As you all know I'm currently on a work secondment in Derry. Staying at a four star hotel on full company account, sounds loverly but this is my second weekend back home and I know that next week all the fun will definitely have worn off. I'm home by 6.30pm every Friday but fly back out on Sun leaving the house at 6.00pm (we chose Sundays or it would mean getting up back of 5am on the Mon)

I'm with a group of five staff and mercifully they're a sensible lot and not big drinkers.

Amongst the many adventures we're had over the past fortnight with the hotel and the taxi firm that my company has a contract with, here's two amusing experiences so far.

Taxis

We'd been having bother with the taxis, turning up late, having to chase them and to be told only 1 had to be booked and no sign of the other etc.

Last Fri was the final straw. I'd booked a taxi for 8.15am and two for 8.30am (we had two other staff from another office that week). I specifically pointed out twice that the 8.15am and 8.30am cabs were for the morning.

The 8.15am didn't appear, I called at 8.25am and was given the usual story that there wasn't one showing on their pooter. The two for 8.30am showed up.

On the Friday evening, having just put a wash on, my mobile phone started to ring, it was 8.17pm...it was the taxi company giving me my "two rings".....

I ignored it and imagined the driver enquring about our group at Reception to be told we'd checked out that morning!

This week we're using another firm, trying them out for a bit before the company signs up with them. On the second day the driver of the car I was in said he'd seen us all before at breakfast (?) turns out he's the morning chef at our hotel ! Next morning I was picking out things at the hot breakfast counter and I jumped when he appeared and said "Morning Yasmin", it's getting a bit Truman Show.

Four Star Hotel fun

After the faffing about in the first week, the hotel staff all know who we are now and have been extra nice to us. (They've been warned by my company that they are not the only hotel around....bawahahahaha)

On Valentines day, I returned to my room after work and found a bunch of red roses, they were beautiful. T had found a florist near the hotel and arranged the delivery with them. Shut it, I love romantic gestures.

We all have partners back home and couldn't face the Valentine's themed restaurants so had a drink, take away and watched the Brits in one of the rooms and retired to our own pads at 11pm.

Two of my group have rooms on a different floor from the rest of us, they are smokers therefore quiet rightly should be seperated from the rest of the normal healthy residents.

A domestic broke out out side one of their doors, and my colleague couldn't see anything through his spy hole, he couldn't make out what was happening so had a look outside.

There was a couple, steaming, rolling around the floor and hitting each other. The male piss head got up and staggered back to their room and slammed the room door shut. She lay there moaning and then puked.

Reception desk was called, two staff members came up one of them went off, presumably to get another passcard for the room and then unbelievably both led her back into the room....don't know if they sang a lullaby and read a story as well but they cleaned up the carpet and all was quiet.

The next morning my colleagues heard Mull of Kintyre from the couple's room, so they'd obviously made up.

On Thurs when we returned to the hotel after work, my colleague, the interfering do-gooder that he is, found a Do Not Disturb sign on his door, his room hadn't been cleaned. He told Reception and agreed that it was a prank, they also confirmed that the couple had checked out earlier that day.

His room was cleaned and the hotel gave him a bottle of wine and chocs, the manager also said she would investigate the handling of the situation the night before.

Oh the excitment! We've been out to some local restaurants, the shopping centres, next week a cinema trip and our lovely irish colleagues are arranging a night out on Thursday...
For our fourth and last week we've got a local tour guide recommended by our company who will arrange a time after work hours.