Just before we finished work yesterday afternoon an email went round saying that there would be an important company announcement at 9:00 today.
So, everybody turns up for work as usual and... we are told the company (ZEDA Ltd) has gone into Creditors Voluntary Liquidation and that we are all out of a job as of the end of the statement being read out.
So if anybody has, or knows of, any IT related vacancies for a Business Analyst or Project Manager in or around the Midlands, UK, then please email me here... phil_cooper@ntlworld.com
In the meantime I'm hitting all the usual job finder web sites with my c.v.
Thursday, 31 January 2008
Wednesday, 30 January 2008
Ryanair censored
How mad is this country getting? Just how out of touch are the people that sit in judgement over us?
See this BBC article BBC News
Ryanair run an ad with a picture that can most accurately be described as saucy. It appears in 3 papers with a circulation of 3.5 million readers. One reader complains to the paper, and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) get 13 complaints.
The ASA said the "irresponsible" image appeared to link teenage girls with sexually provocative behaviour and was irresponsible and likely to cause "serious or widespread offence,"
Now before you ask, yes I have seen the picture -- which is probably more than most of the people who complained as in most instances like this one person takes offense and gets their “friends & family” to complain on their behalf.
Why don’t the ASA get REAL? Out of a circulation of 3.5 million there were 13 complaints! That does not constitute “serious or widespread offence”. It just means that out of 3.5 million readers there are 13 nutters who need locking up in a darken room with no food or water until they either develop a sense of humour or die (preferably the latter).
See this BBC article BBC News
Ryanair run an ad with a picture that can most accurately be described as saucy. It appears in 3 papers with a circulation of 3.5 million readers. One reader complains to the paper, and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) get 13 complaints.
The ASA said the "irresponsible" image appeared to link teenage girls with sexually provocative behaviour and was irresponsible and likely to cause "serious or widespread offence,"
Now before you ask, yes I have seen the picture -- which is probably more than most of the people who complained as in most instances like this one person takes offense and gets their “friends & family” to complain on their behalf.
Why don’t the ASA get REAL? Out of a circulation of 3.5 million there were 13 complaints! That does not constitute “serious or widespread offence”. It just means that out of 3.5 million readers there are 13 nutters who need locking up in a darken room with no food or water until they either develop a sense of humour or die (preferably the latter).
Tuesday, 29 January 2008
Misco Customer Service
Yesterday afternoon (while at work) I placed an order for a 19” widescreen LCD computer monitor using Misco.co.uk where I performed a search for “widescreen monitor 19” and then sorted the results by ascending price. The item that caught my eye was described as:-
HANNSG HW191 19 WIDESCREEN TFT WITH DVI OPEN BOX – BOX AND PRODUCT PRISTINE
After a fuller description, and the price £85.55 inc VAT was the phrase:-
Buy now – while stock lasts
So I did. I went through to checkout, entered my credit card details and printed off the receipt. Now at that point I assumed that I’d bought the monitor – and I expect just about anybody else in my position would think the same. BUT NO!
After leaving work somebody rang from Misco to say that this was a one off offer and that all stock had been sold. My colleague rang me at home and advised me of the call. I checked my emails, and there was confirmation of my “Order Request” so I went back on the web site to check – and it was still there for sale. So I rang customer services at Misco. The person taking the call couldn’t find the order reference number and took my contact phone number promising that somebody would ring me in the morning.
This morning I got into work, and waited. No phone call. Visited the Misco website – item still listed for sale. So I rang them. Again the order couldn’t be found, so I was passed to “Internet Sales” where a very obnoxious lady refused to believe that it was still available for sale. Eventually she found it and simply informed me that there had only been 1 item and that it had sold.
So what to do next? Trading Standards? YouTube? I still want a monitor, they appear to still have it for sale - it's still there as I write this at 11:50. And the more I think about it the less happy I am. I could accept being disappointed. I cannot accept being shouted down by loud, rude, customer service staff!
HANNSG HW191 19 WIDESCREEN TFT WITH DVI OPEN BOX – BOX AND PRODUCT PRISTINE
After a fuller description, and the price £85.55 inc VAT was the phrase:-
Buy now – while stock lasts
So I did. I went through to checkout, entered my credit card details and printed off the receipt. Now at that point I assumed that I’d bought the monitor – and I expect just about anybody else in my position would think the same. BUT NO!
After leaving work somebody rang from Misco to say that this was a one off offer and that all stock had been sold. My colleague rang me at home and advised me of the call. I checked my emails, and there was confirmation of my “Order Request” so I went back on the web site to check – and it was still there for sale. So I rang customer services at Misco. The person taking the call couldn’t find the order reference number and took my contact phone number promising that somebody would ring me in the morning.
This morning I got into work, and waited. No phone call. Visited the Misco website – item still listed for sale. So I rang them. Again the order couldn’t be found, so I was passed to “Internet Sales” where a very obnoxious lady refused to believe that it was still available for sale. Eventually she found it and simply informed me that there had only been 1 item and that it had sold.
So what to do next? Trading Standards? YouTube? I still want a monitor, they appear to still have it for sale - it's still there as I write this at 11:50. And the more I think about it the less happy I am. I could accept being disappointed. I cannot accept being shouted down by loud, rude, customer service staff!
Happy Birthday Dave
Sunday 27th January was Dave's birthday, celebrating 52 years on this planet we call earth. Happy Birthday Dave!
Saturday, 26 January 2008
It's been a quiet week
Despite all the tension hanging round her, Sue has got through this week pretty well, ending with a day trip to see her friends Karen & Liz on Friday. They all met up in London, and for once Karen was early! They seem to have had a good time from the accounts I've heard so far, A few more weeks an she'll be off to London again - this time with Carol.
Mark had a photo come that was taken at his college presentation evening when he "got his certificates" for the A level exams he achieved. In reality he got a bill for some books he'd not returned, and the certificates came in the post a few days after he returned the books. Still, it's a very nice photo of him with the High Sheriff of Derbyshire who is dressed in his full traditional regalia.
Things are very quiet for me at work at the moment, with no chargeable work and little prospect of any right now. Fingers crossed that there'll be no redundancies just yet but days don't half drag when you know that the work you are doing is pretty meaningless. On the order of the boss our infrastructure management team introduced some heavy handed rules for internet access. Well, with around 20 of us basically twiddling our thumbs it was only a matter of hours before we'd worked out a way around them. Well we are an IT services company and 20 heads have to be better than the 1 or 2 that put the new measures in place! How dumb do they think we are?
Good old eBay delivered us a new roller blind on Monday. Not bad as we only bought it on a "Buy Now" on Sunday. That went up today in the main bathroom which is starting to look finished after all the attention it's received lately.
Tomorrow it's wash cars and get new landline phones for Mum & Dad. How exciting?
Mark had a photo come that was taken at his college presentation evening when he "got his certificates" for the A level exams he achieved. In reality he got a bill for some books he'd not returned, and the certificates came in the post a few days after he returned the books. Still, it's a very nice photo of him with the High Sheriff of Derbyshire who is dressed in his full traditional regalia.
Things are very quiet for me at work at the moment, with no chargeable work and little prospect of any right now. Fingers crossed that there'll be no redundancies just yet but days don't half drag when you know that the work you are doing is pretty meaningless. On the order of the boss our infrastructure management team introduced some heavy handed rules for internet access. Well, with around 20 of us basically twiddling our thumbs it was only a matter of hours before we'd worked out a way around them. Well we are an IT services company and 20 heads have to be better than the 1 or 2 that put the new measures in place! How dumb do they think we are?
Good old eBay delivered us a new roller blind on Monday. Not bad as we only bought it on a "Buy Now" on Sunday. That went up today in the main bathroom which is starting to look finished after all the attention it's received lately.
Tomorrow it's wash cars and get new landline phones for Mum & Dad. How exciting?
Monday, 21 January 2008
Happy Birthday Fred
Today is Fred’s 62nd birthday. Happy birthday mate! Hope you enjoyed the meal on Saturday night as much as we did.
Nice weather – shame about the forecast
In anticipation of yet another wet weekend I got all the necessary bits and pieces in to do some much needed tidying up and running repairs. Nothing major, just loads of little jobs that I’ve been putting off.
First was to sort out Sue’s hair dryer. That was plugged into a wall socket behind a set of drawers, which is part of a pair linked by a vanity unit. In order to un-plug the old hairdryer and plug in the new one I had to dismantle the vanity unit. So a bit of forward thinking – replace hairdryer with an extension lead which is easily accessible for both lamp and hairdryer, then re-assemble the whole lot, cleaning as I go – job done.
That done, another job was to sort out the distribution of clutter in the various cupboards & wall units in the dining room and wardrobes in the master bedroom. All VHS tapes in one unit (not 4), all books together in the wall unit (from just about everywhere in the house), room found for linen that had sat in a pile in our bedroom for months. Loads of clutter and clothes binned for re-cycling.
When the Central Heating Engineer came the other week I had to make it possible to get to the boiler (in the back of the garage), so, one of my jobs was to do a proper job and I can now see the top of my workbench (not seen in at least 5 – 6 years). The garage is tidy and there’s room to move around. Next job was to fit some draught excluder to the door from the garage to the utility room. Why? Because the cat flap in the back door opens wide as every gale hits the front of the house and blows straight onto and through the garage. Should make keeping the house warm a bit easier too.
Then there was the sinks and baths. As seems to happen with time, the sealant between these and the walls had hardened, formed gaps, gone a bit mouldy, and so on. So it was out with the tools and remove the old stuff and insert new. This is never a favourite job of mine as I never seem to get a nice looking finish. But I’ve been watching all those DIY programs that litter the digital TV channels and thought it was time to put what I’ve learnt into practice. Mainly thanks to the Canadian Holmes on Homes series, it came out looking pretty smart. Smart enough for the whole family to comment on the finished article, so we’re all happy on that one.
What with that and a whole load of household chores the weekend was pretty full. Add in a night out for drinks and a meal (see Happy Birthday Fred) on Saturday. Some shopping for dog food for Sheba (Mum’s dog), sorting out the Sky subscription for Mum & Dad (took over a hour on the phone) and another trip down there when the TV remote packed up (the batteries had died). All in all, busy.
But the worst bit of the weekend was the sunshine! Dry, bright and mild all day! Why, oh why, can’t the forecasters get their forecasts right?
First was to sort out Sue’s hair dryer. That was plugged into a wall socket behind a set of drawers, which is part of a pair linked by a vanity unit. In order to un-plug the old hairdryer and plug in the new one I had to dismantle the vanity unit. So a bit of forward thinking – replace hairdryer with an extension lead which is easily accessible for both lamp and hairdryer, then re-assemble the whole lot, cleaning as I go – job done.
That done, another job was to sort out the distribution of clutter in the various cupboards & wall units in the dining room and wardrobes in the master bedroom. All VHS tapes in one unit (not 4), all books together in the wall unit (from just about everywhere in the house), room found for linen that had sat in a pile in our bedroom for months. Loads of clutter and clothes binned for re-cycling.
When the Central Heating Engineer came the other week I had to make it possible to get to the boiler (in the back of the garage), so, one of my jobs was to do a proper job and I can now see the top of my workbench (not seen in at least 5 – 6 years). The garage is tidy and there’s room to move around. Next job was to fit some draught excluder to the door from the garage to the utility room. Why? Because the cat flap in the back door opens wide as every gale hits the front of the house and blows straight onto and through the garage. Should make keeping the house warm a bit easier too.
Then there was the sinks and baths. As seems to happen with time, the sealant between these and the walls had hardened, formed gaps, gone a bit mouldy, and so on. So it was out with the tools and remove the old stuff and insert new. This is never a favourite job of mine as I never seem to get a nice looking finish. But I’ve been watching all those DIY programs that litter the digital TV channels and thought it was time to put what I’ve learnt into practice. Mainly thanks to the Canadian Holmes on Homes series, it came out looking pretty smart. Smart enough for the whole family to comment on the finished article, so we’re all happy on that one.
What with that and a whole load of household chores the weekend was pretty full. Add in a night out for drinks and a meal (see Happy Birthday Fred) on Saturday. Some shopping for dog food for Sheba (Mum’s dog), sorting out the Sky subscription for Mum & Dad (took over a hour on the phone) and another trip down there when the TV remote packed up (the batteries had died). All in all, busy.
But the worst bit of the weekend was the sunshine! Dry, bright and mild all day! Why, oh why, can’t the forecasters get their forecasts right?
Why can’t they get the weather forecast right?
All last week the projections for the weekend’s weather was for rain, rain and yet more rain. The only thing that the various meteorological services couldn’t agree on was how hard it would rain and the speed of the winds. So what did we get?
Saturday was fine, dry, mild, with gentle breezes. Sunday it rained all day, hard and blowy at times.
How can they get it so wrong? Don’t they realise that people actually plan what they are intending to do around the weather forecasts? Thinking we were going to be stuck in doors for the weekend we planned loads of indoor stuff, leaving the outdoor activities for better weather…. Grrrr! It’s so maddening!
The BBC national news ran an article on the flooding and the #1 complaint by those affected was the unreliable nature of the weather forecasts. Told to expect rain, they don’t get it. Told to expect dry conditions and it rains! Personally, I think that the government should bring in legislation for performance related pay for weather forecasters. Get it wrong and they don’t get paid!
Saturday was fine, dry, mild, with gentle breezes. Sunday it rained all day, hard and blowy at times.
How can they get it so wrong? Don’t they realise that people actually plan what they are intending to do around the weather forecasts? Thinking we were going to be stuck in doors for the weekend we planned loads of indoor stuff, leaving the outdoor activities for better weather…. Grrrr! It’s so maddening!
The BBC national news ran an article on the flooding and the #1 complaint by those affected was the unreliable nature of the weather forecasts. Told to expect rain, they don’t get it. Told to expect dry conditions and it rains! Personally, I think that the government should bring in legislation for performance related pay for weather forecasters. Get it wrong and they don’t get paid!
Friday, 18 January 2008
Google it…
If you Google the phrase From Tea to Whiskey you get 3 hits! Two of those 3 hits are for this blog.
Worldwide - That’s a pretty exclusive club! Welcome to my club!
Worldwide - That’s a pretty exclusive club! Welcome to my club!
Home alone
It’s been a quietly busy week this week. Mark had another exam at Uni – his second (and last) since Christmas. As far as he’s aware both have gone well and he’s not concerned in any way. In his words they went “fine” so last night on my way home after work I dipped by and picked him and his mate Sonny up and took them back to Derby. Mark’s girlfriend hasn’t had much luck this week – she also had exams but what with traffic and a noisy neighbour keeping her awake at night, then no hot water or heating in her digs, well let’s just say things could have been better.
I’ve not got any chargeable work on at the moment so my firm has got me doing some internal project work at the moment. It has to be done, it’s long overdue, and somebody has to do it, but, the moment I get some chargeable work then the project will get shelved and forgotten. So where’s the motivation to do a proper job of it? On the car front - I've done absolutely nothing. The Merc is running well so I'll take my time to find a replacement. I started the bike up as it had not been run for 5 weeks. It took a bit of cranking but fired up OK in the end. At least the battery was fine, which is the usual concern over winter.
Sue is having a rough time at work at the moment. I can’t post details here right now so it will have to wait until the whole episode is finished – that’ll be at least 12 weeks from now. Her car passed it's first ever MOT at the weekend (it's now 3 years old) and looks as good as the day she drove it out of the showroom. It's almost done 13,000 miles so no need to replace it just yet. Socially she’s a right busy lass, out every night for the past week except Monday and Thursday. She’ll be out tonight and we are out again tomorrow night. Lots of birthdays this month and then again in March which means loads of parties.
Andy has been kept busy at work, but thankfully, most of it has been interesting or challenging stuff – which is what he trained for. He hates the routine servicing jobs but luckily, with so few BMW trained technicians now working at Stratstone (Derby) most of those jobs go to the less qualified technicians. This week saw him and his girlfriend celebrate 2 years going out together and it still looks strong.
Both sets of parents have been quiet since the turn of the year. Dad is spending more time sitting and less time reclined, which is a good indication of his strength. However, he is house bound and that won’t change. Now that mother and the carers have mastered using the fixed overhead hoists things appear to have improved (got easier) and Mum’s spirits have been good on all the visits so far this year.
I'm looking forward to being home alone tonight - a curry & a can or two.... the phrase nothing to do doesn't often feature in my out-of-work time so tonight I'm hoping! So make my day - don't ring me tonight!
I’ve not got any chargeable work on at the moment so my firm has got me doing some internal project work at the moment. It has to be done, it’s long overdue, and somebody has to do it, but, the moment I get some chargeable work then the project will get shelved and forgotten. So where’s the motivation to do a proper job of it? On the car front - I've done absolutely nothing. The Merc is running well so I'll take my time to find a replacement. I started the bike up as it had not been run for 5 weeks. It took a bit of cranking but fired up OK in the end. At least the battery was fine, which is the usual concern over winter.
Sue is having a rough time at work at the moment. I can’t post details here right now so it will have to wait until the whole episode is finished – that’ll be at least 12 weeks from now. Her car passed it's first ever MOT at the weekend (it's now 3 years old) and looks as good as the day she drove it out of the showroom. It's almost done 13,000 miles so no need to replace it just yet. Socially she’s a right busy lass, out every night for the past week except Monday and Thursday. She’ll be out tonight and we are out again tomorrow night. Lots of birthdays this month and then again in March which means loads of parties.
Andy has been kept busy at work, but thankfully, most of it has been interesting or challenging stuff – which is what he trained for. He hates the routine servicing jobs but luckily, with so few BMW trained technicians now working at Stratstone (Derby) most of those jobs go to the less qualified technicians. This week saw him and his girlfriend celebrate 2 years going out together and it still looks strong.
Both sets of parents have been quiet since the turn of the year. Dad is spending more time sitting and less time reclined, which is a good indication of his strength. However, he is house bound and that won’t change. Now that mother and the carers have mastered using the fixed overhead hoists things appear to have improved (got easier) and Mum’s spirits have been good on all the visits so far this year.
I'm looking forward to being home alone tonight - a curry & a can or two.... the phrase nothing to do doesn't often feature in my out-of-work time so tonight I'm hoping! So make my day - don't ring me tonight!
Monday, 14 January 2008
A minor mishap
Now I’m not the best plumber in the world, so knowing my limitations I try and keep to the small, simple jobs in the belief that I can’t cock those up. Wrong!
Over the Christmas – New Year break I had to unblock the waste pipe to the sink in our en-suite – simple enough, surely? Except that I somehow managed to fail to reconnect the pipe correctly and left a hidden joint only partially connected. This was discovered after spotting a stain forming on the lounge ceiling on Saturday (12th January) a fortnight later
So Saturday evening I re-did the job, leaving just one join (part of the U bend) untouched as it looked OK. Sunday morning I checked for leaks only to find that the one connection I’d not had apart and redone was leaking (the rest were fine). Lesson learned, now I just have to get the decorator back in to do the lounge ceiling.
Over the Christmas – New Year break I had to unblock the waste pipe to the sink in our en-suite – simple enough, surely? Except that I somehow managed to fail to reconnect the pipe correctly and left a hidden joint only partially connected. This was discovered after spotting a stain forming on the lounge ceiling on Saturday (12th January) a fortnight later
So Saturday evening I re-did the job, leaving just one join (part of the U bend) untouched as it looked OK. Sunday morning I checked for leaks only to find that the one connection I’d not had apart and redone was leaking (the rest were fine). Lesson learned, now I just have to get the decorator back in to do the lounge ceiling.
Thursday, 10 January 2008
DIY
Something I missed from the Christmas - New Year posts was my bit of DIY. I used to do quite a bit but I don't do so much these days, mainly because I don't have the time and also because it's often more convenient to "get a little man in".
Anyway, in cleaning up the house for the Christmas visitors I noticed that the bathroom used by the boys (at the top of the stairs) was a bit tatty and the wallpaper was starting to peel off, so I told Sue that if she got most of it off I'd finish the removal, do the prep work and paint it any colour paint that she got so long as it was blue and went with the existing tile scheme.
In short, one day stripping and preping, one day laying on several coats of paint. All the fixtures and fittings were carefully removed, cleaned up and refitted. All that remains is to find a new roller blind and put that up and the jobs done. Believe me, when I say that's a quick turn around, then for me it is.
Anyway, in cleaning up the house for the Christmas visitors I noticed that the bathroom used by the boys (at the top of the stairs) was a bit tatty and the wallpaper was starting to peel off, so I told Sue that if she got most of it off I'd finish the removal, do the prep work and paint it any colour paint that she got so long as it was blue and went with the existing tile scheme.
In short, one day stripping and preping, one day laying on several coats of paint. All the fixtures and fittings were carefully removed, cleaned up and refitted. All that remains is to find a new roller blind and put that up and the jobs done. Believe me, when I say that's a quick turn around, then for me it is.
The Boiler is mended
Monday 7th January - around 16:15 the engineer from British Gas returned with a new pump for the central heating system. Just over an hour later the pump was in place and the system fully functional again. Oh! It's so nice to be warm again.
Since it was fitted we've had a cold snap with some snow, which fell around 22:00 Tuesday night but was all melted away and gone by 7:00 Wednesday morning. Night time temperatures have been low, dropping below freezing, but daytime it's been around 8 degrees C which is not bad for this time of year.
Since it was fitted we've had a cold snap with some snow, which fell around 22:00 Tuesday night but was all melted away and gone by 7:00 Wednesday morning. Night time temperatures have been low, dropping below freezing, but daytime it's been around 8 degrees C which is not bad for this time of year.
The saga of the headlamp - My 1st Rant
Monday 7th January - during evening dinner Andy says that he has time to look at the headlight to see if it can be adjusted so that even when it's pointing down, it would be correctly aligned. So after the table has been cleared I get the toolbox out and we pop the bonnet (the hood, for my American based readers) and check out the adjusters. They require a 13mm socket to adjust and it takes just a few seconds to raise the level of the beam, and we close the bonnet. Then we have to move the car so than Andy can go out to see his girlfriend, and, damn it, the headlight works just fine, but, because we adjusted it we now have to adjust it back.
What really pisses me off is that the garage, Mercedes main franchised dealer claimed that they had tried to adjust the beam and said that it couldn't be done. They didn't even try! Had they tried then they would have solved the problem when they had the car in the workshop and I'd happily paid the bill. But, when you think that they are charging £100 per hour for this "service" and that they wanted me to part with £1187 to supply and fit a new headlamp! They quoted £852 + VAT (in the USA that's called tax) for the headlight unit and the rest was the fitting charge and the VAT on the labour.
To make matters even worse (in my eyes) a local car parts supplier said they could supply the light unit for £183 + VAT, so I guess that the rest ( some £669 ) is to pay for Mercedes Benz Formula 1 racing. Either way I am not happy with the costs associated with running a Mercedes and I will be changing the car at the earliest opportunity for something less costly - probably a Vauxhall Astra as I've had loads of them in the past and they are so easy to live with.
I wouldn't usually name a firm on a public site, but, in this case I am making an exception because others need to know that they are very likely to get ripped off by these people. So the name in shame is Inchcape, Mercedes Benz franchised dealer on Pride Park in Derby, England, UK. Inchcape are very big in the region, controlling a number of major franchises including Toyota, Lexus & Land Rover. So that's some other car manufacturer who won't be getting my custom.
What really pisses me off is that the garage, Mercedes main franchised dealer claimed that they had tried to adjust the beam and said that it couldn't be done. They didn't even try! Had they tried then they would have solved the problem when they had the car in the workshop and I'd happily paid the bill. But, when you think that they are charging £100 per hour for this "service" and that they wanted me to part with £1187 to supply and fit a new headlamp! They quoted £852 + VAT (in the USA that's called tax) for the headlight unit and the rest was the fitting charge and the VAT on the labour.
To make matters even worse (in my eyes) a local car parts supplier said they could supply the light unit for £183 + VAT, so I guess that the rest ( some £669 ) is to pay for Mercedes Benz Formula 1 racing. Either way I am not happy with the costs associated with running a Mercedes and I will be changing the car at the earliest opportunity for something less costly - probably a Vauxhall Astra as I've had loads of them in the past and they are so easy to live with.
I wouldn't usually name a firm on a public site, but, in this case I am making an exception because others need to know that they are very likely to get ripped off by these people. So the name in shame is Inchcape, Mercedes Benz franchised dealer on Pride Park in Derby, England, UK. Inchcape are very big in the region, controlling a number of major franchises including Toyota, Lexus & Land Rover. So that's some other car manufacturer who won't be getting my custom.
The 1st weekend of 2008
After the British Gas Heating Engineer called on Friday I took the opportunity to tidy up the garage, dump a load of stuff and recycle some clothes that were laying about. So Saturday saw me accompanying Sue on the usual weekly shopping trip to ASDA. Andy had to work the morning. Mark was still recovering from a night of clubbing with his girlfriend.
Everything was going well until I had some problems with the computer and then spent 6 hours uninstalling, re-installing, defragging, virus checking, etc… in order to get the system back up and working as it should. Thinking I succeeded I finished at 23:10, only to have to spend another couple of hours at it on Sunday morning. Alls well in the end, but, there was a mid-process panic when I though I’d lost all our emails and email address book. Phew!
Sunday, my cousin Susan drove Alan, Pauline and Katy up from East Anglia to see Mum & Dad. It’s a long drive, about 3 hours each way, for what turned out to be a 3 hour visit, especially when Dad keeps falling asleep in his chair. Katy looks well and Alan looked better than last time I saw him about 6-8 months ago. Turns out that Susan has a step-daughter who, like Mark, is studying at university (in East London). We had to cut our visit to see them all at Mum & Dad’s short as we had to get Mark back into his university digs as he has his first exam today, Monday 7th. Let’s hope he does well so as to boost his confidence.
Everything was going well until I had some problems with the computer and then spent 6 hours uninstalling, re-installing, defragging, virus checking, etc… in order to get the system back up and working as it should. Thinking I succeeded I finished at 23:10, only to have to spend another couple of hours at it on Sunday morning. Alls well in the end, but, there was a mid-process panic when I though I’d lost all our emails and email address book. Phew!
Sunday, my cousin Susan drove Alan, Pauline and Katy up from East Anglia to see Mum & Dad. It’s a long drive, about 3 hours each way, for what turned out to be a 3 hour visit, especially when Dad keeps falling asleep in his chair. Katy looks well and Alan looked better than last time I saw him about 6-8 months ago. Turns out that Susan has a step-daughter who, like Mark, is studying at university (in East London). We had to cut our visit to see them all at Mum & Dad’s short as we had to get Mark back into his university digs as he has his first exam today, Monday 7th. Let’s hope he does well so as to boost his confidence.
Monday, 7 January 2008
And the Boilerman called
Friday 4th Jan – I worked from home today so that someone would be in when the Heating Engineer called from British Gas. Mid-morning I got a phone call, it was the Engineer saying that he was just setting out from his previous job and would be with me in about 20 minutes, and he was. I’d moved all the junk from the back of the garage so that he could get to it. He enters all the relevant details into his laptop, connects it to the boiler, hits a couple of keys and then asks me “where’s the pump?” Two minutes later he announces that the system is now working again, that it needs a new pump and that he can return on Monday to fit it all included in the price I’ve pre-paid.
So, at the moment I’m well impressed. Sue has taken Monday afternoon as flexi-time off from work to be there for when he returns. We’ll see how he performs when he returns.
So, at the moment I’m well impressed. Sue has taken Monday afternoon as flexi-time off from work to be there for when he returns. We’ll see how he performs when he returns.
Thursday, 3 January 2008
2008 – A New Year
According to a survey of Christmas shoppers, 70% of respondents stated that they would be seeing in the New Year at home. This was part of a bigger survey of economic conditions related to interest rates, housing prices and the cost of living and was included as an indication of people’s confidence. Well we weren’t included in the survey, but, saw the New Year in at the May Sum Chinese restaurant with everyone that wanted to coming back to our place to conclude the celebrations. Needless to say everybody was more than a bit merry when we finished some time around 2am.
Having drawn the short straw I had to be up at 8:30 New Years Day and was therefore the first person to realise that the central heating boiler had packed in sometime between 2am and 8:30am. That’s a nice start to the year. Booked and prepaid for a British Gas boiler repair person to call, but due to heavy demand caused by recent advertising on the TV we have to wait until Friday morning. In the meantime we heat water by electric immersion system and the rest of the house by the single gas fire in the lounge so needless to say, it’s a bit cool right now. Snow is forecast for later today so roll on the visit by the repairer tomorrow.
On a brighter note, holidays! Last week in March sees Sue & I celebrating our 24th wedding anniversary and we are planning to go away to Scotland for a few days. Then for early July we have booked a week in Porto del Carmen, Lanzarote (Canary Islands) to celebrate Andy’s 21st birthday so that will see us four and both boys’ girlfriends sunning and otherwise enjoying and entertaining ourselves. As a result of that trip I’m going to miss out on the DmD trip to Luxemburg on the motorbike, but, hopefully I can compensate for that disappointment with a trip to the Millau Viaduct in southern France sometime in September – funds permitting.
To close – last night I popped in on Mum & Dad. Mum was in good spirits and Dad was as comfortable as can be expected. Mum says that since the weekend she and the carers have had to cease using the mobile hoist and use the overhead hoists that are mounted in the bedroom and lounge to move Dad as his legs have finally given up. This is a significant development and explains why Dad appears to be less defiant and less resilient / stubborn than usual. The news from them is that my cousin Susan is bring Alan, Pauline & Katy to see Mum & Dad this coming Sunday. I hate to say it but it’s as if they are preparing for his departure. If it works out that way then it will be a blessed relief for both of them and perhaps Mum will then be free to have a life for herself – by God she deserves it, she’s earned it!
Having drawn the short straw I had to be up at 8:30 New Years Day and was therefore the first person to realise that the central heating boiler had packed in sometime between 2am and 8:30am. That’s a nice start to the year. Booked and prepaid for a British Gas boiler repair person to call, but due to heavy demand caused by recent advertising on the TV we have to wait until Friday morning. In the meantime we heat water by electric immersion system and the rest of the house by the single gas fire in the lounge so needless to say, it’s a bit cool right now. Snow is forecast for later today so roll on the visit by the repairer tomorrow.
On a brighter note, holidays! Last week in March sees Sue & I celebrating our 24th wedding anniversary and we are planning to go away to Scotland for a few days. Then for early July we have booked a week in Porto del Carmen, Lanzarote (Canary Islands) to celebrate Andy’s 21st birthday so that will see us four and both boys’ girlfriends sunning and otherwise enjoying and entertaining ourselves. As a result of that trip I’m going to miss out on the DmD trip to Luxemburg on the motorbike, but, hopefully I can compensate for that disappointment with a trip to the Millau Viaduct in southern France sometime in September – funds permitting.
To close – last night I popped in on Mum & Dad. Mum was in good spirits and Dad was as comfortable as can be expected. Mum says that since the weekend she and the carers have had to cease using the mobile hoist and use the overhead hoists that are mounted in the bedroom and lounge to move Dad as his legs have finally given up. This is a significant development and explains why Dad appears to be less defiant and less resilient / stubborn than usual. The news from them is that my cousin Susan is bring Alan, Pauline & Katy to see Mum & Dad this coming Sunday. I hate to say it but it’s as if they are preparing for his departure. If it works out that way then it will be a blessed relief for both of them and perhaps Mum will then be free to have a life for herself – by God she deserves it, she’s earned it!
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