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!!