Year: 2006

Can't stop

Glad you all liked that joke, Louise was most pleased as she told it to me in the first place. My Mum is likely to be disappointed as it’s not a dirty joke (my mother’s specialty) but as she’s up to her ears in an IKEA delivery fiasco at the moment, she’s not had time to visit and correct my grammar.

Me?

I’ve been fighting an FTP server, completing a survey about blogging, running in torrential rain (ace!), getting quotes for a new front door as we are sick and tired of having to mop up the leaks, and possibly, maybe, buying a 40″ LCD TV (can get about £200 off it).

AND searching for a DVD Recorder that doubles up as a home cinema (surround sound wotsit) system, to try and reduce the number of boxes and cables that will sit under the new TV.

AND fighting with a loan company to get them to give me back the payment they shouldn’t have taken, causing me to go into overdraft, WHICH reminds me to look into how to reclaim unfair bank charges which in turn will have to wait until I get an outcome from my recent complaint. Depending how that turns out I might try this anyway, so even if they tell me to bugger off I can just change accounts (like wot I’m gonna do anyhoo!).

AND some other stuff for that other thing I’ve not mentioned yet.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got stuff to put in the loft and kitchen blinds to hang (this evening), and that’s before we start the ominous “Christmas List”. Thankfully Louise has a few pressies bought already, and the voucher scheme she was in didn’t go tits up! Next year we’ll just put it in a 30 day notice savings account.

Ohh and finally (yes, I’ve updated this post as more things have happened today!) has anyone used LOVEFiLM? I’ve signed up for the trial period (in the hope of winning, um, a 40″ LCD TV…) and depending on how it goes I might stick with it for a month or so? I have until the 21st to cancel my account with them…

November 16, 2006

Baaaa

The farmer looks out of the kitchen window at the pouring rain, lashing across his land on a ferocious gale.

He turns to his trusty sheepdog, sighs, and says “Ohh my, I really don’t want to go out in that, but I really need to go and count that newly arrived flock of sheep”.

His sheepdog, eager to please his master, says “That’s OK, I’ll do it, I don’t mind!”, wags his tail enthusiastically and darts out the door.

The farmer watches his faithful companion as he runs frantically around the field, turning towards the door as his, now rather soggy, sheepdog bounds back into the kitchen.

“There are 40 sheep in the field!”, barks the sheepdog, shaking himself and spraying water all over the good lino.

“That’s odd, I’m sure I only ordered 38”, puzzles the farmer.
(more…)

November 14, 2006

Bankers

Remember that complaint letter I wrote to the bank? Well they had until we got back from holiday to respond, and.. um.. OK OK I kinda forgot about it a wee bit. However, I did remember on the way home from work last night and would have been on the phone as soon as I was in the door except that, lo and behold, a letter from the bank was sitting on the doormat waiting for me.

Certain that they were writing to beg me to keep my account with them, and that the manager would be presented on my doorstep to shine my shoes for the next month, I ripped open the envelope with no small amount of gusto, and yanked the letter from within.

Ohh.

Dear Mr. McLean,

it said. I paused, then remembered they meant me, not my Dad (every time!). I read on.

Thank you for your recent letter,

it said. Well you are quite welcome, thought I, before remembering that I was supposed to be being STERN, after all I had COMPLAINED. How very continental of me, don’t you think?

Sternly, I glare at the letter. I read on.

I was sorry to learn that you are unhappy with the service you have received.

Well that’s nic.. ohh no, no no no, you won’t get me like that, you can charm me, your false claims of sympathy hold no truck here!

I take a deep breath, and steel myself against their attempts to toy with my emotions, I read on.

We are keen to deal with your concerns and are looking into your compliant.

You are? Ohh how nic.. now wait a minute. Enough of this pandering and niceness, it just won’t do! I’m being STERN, remember, STERN. In capitalus! I read on.

You will receive our full response shortly.

Yours sincerely,

[Lady from the bank]

What? I read on. There is nothing left to read. The letter is finished.

Three weeks. Three bloody weeks and they are still “looking into it”? I made it quite clear, crystal like a mountain spring pool, that a specific member of staff failed me, the customer, and I outlined the steps I expected the bank to take. And I get THIS!!!

STERN boils over into RAGE and ANGER, I yank the phone from it’s cradle ready to project some WRATH along the wire to some poor unsuspecting call centre drone.

Alas I yank a little too hard and manage to pull both cable and socket from the wall. A new phone will need to be purchased.

It may be the first thing bought from my new bank account.

November 14, 2006

The Art of Leaving Comments

As bloggers (most of us) we know, or should know, that comments are generally seen as a method of conversing. So when I post something on this blog, anyone who wants to chip in with some advice, a story, or a continuation of the theme is free to do so (within the commenting guidelines of course). All good, right? And yes, I’m over-simplifying, but that’s the crux of the matter, no?

Personally, I generally try to only comment if I have something to say, a specific viewpoint on the topic, or have something constructive, helpful and within the spirit of the post to add. But sometimes, and this is more often than not, I find myself just wanting to say “Well said”.

Now, that’s not really adding to the ‘conversation’, is it? It’s not moving things along, so by my own self-imposed (if vague) rules I shouldn’t really add the comment. But that, in turn, goes directly against on aspect of blogging that I’m fond of quoting, it’s the whole “just getting it out there” thing the act of which is beneficial to a lot of people. Sometimes you just want to say something, and you aren’t that bothered if no-one comments, the mere act of writing the post, and publishing it for the world to see, is cathartic enough, comments are a bonus.

Admittedly, in those instances, you could just turn comments off but that’s far more hassle than it’s worth.

Once you have had a blog for a while, you’ll find you build different relationships with different readers. Obviously the people who comment are the first to get a reaction, most of the time. After that you may get a few emails from the occasional person now and again, and finally, and in my experience this is the least popular form of interaction, you even start to chat with them via instant message, at which point they are no longer “them” or even “a reader” but you have establishment a new acquaintance, a new buddy, a new contact.

It becomes obvious, then, that the value of a comment lies largely in the relationship between the writer and the reader but, whilst regular comments are always welcomed, don’t we all get a little tiny thrill-shiver when someone new comments on your blog?

Anyway, back to the matter in hand. If all you are adding to a comment thread is a simple “here, here!” or “well said!” (“you go girl!”, whatever…) then does it really warrant a comment? Wouldn’t another mechanism be useful? A checkbox or a separate “I agree” link which counts those who liked your post, but don’t really have much to add to it? Not only would it allow people a quick and easy way to register their preference about the post (hmmm would you need a “boo, rubbish, get off” link as well?) but it would give the writer one thing that is can be easily missed, if people don’t comment, how do you know if people are actually reading what you write?

Of course, none of us do this for the fame or the money, few of us will make it into print, let alone end up with a book deal (but I will suggest that those that have, have deserved it), but wouldn’t it be good to get just a little more feedback… validation… whatever.

Would YOU vote for this post?

November 13, 2006

The wind blows

Blimey, what a night. The lamppost outside is rattling back and forth, leaves are whipping round the garden and all manner of weird banging, clanging noises are making me wonder what state things will be in come morning.

Visited friends last night, and managed not to drink TOO much (I managed to win a couple of games of pool later on so can’t have been that bad) as I was out for a run this morning. Even then it was still a struggle, I’m just not a morning person I guess.

Spent rest of day working on three different websites, fixing stuff mainly, with a little thinking about a new site that I can’t talk about, yet. Hopefully that’s me all caught up and I can try and have a few early nights this coming week.

Aside from that there isn’t really that much going on and on top of that I seem to have misplaced my blogging bug whilst away in Spain, so it’s just as well I’ve still got a raft of questions to answer…

Actually that’s not true, our nephew recently joined the Merchant Navy and is going away to sea for three months. We are having a party for him next week as he’ll miss both Christmas and his birthday so it’s all a bit hectic – he only found out his leaving date late last week – with a buffet to prepare (tips and advice welcomed, it’s a cold buffet to make it as simple as possible).

Ohh and there is one more bit of news that I should really mention, but I’m saving that for later.

November 12, 2006

Questions Answered #7

In a desperate effort to gain some weird form of validation, I stole an idea for a blog post and begged my readers to ask me a question. And they did. The buggers. Now I have to answer them.

Question 7: Hans adopts the “complete this sentence” approach and gives me the opening line of “If one life is all you get, then:” which is a bit of a broad sweeping statement but, hey that’s never stopped me in the past.

If one life is all you get, then you’d better live it to the full!

That’s what everyone thinks, right? You’ve only one life, so why waste it doing menial things like.. ohh I dunno, washing the car, brushing your hair and so on. After all, if I spend a month of my lifetime washing under my arms then that’s a month lost!!

Nonsense of course, and as we pry deeper we realise that the question isn’t about WHAT you do with your life but HOW you do it.

It’s easy to set goals, make lists of things to do, places to see, experiences to seek, but none of that really matters if you aren’t happy with yourself, first and foremost.

Don’t worry, I’m not going to get all preachy on you, suffice to say that it took me many years of my life to be happy with who I am, and HOW I am, and whilst there are still aspects of my life I would like to improve, I’m happy enough in myself to know that there is always time. And let’s be honest, if anything was REALLY upsetting me then I’d have done something about it already, right?

So, how do I live my life?

This is going to sound twee as hell but I really do try and live one moment at a time. That way I can pause, consider the moment (and I’m largely talking about negative moments here, the positive ones, quite rightly, skip by far too quickly), and then decide what to do, or more importantly, how to *be* in that moment.

Am I getting annoyed at someone because of what they are doing, or because of something I did? If it’s something I did I can correct it, if it’s something they are doing then the approach softens and I find myself becoming much more relaxed. The problem may not always go away but hey, it’s life, sometimes things don’t go well.

I’m not explaining this very well at all, I know, but it’s hard explain, especially as I always used to consider myself a pessimist, someone who always seemed to be moaning and complaining. That’s something I’ve worked hard to get away from and, whilst I still like a whinge now and then, it ain’t half as often as it used to be.

Living your life continually fighting and arguing and focusing on the negative just isn’t a life. Even if you don’t have ANY aspirations of travel, of new experiences, if YOU are happy with your life, truly happy, then make sure you do everything to keep that happiness. If you are unhappy with your life, ditch the five year plans, the dreams of tropical sun, and sort things out. Make your life as happy as you can. And yes, only YOU can do this, and no it’s not easy, not easy at all. Trust me though, it’s worth it.

Does any of that make sense? Am I talking out of my proverbial again? Is ANYONE STILL READING!??

What’s YOUR secret to living “one life”? (those who believe in reincarnation are invited to put forward their own take on things, seriously, it’d be fascinating).

November 11, 2006