Free advertising

My car. We have decided that our cars are a wonderful, free, previously untapped source of advertising. I am the guinea pig as you can see! If you see me around, give me a wave!

A picture says a thousand words

Have I got to do all the work round here?

Heave!!

Up a bit, to your left, no to your left, that's my left, your right! Round here, that's right, no I mean left, my left, your right! Oh let's go home!

Computer literate?

When I first went to work in the shop, Keith's son made me laugh by saying that he thought people should not be allowed to buy computers unless they had passed a test first.
Now, however, I am beginning to think he might have a point, especially when you have someone telling you they need a monitor which will work with Windows 98, or you spend 10 minutes on the phone talking someone through the spec. of a laptop and they ring you 5 minutes later, complaining that they haven't been told any details about this laptop except the price, so before they come to see it, they would like you to fax them the details. Then there's the lady ringing up on behalf of her husband for a 'power supply.' What is it for? you ask - a tower, a laptop, a monitor? A tower. Do you mean the 'kettle lead' ? I ask. Yes, that's right, she says. The husband then comes on to tell me it's for a small tower and it's only 6 inches long. Eventually, we establish that it's a PSU that he is looking for. The best today was a lady who came in and spent several minutes scrutinising the computer systems on display. Eventually she wandered over to ask if the units (part of the shop fittings) they were displayed on were for sale as she is looking for a corner unit for her son's computer.
(Maybe I'm the one who needs to do a test!)

Shopping for the desperate

Today has been a day for reorganising the shop. As this involved moving two large counters around the shop, (pictures tomorrow) we decided we had better close at least while this was being done. Shutting the door and putting the closed sign up had no effect. People still picked their way through and around the chaos as if nothing unusual was happening.
So then we put the shutters down, only half way, as we didn't really want to feel as if we were working in a metal container. Two minutes later, two more intrepid members of the public bent double to get under the shutters and came in to have a look around.
So, now we have the solution next time we have a quiet day and want to attract customers:
Pull the shop to pieces, put up the closed sign and pull down the shutters. Test their ingenuity!

Snow?

Yesterday at about 4 o'clock in the afternoon it began to snow. At first it was a whirlwind of huge flakes which disappeared as soon as they reached the ground as it had already been raining. (The weather was probably the reason why so few parents came into our school software fair.) Driving back to the shop, the snow was beginning to stick. In fact, on the fields, it was forming quite a thick layer. By half past five, my car was covered by about 3 inches of the stuff.
This morning, it took me about ten minutes to scrape inches of frozen snow off my windscreen, and that was with the aid of 2 different brands of de-icer!
Now I know some people love the snow, and I must admit, looking across to the hills from here, it is like a Christmas card, but snow in November? It's as bad as the shops putting up their Christmas decorations in October! I'm STILL waiting for summer!!

Feed the World

Today I heard the new version of Feed the World and saw the video. It was shown on BBC early this evening and I was delighted to see that Sugarbabes are part of the line-up. You may wonder why a 'more mature' person such as myself, and even worse, a more mature person who keeps telling everyone that nothing decent has been written since the Sixties, should be so pleased about the appearance of this group or even know of its existence!
The answer is that when Heidi Range (the blond one) was six years old, she was in my class. So that's my one and only claim to fame. Pathetic isn't it!!! :)

Tidying up

Today was 'tidying up' day - or at least the first of what promises to be several. Keith was organised to lift the heavy stuff and we had the back storage areas sorted in no time -well, a few hours, anyway. By lunch- time, he had gratefully accepted an invitation to have the afternoon off and duly scuttled off home. You can't get the staff these days! :)
Tomorrow - it's the office area. Now that IS a challenge!

Banks 'R not Us

This morning I tried to move some money from one account to another online but the pages were so slow to load, it kept timing out. Not to be outdone, I decided to check another account with a different bank. My first attempt to log-in failed because I made a mistake with the pass number. Second time, it was correct but it still wouldn't log me on. Third time was also correct but again I was refused and told I would now have to change my pass number but I could do it online.
I did try, but got the message that my request couldn't be carried out because some of the systems were down. There was a phone number, so eventually I did it by phone and was told that the new pass number would be sent by post and would take three days! All because I was locked out of my own account by problems with their system!
Sometimes, I think it would be better to keep my money in a sock under the mattress!

Busy day!

Yesterday was hectic in the shop, which is how we like it. Maybe Christmas shopping is finally getting under way, but in the middle of all the madness and mayhem, an elderly lady suddenly appeared before Keith and myself.
"I know this is a silly question," she said, "but do you sell cotton?"
Keith and I in unison: (very politely and shaking our heads regretfully) No, I'm terribly sorry, I'm afraid we don't. Have you tried next door?"
And off she went, one happy lady. Customer service! That's what it's all about! lol

You have to laugh, or you'd cry!

For those of us still around who observe the increasingly ridiculous attempts of the 'powers that be' in their manic attempts to control our lives with growing disbelief, have a look at this. You'll never eat sausages in the same light-hearted manner again - and if you're a fox or a smoker, be afraid, be very afraid.......unless you're both - then you're safe.

NHS employees roll up!

This week-end we are having a 10% off weekend for all who work in the N.H.S. around the area, which means that anything they buy, provided they have proof of where they work, they will get a 10% discount. So, as I said to Keith this morning, it's all hands to the deck this week-end, ready to cope with the queues of NHS employees all waving their stethoscopes and clamouring to spend their money with us.
So, a busy week-end ahead?
Not if it's anything like last week-end, which was a 10% off deal for all who work in schools around here - and we are talking about a pretty large area and a lot of schools. The total of responses last week-end was - er - none. No, wait - there was one phone call from someone who wanted to know if we had any Sony camcorders. As we don't sell camcorders, that was an easy query to deal with!
Oh well, back to the drawing board. What shall we do next? Dress up as the Incredible Hulk maybe?
(Get in here and buy something or I'll get angry! You won't like it if I get angry!!!) :)

The other side of the coin

Today we did a computer software fair at a local primary school and met some very pleasant, hard working, committed teachers and an especially nice headteacher, which made a very welcome change from our experiences yesterday. (Sorry, I forgot - that was only a fairy story!)
The wide variety of atmosphere and ethos in schools always intrigues me. You can usually get a good idea of what a school is like as soon as you go into the building. The common giveaways are the attitude of the secretary and headteacher, the friendliness or otherwise of staff as they pass you by on the way to wherever and, very importantly, the behaviour and attitude of the children.
There are schools which are like an educational version of the Ideal Homes Exhibition, which look very impressive but give the impression that everything is there for effect and the children have very little to do with it and, at the other end of the scale, there are those which have that 'lived in' look but are very 'hands on.'
Today's school was the latter, an old Victorian building, not very well maintained and definitely with a lived in look, but the staff were friendly and determined to make our visit as much of a success as they could. The headteacher made coffee for us when we arrived to set up - how impressive is that?
If I were still teaching, that is one school I would be happy to work in.

And the Most Awkward Customer Award winner this week is........

Once upon a time, there was a computer shop (Nothing to do with ours, a purely imaginary one) which also did repairs. One day a woman rang up (I will not dignify her with the title of lady) saying that she had bought a modem to fit in a computer (a long time ago, although she did not say this) and found it didn't work so she wanted to bring it back. When the shop lady said it would have to be tested to see whether it was faulty, she said, "Well, I'm not paying because when I brought my computer in to be repaired, someone charged me £10 so I took it home and vowed never to come to your shop again, and I haven't until now."

So the woman brought in the computer, which, the technician discovered, was trying to run Windows XP on only 128mb Ram which, as you will all know, is pushing it to say the least! When this was pointed out to the customer, she lost her temper and said that the technician was making excuses and was not a professional and didn't want to sort out the problem of the modem and, furthermore, had been very rude to her. She turned red in the face and stamped her foot. At this, the technician's fairy godmother became very angry with the customer and suggested that maybe her attitude was not helping (or words to that effect!). The customer called her a 'stupid, f............ cow' and stamped her foot again and demanded her computer back. By now there were two more customers in the shop and she shouted at them too.
I would like to end this story by reporting that both the customer and her computer were forcibly ejected from the shop, but I can't because the people who work there are too nice to do that. Mind you, if the fairy godmother comes face to face with her again in the near future, there is no saying what might happen.................. Watch this space!!

Feeling your age?

For those of us 'in the prime of life' - (you know who you are!) This came to me from Dale in Canada.

Some of the artists from the '60s , 70's, 80's are revising their hits with new lyrics to accommodate us aging baby boomers. This is good news for "those feeling a little older" and missing those great old tunes.
Herman's Hermits
"MRS. BROWN, YOU'VE GOT A LOVELY WALKER"
The Bee Gees
"HOW CAN YOU MEND A BROKEN HIP"
Bobby Darin
"SPLISH, SPLASH, I WAS HAVIN' A FLASH"
Ringo Starr
"I GET BY WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM DEPENDS"
Roberta Flack
"THE FIRST TIME EVER I FORGOT YOUR FACE"
Johnny Nash
"I CAN'T SEE CLEARLY NOW"
Paul Simon
"FIFTY WAYS TO LOSE YOUR LIVER"
Commodores
"ONCE, TWICE, THREE TIMES TO THE BATHROOM"
Marvin Gaye
"I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPE NUTS"
Procol Harem
"A WHITER SHADE OF HAIR"
Leo Sayer
"YOU MAKE ME FEEL LIKE NAPPING"
The Temptations
"PAPA'S GOT A KIDNEY STONE"
ABBA
"DENTURE QUEEN”

Wine on keyboards (2)

Keith would like me to inform everyone that, owing to the fact that the wine he threw all over the keyboard was the last of the bottle and he hates seeing wine go to waste anyway, he has spent the last few days desperately sucking the residue from between the keys! (In case you are getting worried - i am joking!)
However, the new keyboard - which is much nicer to use - came in a box! Yes, you've guessed it. Said box is now in pride of place on top of the music centre! The excuse? Well, it happens to be the same size as the surface area of the music centre plus its speakers. You see, there is method in his madness! :)

Lunch anyone?

Every morning at 11.20am precisely, Keith looks at his Starship Enterprise clock in the shop and starts to make 'food' signals which is my cue to ask what everyone wants for their lunch. Being the 'junior' it is usually my task to pop round to KwikSave and browse the delicatessen counter in search of what Keith normally calls 'jubbly bits' - in other words, his lunch!
Doing this on a daily basis means it sometimes becomes a little difficult to ring the changes, but tonight, I have the answer, thoughtfully provided by Michael Palin in his current Sunday evening programme Himalayas with Michael Palin. He has just mentioned having 'dried yak buttock' for breakfast!
So there we are - when anyone decides they are bored with what's on offer at the local deli, I shall suggest yak buttock sandwiches.
Mind you, I'm not sure how the girls on Kwik Save's deli counter will react when I ask them for it! On second thoughts, perhaps I am...........

Manners!

A couple stood before me in the shop this afternoon, having come to collect their computer which had been in for repair. The job had been done, at some discount as they are longstanding, though difficult, customers but the woman pulled her chequebook out of her bag with exceeding reluctance. The expression on her face was reminiscent of having teeth pulled without an anaesthetic.
Then they wanted to look at a flat screen monitor. Again they were offered it at £10 less than normal price.
"We're good customers. We've spent thousands of pounds with you over the years. Can you do it for thirty pounds less?" asked the man.
The argument that if we did that, there would be no profit in it at all for the business and that we do, after all, have to make a living cut no ice at all.
"Well, I can get it at that price from Argos," was the reply, followed by a rant on what good customers they are and how little appreciated that fact was. It was then pointed out to him that he has also had a lot of support (for issues brought about by his incompetence, but we won't go into that!). This also cut no ice and two disgruntled people stalked out of the shop.
I was left wondering what it is about some people that the more you give them, the more they demand, without a hint of gratitude or graciousness and, secondly, if they feel they get so little satisfaction from our shop, why do they keep coming back because, as sure as anything, they will be on the phone during the week, having messed up the system yet again and demanding free, lengthy consultations and advice. And, guess what, this time, they won't be getting it! The worm has turned!!

Red wine and keyboards

I have noticed recently that the spacebar on the desktop computer keyboard doesn't work properly. Inotherwordsitdoesn'tleavespacesbetweenwords! However, Keith to the rescue - he has fixed it. Not in the ordinary sense of the word, of course. Keith doesn't 'do' ordinary! His method of fixing was to tip a glass of finest Australian red all over it (well Australian red, anyway). So now, none of the keys work.However, not to be outdone, I retrieved another one from the cupboard under the stairs. (Doesn't everyone keep keyboards under the stairs?) And guess what! That one doesn't work either. Why? Well, it's had red wine tipped over it.You'd think he'd have learned by now, wouldn't you? It's white wine that does the trick!

Trees in autumn

Autumn in Westonbirt Arboretum, taken yesterday, a day of sunshine -hurray!!

Just follow the destructions!

I popped down to Bristol today to bring Dad an early Christmas present, a printer/scanner. Set it up, correct leads present, driver disk present, went through the motions only to find that the scanner was showing an error message and refusing to play ball. After over an hour, during which time the dratted thing came perilously close to being hurled through the window, I gave in and called my personal helpline, Keith.
"Have you unlocked the scanner?" was the mild enquiry.
"What do you mean?"
"Didn't you read that yellow piece of paper at the side which said unlock the scanner?" was the reply.
"Oh........"
Machine is now fully installed and working like a trooper. However, what I want to know is why the error message which came up said 'Refer to documentation and call Service if necessary." Why couldn't it just have said, 'unlock scanner' or even 'please unlock scanner.'?????
Oh no, sorry, that would be tooooooo easy!!!! Grrrrrr!!

OFSTED cometh

I popped in to a local primary school this afternoon to deliver leaflets and letters promoting a forthcoming computer software fair we are going to hold there next week. The headteacher, a very pleasant man, mentioned that the school would be having an OFSTED inspection in January and detailed all the paperwork which had already been requested. I mentioned a neighbouring school which I knew had recently been inspected, one of the first to be on the receiving end of the new, so-called 'light touch' inspections, the object of which is to be more user-friendly to the schools and be less disruptive to the daily routine.
"Oh, yes," said the Head, "I was talking to the Head there the other day. He said he was grilled in depth for 15 hours altogether."
Bearing in mind that a new-style inspection in a small primary school, such as we were talking about, would last only 2-3 days, that means the 'grilling' would have lasted about 5 hours each day, and that's before they started on the co-ordinators, deputy, support staff, lesson obserations etc. How on earth was that Headteacher supposed to do his normal work with 5 hours being taken out of his day? Light touch, eh?
Oh, and the Head I was talking to, obviously very committed to the pupils in his school, is eagerly looking forward to being able to retire.
I wonder why???

Welsh wildlife

We had a quick spin around the local countryside yesterday afternoon and came across at least half a dozen pheasants. For once, I managed to get a reasonable photo of one of them, but only a rear view!

A squirrel

I quite often catch a glimpse of a squirrel when I take Lucy for a walk around the lake and now that the leaves are falling, it's a little easier to see them. Today, I had my camera at the ready and, after a few unsuccessful attempts, managed to get this one. Although it's a bit dark (I haven't had time to doctor it at all), it's my best effort - trust me, look carefully, there really is a squirrel up there in that tree. Only a grey one, I'm afraid, but you can't have everything!
If you want to bore yourself silly with more autumn pics, have a look at my Webshots page.
There's a new autumn album there, which I will add to as and when.

Pulling teeth

Whilst practising my usual task avoidance strategy (blog-surfing instead of working!) I came across this fascinating post from Justitia. I wonder how far this goes towards explaining loss of short term memory in the elderly. In the past, people often had all their teeth pulled once they started having trouble with them, rather than having endless dental treatment which they didn't want or couldn't afford.
Anyway, I should be all-right. I'll be keeping all my teeth for the foreseeable future unless the government gets its act together and improves access to dental care in North Wales, which at present, for new patients, is non-existent. (See here for my previous rant on this subject). So I should live on into a wise old age - right?

Voyage autour du lac!

One of my favourite walks with Lucy is around the lake at the back of our house.
This is the view across the lake at the moment. The leaves are glowing with their autumn colours and on the morning I took this, it wasn't raining! (It made up for that later on, of course!)

You knew this already, didn't you?

Some very sensible, worthwhile and true comments from my friend, T.K. Enjoy!!

Men are like... Laxatives... They irritate the shit out of you.

Men are like... Bananas... The older they get, the less firm they are.

Men are like... Weather... Nothing can be done to change them.

Men are like... Blenders... You need One, but you're not quite sure why.

Men are like... Chocolate Bars... Sweet, smooth, and they usually head right for your hips.

Men are like... Commercials... You can't believe a word they say.

Men are like... Department Stores... Their clothes are always 1/2 off.

Men are like... Government Bonds... They take soooooooo long to mature.

Men are like... Mascara... They usually run at the first sign of emotion.

Men are like... Popcorn... They satisfy you, but only for a little while.

Men are like... Snowstorms... You never know when they're coming, how many inches you'll get or how long it will last.

Men are like... Lava Lamps... Fun to look at, but not very bright.

Men are like... Parking Spots... All the good ones are taken, the rest are handicapped.

Diet? Moi?

I have the morning off but I have been very good and not spent all morning on the computer! I have taken Lucy for a walk and done the domestic goddess bit - hoovering, dusting, tidying, the washing has washed and is now drying as I write and I have even sorted out my wordrobe and 'rationalised' it, as one erstwhile colleague was fond of saying when she was throwing out folders of out of date National Curriculum stuff. That brought me to the realisation of a long-held suspicion - I need to diet! No, correct that- we need to diet. At work it's all too easy to nip out for fish and chips with curry sauce or large portions of chicken and mushroom or steak and kidney pie accompanied by chicken nuggets or spicy chicken wings, followed by cakes.
But, hang on - I don't do that! I don't even eat meat and avoid any processed food as far as possible. I use skimmed or soya milk, never take sugar, never eat chips or crisps or butter. So what am I doing wrong???
It just ain't fair!
Correction! Keith needs to diet! He's the one eating all that junk food, not me. Maybe he could diet for both of us!

New look again!

The more eagle eyed among you may notice yet another template change. Told you I had a low boredom threshold! In fact, I had done a lot of fiddling with the other one and it was taking a long time to load, so that was a good enough excuse to get me started.
So, while Keith cowered in the background, fearing the smoke coming out of my ears when things went wrong, I, being now an expert, comparatively speaking, managed the change with relatively few problems! (Miracles do happen!)
It's not all finished yet, but I hope you all like it - especially my friend T.K. who is still missing the green template! :)

Brassed Off - Theatr Clwyd

Last night we went to Theatr Clwyd to see a brilliant play, Brassed off. I have never been to this theatre before; it's not very big but it contains 2 theatres and a cinema, which means that each one is small enough to enable the audience to have a clear view wherever they are sitting and also to feel part of the performance.
I always enjoy going to the theatre, although I probably don't go as often as I would like, but I really can't remember a performance that I enjoyed so much. The storyline is about the struggle of a tight-knit Welsh mining community faced with the closure of the pit which is practically their only source of employment and of their brass band which is a focus of unity for the community. The performance included live brass music - even the leading characters were actually playing their instruments. The portrayal of determination to keep the pit open gradually gave way to the cynical realisation that the powers that be had already made their decision to close it, no matter what and were manipulating the families involved through their conditional offers of redundancy payments. "Take it now and don't argue. We'll win in the end anyway."
The argument within the community was about the conflict between the short term benefit of taking what was offered and the fact that, by so doing, they were betraying future generations of workers, but, in fact, it was the government which was doing that; the choice was not really theirs to make. If you have seen the film, you know the story but this performance was immeasurably better.
'Brassed off' is playing at Theatr Clwyd until mid November and if you live within travelling distance of Mold, you shouldn't miss it. As I said at the beginning - it's brilliant!

Rain! Rain! Rain!

Ever since we came back from France, it seems as if it has been raining. Some days a little, some days a lot, showers, drizzle, storms, gales, thunder and lightning, we've had it all. To look on the bright side, at least I am not still in school, struggling to contain stir-crazy classes of pupils through endless wet playtimes. Come to think of it, given our unpredictable climate, I have never understood why schools in Britain are not built with a verandah so that the children could at least get out for some air on rainy days, but that's another story.
Looking back before our holiday, we don't seem to have had many dry days since Spring either. In fact, I feel as if we are still waiting for summer and it is now nearly winter. Two months from today it will be Christmas, next week-end the clocks go back and we will return to dark evenings and soon afterwards to foggy evenings, frosty mornings and, eventually, no doubt, ice and snow.
Meanwhile, the leaves on the trees are beautiful in their autumn colours and there is an indefinable tang in the air at this time - but not when it is raining all the time! Too much of the wet stuff is beginning to affect everyone's mood. Customers are irritable and complaining, staff (in other shops, of course, not ours!)are impatient and disinterested. To add to the problem, Wales is earmarked for yet more storms mid-week - when will it end!

The font

The altar in St Beuno's chapel

St Beuno's and Rupert Davies

We had a very interesting find on our travels today. We set off towards the Lleyn Peninsular, going over the mountain from Bala to Trawsfynydd and somewhere en route, we came across a little village called Pistyll and a tiny chapel, whose sign proclaimed that it was called St Beuno's. I was aware of the Jesuit church and retreat centre of the same name near St Asaph, so I was curious to see this one, not Catholic but Church in Wales. We got out of the car, wandered through the little cemetery, where many of the gravestones were inscribed in welsh, and found the door of the chapel. I tried the handle, fully expecting it to be either locked or to open onto a derelict building but what a surprise! Inside was a fully furnished chapel, complete with a dressed altar, pews, font and even a visitor's book. As you can see from the weblink, it is kept decorated with herbs etc throughout the year, so the last time it was decorated would have been early August. Stepping into the chapel was like stepping into a moment frozen in time; it reminded me of Miss Haversham's house in 'Great Expectations' yet it seemed well cared for and not a bit neglected. Unfortunately, there was no-one around to talk to about it so we had to wait until
Outside in the cemetery, another surprise awaited us. We looked at some of the more recent gravestones and suddenly discovered Rupert Davies' grave. If you were born since the 1960's his name may not mean much to you, but for us, he symbolises the 60's TV series of Maigret in which he played the title role. Looking on the internet this evening, we discovered that he was also one of the voices on the puppet series 'Joe 90' which I didn't know before.
So, all in all, an interesting day out and to finish it off, there was a lovely rainbow on the way home.
To see today's photos, look at my Webshots album, Bala and Black Rock. There are a few photos of the chapel and cemetery there too.