Hello you lovely lot.
Firstly the men in suits. Hmm, it was not enjoyable. They basically were saying that yes, it was their fault but they have all the right procedures in place and this was just a really unlucky fluke. Not good enough guys. Even without thinking about it much I was able to suggest a couple of basic things like putting signs on the hatch doors themselves, so should anyone 'untrained' go to open them, they would see a clear warning.
Then they were a bit snide about charity work 'oh, is it like Oxfam who just drive around in white trucks and don't do anything?' and then offered to pay for my dry cleaning and taxi fare. I said I thought it would be appropriate if they were to give me a bit of compensation as after all, I'm saving them the huge expense and time and hassle of either a law suit or being reported to health and safety. They agreed but offered a fairly small amount. I said I was thinking a bit more than that and they looked very pained and said it would have to go through their insurance in that case.
I told them that I didn't really feel, from what they were telling me, that they were planning to make any changes to the way they manage the opening of the hatch and that I wanted to give them a little 'sting' so they took it seriously and took proper precautions to ensure it didn't happen again. The owner then said it would sting him more if I took a smaller amount that he would just pay out of the till, so to speak, as if it was more than a few hundred it would go through his insurance. It was the first time they looked genuinely pained and at that point, that was what I wanted - up until then I'd been feeling like they were the ones very much in control. Anyway, I'm not buying the insurance line so I said, very sweetly, that we should go through the insurance in that case. No idea how it will work but to be honest, the way I'm feeling I'm contemplating leaving the whole compensation thing and just reporting them to health and safety.
Anyway, the whole thing was not very pleasant although it was all perfectly civil. The older guy, the chain owner, kept trying to make jokes about it like 'you must drop in on us again' but really, although I have a sense a humour, it's not so good that I can laugh about the fall with the guy whose fault it was. So we shall see what happens. Oh god, and the weirdest thing of all - I had mentioned that I used to work in hospitality running coffee shops. Owner kept asking why I had left and then asked if I could be tempted back as he was looking for a general manager! WTF?? As if!
So we shall see what happens with that, it's up to them to send me the insurance forms once they've completed them.
Now the more fun bit! The opening ceremony rehearsal was amazeballs! Just walking up to the stadium made me all goosebumpy! The show itself was definitely a rehearsal and they didn't do the whole thing in its entirety. I'll save the surprise but you can rest assured that we will be proud of it and that the sets are truly amazing. Some parts with lots of (unprofessional) dancers had the feel of an enthusiastic but not particularly skilled end of term dance show, albeit on a very large scale, but truly, I think that adds to its charm. I mean, we were never going to compete with the gazillion drummers and military precision of the Beijing opening ceremony 4 years ago, so this is just very different and very, very British!
Worrying thing was the transport there. I set off from Camden at 5pm (show was due to start at 7.30), taking the overground from Camden rail to Stratford, a 30 minute journey. Waited 15 mins for a train which was ok, then once on it there was an announcement that the train was terminating early at Hackney. Got off at Hackney Central and waited for the next train which was too rammed to get on. Next train kept getting delayed by a minute here, a minute there...until they announce there's a problem with the line and they're closing the station! So I end up getting a bus to Stratford which was meant to take an hour but mercifully took a bit less. Given that Hackney Central is 10 mins from Stratford on the train, this was less than impressive.
All this meant that I didn't have time to eat my Dukan picnic before the rehearsal so again, have had a day of not eating much. This evening was the first time I've been really starving since starting Dukan though, was quite funny to feel it.
Sorry for super long post again, been a strange old day!
B: 100g fromage frais + 100g stewed rhubarb
L: prawn tom yum soup + shirataki noodles
S: 2 x Dukan muffins, celery + carrot sticks
D: 30g beancurd, 6 prawns
Exercise: 60 minute walking
WW propoints: 11 (bad, I know. Not usually the problem I have either...)
Number of times bag checked to make sure rehearsal ticket was still there: 47
Ok, am going to try to post this with a couple of photos, hope it works. Thanks again for all your words of wisdom and support on the fall as well the diet stuff. No idea how I did anything without you lot around before!! I owe most of you a proper diary read and reply...this will come, I promise! Jx
That last one is shhhh, super secret as it's got the opening scenery in the background. Don't tell anyone!! (I've got a better photo but am honouring their request not to share pics yet #savethesecret.) Oh, and that's me in my London Ambassador hat. The lurid pink and purple items stayed inside the lurid pink and purple rucksack on this occasion!
