Out in the wilds and a visit from the boss!

Usually I work at the main police station in Oxford, but every now and then, we have to go to Cowley to cover the odd shift there, and this week it has been my turn and I had the early shift there yesterday and today. This means that instead of starting at 7am, you start at 8am and consequently finish at 5pm instead of 4pm, but it is no great hardship.


Now we at the main station all joke about going down to Cowley. As soon as you find out you have a duty down at Cowley, the usual question is 'who have you upset?'. Actually it isn't that bad, and although I normally dread going there, once I am there it is ok, it is just Cowley is very different to our station and you are always more comfortable with what you know. The main station is usually extremely busy, and is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and you just never know what is going to work through the door. Cowley is open 8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday, and 9am to 5pm at the weekends, and is a lot quieter, the main stay of their work being 'producers' and traffic accident reports - you can park there for a start and it is quite close to the depots of the two main bus companies in Oxford. I have to say though, this time, in two days I had one producer and no TA's. That has got to be some type of record..............and I have never seen it so quiet, two days of doing very little, but nice change.


However, yesterday I did have a call from a lady who identified herself as calling from Headquarters and she wanted to inform me that the boss - that's the Chief Constable to the rest of you, was having a meeting at our station today. Right then, chance to meet the boss then! In the end it was a bit of a non event. The boss arrived, identified herself - yeah, we know who you are as we all get to see a video of you when we join, plus your pic is on the intranet, but it was nice that she didn't just assume. She said good morning, asked how we were and then left two hours later, saying thank you and goodbye. Seemed nice enough, but hard to tell with such a brief interaction.


Well back to my proper station tomorrow, which means a 7am start; so up at 5.15 am, leave the house by 5.55am to catch the 6.30 am bus from the park & ride. For some strange reason, the bus company put on a double decker at this time and during the week there are normally about a dozen of us on the 6.30am; on Saturday it is often just me and the bus driver! As he has his own seat, that leaves me with a choice of about fifty seats, plus infinal standing room!!!! Never mind, I should be home by 5pm and I am not back to work until 3pm on Monday. Hubby on the other hand is on the second bus of the day tomorrow, so he will be leaving the house at about 3.45 to start work at 4.30am..............he will however be finished by about 1pm!!