not have them end up looking like an A-Level algebra equation.
Thursday 27th September 2007: Yesterday afternoon when I went back into the office, I thought it would be a good idea to
do some of the usual Thursday AM printing in advance. After all, the Standards have been on time for around seven months so what
could go wrong? The Standards being late is what could go wrong and when I opened up today with a clear passageway and no Standards,
I could have screamed (not a good idea at 3:30am!). So I reprinted the round sheets for Friday with the Standards on them and
seperated them into order and then the van pulled up with the dailes...and the Standards as well! I then had to re-do the sheets
again and seperate them again although I'd still rather have had it this way than be stuck waiting for the Standards all morning
as we had early in the year all too often. That aside, a couple of our lads are a bit under the weather so we wish them both a
speedy recovery. Today is as cold as it's been for a while so maybe that has something to do with it.
Friday 28th September 2007: Papers a bit later today but they waited for the Mail rather than send them out on a re-run which suited us fine. Other than that, a normal morning which again suited us fine. Sorry, but nothing else to report.
Saturday 29th September 2007: With the rugby (England v Tonga) finishing late-ish last night, I expected the papers late today, however they gave me a pleasant surprise and were here by 4:15am!! After such a good start, it was all downhill! One of our tables finally gave up after 18 months of papers being chucked on it and collapsed. Hence a frantic few minutes with Mail's everywhere and a re-vamp as we put our old temporary tressels back up. The Mail continued to work against me as they struggled to stack with the slipperly inserts and free DVD and then slid over onto the floor twice during the morning. Still, these things happen!
Sunday 30th September 2007: With my usual Sunday helper away at a all night binge (aka birthday party!) my temporary
helper and myself had a nice surprise today when the papers arrived at 3:45am! It was helped by a pre-run where all of the Sunday
supps were delivered overnight in advance and there were a lot of them! The Mail are doing their third big promo in as many months
with a free Travis album including the new single (bet those that had paid for it were slightly irked) and one of our papergirls
overslept and we were out doing it when she finally got hold of us. Other than that, a fairly smooth Sunday.
