Fashion Accessory or Something Useful?

I couldn't justify spending over £100 on frivolity so my clothes, shoes and bags are bought in charity shops or Ebay.

But I have just spent a serious amount of money on a new toy, some 'Red Line' Telesteps.

It's a handy ladder for every situation. Always the right length. Always at a safe angle. A telescopic ladder that can help me reach heights of up to 5 metres, amost anywhere and it only weighs 11KG.

This morning I easily accessed the roof of one of my sheds and fitted new felt. The ladder is so sturdy I felt perfectly safe and for someone aged 65 & 5/6's I have to take extra care.

Not having a significant other to deal with this sort of thing a girl has to look after herself.

I will get more value out of these telesteps than any fashion accessory. I will save money by doing the jobs myself and I won't be exasperated by useless workmen so there'll be no drain on my emotional health. All in all, money well spent!!

And While I Am In A Complaining Mood

I have emailed Chief Honcho at Home Retail Group, Oliver Stocken, about Homebase Farlington.

Below is the transcript:

The staff in the above store need retraining in Customer Service & Plant Care. Their attitude is sloppy and they clearly demonstrate that they don't care what impression they give to customers. Saturday evening, 26th September I spent over £30, during the checkout I was not offered the promotional October 10% discount card. It was only after I returned home that I realised that I should have asked for it. I returned the following day. The polite lad at the reception knew nothing about it and asked another lad to fetch the supervisor. The other lad's attitude annoyed me, he made inappropriate comments within earshot so I immediately took him to task and told him not to behave like that in front of customers. Where did he think he was? At home? The supervisor duly arrived, she apologised and I was given my 10% card. While shopping I noticed there were plants wilting through lack of water while the staff have plenty of time to stand around and chat. The paragraph below is taken from Homebase website. "We’re under no illusion that what really brings the customers back every time is our colleagues and the service they receive from them. From the team that purchases our products to the team that work on the tills, we offer the best customer service there is because everybody is encouraged to take responsibility for improving the customer’s experience." I should have been offered the 10% card without having to go back and ask for it. All the staff should have known about giving qualifying customers the 10% card. All plants need water, so what sort of impression does it give customers when they see plants needing a little TLC? I look forward to your comments.

Mandelson!! How Very dare He!!

So rude and superior!! While being interviewed this morning by BBC Breakfast's Sian Williams, he didn't like her question so instead of answering it in an intelligent manner he went on the attack.

Sian was only quoting something from 'The Times' and he sneeringly turned it back on her saying she had got it wrong and it was typical BBC sloppy reporting.

He's forgotten that he works for us, they've all forgotten that they work for us. 

My MP Sarah McCarthy-Fry will be hearing from me.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Creative Vado

Creative Vado. Slim and light, this pocket video cam records in VGA quality at the touch of a button.  The built-in USB connector lets me plug the Vado into any PC, so I can easily upload my videos straight to YouTube.

I bought it from QVC on easy pay otherwise I couldn't have justified the expense.

Yesterday I played with it while I was parked up at the entrance to Langstone Harbour.

Job Done

Even though my shed roof has been leaking for ages it was much too easy to put off this 'Heart Sink Job' and am too tight fisted to pay anyone to do it. It has been so dry in recent weeks that I found any excuse not to repair it. Yesterday it rained and water got in. Even though the hole was tiny I had to do something about it. I really didn't want to out but today I made myself do running repairs. I removed the clout nails and patched up with with an odd peice of new felt pushed under the old. While securing the old felt back in place I whacked in lots of extra nails. I won't know how successful my patching will be until it rains again I was very naughty. If I hurt myself no one can get in so in case I had an accident I should have unlocked the side gate (but I didn't). The words 'Be careful' kept going round inside my head. The new roll of felt will remain untouched until I can get up enough enthusiasm to do a proper job.

Let's Get The Bus

An innocent phrase with huge implications. Our intention was to get from one London Mainline station to another. We had suitcases so we thought it would be easier than the underground.

What we did not know was that 'The Thames Festival' had taken place over the weekend.

Coming out of Kings Cross at 19:30ish we crossed the road and headed for the bus stop. The sign said that the 59 bus ran every 12 minutes but we waited for 40 minutes for it to turn up.

The journey was a nightmare as the traffic was gridlocked. We arrived at waterloo at around 21:00ish and missed our connecting train by 1 minute. It had taken about 90mins to travel across London.

Getting to Cosham is a pain. At 23:00 ish I left the train at Fratton and then had to wait nearly 30 minutes for a connection to take me back out of the city to my local station.

I eventually arrived home at around midnight.

During the nightmare bus ride in my mind I was so fed up I tried to take myself to different place. If I had been a child I would have behaved appallingly.

At Fratton station I was approached by two dodgy looking youths with a feirce looking dog on a lead, all they wanted to know was how to get home to London. But they had missed that last train. Glad I wasn't in their shoes.

RTFM

The little snippet below is the result of a story I heard while attending the 2009 National Women's Register Conference in Leeds.

Four ladies actually admitted going the wrong University. They thought it was being held at Leeds University in the city centre and not Leeds Trinity which is in the countryside near Headingly and Leeds Bradford airport. None of them had read the paperwork and checked directions. They all thought that one of the others had done it!!

I think it would have been much nicer if it had been held in the city rather than being a few miles out and very close to a busy noisy airport.

Oh No John No John NO!!!

Contact the Elderly Tea Parties are held on the first Sunday of the month. The normal time for picking up guests is from 2 o'clock onwards.

John can't hear his mobile phone ring so he doesn't pick up. He rings me but even though I answer he can't hear and thinks he hasn't got through.

Then he thinks because no one has spoken to him he is not being picked up and doesn't want to miss out.

Yesterday at 1:20 John panicked, walked round to Tesco where he picked up a taxi. He paid out £18 to get from central Portsmouth to the host's house in Horndean. He arrived at the venue at the same time as his driver called at his house.

This set off a chain of events in which his driver, myself and his daughter got caught up. Unneccessary mobile phone calls were made. Added to that two guests were kept waiting.

I have spoken to John's daughter and told her that whatever happens he will be picked up by 14:30 and would she please make him understand this.

John does not have a land line and his daughter says that she can't arrange for one to be installed because they will only deal with the client.

Where to go from here? I have asked H/O for advice.

But the fantastic lemon drizzle and strawberry crumble cakes were adequate compensation.

On Being Let Down

I have five guests to take out to tea tomorrow and the other two drivers are unable to help.

One driver is self employed and is very busy so I can sympathise with his position. But the other has suddenly gone quiet and is not responding to texts, emails and phone calls.

My car is a three door Clio so there are accessibility problems. One guest needs to take along his three wheeled walker and it is difficult for some to get in and out of the back.

The Tea Party is scheduled for tomorrow so I can't cancel. By now the host will have organised all the food. It's the elderly guests and not me that's being let down. But as local organiser I get the stress and the worry. I woke at 4am today which is typical when my brain is overactive. Sometimes I feel like giving it all up but I am unable let the oldies down.