NT-Hell

Well at long last I am back on the net, no thanks to my service provider NTL.

Its been a long hard frustrating struggle just to get my internet bloody working again at my new address, forget the name NTL, the should be called NT-Hell !

I phoned them about a week before I moved and was told everything would be a seamless transition, that a technician would call at my new address on the 24th and to take my old cable modem with me and everything would be working as it was at my old address. Well the technician came and went, it was straightforward as the previous occupant had NTL before me, in fact her old tv box still worked, I know as I connected it up to my telly and watched free films!

On leaving the technician said I may have to call their broadband helpline to get properly up and running, he also wrote my new phone number down wrongly causing me to pass it onto folk who couldn’t contact me, they must be on commission the speed they are in and out of your house.

So, when he went I couldn’t access the net, so rang the helpline who said they couldn’t help because my old address was still active, this being several days after I had moved, I was told matters would be resolved after midnight when my details changed on the server.

The next day came, still no internet. Another phone call and I was told because NTL have merged with Telewest there had been problems and I was called a ‘hanging house move’ and it would take two days to update my details, which basically was just a change of address, amazing. I did protest but was told nothing more could be done until another department entered my details, unfortunately there was a back log.

So the weekend passed and I was on the case Monday again only to be given a whole raft of excuses and call centre swerves. People promising to call back or resolve it, or email another department etc, nothing seemed to happen and my blood began to boil. This debacle went on till this morning when I kept on insisting to speak to someone higher up the ladder, the promises of ‘oh don’t waste your time in queues or your money calling us, someone will call you, nobody did. Another round of waiting on the phone till eventually I decided to take no prisoners and wouldn’t leave the phone until it was resolved. So eventually a tech guy from India calls me and resolves it quite simply in the end, something that could have been done days ago should anyone have been interested.

The reason I kept NTL was that I wanted to keep my email addy etc and was happy with the previous rock solid connection that never seemed to let me down.

My advice to anyone dealing with call centres is take names, id’s and extension numbers, ask them if they have updated tracking notes with every call, because people were conveniently not updating notes every time I called so they’d take no responsibility etc.

I told the supervisor that dealt with my case that questions needed to be asked from this, the fact from the date of installation till my net working was a week, 11 days inclusive of the move from my old address. Having worked in a call centre for the MOD before I know the tricks and swerves people use working in call centres, so that helped.

One thing I have realised is how much I rely on the net just for day to day stuff, internet banking, paying bills etc, and of course chatting to friends. Moving to a new town and having no net made it even worse, and I hate texts as a rule. I have got 2 months free services out of it all but that’s not much to a massive company like that.

Ironically the guy that sorted it was supposed to call me back at 4pm as a courtesy to check if my net was now working…… he never called.

Catharsis

I never knew moving home could be so hard, both physically and emotionally.

Just had to take a break, write something down, this blog will probably be my last for a while, I hopefully move Saturday so will be off the net for a while, unless I jump on dad’s pc.

I guess I didn’t think I has so much stuff, there’s just loads I didn’t realise I had. Then there comes the emotional pangs of finding old letters from loved ones, cards and other items that had been long shut away from view and from mind. Each one I’ve re-read again which evokes all those old memories, it’s like you know you don’t want to read stuff but can’t help it. Then of course there are the old books I’ve thrown away, the old mementos too including an old bar stool I kept when my favourite pub closed down and refurbished.

My feelings are fluctuating, happy that I am leaving for a much better place, sad at leaving a place that has been my home for the last seven years, there is a lot of memories here, it’s been a place where I matured vastly.

There is though an inexorable pull in me to move forward and leave my home town behind, I no longer like it or want to be here (and haven’t done for some time), I want new challenges and a better environment. Being near dad after my upcoming surgery will help too as I am going to need much help and support for which promises to be a painful time.

I wish I could write something emotional with meaning, something fluid and poignant but I can’t, everything seems disjointed in my head, I feel drained. The more I seem to chuck things out and fill boxes the more there seems to do.

But I know, leaving here, moving on will be the catharsis I need.

Frustrating

Last week I thought my move over to Newark was almost in the bag but was told the last link in the chain was a reference from my current landlord, which also happens to be my local council.

So the estate agent that I am going to be renting from remarked they would inform their references agency people to obtain a reference from my local council. Last friday I got a phone call from HomeLet referencing who said my local council wouldn't give me a reference unless I paid a fee of £27.50. Incensed I charged (well hobbled on my bad hips) to my local council offices and on the way decided not to argue as I really want to move and also wanted a good reference, not that they could give me a bad one as I've always paid my rent but there is always a chance they could have chucked a spanner in the works. So I pays the money and rings HomeLet up to tell them its paid and to contact them again from a reference.

Monday comes and I ring the estate agents to get the final wording, the final piece in the jigsaw so I can go ahead and move, they tell me nothing has come through. So I ring my local council around lunchtime who tell me they sent a fax to HomeLet at 8.53am that morning and even have a fax receipt for it. So I then ring HomeLet and say you should have the fax from my council with my reference, 'what fax? We've had no fax!' HomeLet retort.

So it becomes a game of we've sent it - we've not had it, then in true call centre tradition we get the excuses 'it may not have been processed in the system yet' and 'we'll chase it for you' among many other call centre put off routines.

Tuesday comes and it is the same old story whilst I am still stuck in limbo. I keep my cool and call HomeLet again, state I worked in the call centre industry for 6 years and know the spiel, I just need a damn fax from one person to be sent to another - simple stuff really this day and age, 'can't you ring the council?' the guy asks on the phone. At this point I start to lose it a little bit and ask 'isn't this what you are supposed to be doing on behalf of my estate agent?'.

'ah yes' comes an unsure reply.

Eventually after another phonecall around 4.30pm Tuesday I am assured things have at last happened and my new landlord has received the reference they did indeed get early on Monday morning, so two days of planning wasted and a very frustrated me.

After the call ends I check my email with a cup of tea, and to my total disbelief a chirpy email arrives from HomeLet arrives in the inbox stating 'congratulations on your new home - would you like to take out home insurance with us'.

For the first time ever my pc monitor nearly goes through the window.

Leo

The thing celebrities know about going into the Big Brother house know is that is can give them a little more exposure and some longevity to their fame or they can be made to look right idiots. It is of course a gamble they take and my argument is that we at least get to see the celebrity aura disappear and see them as their real selves.

And what a jumped up little mardy prick Leo Sayer is turning out to be. He moaned in the Big Brother diary room that he is worth more than they paid him to appear in the show, of course if he was so fantastically rich and famous he wouldn't have been there in the first place.

Dirk Benedict from A-Team fame seems a very grounded bloke and openly criticised Leo for talking to much and not letting anybody finish a sentance. So what does Leo do? - he goes childishly mute. Then in another diary room rant Leo demands to see his Big Brother contract and says the conditions in the house are appalling. Of course on reading his contract he does indeed see what he has signed up for and can't really argue any further.

So we've seen the real Leo, a jumped up, pompous prima donna who when he isn't the centre of attention likes to privately vent off 'F' words at the cameras to try and look big.

Oh yes and for the uninitiated 'Mardy' is a local word where I live for childish!

No Medal for This

The biggest distributor of lottery funds have warned that charities will feel a massive impact if more money is diverted to pay for the 2012 Olympics. The fund pays around 600 million to good causes and may well be asked to pay more towards the 900 million Olympic park. Basically if more money is diverted this will affect around 86,000 grants that rely on lottery fund money.

In the original Olympics budget it was agreed the national lottery would provide 1.5 billion of funds, £625 million would come from London council tax and another £250 million from the London development agency. Then Tessa Jowell admitted last September an extra £900 million was needed because of the rising cost of steel etc.

The Department of culture media and sport said its up for debate but added that a memo of understanding drawn up in 2003 stated that the government should share the cost with everyone involved, should extra funding be needed. Mayor of London Ken Livingstone has ruled out the idea of getting more money from council taxes because currently councils are being used to set up silly workshops to teach immigrants English and other improvements that are Olympics orientated.

So, small nationwide businesses that employ handicapped people and charities that provide for the underprivileged could very well go to the wall. It made me sick to the core when I saw an old metal workshop in Stroud that have been converted into a craft business and is run by people with learning problems may have to close because money won’t be available. The craft business may not be a massive concern but to the people with learning problems it is their life, their purpose and their chance to give something to society. 86,000 such like units and causes could be affected – so in turn how many lives could be affected from that?

Whitehall is of course regarded as not really understanding the lottery, it likes to dab into it when it see’s fit and regards the Olympics as being more beneficial in the long run. Though I’ve no doubt the capital (and more of the capital alone), businesses and others will indeed benefit financially from the 2012 Olympics it seems the rest can go and whistle.

But look at the big picture, all that money for something that lasts about 4 weeks, most of us watching a majority of athletes that are well paid (though I agree some from some corners of the globe are not). The medals are dished out and then it gets consigned to history, whilst some of the disadvantaged and disabled could well be consigned to oblivion for the rest of their lives.

Would I rather see a piece of art done by an autistic child that benefits from the lottery fund or would I rather see someone break the 100 metres hurdle record?

I think you know the answer.

Channel 4 news article is here

Video is here

Afraid Of The Dark?

I was in the Fox and Crown in Newark last night and came across this fantastic beer mat, I just had to take a couple home with me, scan one and share it! Anyone wanting to know more about Hobgoblin beers and Wychwood Brewery, click here.

Judgement Day

The Date for my driving test has come through, it is the 6th February at 2.32pm.

Any driving test tips would be most welcome, at the moment I am semi confident, though I am sure this could change nearer the time.

Bulgar Off !

So, the first Bulgarians disembarked at Victoria coach station in London yesterday now they and Romania have EU membership from January 1st. Metro newspaper asked two of them about their plans to which they replied ‘we have a friend who can help us find a house and then we’ll look for work’.

Obviously unskilled workers then with no real plans, other than get a place and get some more of their family and friends over, yep another tidal wave of East Europeans hits ours shores despite government assurances they’ll crack down, yeah right.

The Madness Returns

Celebrity Big Brother is back and I am of course in raptures! (Sad character that I am!)

A veritable cornucopia of C list celebrities this year all vying to make themselves look like complete idiots. I sat giggling at jaded film director Ken Russell’s entrance, as he wobbled down the aisle to meet Davina gurgling ‘I’m singing in the rain’ – cringe telly at its very best. Of course there are the usual none entities in there such as failed beauty queen and footballer shagger Danielle Lloyd and Jo from past none entity band S Club 7.

But then there’s Cleo Rocos……… drool, yes kinky 80’s babe Cleo Rocos from The Kenny Everett show. She looked hot back then; she still gives me a shiver now.

There’s also the awesomely beautiful Shilpa Shetty of Bollywood fame, Indian women always look amazing but Shilpa is a real jewel among them.

So who else is in the Big Brother house?

Punk singer Donny Tourettes of Towers of London, widely regarded as one of the biggest pricks in punk/indie music. Acidic Sun Journalist Carole Malone. Cigar puffing Dirk Benedict of A Team fame. Jackson Five singer Jermaine Jackson and talking of singers there’s my friend Pats favourite singer Leo Sayer (thanks for the Leo link Pat!). Now I don’t know the exact details but Pat met Leo some time ago in Coffee Cake and Kink in Covent Garden in London and it all remains pretty clandestine.

Oh yes and there’s ‘H’ from forgettable manufactured 90’s band ‘Steps’, well there had to be one token irritating Welshman in there I guess!

Let the madness Begin!

Here's a photo of the gorgeous Shilpa Shetty.

Moving

So it comes to pass that I am going to (deep breath) move home at long last!

I've been trying to move to Newark for over a year and this morning brought the confirmation I was looking for in the post. I'll probably be moving later this month, anticipating arount the 19th for some reason and now the hard slog of moving home begins. Changing addresses, settling bills, arranging transport for my stuff - all a logisitical nightmare if you're not used to it.

Personally I am really ready for the move, it is long overdue and with my upcoming surgery its going to be essential to get settled in my new home and environment. I'm really excited about my new place, a ground floor flat tucked away in a cul-de-sac with off road permit parking and very close to Newark town centre.

Best get some cardboard boxes sorted and get packing!

Dullsville

I was in Birmingham last Thursday for a day out, a very uneventful one at that. I didn't get chance to see much of the city because of time constraints and the weather was lousy too. shame as I'm sure it is a big place and has different areas such as Broad Street, the canals and the Jewelry quarter etc. So I only really got to see the Bull Ring Shopping area and Rag market but managed to bag a Frank Miller book in Nostalgia and Comics, also had some excellent noodles in wagamama's which was pretty heaving with sales shoppers. Compared to recent excursions it was pretty dullsville but I'm sure I shall return in the future perhaps. I found there was plenty of our East European friends there, especially when I tried asking for directions, I think the first two I spoke to were from Poland and said 'sorry I don't speak English', I felt like saying 'why?' but I'm far too polite for that, then there was an American religeous nut and eventually I found an English speaking person...... who wasn't sure on the directions!

I've been to Birmingham a few times and trained for my last job there, just never got around to seeing the city itself on foot.

As you can see from the photo below taken outside of the Bull Ring shopping centre, it was a grey day indeed.

And here is a photo of a crane for my friend Pat, just to show him how it's done!

2007

Well here it is, 2007 'a hobbits odyssey' - I wonder what it will bring?

I just hope it is not as stagnant a year as 2006 was for me.

Watching the fireworks last night on the telly in the pub made me muse 'why does it always have to be from London and in front of Big Ben?' Ok so we had the unremarkable London Eye to look at whilst there was a panoply of fireworks in the back drop. Why can't we have celebrations from another city or landmark, there's plenty to choose from. The news did show other places celebrating but as ever London has to be the focal point. Alright there's obvious answers to this, 'it is the capital etc etc blah blah' but it would just be refreshing to see it done from somewhere else.

Lines of immigrants marching home under the lighting of big ben would have been much more pleasing.