Oh isn’t customer service in the UK great? They can’t fix my car for a week and they won’t collect because it’s not their policy any more. How am I supposed to get it to them when every time I start the engine smoke comes from the bonnet?
2007: Anything You Can Do
2002: Running Shoes
2002: Oh Canada
And I went running again today. I am fairly pleased that I did the training run as it says on my training sheet (it’s a 20 minute routine with 1 minute running followed by 1 minute walking). Still hurts and I think my cheap trainers have resulted in some busing to the foot. So, if I am to continue with this folly then I shall have to invest in some proper running shoes. I think it will be money well spent but I have no idea what I should be looking for in a running shoe. It is years and years since I did anything like this. Given that exercise is not my thing I do not think that I should be enjoying it as much as I do!
2007: Anything You Can Do
2002: Fix My Car
2002: Oh Canada
I feel it was an interesting weekend. Some of it I don’t want to repeat but mostly good fun and the kind of things that should be done at weekends if you slave all week in an office. It started yesterday afternoon when my brother arrived and we spent two hours in a car driving round south London roads to get across the river and on to the M11 motorway. It’s not the easiest thing from South West London and should really start another rant about the state of London’s roads but I am too tired for that! (it’s also good to see somebody else wondered what the strange tower was)
Arriving in Takeley for a family christening and all is well. It is nice to see some of the members of the family who I do not see too often. We had planned to leave around 8pm and head back for SW17 but we were having a good time and partied until 11pm. It’s hard partying drinking only water but I still had a good time.
So, off we set. 10 minutes on the M11 and the radiator overheats, I lose all power on the car and just about manage to get it onto the hard shoulder before it grinds to a halt in the middle of the carriageway. Then, 50 minutes later a bloke from the RAC arrives and, without really looking at the engine because he can tell it would do no use, loads the car onto the back of the truck and me & my brother into the cab for the ride south. Then we hit the Blackwall Tunnel. At 1am (Sunday) we are caught in a traffic queue for an hour as traffic try to negotiate one lane in the tunnel (cue for another rant about London traffic). Eventually, the car is unloaded outside my house at 2.45am (with apologies to all my neighbour who would have been woken up by the noise).
I had a moment of brain failure last night. At some point I was asked if I wanted to run 10K for fun at the end of September. Why did I say “I’ll think about it overnight”? I find myself this morning having paid £10 to enter the Nike Run London event. What have I done? I haven’t run anywhere for 10 years. I even have a policy of not running for a train because another one will come along eventually.
I wish I’d been at the Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday. The year I went, the atmosphere at Silverstone was fantastic (it’s all smell and noise) and, if Bernie Ecclestone gets his way we might not have too many more of them ;-( Thank goodness for Jackie Stewart’s sensible comments. I’m going to try and get there next year, assuming any of the teams are still around. Even worse, I have to do it before 2050 because, according to The Observer, that’s when the world will expire.
| Disorder | Rating |
| Paranoid: | Low |
| Schizoid: | Low |
| Schizotypal: | Moderate |
| Antisocial: | Low |
| Borderline: | Low |
| Histrionic: | Low |
| Narcissistic: | Moderate |
| Avoidant: | High |
| Dependent: | High |
| Obsessive-Compulsive: | Moderate |
| — Click Here To Take The Test — | |
2002: Man of the Moment FAQ
2002: What is Man of the Moment?
My grandad was born on 1 July so it would have been his birthday yesterday. He died several years ago and I have to say that I miss him. I lit a candle at St Paul’s Cathedral on Sunday. I just had the urge. I wonder why I did that? I am not the most spiritual person in the world nor am I the greatest believer. St Paul’s was so peaceful and relaxing I think I will go again. And it’s really beautiful inside – which is something I had never noticed before.
No other posts on this day.
Blog the weekend. Well, what a weekend it was – nothing exciting or deep to say but a few things that surprised me.
Surprise One: saw Hugh Grant in About A Boy on Friday night and it was great. It was touching without being too sappy and Hugh himself wasnÂ’’t the wet blanket he often plays. And I only went because the tickets were free. How sad is that?
Saturday was a fantastic trip to melt some credit card plastic at Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth. Spend, spend, spend – why do I continue to spend while I am running out of money? Still, the weather was nice and it was a day out.
Now Gunwharf Quays has a Gap Outlet store. And the survey tells me I am a gap man:
What kind of clothes should I be wearing? by Evelyn / Survey no longer available
But why is the content of Gap Outlets always very poor indeed? I am always disappointed.
Then, Sunday morning, saw a preview of Scooby Doo. Now, some people donÂ’’t like it. I thought it was great. A harmless, mildly-amusing, childish kids flick. And for that, it was good.
So, I try and buy a new power supply from a computer supplier (let’s say they are called Tell Computers).
Buy online and pay by credit card. They will only ship to credit card billing address. No problem I say, somebody will be there to pick it up and sign for it. Takes so long to arrive that nobody is there anymore. So, I think, I’ll have the courier redeliver to work. They can’t change delivery address without Tell’s permission. OK, I say, somebody will be in on Thursday, please deliver it then. They try and deliver Friday.
No problem, thinks I. I will have them deliver one evening. “We don’t do evening deliveries,” they say. So I say, “I’m in Saturday”. We don’t work weekends”. Huum.
“What about if I collect from your depot?”
“It a delivery centre with no collection point. Try calling Tell to have the address changed.”
“Hello Tell. Here’s my problem”
“Sorry, I’m in billing. Here’s customer service.”
“Hello Customer Service. Here’s my problem.”
“We can change the address. Oh, you bought online. You’ll need to speak to our Internet team”.
“Hello Internet Team. I have a problem and I’ve spoken to many people. I am assured you can help me.”
“No. We can’t change the address because you paid by credit card.”
“But here’s the problem. I am not at home during the day anymore. You don’t deliver evenings, weekend and you don’t have a collection point.”
“Can’t help you. Sorry.”
So I say, “I will have to send it back and have a refund”.
“Certainly Sir, no problem.”
“So, you would rather give me my money back than work with me to arrange delivery. Isn’t that rather short-sighted. Why would I ever shop with you again?”
“Sorry, that’s our policy. Somebody will call within the hour to confirm the refund”.
That was Thursday morning. Nobody has called.
Agggggggggghhhhh
2005: links for 2005-06-22
2005: You Make Me Sweat
2004: Online Customer Service Ratings
I don’Â’t know what to think. I am so tired. I had a business meeting in Paris Monday. Travelled Eurostar. ItÂ’s usually fabulous. Up at 04.30 to make the 06.20 train was OK but the 18:16 return train was delayed by four (count them, 4) hours (sat on the train for 2 of them) and so I wasn’tÂ’ actually back at my house until nearly 1am.
21+ hour day – now thatÂ’s what I call working. And I probably didn’tÂ’ achieve very much 🙂
Paris was baking. I have never been so hot while in meetings – which I think added to the sense of exhaustion by the time my head hit my pillow.
Have you ever thought how the internet is feeling (apparently, it has emotions). Right now, it’s looking (honest).
2005: Nightlfe
2005: Summertime In London
2004: A Little Update
2003: Formula One 2003 Race Calendar
2003: London’s Secret Railway
2002: Rod Stewart plays Glastonbury