Drives me batty!
Problems, problems, problems...
Problems, problems, problems... I'd read about other people making big moves like the one we're doing to Canada and about how loads of things broke down right before they left. It's like your household appliances know that you're leaving and they're pissed off with you.
Here's our list so far (I'm sure I'll be able to add to it later):
About a month ago, our dryer conked out. I was doing laundry, put the wet clothes into the dryer and noticed that it was only blowing cold air. The clothes did not dry at all. Stephen's done all he can but it still won't work. We've been using the washing line since then. Luckily, it's summertime, but when we get a rainy few days, we start running out of things to wear. Either that, or we end up with wet clothes hung from every available hook in the house.
Then, our iron started spewing this tar-like substance onto our clothes. And it doesn't come off. Ever! I have no idea what's causing it except to say that perhaps it's possessed by the devil.
The drive shaft is going on our car (I think that's what Stephen called it...) and the car makes a weird knocking sound whenever Stephen makes a right turn.
And finally, our boiler packed in yesterday. This one is definitely the worst, as we've sold the house including a working boiler. Our boiler is very old and there's no doubt that it needs replacing, but it worked! And that was enough for us and for our buyers. I won't lie and say that we haven't had problems recently. I mean, it's death hasn't come as a complete surprise to us. It started with the pilot light going out after extended use of the hot water. That was no real problem. We'd shower or what, then go and relight the boiler. We had a technician tell us that it needed a good clean because the insides were coated with limescale. We tried that, but it didn't seem to help. Now it's died and we'll have to replace it before we move. What a pain in the ass.
That list doesn't seem particularly long, but I can assure you that our lives have been that little bit more difficult because of these things. I'm looking forward to getting to Canada, where our appliances will appreciate us.
Ewwww!
I just finished mopping up ketchup. Miss Butter-fingers (that's me) dropped the 1 Ltr bottle whilst taking it out of the fridge. It hit the floor and promptly exploded. Up the walls, on the fridge door, all over my slippers, my trousers, and spread across the kitchen floor.
I shouted: "Shit, shit, shit!" And no one came running. I got down on my hands and knees and wiped it all up. I was able to salvage only the couple of tablespoons still left in the bottle.
Now I'm in a crappy mood.
The nerve!
Checking my bank account balance online today, I was a bit surprised. It was a bit lower than I had expected. So I looked at my account history, wondering if my recent baby spending had gotten out of hand, and I noticed 5 transactions done over the last week that I didn't recognize.
One was for Figleaves.com, apparently an online underwear retailer. One was for Amazon.co.uk. That could have been mine, but you'd think I'd remember a transaction from yesterday! One for Gameseek for over £70! A similar amount for Game Online. And finally about £40 at Etam SA, whatever that is. The total comes up to about £200!
I called my bank and they did a little research. All of these transactions, I'm told, are either internet or mail order purchases. But without further investigation, they cannot tell me what was purchased or where the stuff was shipped.
The bank recon that my debit card had been cloned. Can you believe it? The nerve of these criminals!
Thankfully, I'm with a bank who is going to refund me the transactions by end of business on Monday. They've cancelled my card and a new one has been issued. I've been advised to continue shopping - both in person and over the internet - as I always have. Unfortunately, there is no real way to protect oneself from these things.
During the next week, I'll receive a letter from the bank that I'll have to sign and return to them to give them permission to investigate those 5 transactions. Hopefully, they'll be able to catch whoever's done this! I have been warned though that I will be charged £5 per transaction that proves to be mine, as there are of course people who just like to try it on! But, unless my memory really, really, really sucks, those transactions are not mine.
Lucky I caught it when I did! The damage could have been much worse.
Yuck!
On my way home today, I stopped in my usual place, just outside the library, to wait for my husband to pick me up. He was running a bit late today, so I waited a little longer than my usual few minutes. But that was no problem. It was a nice evening and it wasn't raining. I wasn't complaining.
Until I had the pleasure of witnessing some sick bastard whip it out and pee on the wall across the street from me.
Why oh why do some men (admittedly very few men) feel that it's OK to do that on a busy road in the middle of rush hour? On any road, at any time, in fact? The guy didn't hide down an alley to do it in private. He didn't run behind a bush. No, he just stood outside a shop and pee'd on the wall!
In an ideal world, all outdoor walls would have sensors so that the slightest trace of human urine would make a big hand pop out and chop off the man's pride and joy.
Victory for those of us with a bit of class.
Can you relate?
Things that are bugging me today:
1) Colleague pacing up and down the office, talking loudly on his mobile. Some people just feel the need to walk while they talk, I guess. Sit at your desk like the rest of us, you moron! We're trying to concentrate, you know! Well, I'll be honest, I'm concentrating on my blog entry. Does that count?
2) The aftertaste from Cheese & Onion crisps. I loved them when I had the with lunch. I hate them now.
3) Colleague who asks how you are. You answer with something brief like 'fine' because you know what her attention span is like. "Huh? Sorry?", she says after you've uttered your one-word answer. If you're not interested, don't ask!
4) Girls (women, if you like) who talk in baby voices on the phone. (Have I ranted about this one before??)
5) Page 17 of today's Daily Mail: Leslie's New Shame. Why is everyone so interested in John Leslie's sex life? One guy, who admits to 2 group sex sessions with Leslie and girlfriend Ms Titmuss, has the gall to say that Leslie is "so depraved" because Leslie encourages Ms Titmuss to "bed whoever she likes just as long as he gets to watch". This same guy admits to having brought his own girlfriend in for the fun! You have to wonder about the logic.
6) Oh, and pelvic pain. I'm walking like an old woman!
Rant over. I feel better.
Who the hell are you, Mr Director of Whatever?
This one's really driving me batty!
I was hired as a... god, what was I hired as? My official title is Support Services Coordinator. I sound pretty important, huh? Well, I not! My duties include being the member of this 6-person team that is office-based (while the others are on the road), designing all the menus, posters, newsletters, etc, etc that is needed for our various contracts all over the UK, and I even do the secretarial bit like typing up letters for the team.
Now I'm very well aware of my status here. I have no university degree and I have not been formally trained in graphic design. Everything is self-taught. Because of this, I find that I am often not told of things that are going on in the outside world and, truly, it doesn't bother me. I was hired to do what I enjoy doing: designing. I couldn't imagine anything better.
Now for the 'driving me batty' part...
I get an email yesterday from some director of something-or-other to tell me, and 11 others, that we are now part of a rota to cover reception between 5 and 5:30pm, as our receptionist goes home at 5pm. What??!! Oh, and while she's on annual leave too.
I don't bloody think so! Who the hell are you, Mr Director of Whatever? Have you ok'd this with my boss? Have you even asked me?! No, you haven't. And why me? You know why? Because I'm not a director, a bid manager, I never stray from my desk and I'm not a man. I think that about covers it.
You might be wondering why our receptionist leaves at 5 when reception needs covering until 5:30. Nobody knows. It's nothing new though. The only thing that is new is that the girl who used to cover it after our receptionist went home has now quit, leaving the company up shit creek without a paddle!
And you know, all this is not my problem. I was not hired as a receptionist and I will not be starting now. I will be taking this up with my boss.
Back to School
I've been having some troubles recently with internet access at work. You see, they've decided to block a lot of sites and give us limited time on others. Strangely, this hasn't effected my blogging! But every 5 or 6 clicks, I'm getting a 'Page not found'. I wait a few minutes and try again and there's no problem. Why?? So, I finally complained to IT about this 'Page not found' thing. I was supposed to designing a menu poster for a Christms Lunch. They wanted me use pictures of Santas and other Christmas images. I went to Google image search and found a few good ones. I searched for 'gifts' and 'presents' too and came up with a few good clipart images to use. But that 'Page not found' thing kept recurring and it drove me bonkers. I spoke to a guy in IT who sounded wholly unimpressed and bored. I asked him if it was the company's way of discouraging internet usage. He said that he didn't know. I told him how I was trying to find images for a menu poster with pictures of Santa on it (you know, so that he knew it wasn't personal surfing; it was work!). Again, unimpressed. He told me that he's made a note of my complaint and they'd check the lines. Whoopty-do! But I've vowed to complain again if it keeps happening. Other people are experiencing the same damn thing. And, to top it all off, I found a good piece of clipart of christmas gifts and I clicked on it to copy the larger version. Blocked! I get our IT company's page come up advising me that I am not allowed to view that page because it's an internet shopping site. So I tried another one. Blocked because of something about lifestyles and I-don't-know-what! All I want is the picture of the gifts!! My only way around all this is that have my boss request that my status be changed, meaning that I'd be back to full internet access. He won't be keen on doing that as he'll be questioned by the company as to why I need it. I mean, in the end, I got another picture of gifts, but it took me three times as long to get it and it wasn't the one I wanted. But I'll tell him anyway and see how he feels about it. Am I back in Kindergarten?!
Yuck!
This guy who sits across from me at work is a smoker. He goes outside to have a puff every hour or so and comes back stinking to high heaven! I then open the window for some fresh air. I'm waiting for him to catch on.
I used to be a casual smoker and I never had too much of a problem with the smell, but it drives me crazy now. I hate it! And this guys smells particularly strong.
Would it be rude to spray my perfume in his direction?
Color?
We are all told to use the color printer for color documents and the other printers for black and white documents.
An "older gentleman" that I work with feels that he can use the color printer for everything and no one says boo to him. I bet he's been told and just doesn't care.
But hey, it's not my printer and not my color ink cartridge. Why do I care?
