Back to work

I was very nervous this morning and set off at 8.15am as I didn't know how bad the traffic was going to be or how easy it would be to get parked. Even though the woman I'd spoken to in the CAB office had said about parking in Mayorhold in Northampton, I decided to leave the car in the St John's car park which was much closer to the offices and the Guildhall.

I breezed into town and was parking the car by 9am so I had half an hour to kill. I called my parents to let them know I was going to be away from home all day and texted Sophie before walking into town and calling into McDonald's for a quick cup of coffee.

It was a gorgeous morning (it would be, wouldn't it!) so it was great to sit in the window for five minutes sipping my coffee and watching the good people of Northampton walk by! I was slightly early again but Penny was busy so I amused myself by looking at all the advice leaflets on offer and tried not to feel so nervous!

First of all we had a sort of induction where she gave me to hefty booklets packed with information and things to learn. We then went over to the beautiful Guildhall which has a "One Stop Shop" of lots of council services. I wasn't aware all this existed there so I was very surprised!

I was introduced to Frank and Hilary who were working on Reception and to two ladies who were the advisors. People needing advice came into the main council reception and headed for a machine that gave them a numbered ticket for the CAB. We then gave them a form to fill in and they waited to see an advisor. We then had to input their details onto the system...and that was about it!

I picked up the computer bit quite quickly and it was very straightforward. It wasn't that busy but we did have a little flurry of people coming in mid-morning. It was a very pleasant working environment and the people I was working with were very friendly and helpful so all in all, a good experience. Next week I'll bring my own lunch and there was a small kitchen and seating area where you could have a break. The offices at the Guildhall are much nicer than the main office in the town and I'm very glad I'll be working there!

Back home it was great to catch up with everyone and Keith told me he'd had a busy day sorting out a faulty element in our oven. I get the feeling he missed me a little bit!