Letter to Orange Customer Service

My phone appears to have developed a fault.  I keep getting a message which says "Inactive SIM" on the screen.

I have tried turning the phone off and on again, and turning it off removing the battery and SIM and then replacing them and turning the phone back on again.  This seems to solve the problem temporarily but then it reoccurs later.

I tried to call customer services from a landline, and after completing all of the press 1 for this 2 for that, was told that all operators were busy and was cut off.

To say the least I am extremely unhappy.  This is not the first time that I have had a problem with contacting orange, and I am seriously considering leaving once again.

Please can someone contact me to resolve this current problem.

Thank you.

tonto

p.s. I can be reached on either 0**** *****7 during the daytime or 0**** *****4 - no point in you calling my mobile because it isn't working again!

Just Waiting

Finally we have a hospital appointment for my GF, if you are a regular reader you'll know why I say finally and I won't need to go into it further.  It's this coming Friday, now all we have to do is wait.

 

Waiting for the appointment is not so bad since it's soon, but I am not expecting any instant answers at the moment, although I might be wrong.  Instead I am expecting tests, consultations and a follow up appointment.

 

The downside is I can't go.  I have a work thing that is difficult to get out of, and this was the only appointment they were able to offer.  Thank goodness for relatives.

The Frog Chorus

No not the Paul Mcartney song. The chorus of frogs that have returned to our garden pond, and are spending their evenings chirruping away in ecstasy!

Needless to say we know have lots of frogspawn ;)

Not Little Rubber Ducks

It would seem that some comedian has emptied they're entire ball pit into our local stream. At a guess I would say sometime last night, possible drunk on the way home from the pub me thinks?

Anyway this morning when out walking the dog, I noticed lots of these little plastic balls all over the stream. I managed to get those that I could find out and into a bin, but I wonder how many had already floated downstream?

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Trailer

He's back (With his pension book)!

Valentines Day

Today is Valentine's day. I already know what my GF brought me as a gift to celebrate, because I can never wait for presents, so convinced her that as it might rain this coming weekend, I should have my present whilst the weather was good last weekend. My present is attached to the side of our garage and is a sparrow nest box.

As however this blog is Wild Tales - here is another nest-box link. Enjoy and Happy Valentines.

Another Lovely Day

With the sun out again, and most un-February-like weather bringing out Hoverflies into the garden, spent this morning sowing some seeds, so that we will have some fruit and veg later in the year.  Hopefully, if they all germinate and grow we will have Leeks, Parsnips, Spring Onions, and Tomatoes.

Nice Start To Saturday

Woke reasonably early, and after the dog had been let into the garden, and the coffee had been made, lay back to start reading a book that I had purchased early in the week. "Curious Incidents In The Garden At Night-Time" by Allan Shepherd , is almost a book within a book. The first part of the book, which I started and finished in about an hour is really a short story of the moth collector (although he doesn't collect moths merely counts them). The second part is extracts from the moth collectors "memory book", line drawings and notes from the notebook that the moth collector uses to remember things. I have a book like this, one in which I scribble notes to remind me to do things, ideas for blog posts, lists of books that I am looking out for. His however is much more detailed and fascinating. With all sorts of notes about his "night" garden and how it is set out specifically for attracting moths. I really enjoyed the short story and am learning lots from the memory book extracts. Recommended.

After I had finished my second coffee I put my book down, and took the dog out for a walk now that the sun was rising, and likewise the temperature. We didn't go far, mainly because we are going out for a longer walk shortly. We did however make it through the woods to see the mist rising from the stream (picture above), and then back round to see the dew on the crocuses (picture below). When we got back I hung a couple of pictures that I had been meaning to do for a while, and then made pancakes for breakfast. Anyway now, once I have published this post we going out again to walk the dog, and pick up some supplies from the pet store.

Have a great weekend everyone.

History Deleted

Updated: I tried twice to post this from email yesterday, being unsuccessful on both occasions. The reason being that in doing what I was posting about I had also managed to delete my "post-to" email address for my blog. Doh! Anyway, because it's still relevant here is the missing post.

I bit the bullet today and deleted my old blog. I think everyone who wants to find me (and who I want to be found by) has done so. Plus it was getting hard to comment on people's blogs with the right blogger id, having to log on and off all the time, so that if they clicked on my profile in a comment it took them to the right blog.

Anyway I know a few people still have links to the old blog in their sidebar, just to say that link won't work anymore so please feel free to delete it, and I am very happy, should you wish to, to replace it with a new link to here.

It's More Than Eggs, Milk and Flour You Know

Holy 5h1t.  For the first time ever in my life we missed Shrove Tuesday.  Now I am most certainly not religious so the whole Shrove Tuesday thing is completely about the food for me, but we missed it.

 

My GF and I were standing in a well known supermarket last night, and she turned to me and said "We must buy eggs for pancake day", when it hit me.  It was Ash Wednesday and we had missed the whole pancake thing.  Crap!

 

Not to be undone, we of course purchased all of the required ingredients, and fillings (lemon and sugar for me; maple syrup, raisins and jam for her).  It got me to thinking though why had we missed it?

 

In short I think it's because my GF is still not well, and the unbelievable amount of pointless rubbish that our much beloved National Health Service have put her through.  We've had an Internet appointment (for a hospital consultant) which (in theory) allows you to book an appointment that is at a time of convenience to you. Great idea, except for the fact there are no appointments at all ever, or so it would seem.  There is also a phone number which allows you to do the same thing, but there are no appointments there either.  So just how are you supposed to get an appointment?  Beats me.  How has our national health service become so utterly and completely shite? 

 

I have lost all patience with the system now, the theory and principals behind it are fine but the practice is a complete joke.  We have no idea how sick my GF is, but I'd hazard a guess and say it is not immediately life threatening, however what if you were and you log into a system that is unable to give you an appointment ever?  Not a case of one that's a few weeks (or even months) away, but not one at all ever.  It's a complete and utter joke.  How have we gotten to this kind of pathetic stupid shitty system?  Is this the way that they get around having long waiting lists now.  Give people a letter that in theory gives them an appointment, but because there are no appointments available they will never get to see anyone?

 

So we have no appointment (and no pancakes).  My GF is going back to see her GP next week (again she has to wait a week for that appointment) to see if there is anything that she might be able to do and try and speed to the process up.  These of course are not the things that you want to be doing if you are feeling unwell, you'd like to think that the health service is there to support you in getting well. 

Half-Light

As the days get longer it starts to be lighter on my way to work. As I
look out of the train window I can see the skeletons of the tops of
trees in the half-light.

--
Sent from Google Mail for mobile | mobile.google.com

Sad

This is a post that I have thought about writing a number of times, but have never gotten around to.

 

Since we moved into our new home some 11 months ago, I have found myself thinking a number of times that people are just not as friendly as they were in our old neighbourhood.  Now I don't mean our immediate neighbours, most of whom recognise us, I mean those people who we only meet once or twice.

 

Now call me old fashioned but when I'm walking along and I meet someone coming in the other direction, I will normally smile and often say "Hello".  I have however noticed that if I do that here, it is rare that my smile or greeting is returned.  More often the reaction is that I get a look that says 'Who let you out of the asylum?' That's if I'm lucky.  More often there is no reaction at all.  What has happened?  Have the body snatchers invaded?  Is there some new disease that means people aren't civil to one another anymore?  I must admit to be quite taken aback.

 

What's even stranger is that the same thing happens when I'm out walking the dog.  Now normally that is something that makes even the most harden misery-guts smile.  If you're walking a dog with character people smile at you.  They can't help it.  Not here it would seem.  Sure other dog owners do, it's that kind of comradeship that dog walkers have together, but no one else does.

 

Now I know that I shouldn't draw comparisons to where we used to live, and I don't mean to, suffice to say, that I don't care about the reaction, I am still going to continue in my smile and say "hello" mode and see if it has any effect on those people that I meet more than the once.  Viva community spirit!

Ladybird Love Dust

For Christmas I was given a Ladybird house.  When I was given it, it came with an apology that a bit of it was missing, but that the missing piece would be acquired and forwarded on to me in the post.

 

The missing piece arrived this week.  I wondered what it was because it was only a small envelope, and I was expecting something bigger, and probably made from wood.  The envelope however, contained another little package of fine brown powder.  Fortunately before I called the drug squad I realised that this was the missing piece of my ladybird house - Ladybird Love Dust!  Or to be boring "an attractant powder that when mixed with water and poured inside the ladybird house will attract ladybirds to their new home".

 

So look out neighbourhood ladybirds, my house is on the pull!

Everyone Likes Their Routine!

Having been working from home this last few days it becomes apparent that everyone has their own routine, and that I have to be involved in it if I'm here. Take the dog for example, his day starts with a walk, followed by playing with his toys. If he plays so does everyone else!