Categories: uncategorized
Date: 23 July 2009 03:39:32
So apparently I broke the book depository very well. Sorry everyone. It is still functioning. It just doesn't look pretty.
I was just at a very large shopping centre which seemed to be having problems... first I went to Medicare to get some dollars. This involves taking a ticket and waiting. If there's a big wait I usually go to Borders (next door) and browse, checking back every once in a while to see how I'm going in the queue.
This morning I had ticket A244. The queue was up to A220 and there were quite a few people working. Although there are also different letters in the same queue (it was up to J812), most people have an A number so it wasn't going to be a mammoth wait and I had a book to read. I find it quite interesting that in the last month or so this Medicare office has installed a person to stand next to the ticket machine and... er... well.... I'm not entirely sure of her job description, but I saw that she pushed the "Medicare Refund" button on the touch screen and passed the ticket from the machine to the person ahead of me. Then she started explaining something to that person so I did a swift overtaking move, took my own ticket from the machine and retired to a seat with The Plague and A244.
All was going swimmingly until they got up to A240. The computers all crashed, including the number machines. An optimist working there started yelling out the next numbers and telling people which desk to go to, however as those computers were not working either this was not effective.
An actual queue formed at the door as people waited to get a number from the machine. A lady came out of the office and asked everyone what number they got up to. Unfortunately half the people said 267 and half said 243. This is because 243 was where the front of the queue was up to and 267 is what the ticket machine was up to. I think she wanted to know the 267 figure. But I was a bit concerned that she would rewind the machine to 243, thus generating TWO ticket 244s. That would mean I'd have to beat the opposition to the counter! Tickets do have the time of issue on them but I was still concerned.
When I eventually left Medicare the fire alarm started sounding. After every few BEEEEEEEEPs a voice would say something. I couldn't hear what it was saying because it's a rather loud environment. Eventually I got to a quiet place and could hear that the last part of the message was "await further instruction". I could see no smoke so continued on my way, down to the bottom floor. There I came across a security guy leaning on the wall - he seemed to be wrestling with it.... that was odd. Then I saw that it was the automatic fire door trying to close across the thoroughfare and he had been assigned the duty of keeping it open.
I can't decide if I'd prefer to be a ticket passer or a door wrestler.