Author: pete

Categories
Meander

Evenings

As I may have mentioned before, my wife likes to go to bed at about 10pm. For the most part, I am happy to stay up a bit later.

Recently, I have been finding that one of the following things happens:

1. At 10pm, she goes to bed. I’m tired too, so I go to bed as well.
2. At 10pm, she goes to bed. I can’t think of anything important that needs doing, so I figure that I might as well get a bit of extra sleep too.
3. At 10pm, she goes to bed. I’m not ready to go to bed yet, so I kill a bit of time before going to bed at 11pm. Last night, for instance, I fiddled about with the oven timer and then played Gran Turismo 3 for half an hour.
4. At 10pm, she goes to bed. I fancy watching a film, so I do that, and join her at midnight.

I remember how I used to have all sorts of interesting projects on the go, and would beaver away industriously until midnight or 1am, before finally, reluctantly, retiring to bed. But I don’t seem to have any such project happening right now. Also, whereas once I would happily spod for hours, I no longer gain pleasure from twiddling my e-thumbs. Which is why I find myself at 10pm with no appealing options, other than “get some sleep”.

I’m old, boring, and curmudgeonly.

A curmudgeon with an Oxford comma, mind.

Uphill

Any day now, I’m going to resume cycling to work. Aaaany day now.

It’s difficult to overcome the inertia that has accumulated since mid-November. I know how much I will enjoy the cycling, once I finally pull myself together and do it, but I don’t want to commit to the 10 mile round trip until I’ve been out for a brief ride to check that (a) it’s not bollock-shatteringly cold and (b) the bike hasn’t suffered some catastrophic failure over the winter, for instance, mice knawing through the brake cables. Right now, I’m failing to escape the draw of the cosy warm automobile.

I’ve got gloves. Bernard bought them for me for Christmas, and I’ve only had one or two opportunities to use them so far. Instead of wearing a pair of crumbling wool gloves (which have acquired holes at the tips of the fingers, and are probably destined for the bin) I’ll be wearing a proper pair of cycling gloves, with textured palms that allow me to actually operate that bloody twist-grip gear change system when it’s raining, instead of having to give up and ride home in whatever gear I’ve found myself in.

There’s more light right now than there was when I packed the bike away in November. The sunset was at about 4pm then, and it’s at nearly 6pm now (and at the end of the month, it will be at 7:30pm, of course). So light is no excuse.

Cold and wet, however, are. Oh, and laziness. Don’t forget the laziness.

Categories
Gardening

Milo

Karen and I went to the awesome Hare Hatch Sheeplands on Saturday, this time to buy some fruit bushes for the allotment. Bernard fell asleep in the car on the way over.

*What’s the plan?* I asked.

“You’re going to stay in the car while I go and buy the fruit bushes. I’m being decisive, for once. I hope you like it.”

*I do like it. Feel free to buy me some nougat from the farm shop.* I said, while I pulled into a parking space.

She made it clear that this was not going to happen.

So I sat in the car, listening to Jonathan Ross, with Bernard snoozing in the back. Some time later, she returned.

“I brought you something.”

Milo

Meet Milo. The name owes its existence to a terrible, terrible pun.

More context.

Categories
Gardening Photos

Fork

fork

Categories
Gardening Photos

Hey, Free Rhubarb!

hey, free rhubarb!

The *Hey, Free Rhubarb!* as mentioned before.

Categories
Displeasure

Book online?

Hey, Specsavers, here’s a little newsflash for you.

Being able to book an eye examination online is NOT the same thing as providing a form for people to fill in, and then phoning them back to actually make the booking.

When your reminder letter said *Book your appointment online* I was expecting to be able to actually, y’know, book an appointment online. If I wanted to book over the telephone, then don’t you think that I’d just phone your number instead?

Granted, your system does have the advantage that I wouldn’t have to wait in a call queue, but I still can’t help feeling that you’ve missed the point.

Categories
Meander

Dork

I’m an idiot. I just booked a dentist appointment for the same day that I was planning to send the car into the garage for its service and MOT. I need my car to get to the dentist.

UPDATE: I’m not an idiot. I’m going to send the car into the garage two days earlier.

Categories
Guidance

How To Leave Pipex: Part 5

The refund did eventually materialise, and it only took five weeks. It felt like longer, but I suppose that’s because I live in an ideal world where such a simple task (type in an account ID, verify that you owe them money, click a button to create a transaction of the specified amount) should take five minutes at most.

Maybe they read this website.

*Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.*

Categories
Gardening Photos

Jade plant

Jade plant

Categories
Displeasure Guidance

How To Leave Pipex: Part 4

Of course, it’s never that simple. The Pipex business model, like that of most letting agents, revolves around *surprising* you out of a few quid at the tail end of your contract.

Here’s how it works. When you sign the Pipex contract, you agree to give 30 days notice. Those 30 days begin on the day when you **receive** the MAC code. So when I received my MAC code on the 26th November, they scheduled my account to close on the 26th December.

So even though they ceased to provide me with a service on the 13th December (when the changeover took place) they were going to keep charging me for the next two weeks. Okay, I’m not entirely happy about it, but it’s what’s in the contract, so other than appealing to their good nature, there’s not much I can do.

But Pipex have one last trick up their sleeve. When my billing date came around (19th December) they weren’t going to just take payment for the remaining week of my contract. Oh no. They were going to take a month’s payment, and I was then permitted to request a pro-rata refund for the unused period (ie 26th December to 19th January). Unsurprisingly, this refund has not yet materialised, despite my best efforts.

So the one piece of advice that I would offer to anyone planning to leave Pipex is to request your MAC code 5 working days ((Pipex are obliged, by law, to give you the MAC code within 5 working days)) before your billing date (rather than a week after) and then, if you wish to minimise “overlap”, set the changeover date to be as late as possible. In my case, I should have requested the MAC code around the 12th of the month so that my contract came to an end just before my billing date, rather than a week after.

Pipex are ruthless bastards, and will use all the tricks at their disposal to wring every last penny out of you. Don’t expect any mercy from them.

*Continues here.*

*Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.*