Full Metal Wheelbarrow

So a chap on Facebook[1] posted the Winston Churchill quote about having enemies meaning you've stood up for something. He says that he has - including his belief in Jesus and the right to bear arms. He apparently sees no conflict between these two things.

One more reason to be glad I don't live in America....



[1] Not a friend of mine - I think one of my FB friends commented....

Plaintive letter from TalkTalk this morning, asking why Rob's cancelled his Direct Debit.

That would be because the account has now been transferred to me, as per the letter we got from you yesterday, you bunch of numpties!

I seriously wonder how these people get anything done at all, since none of them seems to know what any of the others are doing....

Perhaps they could try TalkTalking to one another.

Just spent 15 minutes on the phone to TalkTalk.

We've just sent in a form to transfer ownership of out TalkTalk account from Rob to me (they don't do joint accounts and I'm the one who's mostly available to deal with them when needed).

So this morning I got an email from them saying I was nearly sorted and to click this link to finish setting up the account. So I did and it asked for our phone number and account number, which I input (account number from last bill). Website says " does not agree with our records".

So I call them and yes, you guessed it, because we changed ownership they changed the account number. Which the nice lady on the phone can't tell me for security reasons (fair enough).

They'll be sending me a Welcome Pack she says, which will have the new account number in it.

Which leaves me asking :-

a) Why, in the name of small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri, do they need to change the account number in the first place?

and

b) If they really must do such an idiotic thing, why do they send out an email telling me to sign up, before I can have received the new account number by post?

Grrr. Arrgh.

In Sainsburys yesterday I was passing through the flour aisle and an assistant was showing another customer, a woman, perhaps in her late 20s/early 30s, where the batter mix was.

They seemed not to have the one she wanted, and the assistant suggested she could always make the batter from scratch with plain flour.

"Oh, " said she, "I don't know how to do that!".

Now, there's no shame in not knowing something, IMO, and I don't fault her for that, but the tone of her voice suggested that not only did she not know, she didn't know how to find out and didn't really want to anyway.... I find this really hard to understand, because it's really not much harder to make batter from scratch than from a mix - unless you have a disability that makes it so of course, and she may have done - I don't know her so I can't be sure she doesn't. I got the impression it was just wilful ignorance though.

Waited in all day for a DHL delivery yesterday. The website indicated it was at the depot but not that it was out for delivery at the point when I left to go and collect Rob from work.

When we got back - yes, you guessed it, DHL card through the door.

Rob checked the website and it marked the parcel as going out of the depot at 15.41 and delivery attempt at 15.49. Not exactly a lot of notice, even if I’d been peering at the website at the time.

To add to the fun, the time written on the card was 15.38, so apparently the driver broke the light barrier and arrived here three minutes before leaving the depot. Neat trick.

And then they sent me a notification that they were on their way….an hour after the delivery attempt.

I am Not Impressed.

It might actually be quicker to go and collect it from the depot, which is at the airport a few miles away, except that if I do that, I need 2 pieces of ID for Rob, 2 more for me *and* a letter from Rob giving me authority to collect his parcel. Which I suppose is a good thing from a security standpoint, but still a pain in the bum to organise.

Emailed a complaint to B&Q this morning .

I'd been into the store and made a purchase and was sitting in the car park in my van reading for a while so that it would be light when I drove home, and this chap came up to me and asked me to move because I was in the space he'd paid to put his snack wagon in.

Now, he was perfectly polite about it, but it's a bit alarming to be approached by a strange bloke in a dark car park, so I suggested to B&Q that if the space is reserved they should mark it as such to avoid inconvenience to all concerned. Not sure how I was supposed to know not to park there when it was identical to scores of other spaces around it, after all....

New business bank account now up and running, funds transferred thereunto from the old account and letter despatched to the smegheads in charge of said old account asking them to please close it. I didn’t bother telling them why as I don’t imagine they care - we’ve heard from at least one other person who’s had similar issues, so we wonder if they’re deliberately weeding out unwanted customers.

The new Oki printer is having a major sulkfest and insisting that two of the cartridges aren’t inserted properly. I contacted support, who kindly sent two replacement cartridges, but despite taking great care in inserting them, still getting the same error messages as before.

Next step to talk to the warranty people on Monday.

Meanwhile I have bought an Emergency Holographic Cheapo Printer. It’s not the best print quality but most important thing - it does actually work. I was astonished to find it, as it’s a printer/scanner, made by HP and cost me £30 including shipping.

And when I plugged it into my iMac, the pooter said “You’ll be wanting some software for that then. Shall I nip off and download it?”. So I said “Yes, please do.” and it did. And it Just Bloody Worked. Result.

So, our business account.

It's in Rob's name, as he's the sole trader, but I deal with the daily minutiae and sign the cheques.

Today I called them with a query, and they told me my name's not on the account and they can't tell me anything.

Well if my name's not on the account it's because they've bloody taken it off - I've had a password for bloody years that lets me access the information by phone.

Buggrem sideways wivva cactus. Grump.

I have logged in online and sent them a message to express my displeasedness. Bah. Bah, I say!

(Yes, I know, security is important, but I had a security password so they'd know I was authorised - if they wanted to change that, they could have had the sense to contact me about it instead of randomly removing my name from the damned account.)

 One of the estate agents in the village has just stuck a handwritten letter through our door, saying that a person I've never heard of has asked them to arrange access to number 18 [our street] for a "mandatory valuation".

Dear people in the next street,

I realise that the gas people have been doing extensive burrowing in many of the places where you usually park.

That does not make it OK for you to park in the entrance to our courtyard and turn it into a chicane for the people who actually *live* here.

Revolutionary idea - you could try parking on the drives that many of you have but don't appear to use....