reception

when i got into work this morning, i was asked if i might be able to take care of some people who'd be coming at about 1.30pm. seen as my line manager was on holiday, the account manager off because it was Wednesday afternoon, the assistant gone because she was off to new adventures and the boss elsewhere at that particular time, i was the only one left. as my lunch plans had been cancelled, i didn't mind. but what was supposed to be an easy couple of hours manning the reception quickly became less so. first, we had room problems. no big deal and luckily, the way i sorted it out turned out to be the way it had originally been planned. then, lots of people calling about stuff i didn't know anything about, so i basically had to ask them to call back tomorrow or call someone else who did know the answers. and just as i'd switched off my computer and was about to leave, the phone rang again. i picked it up, hoping it'd just be a random enquiry, but of course, it was something i couldn't deal with without the files on the PC. and once that was up and running again, the information turned out to be incredibly difficult to find (mind you, not getting the right information to start off with didn't help). in the end, i had to ask the person if i could call her back tomorrow, and while i was searching every file i could think of for the answer, my boss came in asking me if i fancied calling the UK to sort out a panicking mother's 'missing' child (she wasn't really missing, the phone network just didn't work). we ended up switching our problems and finally solving them, by which time it was 5.30 (i was supposed to finish at 3pm). i switched the PC off again, telling myself i wouldn't answer if the phone rang again...which it luckily didn't.