First week at Heathrow completed.
It's a huge bonded warehouse that only deals with mail freight, ranging in size from bags of normal envelopes up to anything as big as car parts like tyres and bumpers. The sheer amount of stuff is mind-boggling and the amount of stuff that is just sitting on racking, unable to go anywhere as there are no flights to certain destinations is rather depressing. Whole cargo bins full of stuff - including christmas presents - simply waiting for Covid restrictions to ease. Ljublana, for example, 7 bins just waiting for transport
Of course a huge amount does go out every day - Beijing, Istanbul, Dubai, Australia, America, South America etc. Some of this is loaded into the smaller bins and pallets that fit under the passenger cabin and most into the huge cargo bins made specially for converted freighters (A306s and A332s for the avgeeks). These take quite a bit of loading compared to the smaller, passenger aircraft ones. Although I'm there in a "managerial" role, of course I cannot resist a challenge and for the last 3 days I have been helping load these monsters. Always a good wa to get to know the guys and girls on the shop floor.
It is fair to say I ache a bit today
Next week more of the same and then I'll be going on to night shifts.
I have to say that the mileage allowance provides a welcome boost to the finances and the journey door-to-door is only about 45 minutes, which is the same as getting into Gatwick (due to the extra faff of having to go through security airside and the walk to and from the staff car park).
So far, so good.
