A day in the life of a canvas courier Auguest 16th 2011

For people who wondered what I actually did while in France this is pretty much it:

Alarm goes of at 8ish, blaring Taylor Swift. Its cold, I'll snooze it for 10 minutes then re-evaluate. Its ment to be really nice and sunny today so today is as good a day as any to get some of my second/third hand uniform washed. Alarm goes off again, its till cold but my bladder is beginning to protest at being ignored and since Im not one of the guys i cant just go behind my tent and se have to sprint to the toilet block. I sit up with my sleeping bag drapper round me like a cape and sort thoug the uniform thats scattered all over my double bed. Uniform very quickly shoved on, its too cold to take too long about it.
Quick wash of the rest of my uniform and hang it out to dry in the sun that im told will arrive later in the day. Breakfast! The area manager is on site so today isnt a day to be late. Reception at 9, cleaning lists handed out, only two cleans for today, could be done by lunch then be off till afternoon reception at 4. Plenty of time to eat lunch, do the washing up front last night, have a shower and maybe even lie in the sun before reception. First clean is 277 which is empty when i cycle down. The family threw me out of it the day before (they were only a one night stay) and so wanted it quickly rather than waiting till i was finished cleaning. Had done most of it apart from the floor so figured it wouldnt be too long to clean. Since its a nice day outside white furniture and windows all need done which adds a bit of time to the clean. Mr O (one of the nicest customers Ive ever met) appears at my clean and gives me too giant tarts for all the couriers, a lemon and a cherry. Today he brought me a cornetto style ice cream and some pink drink with bits in, either pink lemonade or grapefruit id guess. I love our customers! Got the clean finished in two hours. Only one left, 226 (just next door thanks to the odd numbering system). Its left in a fairly good state by comparrison. Hannah came round for a quick chat and showed me how to polish kettles with washing up liquid till they gleam.
Finished my cleans for 3, not exactly the early finish i was hoping for. Ran back to the live area and quickly had some biscotte and philly for lunch before going to do my share of the dishes from the previous night. Had a joke with Andy about wether I could mutlitask and do the dishes in the shower. Had the fastest shower of my life (its worth noting we had a bit of a heat wave so everyone was feeling a little clatty).
On reception for 4. Had 4 or 5 arrivals pretty much one after the other so was only waiting on 3. Went down to look at a BBQ for a dutch family. The thing was utterly broken. Went to the store tent on the other side of the golf course to get a replacement charcoal BBQ and got bitten by a massive bug which caused my leg to come out in a massive bumb. Assembled said BBQ for now rather unimpressed looking family and supplied them with charcoal and matches.
Come back to reception and sit on the deck in the sunny reading trashy magazine and watching lizards chasing each other. Had a chat with some customers about the weather, thunderstorms forecast. 8 oclock, recpetion over - letters left and maps drawn for my only customers whove not arrived.
To the cook tent for pasta and cheese. Pasta on to cook and the phone rings with customers asking if we can phone Bernie to let them know they'll be a wee bit late. Text Bernie. Pasta ready. Pasta eaten. Arrivals arrived and shown themselves in. Popped down for a vist but theyre out. Probably at the disco that i can hear from the cooktent.

And thats pretty much your average day as a courier.