Sunday Night Mash Up

Well my poor little Fiat went back to the garage last Saturday thanks to the engine leaking diesel and I still haven't had it back.  After driving the replacement Proton now for over a week I am becoming more accustomed to it, and the boot is huge!  Great for shopping.

I started the second of my courses this weekend for the June ACCA sitting, and I do not like the tutor, so much so that I am considering swapping from the weekend course to the weekday course, I just need to see if work is ok with it, and then whether there is space on the weekday course.

Today has been a lovely day weather-wise.  Sunny and windy, perfect drying weather.

I woke up just before 5am (as usual) and at 6am gave up and decided to put a wash in.  When it finished out on to the washing line it went and a second load put into the machine.

I was tidying the front room when I heard a noise outside (I had the back door and all the internal doors open to air out the house) but thought nothing of it, a short while later I went into the kitchen and looked out of the window to see all my washing on the floor.  The post holding the line had snapped.  I was not impressed.

So the washing ended up at Mum and Dad's on their washing line.

I still feel poorly today, I feel so drained all the time.  I have these tiny electric shock type feelings shooting through my head at random intervals.  Every little bit of physical exertion affects me much more than it should, I could have cried when I was making the bed, I had to have a sit down part way through as it was.  Even going up the stairs wears me out and when I first get out of bed, I walk like Bambi on ice!  I do wish that I could have a couple of days in bed without feeling guilty, but that is never going to happen!

I hope that I get my car back soon, and that I feel better soon!

Things that get right on my pip!

For various reasons I have been feeling very angry lately, I decided to write down what was causing this anger and the list just kept growing.  Here is some of it.

• People who don't indicate.  After being car less for over 10 years I have finally been able to afford a car, in the time I have been a bus/coach/train user, driving standards do not seem to have approved.
• People who can't park.  I am not the best parallel parker (it wasn't a testable skill back when I passed my test) so try to avoid doing so as much as possible, but at least I can put my car in the middle of two white lines in a car park.

• People who cycle on the pavement.  If you are not confident enough to cycle on the road, walk!  I especially get angry with cyclists on the pavement who expect the pedestrian to get out of THEIR way.
• People who put themselves into unflattering situations in public places, then create uproar when they have it pointed out to them.
• People who think that rules and the law do not apply to them.
• People who refuse to put even their sidelights on during bad weather.
• People who insist on having their foglights on in sunny clear weather.
• People who, although they have probably never left the British Isles, insist on speaking in some sort of hard to understand patois or Pidgin English.  Innit.
• People who eat with their mouths open, talk with their mouths full and slap their chops when eating.
• People whose first thought is 'compensation' when anything happens that they don't like.
• We now have to call Road Traffic Accidents (RTA) Road Traffic Incidents (RTI), because Accident implies that it was no-one's fault and as we all know, everything has to be someone's fault otherwise who do we claim compensation from.
• Toilet Roll Dispensers that give out one sheet at a time.  What is the point?  If it is to save money then it is a total fail as I deliberately take more than I need  just to make a point!

I am now going for a stiff drink!

Can anyone recommend a toilet roll that lasts more than 24 hours?

It's a bit of a weird request I know, but CAN anyone recommend a longer lasting loo roll?

When I am at work and out of the house for 11 or 12 hours a day then there is no problem, but at the weekend or when I am on annual leave, I seem to be changing the roll at least once a day.

Admittedly, as well as using the roll for its intended purpose, I also use it for blowing my nose and to clean the toilet with, (along with toilet cleaner obviously) as it can just be flushed away.

At the moment I am bulk buying, 18 or 24 rolls at a time but I am wondering if I pay a little bit more each roll might last a bit longer.

This was an issue I first came across after being made redundant (for the second time).  You receive all this information when you are out of work, but no-one ever tells you about the increase in loo roll budget!

So, any suggestions?

Sunday Night Mash Up

Not a lot to report this week, back to work after a week off, and as always, when you go back to work after any sort of time off, you can't see you desk for work!

Yesterday I took my car back to the garage as it is leaking fuel from the engine, but not in the place that Puntos usually leak from, oh no, that would be far too easy, so I had to leave it with them.  They first lent me a Fiesta to use whilst they had my car.

It wasn't as nice to drive despite being a few years newer but for a couple of days it would be fine.  I got home to be told that it had no brake lights, so back I went.  I was then given a Proton, on the motorway it was fab, but urban handling let it down. (Hark at me, I blame too much Top Gear).  This was even newer, but I still preferred my Punto.

I've got the Proton till they sort out the problem on the Punto, so tomorrow I have to sort a temporary parking permit for work, I don't think it will be a problem.

Today I was back at Kaplan for my second tuition day of this sitting.  This is the topic (Financial Reporting) that I really struggled with at AAT so I am trying but it still sounds like gobbledygook.

Today has been the warmest day of the year so far, I think it reached almost 18 degrees here so it was obvious that I was going to be sat in an underground room all day, never mind.

Nothing planned for this week, so lets see what happens!

A sunny day in Birmingham!

I've just remembered!  I was interviewed this week for a magazine article on what it is like being single in 2014.  More about that to come soon.

Are you clear with the brief?

I recently had to go on a course on customer care, and what a waste of a day it was.

The venue was easy enough to find, even though it was 100 mile round trip, however signs for the training rooms were sadly lacking.  I did not warm to the lecturer even before the day started.  He was described in the literature as a 'provocative, lively and entertaining speaker', well I think that could be successfully contested in court.

To me he seemed very condescending and his voice just grated on me, it seemed like such an affectation and not his real voice.

We had to complete several exercises, none of which were particularly clearly written, but all of which were preceded by the question 'Are you clear with the brief?'.  

The first exercise required us to write down who our customers were and what they expected of us.  Thinking back to previous courses I have attended, both for this employer and others, my answer was 'anyone who contacts the department is a customer' and that they expected 'to have their queries and complaints resolved to their satisfaction and to have information provided in a timely and usable format'.

This apparently was not correct, I should have listed ALL the different groups of people who we have dealings with and EVERY TYPE of query they could possibly have.

The food supplied was awful, three small trays of sandwiches for 24 people plus a bowl of fruit that looked like it had been on the table since Christmas.  A few of us went to the onsite cafe and the event organiser's representative went out to the local supermarket to buy cakes and biscuits.

Later in the day we had to practise saying no without using the word no, not, can't, don't or any other negative word.  The question he gave was 'I would like a glass of wine with lunch'.  Errrr, that was a statement, not a question.

I don't think the speaker has any idea of what it is like to work in our profession, we don't have the time to give flowery speeches when the caller just wants a yes or no.  If we have to divert our phones every time we leave our desks, we are going to spend most of the day diverting and undiverting our phones.

It really was a waste of a day.