Induction

As a new (!) member of staff I have to go on the Corporate Induction course. Not that I remembered. I walked into work, took off my coat, and flipped through the office diary to update the whiteboard. There, in my handwriting, said 'Clare - Induction all day'. Bugger. I grab my coat and start to leave.
"What's wrong?" asked Christine.
"I'm supposed to be at Induction in half an hour."
"Where?"
Hmm, good point. I frantically search through my folder for the memo. Civic Centre. I have to get to Wood Green in 30 mins during morning rush hour. This is not good.

20 mins later, I'm at the junction of the High Road and Lordship Lane and haven't a clue where to park. The front of the Civic is full and the rear car park is by swipe card and pin only. All the neighbouring streets are residential parking only or a maximum two-hour wait. I've been trawling the streets for a parking space for 15 mins before I decide I'm screwed and I have no choice but to park in the multi-storey for £5.

I park up and practically run to the Civic, and arrive in the Chambers flustered and 30 mins late. I make my apologies to one of the ODL people and am informed that the course has just started. Phew. I take a seat next to Nicky and the introductions begin. We are briefed on structure, planning and current goals. The Chief Executive then talked for about an hour and was a bit boring. The Mayoress then spoke for about 15 mins and didn't seem to breathe at any point, she was talking so fast. We are bundled on a coach for a tour of the Borough, during which the Mayoress continued to natter as we made our way up through Ally Pally, round Muswell Hill Broadway, down the border of Haringey and Camden, and then round so we went up Tottenham High Road and stopped at Bruce Castle Museum.

Bruce Castle Museum is very much like Forty Hall. It's a listed building with a few old paintings and some mad occupants and is regarded as a local antiquity. We had lunch and then a obligatory tour of the Museum. The tour guide was very enthusiastic about his work which I could empathise with, being interested in local history and all, but everyone else just looked bored. I have to admit, it was rather like a school trip. The view from the clock tower was very cool and the building is pretty, a mixture of Elizabethan, Georgian and Victorian architecture (is that the right order?), where blocks were renovated, extended and added throughout the years. Tour finished, we had another briefing, this time on equalities, and we finally wrapped up about 4pm.

We coached back to Wood Green and I drove Nicky home. We had a good natter and decided that we need to see each other more often! Once home, I'm all ready to collapse. Roll on tomorrow!