Good morning.
Today will be fun. I have an appointment at 11, doing my actual job of actually training an actual trainee. Except that last night I got a message from the boss saying I need to pick up about 40 bicycles from the local authority. It takes about 25 minutes to drive there. I pointed out to the manager of the facility I work in, that this means I can't make the appointment. Her response was a breezy "Set off at 08:30 and you'll be fine."
I'll be driving out tatty delivery van; from experience I can squeeze (and I mean squeeze) about 14 bikes in there, at a push. Thankfully our bike storage area is a few KM from the local government office, say ten minutes. Add ten minutes to load fifteen bikes and ten to unload. That's half an hour per trip one way, plus ten minutes back.
40 bikes and a van that can take 14 means about three trips, as seen above each trip is about 40 minutes assuming I have a free space for loading and the door is left open so I don't have to find a key holder each time.
So 3x40 minutes = 2 hours, plus the 25 minutes to get there, and let's say about ten minutes to find a parking space, find the door, get the receptionist to find the person responsible, get directed to the delivery door, pull up, door open, and find the bikes. So we're already at, let's be generous here, about 2 1/2 hours assuming everything goes incredibly smoothly and there's absolutely no congestion or parking problems, no need to sort any of the bikes, all the bike fit first time, the door to the bike store is conveniently left wide open we drive back and forth, and of course the "40 bikes" estimate is accurate.
After all this, I still need to sort the bikes into reusable bikes and bikes that will be dismantled, and re-load 14 reusable bikes and any salvaged parts I can fit in the van, to take back to my own workshop. This usually takes about half an hour to an hour, so we're now on at least 3 hours, probably getting on for four.
Than of course I need to get back, another 25 minutes if I really put my foot down, and unload these bikes, take them upstairs in the goods lift, and get them to the storage area, which is the opposite side of the building to the goods lift. Typically this takes a good half hour as well, all told.
So there and back, plus shuttling and unloading bikes, plus other shenanigans, say four hours, assuming all this runs perfectly, the roads are clear and I somehow channel my inner racing driver. Probably five is more accurate. Assuming I race about getting organised enough to leave at exactly 08:30, which I won't because there's too much traffic until 9 then I might get back just after one, maybe two in the afternoon...
I think the manager is about to learn that over optimistic estimations lead to disappointment.
Do you think I should try to tell her it was a valuable learning experience?
