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Sep. 17th, 2007 11:26 pmThere was an 'Open Briefing' at the office this morning. Although I was on late shift, I went in for the briefing, because they like us to go to them, because I could claim an extra hour's pay, because I needed to see Rachel about switching one of our shift swaps and because I would have been coming in early in any case to see the England v Argentina Women's World Cup match in the coffee lounge.
As we all filed into the Map Room, I spotted Rachel so bagged the seat next to her - taking care not to get too close up after she warned me she'd got a cold. The first half of the briefing was a talk from Lin, who was not a happy bunny. She'd got wind of a set of questions that some people had been circulating and asking others to add their signatures to, about issues some of the girls were unhappy with. (I'd never seen it : the first I'd heard of it was when an e-mail from Phil went out to everyone last week, answering the questions and deploring the way they'd been circulated.) Having earlier warned everyone that a confrontational approach would get them nowhere, she began her summing-up with "I am not supportive of petitions or round robin activity." She advised individuals to talk to her or a manager one-on-one about any issues concerning them.
After that came the calmer waters of a guest presentation from someone called Steve, explaining a little about the various surveys our office and our sister offices do and what's done with the results.
When that was all over it was still only 10.35. Ample time for me to enter a payclaim and sort out our shift swap change before pottering down to the coffee lounge to clear some e-mails till noon.
Bacon steak and veg in the canteen, then back to the lounge to await the match. Being lunch time the lounge was now full, and Shelley, spotting me, came over to join me for a chat while she had her packed lunch. She left to return to work during the build-up to the game; moments later Brad and his pals came in and all piled round my table. A lot of people took an interest in the game when it came on; the table next to me was full of women, several of whom, to my delight, already knew England needed a 2-0 win to make sure of qualifying! England's goals were greeted with great joy all round - until half-time when, lunch break over, everyone drifted back to their offices (two of the ladies on the adjacent table leaving the game with extreme reluctance). One maintenance man had been amused by the whole women's football thing, and called out to a lady called Sue, asking her whether she wanted to play for his Saturday league team - "I've invited a scout from the England women's team!"
And so I was all alone in the lounge for the start of the second half, till before long one other guy came in and stayed till the end. 6-1 the final score, another fine display from the England ladies, and sets up their first ever appearance in the World Cup quarter-finals. As England will meet the winners of the USA and North Korea's group, Gabby Logan firmly predicted that England will play the USA, but I have a feeling North Korea could just pull it off...
Just time to see the highlights of Germany v Japan and check the Web for Hawks' opponents in the FA Cup - it's Bognor away, nice local trip - before heading upstairs to begin my shift.
As we all filed into the Map Room, I spotted Rachel so bagged the seat next to her - taking care not to get too close up after she warned me she'd got a cold. The first half of the briefing was a talk from Lin, who was not a happy bunny. She'd got wind of a set of questions that some people had been circulating and asking others to add their signatures to, about issues some of the girls were unhappy with. (I'd never seen it : the first I'd heard of it was when an e-mail from Phil went out to everyone last week, answering the questions and deploring the way they'd been circulated.) Having earlier warned everyone that a confrontational approach would get them nowhere, she began her summing-up with "I am not supportive of petitions or round robin activity." She advised individuals to talk to her or a manager one-on-one about any issues concerning them.
After that came the calmer waters of a guest presentation from someone called Steve, explaining a little about the various surveys our office and our sister offices do and what's done with the results.
When that was all over it was still only 10.35. Ample time for me to enter a payclaim and sort out our shift swap change before pottering down to the coffee lounge to clear some e-mails till noon.
Bacon steak and veg in the canteen, then back to the lounge to await the match. Being lunch time the lounge was now full, and Shelley, spotting me, came over to join me for a chat while she had her packed lunch. She left to return to work during the build-up to the game; moments later Brad and his pals came in and all piled round my table. A lot of people took an interest in the game when it came on; the table next to me was full of women, several of whom, to my delight, already knew England needed a 2-0 win to make sure of qualifying! England's goals were greeted with great joy all round - until half-time when, lunch break over, everyone drifted back to their offices (two of the ladies on the adjacent table leaving the game with extreme reluctance). One maintenance man had been amused by the whole women's football thing, and called out to a lady called Sue, asking her whether she wanted to play for his Saturday league team - "I've invited a scout from the England women's team!"
And so I was all alone in the lounge for the start of the second half, till before long one other guy came in and stayed till the end. 6-1 the final score, another fine display from the England ladies, and sets up their first ever appearance in the World Cup quarter-finals. As England will meet the winners of the USA and North Korea's group, Gabby Logan firmly predicted that England will play the USA, but I have a feeling North Korea could just pull it off...
Just time to see the highlights of Germany v Japan and check the Web for Hawks' opponents in the FA Cup - it's Bognor away, nice local trip - before heading upstairs to begin my shift.
