Life, And Other Natural Disasters...

One thing that really bugs me about my life is my inability (according to the Driving Standards Agency) to drive a car.  I have proved to their satisfaction that I can drive a motorcycle but not a car.  And this has just been brought into sharp focus this morning as I tried to schedule a delivery from IKEA, which was being made by DHL.  I placed the order last Wednesday for a book case and two CD tower cases.  They advised me their approximate delivery date was Friday 9th. October.  Great, thinks I, I've got the day off anyway.  I had a call yesterday while I was out from DHL to schedule the delivery; unfortunately, I was out all day.  They called again this morning on my cellphone - they can deliver next Tuesday (which I cannot make as I am on training Tuesday through Thursday) but not Friday as it was fully booked.

I am relying on these purchases to help me empty out a few more boxes and start to make the apartment a bit more habitable - less like cardboard city.  It seems that I now have to live like this until October 30th. which is my next day off.  The fact of the matter is, all the boxes hanging around depresses me - I look at them all and think "where the hell am I going to put it all?"  And I am not the best person for motivating myself.  I know that if Russ were alive, he would be, at minimum, giving me Fierce Eyebrows.  And so we add "Missing Russ (still)" to the list of things depressing me at the moment...

But anyways, back to the lack of ability to drive.  I have taken (at last count) seven tests - which probably doesn't seem like much - at various times in my life.  Problem has always been running out of money to continue with the lessons.  And so, it is usually a few years in between attempts.  And in between, the test increases in difficulty - some other thing gets added; last time, it was reversing into a parking space and having to quote basic maintenance.  All very laudible things to undertake but just adding to my frustration.

The worrying thing is I am afraid to try again - I am toying with the idea of going away somewhere and doing an intensive course, but the last time I did that, the instructor shouted at me when I did something daft and as a result, I lost all confidence.  I would love to be able to drive and it seems that it is unacheiveable for me.  Or is it?  Do I try hypnosis?  Do I try a pill?  Am I that desparate?  Or frustrated?

Answers on a postcard, please.

I really would like to write a post saying something wonderful has happened.   That something good has happened to push my life along in a positive direction.  And not another piece of constant whining from a downright failure.

But I can't.

Sorry.

One of those days today.  My boss, very old school council depot worker, bluff to the extreme goes very much for the jugular at the slightest mistake.  My co-worker is as big a stress bunny as I am.  Being as the boss hit me with a mistake within a minute of taking my coat off and switching my PC on, I'm afraid I snapped back at him.  The day didn't get any better.  I made another mistake letter and received the attentions of my co-worker and boss.  SInce I still have very little confidence in my work, I was again quite snappy making comments along the line of "I'm not as stupid as you think I am!"  I had a chat with my boss's boss.  He assured me that they were more than happy with my work and went on to tell me a little more about possible future developments in the department.

Sometimes I just need someone to tell me that I am doing a good job.  Not something that seems to pass from my boss's lips easily.

Terror Ratings For All US Travellers
Millions Assigned Terror Risk Score On Trips To US

So ordering a halal meal is a big no-no then...?

I'm in a provoking/provoked mood this morning; indulge me.  A poll by CNN shows, out of a survey of 1002 Americans polled, 50% were in favour of W's constitutional amendment to ban any form of marriage other than one man and one woman.  And in one foul swoop, denying rights to a proportion of the population.  Forever.  Now it seems to me this; an awful lot of America's minds are effectively controlled by The Church, be it Catholic, Southern Baptist, Methodist or Latter Day Saints to name but a few.  Compared to the UK, where an awful lot of minds are controlled by the media, whether it be The Sun or Sky TV (both owned by Rupert Murdoch) or The Daily Mail (owned by right wing Old Money).  That's just my perception.  I am, as always, open to other possibilities...

I cannot do right by my local council's refuse collection department. First there was the great wheelie bin debacle, where two little old ladies with nothing better to do declared war on all wheelie bins left in the street during the week. Thus, all residents received a letter from the head of the department stating that bins left on the pavement through the week were causing an illegal obstruction and reminded all residents to remove their bins to the rear of the property on any day other than collection day. Except that there are a number of obstacles to the easy removal of my wheelie bins to the rear of my property, the major one being my feeble memory. On at least two occasions I have forgotten to bring the bin through the gate (which can only be opened from inside the garden, meaning I have to trail the bin down the street, up an alleyway and back to my back gate; leave the bin, go back down the alley, up the street, open my front door, go through the house, open the back door, go up the garden, open gate, bring bin onto my property...) such that the local brats decide to steal the wheelie bin for whatever fun and games brats get up to in wheelie bins. So, I forfeited my wheelie bins and reluctantly put my refuse out in black plastic bags.

Then they introduced recycling, and supplied clear plastic bags for recycling. Fine thinks I. This week, I have been clearing out old documents and shredding them to avoid my address and other personal details being stolen by the unscrupulous. Put all my shreddings in clear plastic bags and put them out this morning for collection. Only to find them remaining outside the house when I got home. I ranted and fumed at the council, to be told "well, it's in all our literature..." The reason, apparently, that they can't take shredded paper is their equipment can't cope with it.

So much for trying to go green.

And so, after a good weekend (Saturday, trying to find tiles for the bathroom and failing miserably; Sunday spent wandering around Kew Gardens and Richmond with rock_bear ) we return to Normal Service.  By which I mean a Monday when some fool has decided to make "improvements" to the network, resulting in massed chaos.  And the phones going white hot.  Of course, it didn't help I was in a filthy mood for no good reason.  Just got to keep going through the rest of the week.  Somehow.

Today is the first official day that my problematic member of staff becomes somebody else's problem. Okay, so there is one issue around her holiday chit which needs to be sorted out, but other than that, she is finally out of my hair. So to speak. Wahoo!

However, Murphys law inevitably dictates that some other trial will fall into my life to replace the little vaccum left. I shall await with baited breath...

So, anyway, on the way home, I stop off at my local post office to find out if my broadband modem had been delivered there. Surprise, surprise, it had not. Grrr. I got home and found a card on my doorstep to say that they had attempted delivery and had taken the parcel back to the depot. At which point, I went ballistic.

You see, gentle reader, there is a small amount of history (okay, it goes back to last Thursday, indulge me!) Thursday evening, I receive a card through the door to say that Parcel Force (the parcel company of the Royal Mail, for those outside these shores) had attempted to deliver a package and would attempt to deliver it again tomorrow, unless I called their call centre. Which I did, and went through a whole heap of bleeps and key pressings to get to a voice activated system that was designed to identify the nearest post office to my home. It identified a post office that was reasonably close to my home, but was in fact out of my way walking home from work. Of course, the system did not allow me to choose my post office; it automatically selected for me. So, Friday night, I have to make a detour on the way home.

"No biggie," thinks I. And so, I turn up at the stated post office with my ID only to be told that they had not received any deliveries from Parcel Force that day. I returned home parcel-less and found a card on the doorstep stating that they had attempted delivery again, and the parcel had been returned to their depot in Ulan Bator Southampton. I then phoned the call centre, speaking to a real human being! Or, at least, a vague approximation. I explained through gritted teeth what had happened, and explained, very patiently that I would like it delivered to my convenient post office.

So, as I stated above, I came home to another attempted delivery card. I called the call centre again, and growled my intense displeaure at the voice on the other end of the telephone. Who was unable to promise anything more than the parcel being delivered to the post office again, and a call from the depot. Not the head of the depot manager, lightly curried and served with Pliau Rice, Sag Aloo and Bombay Potatoes. Or, at the very least, my parcel delivered today.

I am still waiting for the phone call from the depot manager, I suspect he probably went home at 4pm and nothing will happen until tomorrow at the earliest. However, something good did come out of the Ticali saga; I still have the modem and filters. So, I decided to re-load the software and with a little tweeking, I have Broadband again. Hoo-bloomin'-rah!

BT engineer came around tonight and tested the line into the house and within the house. All ok, apart from the fact that it appears that Tiscali have set me up to use a router for v. high speed, when I only ordered the slowest speed, and/or the modem they sent was pants...

I sense another phone call to the Indian Sub-continent...

Grrrrr.

I have been trying for the last month or so to get set up with Broadband service. I received the new modem and set to connecting it with glee. Dead as a dodo. Rang the support desk and very patiently explained the problem - flashing ADSL light on the modem; error code 680 returned. I was told by the person on the end of the phone that as my extension was more than 10 metres away from my main BT socket, I would have to get BT to fit an extension box before I could use Broadband service, and this figure was quite clearly stated in the terms and conditions.

I hate it when call centre people hide behind terms and conditions. I hate it even more when I go back to the terms and conditions to find that it is not clearly stated.

Anyway, I got a BT engineer out to fit a new extension socket today, and tried to connect to Broadband again. Nothing. I growled at the call centre guy who was most apologetic and moderately helpful. We went through a number of things, none of which worked; finally he suggested that I unplug my cordless phone after the phone call, re-boot and try again. Which I did; still nothing. Rang the call centre again; they're now going to have to get BT involved. Uggggh!!

Still, on the plus side, my nice new BIG frost-free fridge freezer arrived today.