What are you all up to
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Grrrrrr😡🤯trying to do a simple online shop order, a company we have used a few times before. Have bought enough to qualify for free delivery, but it won’t apply this at the checkout. Gone back in three times now, completely from the beginning, but no, still no joy. So, had to email. That’s a half hour of my life I won’t get back, puff, gone.
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OH has done a small Xmas food order from M&S, lot of problems checking out due to them having different log ins for buying clothes, their Sparks scheme, and Xmas food ordering. Got it sorted eventually.
Most Xmas stuff is now sold out everywhere, and DS, where we will be for Xmas, has not organised what he wants us to bring, so OH has ordered a few things that we might need, but that can mainly be frozen if not required.
She is having problems with the Guide Hall accounts with Bank of Scotland, accounts we have had for many years, 30+ years. The hall has a savings account where most money is kept and OH moves in money as needed, but BOS have changed something and she needs to set up both accounts as payees from one to the other…….but she cannot!
Today she spent almost 2 hours on the phone trying to sort it, but BOS say it cannot be done. So now she has to wait till they POST a form to her to fill in, they cannot e mail it apparently, then take it to a branch, or POST it back. Then it will take another 2-4 working days to be dealt with before she can access the funds. Meantime the current account will run out of money and the cleaner cannot be paid, and DDs will bounce.
Bank is not that bothered that something they have done has caused this problem. OH will need to pay in some money from somewhere (probably from our personal account) to stop DDs bouncing. Totally incredible that the bank cannot sort this out! They are claiming that the way she has been operating the accounts for the last 15 years should not have been possible. It is pretty much beyond belief! You could not make it up!
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Just another thought what about local charities? Some of the bigger ones have local shops selling things. Whether that runs to electrical items I am not sure?
David
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I assume the BOS think you shouldn't have a savings account as well as a current account? A lot of banks don't seem to be interested supporting volunteer organisations these days. We had a problem recently with the account for our Pensioner Group. Is the interest actually worth keeping two accounts?
David
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My cousin runs an animal charity shop, and she takes certain electrical items. Has them PAT tested, and if all ok, asks for donations. They have to be checked out though, and in good overall condition
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Some of our charity shops take in and sell electrical goods. I think it depends on whether they have someone who can PAT test them.
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@Wherenext, (again no red signature,) lovely photos, but hope that the snow goes quickly so that you can get out from the close so as you can get your new wellies.
@milliehull (worked that time!😕) we will head off when we intend to, provided there is no more snow where we are heading. By all the weather forecasts it will start to warm up as the week goes on so we should be ok, fingers crossed.
We had the very lightest of snowfall last night and all clear by the morning, although the temperature didn't get much above 3C all day. Pre trip haircut for OH this morning followed by a brisk walk in the park. Generally just getting prepared for the trip.
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I thought we would escape it - but no - the white stuff has started to fall out of the sky with a vengeance! Unusual for us to get snow on the coast - and especially at this time of the year. Bitterly cold with the northerly wind as well. Ros has gone shopping and I'm expecting a phone call any minute to say she can't get up the hill to our house😏
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No snow for us yesterday just rain windy and grey skies, today it is very bright but cold. I spent yesterday cooking for most of the day. A treacle sponge pudding, sweet potato and mushroom soup, black pudding mixed with sausage meat for scotch eggs and a roast for dinner. My cousin and I are both keen cooks and regularly swap recipes, both of our Mums were good cooks and their Mum was a professional pastry cook. I can still remember Grans gorgeous pastries. Cousin recently sent me a boiled fruitcake recipe which is now OHs favourite, he says he’d like it instead of Christmas cake but I’m not sure. I was thinking about others comments on sewing and knitting, I can’t sew but have knitted many items. My Mum was a brilliant knitter, in this cold weather I’m still wearing, just around the house, a woollen jumper she made me, its at least 29 years old and looks fine, and is so warm, bless her. My cousin and I both love gardening as well as cooking, our Gran was a cook and Grandad a gardener, I’m sure there is something in this hereditary stuff.
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Beautiful day here today but pretty cold. Car still has a covering of frost as where we park it doesn't get much sun at this time of year. Just seen some photos on Facebook posted by a former colleague who is walking in Snowdonia. Light covering of snow everywhere and bright sunshine, wonderful.
David
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our Gran was a cook and Grandad a gardener,
Debsc, Mrs.WN says snap. Her Grandad was head gardener for a manor house estate in Scotland with Gran being a cook. When WWII broke out the house was commandeered and they had to leave so moved to Lancashire. OH definitely has some gardening skill from grandad but I'd best not say anything about the cooking. Suffice to say I do it, mainly for self preservation.😂
A bitterly cold day when the sun goes in but being south facing for the day rooms helps. Must apologise to the council as we actually had a gritter down our way before lunch.
Also finally received the "urgent" phone call from Kwik-Fit. As thought, it was human error. Somebody pressed M instead of N for a registration number and got our old car. Whoever invented the Querty keyboard could have put the B between the N and M. When people are speaking M&N sound the same.
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Lovely day here too @DavidKlyne. The sun is shining although it's quite cold out. I've been up to storeage to clean the front of the caravan (with Dry Sparkle). Did the back the other day, so I'll see if I get the chance to do either the nearside or offside tomorrow. The sides don't look to bad the awning rail protectors keep it relatively clean. See what tomorrow brings....
David
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Just had a phone call from the Service Manager at ALV in Tebay to say my new Truma boiler has arrived. That was quick, they only ordered it yesterday lunchtime. Booked in for next Wednesday and I'll stay overnight in their yard - too far to do it there and back in a day (at my age!), plus I don't like towing in the dark. At the moment, weather forecast is looking OK.
Was really surprised to hear that they've had no snow at all up there - and ours only lasted about three hours - moved down the coast into Lincolnshire, according to lunchtime weather forecast.
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@richardandros thats great service, and a wise decision this time of year.
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They are happy enough for her to have the current account and the savings account, in fact there are 2 savings accounts, the second one being a 6 month fixed rate account at a better rate of interest, but she did not want to lock away too much in case there were unexpected repairs required. The account causing the problem does not pay as much interest, it was better last year when rates in general were higher, but the rate has slumped now, but basically OH does not like to keep too much sitting in the current account for security, and every little helps, it gets about £10 per month interest at present.
The problem seems to be that the bank has made some changes to how they treat transfers between accounts, and for some reason they have not originally linked the 2 accounts . They have also lost the mandate saying who can operate the various accounts, so a mess of their own making.
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why does none of that surprise me?
It's about time someone held the banks to account! Closing branches, saying no one uses them. Folk needing big mileage round trips, assuming they can drive. Promising a hub - but very few have materialised. Then I understand there are various hitches, your bank iisn's represented on every opening day, no printers, unable to deal with probate accounts, mortgages….. They all say its fine use online, cash at the Post Office. Turns out to be lots of limits on the latter regarding cash. Now there's talk of Post Office closures, on top of their other problems……… Stash of cash under the mattress me thinks. I went into Nationwide on Monday, greeted by a human, conversation - well passing time of day. Turns out they are busy most days with people! There were just 3 customers in, 2 desks open, but it was quietest it had been all day. I do online banking but still need a visit from time to time.
bitterly cold day here, but so very bright and clear with lovely air.
Various bits and bobs in the way of errands today, didn't get chance to go back to do advent calendar making. 5 hours yesterday and should be ready to start to stitch now. I'd forgotten how long these heirloom pieces take.
phone call, strange only as I only chased on Monday, to offer OH an appointment for the oral surgery cancelled at late notice in June. Said yes and had to rearrange/reschedule other stuff including dog groom. Got to look the part for Christmas. Appointment booked 16 Weeks ago so I was amazed I could swap. Tesco delivery prepare dinner and poof the day had gone.
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Grand service from your dealer and Truma,? @richardandros. The weather for next week doesn't look too bad, although possibly a bit wet but warmer than this week.
@DEBSC we too use a recipe for a boiled fruitcake, in fact it is an old Be-Ro receipe!! Tastes great and much easier to make than a full Christmas style fruitcake.
It has been a fine sunny day but with a biting wind.Thankfully we have missed the snow and with it being so dry and with a breeze all the while the roads are free from ice. Fingers crossed that it is similar tomorrow.
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Hi David
I am not sure if they would have wanted an old but very large carpet cleaner that my friend gave me. It worked very well but was far too big. I would have taken it to the Heart Foundation shop, as they have a lot of room and do take eletricals if I had known that the tip were simply going to throw it into a skip. The other things that I took, I wasn't sure if any of them actually worked but I thought that recycling companies took them apart to make use of any of the components or metals which are in them, but apparently our local council no longer have that type of facility.
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I have noticed that if your are BUYING something, then it can often be supplied and/or fitted very quickly, but if you want something REPAIRED, often under warranty, then there is usually some sort of problem getting the spare parts. I know that I am being cynical but sadly that is often the way of the world (or just the UK perhaps) these days.
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@vbfg -totally agree and that was part of my thinking when I opted to go for a new boiler. The new boiler is about £1600 - and bearing in mind it cost me £750 in January just to have two heating elements replaced, I could see another big bill looming which might be well on the way towards a new unit - plus a lot of delays in diagnosing the problem and then sending for spares etc etc. I just thought it better to get the job done - stay overnight and come back the next day and it was all sorted, ready for us going away at Christmas. Plus I get a two year warranty on the new boiler. I'm afraid I'm a bit impatient as well and get annoyed when things don't work and just want them sorted as quickly as possible. Getting a bit long in the tooth for all this aggravation and just want normality restored😀
Part of the problem is the dealer being so far away - but after-sales at ALV has always been excellent - and anyway, I knew what I was potentially taking on when we bought from them, so no one to blame but me!
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Took longer this morning clearing the snow off the car and drive than it did when I eventually did the shopping at Tesco, which seemed remarkably quieter than it was on Monday when panic buying, or maybe it was a practice run for Christmas, had set in as snow was mentioned in the weather forecast.
Partly cleared the snow off The Van but not doing the roof. Anyway it started to snow again. Had been a sunny day mostly so heating stayed off until 10 minutes ago.
@richardandros - better to have to travel to a reliable dealer than have a local one that is useless. We've had both in our time.
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@vbfg Having been in the electrical appliance trade between 1984 and 1998 repairs are generally just not worth it on small appliances. When you can buy an electric kettle for under £20 just work out how long it would take to dismantle it and replace part of it. If I call a plumber in to do a job in my house he charges me £84 an hour so if that is fairly standard,15 minutes repairing a kettle you have gone over the price of a new one. Obviously the more expensive an item is probably makes it a bit more worthwhile. Vacuum Cleaners, assuming its not the motor, can probably been repaired by the owners providing you can get the parts. In 1999 we purchased a SEBO cleaner, which then cost £200. Its still working (but heavy) and over the years it has been worth me doing my own repairs which have included a new cable and cable attachment and a new roller brush. Fortunately it was a design based on a commercial cleaner so designed for easy repair. Going back a few more years we used to sell a basic Flymo lawnmower for £50, if one ever needed a motor replace outside of warranty it cost £45!!! There is another issue which might not be generally known which is some manufacturers offer a free replacement within the warranty period but no repair option, it does depend on the value of the product. I have whittled on a bit but all is sometimes not what it seems in the general perception of how retailers and manufacturers work things through.
David
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The weather was fine and sunny this morning, but still around freezing. We headed off in the caravan and arrived at our chosen site just after noon where there was snow on the lawns but all roads and the house drive were clear. It has been a rather mixed afternoon with sunshine then a couple of short snow showers followed by rain. Just hope that it doesn't freeze over night.
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glad you got away Nellie. Very cold here, but thankfully dry. Haircut for me this morning. Glad to say compan6 that I couldn’t order from have been in touch and sorted things out for me, so that’s good service😁 It’s a very nice Cheese outlet, called Cheshire Cheese Company, some delicious choices.
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@Takethedogalong glad you got sorted out with the Cheese Company, you don't want something you have order from them lost in the post! Are you are feeling a chill round the ears after your haircut as I know my OH is.😁
Have just had a flyover by a helicopter that was so low the whole of the caravan throbbed and vibrated!😳😜
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As normal we went to Waitrose this morning. Nothing remarkable in that except Margaret is really struggling with her right hip and she really has to push herself to think she can walk around a supermarket even with a stick. Anyway she managed reasonably well. I do try to persuade her that trying to walk a bit further will make an improvement however small but sometimes she is not convinced. The very powerful pain killers she is on don't seem to be making a lot of difference. She has had no luck with getting an appointment to see a Consultant and she has been told by the hospital it will probably be in 2024 before she does. She has been to her doctor who has tried move her forward but thus far no luck. We did approach with him the idea of paying for the initial consultation privately, he wanted to see if he had any luck first and did point out that whilst you would get to see the Consultant sooner you wouldn't be any further up the list for the operation if it was done on the NHS. Our rational was to get the Consultant to appreciate how bad she is in the hope that she might be moved up a category. We have seriously thought about having it done privately but there is a complication. As Margaret has had a heart bypass operation private hospital can be reluctant to operate which really leaves the NHS as the only choice. Seeing a Consultant would at least confirm one way or another.
David
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🤣 OH bought me a lovely Harris Tweed ear warmer, so I can cope now it’s short.
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Doubt OH would wear those, so it is her new bobble hat that has been put to good use.
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it’s not ear muffs, more a headband😁cosy without the hair squash🤣
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It's grey, barely light and snowing again this morning…………unlike 25 years ago when Ros and I walked to the Registry Office in Beverley in lovely sunshine - didn't even need a coat - together with our friends Philomena and Tony as witnesses. Then to the Forest and Vale in Pickering for the smallest Wedding Reception they have ever known - just the four of us! Even had photographs in the garden😀
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