TMR's all new "Tales from the Underworld" thread

[The Moan Ranger]

Where to start?

Carnage, disruption, utter chaos. I'm not talking about Gatwick - I'll come on to that - I'm talking about my intestinal tract. Prior to the flu/Covid whatever it was, I had 2 weeks of constipational issues that were only kept in check by chemical intervention. Finally resolved, utterly, by some Iceland Reaper chilli chicken wings.

Then the flu/Covid whatever came along and I didn't eat too much as I was sleeping far too much. Once I was back up to speed, I was gorging on any food to make up the defecit and lo and behold, a week later, total blockage occurred again. Massive chemical intervention again required just to feel sort of well, but aware there was a mass of unresolved issues lurking deep within. And piles from straining too much 

GP was worse than useless. Blamed my shift changes and advised me to eat at the same time every day. Senokot wasn't working any more, so in desperation went to Holland & Barrett and bought some "Fruit & Fibre" chewy things that are figs, tamarind, prunes and rhubarb. These have worked to a good extent, but hopefully another 900g of Iceland Reaper chilli wings last night nailed it. This morning's many outpourings have left me a sweaty husk.

Gatwick? Well, you don't need me to tell you that it is an utter shistshow, as I predicted, and unlike previous years, there is really no light at the end of the tunnel.

My baggage boys are slaughtering themselves doing 8 straight 13 hour shifts, having 1 day off, then doing the same again. Most of these boys live on the South Coast, so at least 16 hours per day. Plus £400 in fuel each month. Double time is now paid for overtime and I'm seeing them paying £1,500 in tax per month, which is excellent - it pays for more pedestrian crossings to be painted in rainbow colours.

There are not enough staff ANYWHERE in the airport.  No-one wants to work at an airport any more. From the total hassle of getting an airside pass, to the the staff car park being in another County, to having to go through Security every day, to getting up up 00:30 for a 03:00 start, abuse from rightly pissed-off passengers and petty internal squabbling it os no wonder that many have chosen not to return.

I'm back in tomorrow morning - and like all my colleagues/friends I will do my utmost. But it still won't be enough.

I have, however, bought 50 custard doughnuts for them all.  And doughnuts help.

[Barman]

Where to start?

Carnage, disruption, utter chaos. I'm not talking about Gatwick - I'll come on to that - I'm talking about my intestinal tract. Prior to the flu/Covid whatever it was, I had 2 weeks of constipational issues that were only kept in check by chemical intervention. Finally resolved, utterly, by some Iceland Reaper chilli chicken wings.

Then the flu/Covid whatever came along and I didn't eat too much as I was sleeping far too much. Once I was back up to speed, I was gorging on any food to make up the defecit and lo and behold, a week later, total blockage occurred again. Massive chemical intervention again required just to feel sort of well, but aware there was a mass of unresolved issues lurking deep within. And piles from straining too much 

GP was worse than useless. Blamed my shift changes and advised me to eat at the same time every day. Senokot wasn't working any more, so in desperation went to Holland & Barrett and bought some "Fruit & Fibre" chewy things that are figs, tamarind, prunes and rhubarb. These have worked to a good extent, but hopefully another 900g of Iceland Reaper chilli wings last night nailed it. This morning's many outpourings have left me a sweaty husk.

Gatwick? Well, you don't need me to tell you that it is an utter shistshow, as I predicted, and unlike previous years, there is really no light at the end of the tunnel.

My baggage boys are slaughtering themselves doing 8 straight 13 hour shifts, having 1 day off, then doing the same again. Most of these boys live on the South Coast, so at least 16 hours per day. Plus £400 in fuel each month. Double time is now paid for overtime and I'm seeing them paying £1,500 in tax per month, which is excellent - it pays for more pedestrian crossings to be painted in rainbow colours.

There are not enough staff ANYWHERE in the airport.  No-one wants to work at an airport any more. From the total hassle of getting an airside pass, to the the staff car park being in another County, to having to go through Security every day, to getting up up 00:30 for a 03:00 start, abuse from rightly pissed-off passengers and petty internal squabbling it os no wonder that many have chosen not to return.

I'm back in tomorrow morning - and like all my colleagues/friends I will do my utmost. But it still won't be enough.

I have, however, bought 50 custard doughnuts for them all.  And doughnuts help.

Blimey!

Good to have you back, we were worried about you! 

[The Moan Ranger]

Where to start?

Carnage, disruption, utter chaos. I'm not talking about Gatwick - I'll come on to that - I'm talking about my intestinal tract. Prior to the flu/Covid whatever it was, I had 2 weeks of constipational issues that were only kept in check by chemical intervention. Finally resolved, utterly, by some Iceland Reaper chilli chicken wings.

Then the flu/Covid whatever came along and I didn't eat too much as I was sleeping far too much. Once I was back up to speed, I was gorging on any food to make up the defecit and lo and behold, a week later, total blockage occurred again. Massive chemical intervention again required just to feel sort of well, but aware there was a mass of unresolved issues lurking deep within. And piles from straining too much 

GP was worse than useless. Blamed my shift changes and advised me to eat at the same time every day. Senokot wasn't working any more, so in desperation went to Holland & Barrett and bought some "Fruit & Fibre" chewy things that are figs, tamarind, prunes and rhubarb. These have worked to a good extent, but hopefully another 900g of Iceland Reaper chilli wings last night nailed it. This morning's many outpourings have left me a sweaty husk.

Gatwick? Well, you don't need me to tell you that it is an utter shistshow, as I predicted, and unlike previous years, there is really no light at the end of the tunnel.

My baggage boys are slaughtering themselves doing 8 straight 13 hour shifts, having 1 day off, then doing the same again. Most of these boys live on the South Coast, so at least 16 hours per day. Plus £400 in fuel each month. Double time is now paid for overtime and I'm seeing them paying £1,500 in tax per month, which is excellent - it pays for more pedestrian crossings to be painted in rainbow colours.

There are not enough staff ANYWHERE in the airport.  No-one wants to work at an airport any more. From the total hassle of getting an airside pass, to the the staff car park being in another County, to having to go through Security every day, to getting up up 00:30 for a 03:00 start, abuse from rightly pissed-off passengers and petty internal squabbling it os no wonder that many have chosen not to return.

I'm back in tomorrow morning - and like all my colleagues/friends I will do my utmost. But it still won't be enough.

I have, however, bought 50 custard doughnuts for them all.  And doughnuts help.

Blimey!

Good to have you back, we were worried about you! 

Soppy sods. I'll die when I'm good and ready - and that's not yet. 

[Barman]

Where to start?

Carnage, disruption, utter chaos. I'm not talking about Gatwick - I'll come on to that - I'm talking about my intestinal tract. Prior to the flu/Covid whatever it was, I had 2 weeks of constipational issues that were only kept in check by chemical intervention. Finally resolved, utterly, by some Iceland Reaper chilli chicken wings.

Then the flu/Covid whatever came along and I didn't eat too much as I was sleeping far too much. Once I was back up to speed, I was gorging on any food to make up the defecit and lo and behold, a week later, total blockage occurred again. Massive chemical intervention again required just to feel sort of well, but aware there was a mass of unresolved issues lurking deep within. And piles from straining too much 

GP was worse than useless. Blamed my shift changes and advised me to eat at the same time every day. Senokot wasn't working any more, so in desperation went to Holland & Barrett and bought some "Fruit & Fibre" chewy things that are figs, tamarind, prunes and rhubarb. These have worked to a good extent, but hopefully another 900g of Iceland Reaper chilli wings last night nailed it. This morning's many outpourings have left me a sweaty husk.

Gatwick? Well, you don't need me to tell you that it is an utter shistshow, as I predicted, and unlike previous years, there is really no light at the end of the tunnel.

My baggage boys are slaughtering themselves doing 8 straight 13 hour shifts, having 1 day off, then doing the same again. Most of these boys live on the South Coast, so at least 16 hours per day. Plus £400 in fuel each month. Double time is now paid for overtime and I'm seeing them paying £1,500 in tax per month, which is excellent - it pays for more pedestrian crossings to be painted in rainbow colours.

There are not enough staff ANYWHERE in the airport.  No-one wants to work at an airport any more. From the total hassle of getting an airside pass, to the the staff car park being in another County, to having to go through Security every day, to getting up up 00:30 for a 03:00 start, abuse from rightly pissed-off passengers and petty internal squabbling it os no wonder that many have chosen not to return.

I'm back in tomorrow morning - and like all my colleagues/friends I will do my utmost. But it still won't be enough.

I have, however, bought 50 custard doughnuts for them all.  And doughnuts help.

Blimey!

Good to have you back, we were worried about you! 

Soppy sods. I'll die when I'm good and ready - and that's not yet. 

 

[apc2010]

Where to start?

Carnage, disruption, utter chaos. I'm not talking about Gatwick - I'll come on to that - I'm talking about my intestinal tract. Prior to the flu/Covid whatever it was, I had 2 weeks of constipational issues that were only kept in check by chemical intervention. Finally resolved, utterly, by some Iceland Reaper chilli chicken wings.

Then the flu/Covid whatever came along and I didn't eat too much as I was sleeping far too much. Once I was back up to speed, I was gorging on any food to make up the defecit and lo and behold, a week later, total blockage occurred again. Massive chemical intervention again required just to feel sort of well, but aware there was a mass of unresolved issues lurking deep within. And piles from straining too much 

GP was worse than useless. Blamed my shift changes and advised me to eat at the same time every day. Senokot wasn't working any more, so in desperation went to Holland & Barrett and bought some "Fruit & Fibre" chewy things that are figs, tamarind, prunes and rhubarb. These have worked to a good extent, but hopefully another 900g of Iceland Reaper chilli wings last night nailed it. This morning's many outpourings have left me a sweaty husk.

Gatwick? Well, you don't need me to tell you that it is an utter shistshow, as I predicted, and unlike previous years, there is really no light at the end of the tunnel.

My baggage boys are slaughtering themselves doing 8 straight 13 hour shifts, having 1 day off, then doing the same again. Most of these boys live on the South Coast, so at least 16 hours per day. Plus £400 in fuel each month. Double time is now paid for overtime and I'm seeing them paying £1,500 in tax per month, which is excellent - it pays for more pedestrian crossings to be painted in rainbow colours.

There are not enough staff ANYWHERE in the airport.  No-one wants to work at an airport any more. From the total hassle of getting an airside pass, to the the staff car park being in another County, to having to go through Security every day, to getting up up 00:30 for a 03:00 start, abuse from rightly pissed-off passengers and petty internal squabbling it os no wonder that many have chosen not to return.

I'm back in tomorrow morning - and like all my colleagues/friends I will do my utmost. But it still won't be enough.

I have, however, bought 50 custard doughnuts for them all.  And doughnuts help.

Blimey!

Good to have you back, we were worried about you! 

Soppy sods. I'll die when I'm good and ready - and that's not yet. 

 

   

[Steve]

Where to start?

Carnage, disruption, utter chaos. I'm not talking about Gatwick - I'll come on to that - I'm talking about my intestinal tract. Prior to the flu/Covid whatever it was, I had 2 weeks of constipational issues that were only kept in check by chemical intervention. Finally resolved, utterly, by some Iceland Reaper chilli chicken wings.

Then the flu/Covid whatever came along and I didn't eat too much as I was sleeping far too much. Once I was back up to speed, I was gorging on any food to make up the defecit and lo and behold, a week later, total blockage occurred again. Massive chemical intervention again required just to feel sort of well, but aware there was a mass of unresolved issues lurking deep within. And piles from straining too much 

GP was worse than useless. Blamed my shift changes and advised me to eat at the same time every day. Senokot wasn't working any more, so in desperation went to Holland & Barrett and bought some "Fruit & Fibre" chewy things that are figs, tamarind, prunes and rhubarb. These have worked to a good extent, but hopefully another 900g of Iceland Reaper chilli wings last night nailed it. This morning's many outpourings have left me a sweaty husk.

Gatwick? Well, you don't need me to tell you that it is an utter shistshow, as I predicted, and unlike previous years, there is really no light at the end of the tunnel.

My baggage boys are slaughtering themselves doing 8 straight 13 hour shifts, having 1 day off, then doing the same again. Most of these boys live on the South Coast, so at least 16 hours per day. Plus £400 in fuel each month. Double time is now paid for overtime and I'm seeing them paying £1,500 in tax per month, which is excellent - it pays for more pedestrian crossings to be painted in rainbow colours.

There are not enough staff ANYWHERE in the airport.  No-one wants to work at an airport any more. From the total hassle of getting an airside pass, to the the staff car park being in another County, to having to go through Security every day, to getting up up 00:30 for a 03:00 start, abuse from rightly pissed-off passengers and petty internal squabbling it os no wonder that many have chosen not to return.

I'm back in tomorrow morning - and like all my colleagues/friends I will do my utmost. But it still won't be enough.

I have, however, bought 50 custard doughnuts for them all.  And doughnuts help.

Blimey!

Good to have you back, we were worried about you! 

Soppy sods. I'll die when I'm good and ready - and that's not yet. 

 

 

And what a post     I guess no surprise that Gatwick is such a fiasco but helps to have the inside story

[Nick]

Brexit 

[Steve]

Brexit 

I doubt it other than it put these incompetents in power and they didn't even think about extending furlough for critical industries

[Nick]

Or visas

[Miss Demeanour]

Brexit 

Or just companies being required to pay at least the legal minimum wage !!!

And as TMR says the conditions and hassle don't make this an attractive proposition.

Oh and I hope your bunged up situation is relieved soon ....

Throw a few heavy bags around to relive your tension ( just for a change   )

[Just One More]

'kinell TMR. Good to see you are back 

[apc2010]

They closed Luton airport ..(thinks Lorraine Chase )...will this make TMR more work ....

[The Moan Ranger]

They closed Luton airport ..(thinks Lorraine Chase )...will this make TMR more work ....

Not really, we only received 1 diversion from Belfast - passengers offloaded and told to make their own way onwards, splash and dash of fuel and off it went back to Belfast.

[The Moan Ranger]

2 days, 2 nights. Problems both halves. Day shifts (0600-1800) are primarily focussed on outbound baggage issues. Which I like. With the big Orange airline cancelling flights at late notice, mainly due to lack of flight deck or cabin crew, we find ourselves in possession of lots of bags for flights no longer operating. Obviously, these all have to be returned to the fuming passengers, once they've been escorted back through passport control to baggage reclaim. Rather than bother my boys who were clearing the outbound baggage for flights that were actually going, I took it upon myself to take all the cancelled flights bags back to the reclaim belts. I didn't stop for 4 hours and it was glorious. A proper workout - chucking over 1,000 bags on the reclaim belts before the passengers reached them. Cold comfort for them, for sure, but hopefully eased the pain slightly. Repeat for Sunday.

Monday night and Tuesday night primarily focussed on aircraft cleaning. The usual issues of staff not turning up, aircraft not connected to a power supply (try cleaning/hoovering a plane with no electricity...) and being aircraft being towed to another stand without us being notified were all dealt with, but the biggest - by far - problem was the amount of aircraft coming home really late, up to 3 hours. This causes a huge knock-on effect in that sod-all is landing before midnight, so sometimes the teams are waiting over an hour for their next clean, then a huge swathe arrive and they are left with 5 hours to clean 8 more.

All of this stems from very early the previous morning - yesterday over 20 flights were delayed by over an hour while they waited for standby crews to arrive. This delay rolls over and exacerbates as the day goes on. The last job on a daily flying schedule is cleaning it and my boys/girls are suffering most because of it.

But all in all, not a bad shift. Next 2 shifts are all nights 

[Barman]

2 days, 2 nights. Problems both halves. Day shifts (0600-1800) are primarily focussed on outbound baggage issues. Which I like. With the big Orange airline cancelling flights at late notice, mainly due to lack of flight deck or cabin crew, we find ourselves in possession of lots of bags for flights no longer operating. Obviously, these all have to be returned to the fuming passengers, once they've been escorted back through passport control to baggage reclaim. Rather than bother my boys who were clearing the outbound baggage for flights that were actually going, I took it upon myself to take all the cancelled flights bags back to the reclaim belts. I didn't stop for 4 hours and it was glorious. A proper workout - chucking over 1,000 bags on the reclaim belts before the passengers reached them. Cold comfort for them, for sure, but hopefully eased the pain slightly. Repeat for Sunday.

Monday night and Tuesday night primarily focussed on aircraft cleaning. The usual issues of staff not turning up, aircraft not connected to a power supply (try cleaning/hoovering a plane with no electricity...) and being aircraft being towed to another stand without us being notified were all dealt with, but the biggest - by far - problem was the amount of aircraft coming home really late, up to 3 hours. This causes a huge knock-on effect in that sod-all is landing before midnight, so sometimes the teams are waiting over an hour for their next clean, then a huge swathe arrive and they are left with 5 hours to clean 8 more.

All of this stems from very early the previous morning - yesterday over 20 flights were delayed by over an hour while they waited for standby crews to arrive. This delay rolls over and exacerbates as the day goes on. The last job on a daily flying schedule is cleaning it and my boys/girls are suffering most because of it.

But all in all, not a bad shift. Next 2 shifts are all nights 

You're doing a brilliant job!