Meeting the Saturdays!!!!

Meeting The Saturdays!!!!!

On Monday 15th September 2014, the Saturdays were performing at the National Indoor Arena. As a surprise for my birthday I was given meet and greet tickets. I love the Saturdays and was really looking forward to meeting my favourite pop group.

 

After picking up my friend we drove to Coventry Station and took a train to Birmingham New Street. After a quick walk to the National Indoor Arena we arrived and joined the queue. Once we were checked in, we waited for a bit before being taken down to stairs to where the dressing rooms were. We waited for a bit again and then the Saturdays arrived. One at a time we had our chance to meet them. Just before I went in, I was really excited.

 

Then I went into the room and had my picture taken with the girls but got so nervous and still can't remember what I said to them. They must have thought I was so strange!!! Especially if they notice me during the show. It was a experience I will never forget.

 

After having some food we went to our seats waiting for the big show. They were in the front row! The two support act we saw were SD*Jem and Calvin Goldspink (who was in S Club Juniors), we missed the other two supports acts. Then after a break the main show started. It was the best show ever, I must have sang from the first minute until the last. They played all their hits including my favourite Ego to Higher to What are you Waiting for?!

 

 

An amazing night that I will never forget!!!! Just wished I knew what I said to them.

Day 13 - Last Day at Glasgow Adventures!!! (2nd August)

So it's my last day of my Glasgow 2014 Adventure! After have a mini lie in, I had some breakfast and packed up my tent! (The tent and chair was being donated to a scout or guide group in Scotland)

After checking out, I walked with my suitcase to Dumbreck station. (Luckily the rain had sort of stopped, it had just before I left being very heavy)

After taking the train to Glasgow Central, I walked to the bus stop and got on the bus that took me to Glasgow International Airport.

I checked in and went through security and waked for my flight. I got home at about 5.30pm.

So my Glasgow 2014 as a clyde-sider has come to an end, I miss it and had the time of my life, even if staying in a tent for nearly two weeks was tough but I did it. Next time maybe a house or hotel would be better.

I made friends that I hope to keep in touch with and learnt about a different side of big sport event. Would I do it again if I could? Yes but not in a tent!

Glasgow 2014 is over!!!!

Day 12 - My Adventures in Glasgow!!!! (Last Shift at Hampden Park) (1st August)

After having a lie in, today was my final shift at Hampden Park. After having some breakfast, I relaxed at the campsite for the rest of morning and early afternoon watching the television in the bar!

After some lunch (another pot noddle of the week), it was time to leave for another shift at Hampden Park! I took the bus to Battlefield Road and then I walked to Hampden Park! After going through security and  checking in, I went to the Print Distribution Room ready to start my shift!

When I arrived Hannah (one of the managers) and other members were already doing some printing, photocopying and delivering, as it was relay night and no morning shift and there were changes to the relay starts lists. So it was straight into it! So once they were out of the way and everyone had arrived me and Fraser did our final briefing.

After the briefing we all went down to workforce break area to have some food before the night action started.

Once the action started the process was a calm process like the previous shifts. We continued to plan ahead as much as we could making it a lot easier. The team all worked well. Tonight there were problems and it was all to do with relay starts list as each team only announced who is running less than hour before each race and it was causing problems as clients were wanting them quicker than we could get them out because of them being so late. But apart from those reports we didn't have any other problems, apart from some of reports took a long time to come through the printer or got missed.

We continued to deliver, print and photocopy reports until the about 11.00pm. 

With this being our last shift we all said our goodbyes. Hannah (one of the managers) gave her thanks to us and a group of us went down on the track and had our picture taken on the medal ceremony podium. Also when we were down there Sally Pearson (Won 100m hurdles gold medal) appeared on the track to do an interview but we left her alone.

I was sad leaving Hampden Park for the final time as I had really enjoyed working at the athletics venue and seeing a behind the scene side to a major athletics and sport event. 

I went back to campsite via two trains. Once back at the campsite I went to sleep after a long day! (I arrived home at midnight!)

So my final full day completed and tomorrow my Glasgow adventure will come to an end!

Day 11 - My Adventures in Glasgow!!!!! (Watching Men Time Trial Cycling) (31st July)

After having a lie in, today was my last rest day so I decided to go into Glasgow city centre to watch the Men Cycling Time Trial! (free event on the street) and do a final bit of sightseeing. After some breakfast I took a train from Dumbreck to Glasgow Central Station!

I walked down to Glasgow Green to try and get a space but the queue and street around the venue was packed, so decided to go back into centre, have an early lunch and then go back to a different part! When I went back I found a place to watch the cyclists! I also had a picture taken with another Clyde statue! 

The cyclists got some really good support and it was really good to see how fast they went. (This was a time trial by the way, the winner is the cyclist around the course the quickest). Luckily the weather held and I didn't get very wet. (A couple of quick light showers)

Once all the cyclists had gone past, I decided to go for a walk up to have a look at the cathedral. Outside the cathedral were all the flags of the different countries taking part in the Commonwealth Games! I went for a walk inside the gardens and then went inside the cathedral itself. (On the Monday afterwards there was a World War 1 special service that took place in the cathedral, where I walked)

Then I walked back to the city centre and walked to Albion Street which is where the Volunteer Centre is where back in May 2013 had my interview to work at the games! I then walked to Merchant City and took into the atmosphere of a market and saw a gold medallist from Scotland. (Euan Burton I think was the medallist)

Finally I had a snack in a cafe and then got some more food supplies and went back to campsite via the train. I also had my picture taken with another Clyde Statue.

In the evening I watched the athletics action on the TV while having tea (fish and chips). The atmosphere inside the bar was good especially when Eilidh Child of Scotland won her silver medal. An amazing achievement after so much pressure as the face of the games!

So the end of another day. Tomorrow is my last full day in Glasgow and my last shift at Hampden Park. Time for bed!!

Day 10 - My Adventures in Glasgow!!!!! (Greg Rutherford Wins Gold) (30th July)

After having a lie in, today was my sixth shift (my last but one) at Hampden Park. After having some breakfast, I relaxed at the campsite for the rest of morning and early afternoon watching the television in the bar.

 
After some lunch (had a pot noddle for first time in years), it was time to leave for another shift at Hampden Park! I took the bus to Battlefield Road and then a walk to Hampden Park! After going through security and  checking in, I went to the Print Distribution Room ready to start my shift. On the way I had my picture taken with another Clyde statue.

Similar to yesterday, when I arrived  there wasn't anything going on so once everyone had arrived me and Fraser (the other team leader on my shifts) did a briefing to start the shift!

After the briefing we all went down to workforce break area to have some food. (the action didn't start until 6.30pm and we started at 5.00pm). 

Once the action started the process was a calm process like yesterday. Like yesterday we got ahead of ourselves after working out the reports we would receive from the schedule of the evening and what came the night before! The team all worked well (some people did the same job to keep the process calm) (they wanted to, we did ask if they wanted a change) and no major problems came back to us. At times we were getting the reports printed off, photocopied and delivered between 10 and 15 minutes, like we did yesterday!

Also during the session I went out into the stadium twice to watched the final heat of the women's 200m and saw Greg Rutherford receive his gold medal after winning the Long Jump for England! The atmosphere during Greg's medal ceremony was really good and it was good to hear people sing the England Anthem! Jodie Williams is a star of future as she won the women's 200m heat by a long margin after pulling away from the field! (She went on to win a silver medal in the 200m)

We continued to deliver, print and photocopy reports until the about 10.30pm. At the end of the shift we had a debrief on how the shift had gone! Another positive day and I left Hampden Park on a high like I did the last two days!

I went back to campsite via a train from Mount Florida to Maxwell Park. Once back at the campsite I went to sleep after a long day! (I arrived home at around 11.30pm!)

Another day completed and I'll be back at Hampden Park for my final shift on Friday! Day off tomorrow and I'm sure I'll be sad on Friday for my final shift!

Day 9 - My Adventures in Glasgow!!!! (Women 1500m Final) (29th July)

After having a lie in, today was my fifth shift at Hampden Park. After having some breakfast, I relaxed at the campsite for the rest of morning and early afternoon watching the television in the bar! But also during the morning I went for a walk to Morrisons which was about 15 minutes away to get some food supplies!!!

After some lunch, it was time to leave for another shift at Hampden Park! I took the bus to Battlefield Road and then a walk to Hampden Park! After going through security and  checking in, I went to the Print Distribution Room ready to start my shift!

Very different to yesterday, when I arrived  there wasn't anything going on so once everyone had arrived me and Fraser (the other team leader on my shifts) did a briefing to start the shift!

After the briefing we all went down to workforce break area to have some food. (the action didn't start until 6.30pm and we started at 5.00pm). 

Once the action started the process was a calm process like yesterday. The computerised reports made the system and role so much easier and we got ahead of ourselves after working out the reports we would receive from the schedule of the evening and what came the night before! The team all worked well and no major problems came back to us. (Just we want less copies of the reports). At times we were getting the reports printed off, photocopied and delivered between 10 and 15 minutes, a big improvement on the first couple of days!

Also tonight I decided to go out with some of my team members on runs to different clients. It was nice to get out and about and away from the room for times and see different parts of the stadium! 

Also at the end of the session I went out into the stadium watched the final women's 1500m from the broadcast area! I wanted Laura Muir to get a medal but she didn't but was so good to see Laura Weightman win a silver medal! A wonderful run and the atmosphere inside the stadium was amazing, it was so good to sample the atmosphere. (The crowd was really noisy and loud supporting the athletes)

We continued to deliver, print and photocopy reports until the about 10.45pm. At the end of the shift we had a debrief on how the shift had gone! Another positive day and I left Hampden Park on a high again! 

I went back to campsite via a train from Mount Florida to Maxwell Park! But while I was waiting to get on the train I was talking to Ashley Bryant's coach, who won a silver medal. Once back at the campsite I went to sleep after a long day! (I arrived home at midnight!)

Another day completed and I'll be back at Hampden Park for another shift tomorrow! Bring it on!!!

Day 8 - My Adventures in Glasgow!!!! (Men and Women 100m Finals Day) (28th July)

After having a lie in, today was my fourth shift at Hampden Park. After having some breakfast, I relaxed at the campsite for the rest of morning and early afternoon watching the television in the bar!

After some lunch, it was time to leave for another shift at Hampden Park! I took the bus to Battlefield Road and then a walk to Hampden Park! After going through security and  checking in, I went to the Print Distribution Room ready to start my shift!

When I arrived, there were some of the morning shift still there, sorting out start lists (they were always causing problems). So after a debrief from Jodie (another team leader) and once everyone had arrived me and Fraser (the other team leader on my shifts) did a briefing to start the shift!

After the briefing we all went down to workforce break area to have some food. (the action didn't start until 7.00pm and we started at 5.00pm). 

Once the action started the process was completely different from yesterday. (At times it felt like we walked into a different room) The thing that made it so much better, was that we had a system in place and the someone had made a excel spreadsheet which produced computerised reports instead of handwriting them! The team all worked well and no major problems came back to us. (Just we want less copies of the reports)

We continued to deliver, print and photocopy reports until the about 10.45pm. The highlight of the evening was Adam Gemill winning his silver medal in the 100m Final! (I only watched it on the TV though!). At the end of the shift we had a debrief on how the shift had gone!

Overall it was a very positives day and left Hampden Park on a high! 

I went back to campsite via trains from Mount Florida to Glasgow Central and Glasgow Central to Dumbreck! Once back at the campsite I went to sleep after a long day! (I arrived home at midnight!)

Another day completed and I'll be back at Hampden Park for another shift tomorrow! Bring it on!!!

Day 7 - My Adventures in Glasgow!!! (First Day of Athletics at Hampden Park) (27th July)

After having a lie in, today was my third shift at Hampden Park (The first day at the athletics programme). After having some breakfast, I relaxed at the campsite for the rest of morning watching the television in the bar!

At about 10.45am, I left the campsite and had to walk about 15/20 minutes to Maxwell Park Station. With me arriving early for the train, I watched a bit of the Marathon which was taking place on the street around the campsite (Why I didn't take a bus and had to walk to a different station). I then took a train to Glasgow Central Station and then got back on the same train to take me to Mount Florida! Then I walked to Hampden Park!  

After going through  security and checking in and  I went to Print Distribution Room ready for my shift! It was manic, a strange shift because when I turned up Callum, the results technology workforce manager and some other team members were already photocopying and delivering reports and as the team leader didn't really know what was going on!

This continued for the rest of shift with start lists and results coming in at the same time! (Start lists causing the problems). Also we had to do all the report covers by hand (making the process slow) (This would get better more on this Day 8). Apart from have a break for some food it was all go until the final race the Mens 5000m Final at about 6.10pm. Once all the reports had been printed and delivered we had a de-brief and it was another shift completed! 

I took a train back to Glasgow Central from Mount Florida and then another train back to Maxwell Park! After a little walk back to the campsite, I returned to my tent to relax before going to sleep after a manic day! (I got back at around 9.00pm)!

But the manic day hasn't put me off and I'll be back for another shift tomorrow!!!!