Aren't these just cute?
And did you see this epic crash ?
Friday, 10 August 2012
Sunday, 5 August 2012
I've been there too (part two)
So there I am, sat in a carpark at the top of a hill, having last seen two of my children over 2 hours ago and absolutely no sign of them now.
A police car, doing his tour of the hillsides looking for trouble, turned up. Now usually I wouldn't have approached them, but I was beginning to feel like I was in a news story and I didn't like the way it was going.
He was on the radio straightaway. He said he'd drive further on along the top of the hill, and yes, it was good that my daughter was wearing a bright pink helmet.
So off he went and there I was, alone again, worrying. Like why I have chosen to sit in a car park at a place called "Dead Woman's Ditch", of all names?
Ten minutes later another police car turned up and I was invited to go and sit in it and give detailed descriptions of my children, what they were wearing (I hadn't particularly noticed!), what kind of bikes they had. You really don't want to be doing this, I can tell you.
My descriptions were radioed through and we sat there waiting. And waiting. And nothing.
They were three hours late by the time that finally news came through that they'd found them, so we all pootled off to the pub car park at the bottom of the hill where I'd initially dropped them off.
Turns out they'd taken a wrong fork at the bottom of the hill and had set off at about 40ยบ NE on a different path. And then every time they'd crested a hill and not found the car park daughter had said "oh, it'll be just over that ridge ahead of us" and so they'd got further and further away from where they should have been. Eventually they'd given up and decided to retrace their steps back to where they started and that's when they were spotted.
The pub car park was full of police cars - must have been a very quiet Saturday afternoon in west Somerset otherwise. We all set off back towards Bridgwater in convoy. Even though I have passed my Advanced Driving Test (over 30 years ago) it's still quite nervewracking driving along with police cars both in front and behind you.
Post script: I'd just like to add that this was not the first time that my daughter had completely disappeared. But I shall tell you about that another time.
A police car, doing his tour of the hillsides looking for trouble, turned up. Now usually I wouldn't have approached them, but I was beginning to feel like I was in a news story and I didn't like the way it was going.
He was on the radio straightaway. He said he'd drive further on along the top of the hill, and yes, it was good that my daughter was wearing a bright pink helmet.
So off he went and there I was, alone again, worrying. Like why I have chosen to sit in a car park at a place called "Dead Woman's Ditch", of all names?
Ten minutes later another police car turned up and I was invited to go and sit in it and give detailed descriptions of my children, what they were wearing (I hadn't particularly noticed!), what kind of bikes they had. You really don't want to be doing this, I can tell you.
My descriptions were radioed through and we sat there waiting. And waiting. And nothing.
They were three hours late by the time that finally news came through that they'd found them, so we all pootled off to the pub car park at the bottom of the hill where I'd initially dropped them off.
Turns out they'd taken a wrong fork at the bottom of the hill and had set off at about 40ยบ NE on a different path. And then every time they'd crested a hill and not found the car park daughter had said "oh, it'll be just over that ridge ahead of us" and so they'd got further and further away from where they should have been. Eventually they'd given up and decided to retrace their steps back to where they started and that's when they were spotted.
The pub car park was full of police cars - must have been a very quiet Saturday afternoon in west Somerset otherwise. We all set off back towards Bridgwater in convoy. Even though I have passed my Advanced Driving Test (over 30 years ago) it's still quite nervewracking driving along with police cars both in front and behind you.
Post script: I'd just like to add that this was not the first time that my daughter had completely disappeared. But I shall tell you about that another time.
Saturday, 4 August 2012
How to get rid of the rain
It's actually very easy.
Today it rained quite a bit, and when it did rain it was quite spectacular. About half past three I went down the road and saw Vince (not his real name, that's Vincenzo) who runs a barber's shop at the bottom of our road. Due to the quiet nature of trade he was washing his car. And then he left it, covered in suds, so that the next bout of rain would wash it all off for him.
And what do you think happened?
Not even the really rather majestic thundercracks we had just after six produced even the smallest drop of rain. Even though it got so dark that all the streetlights went on. Nope, it stayed resolutely dry until at least 9pm. By which time Vince had gone home, because he doesn't actually live here.
Just as an extra - Vince has a flag flying outside his shop. Not the usual Union Jack but one like this:
which you might recognise. And yes, his extended family still live there. Have to be a bit careful what you say to him. You don't want to upset him.
Today it rained quite a bit, and when it did rain it was quite spectacular. About half past three I went down the road and saw Vince (not his real name, that's Vincenzo) who runs a barber's shop at the bottom of our road. Due to the quiet nature of trade he was washing his car. And then he left it, covered in suds, so that the next bout of rain would wash it all off for him.
And what do you think happened?
Not even the really rather majestic thundercracks we had just after six produced even the smallest drop of rain. Even though it got so dark that all the streetlights went on. Nope, it stayed resolutely dry until at least 9pm. By which time Vince had gone home, because he doesn't actually live here.
Just as an extra - Vince has a flag flying outside his shop. Not the usual Union Jack but one like this:
Can you guess where it's from? It's very similar to this one:
which you might recognise. And yes, his extended family still live there. Have to be a bit careful what you say to him. You don't want to upset him.
I've been there too
When I saw this it brought back some none too pleasant memories:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-19058256
It was three years ago.
Daughter (aged just 16) and younger son (aged 11) were going to go on a mountain bike trail. Daughter was just getting into biking and had printed out a little bit of an OS map from Mountain Biker magazine for a trail they could follow.
So I dropped them off at the car park at the bottom of the hill and arranged to meet them at the car park at the top. It should take them about an hour to do the trail. I last saw them at about 3.30pm.
I sat in the car park at the top sewing name tags into younger son's new school uniform (it's the kind of thing that mums do).
An hour went and past. And another.
I was sat in a car park at a place called Dead Woman's Ditch. It's in the middle of the Quantocks and there's precious little mobile phone signal anywhere there.
Even at the best of times it's difficult to get teenagers to actually answer their phones, but every time all I got was "Welcome to O***** answerphone..."
So what do you do?
I was reluctant to drive off anywhere to look for them because a) it was woodland between where I'd left them and where they were supposed to go to and b) if they turned up and I wasn't there then where would they go then?
Two chaps on mountain bikes in their 40s turned up so I approached them. Oh yes, they knew that trail, they'd go and have a look for them. Only bit of good news is that daughter was wearing a bright pink helmet so they'd be easily recognisable and also noticeable at a distance. Half an hour later they came back and said, no they'd been down that trail to the bottom and come up a different way and there was no sign of them.
By now it was about 6pm and although it was nowhere near dusk yet (being August) I was very aware that the clock was ticking.
I'm sorry, I have to go and do other things now. To be continued (that is, if you're interested).
Friday, 3 August 2012
Resistance is futile (or not)
So there I was yesterday, sat in the carpark of a male menopause shop when I got a phone call. From Samson, who said he was calling from 33C Accounts and could he speak to someone from the accounts department. As we are a partnership of two and I do all the accounts stuff I said yes, he could talk to me.
Samson: "I'm just calling to tell you that we are planning to sign you up to our new accounts system run by OBX. And we're calling suppliers so that they don't get cold calls from OBX."
Me: "And do I have to do this? What benefit do I get from that?"
Samson: "Well it's more efficient so your invoices will get paid faster, and you can track where they are in the system."
Me: "Well I'm already on immediate payment terms so I don't think you'll get it any faster than that. And so far I have no problems with any payments."
Samson: "Well it will all be far more efficient. And we're trying to ensure that all our purchasing is dealt with electronically."
Me: "But I produce all my invoices as pdfs and e-mail them to you, how much more electronic do you need?"
Samson: "Well we need to get as much as we can through the system electronically."
Me: (thinking back to when they tried to do this five or six years ago) "And how much will this cost me?"
Samson: "Well as a rough estimate, say you have approximately x number of invoices per year, it will probably cost £750, And let me say that any new suppliers would have to go through OBX, there would be no option."
Me: "£750 !!!!!!!!!!!! That's a small fortune. There's no way I'd be paying that. And this is just to make the 33C more efficient?? If I was forced to do so then my invoices would be adjusted to cover it."
Samson: "Well of course some suppliers have found that they're going to have to use OBX across maybe 3 or 4 different clients so when you divide the £750 across 3 or 4 clients then it's not that much."
Me: "Well none of my other customers would even touch OBX so that ain't gonna happen here."
Samson: "Well since you're an existing supplier, and you clearly don't want to have to deal with OBX (too f**king right, mate) then I can offer you an alternative. For a limited period (ie the link will die within 5 days) you can sign up to our supplier self service system but you might have to do a bit more typing. But as, judging by the past year, you only send us about 9 invoices per month then that probably wouldn't be too arduous for you, then perhaps you'd like to consider sending invoices via this method."
So then he sent me links for signing up to the self service supplier portal - which as I was in the middle of Somerset I completely ignored. Which I think was about right.
Samson: "I'm just calling to tell you that we are planning to sign you up to our new accounts system run by OBX. And we're calling suppliers so that they don't get cold calls from OBX."
Me: "And do I have to do this? What benefit do I get from that?"
Samson: "Well it's more efficient so your invoices will get paid faster, and you can track where they are in the system."
Me: "Well I'm already on immediate payment terms so I don't think you'll get it any faster than that. And so far I have no problems with any payments."
Samson: "Well it will all be far more efficient. And we're trying to ensure that all our purchasing is dealt with electronically."
Me: "But I produce all my invoices as pdfs and e-mail them to you, how much more electronic do you need?"
Samson: "Well we need to get as much as we can through the system electronically."
Me: (thinking back to when they tried to do this five or six years ago) "And how much will this cost me?"
Samson: "Well as a rough estimate, say you have approximately x number of invoices per year, it will probably cost £750, And let me say that any new suppliers would have to go through OBX, there would be no option."
Me: "£750 !!!!!!!!!!!! That's a small fortune. There's no way I'd be paying that. And this is just to make the 33C more efficient?? If I was forced to do so then my invoices would be adjusted to cover it."
Samson: "Well of course some suppliers have found that they're going to have to use OBX across maybe 3 or 4 different clients so when you divide the £750 across 3 or 4 clients then it's not that much."
Me: "Well none of my other customers would even touch OBX so that ain't gonna happen here."
Samson: "Well since you're an existing supplier, and you clearly don't want to have to deal with OBX (too f**king right, mate) then I can offer you an alternative. For a limited period (ie the link will die within 5 days) you can sign up to our supplier self service system but you might have to do a bit more typing. But as, judging by the past year, you only send us about 9 invoices per month then that probably wouldn't be too arduous for you, then perhaps you'd like to consider sending invoices via this method."
So then he sent me links for signing up to the self service supplier portal - which as I was in the middle of Somerset I completely ignored. Which I think was about right.
Tuesday, 31 July 2012
I love the feel of autumn
I love the feel of autumn.
That slight nip in the air.
The sense of anticipation of something new. I remember feeling that very acutely when I went to university but also on starting a new secondary school (which I did twice).
The regret that the long hot days of summer are over, but a freshness in the air.
The realisation that it's not that long till Christmas.
I love the feel of autumn.
BUT NOT AT THE END OF JULY
That slight nip in the air.
The sense of anticipation of something new. I remember feeling that very acutely when I went to university but also on starting a new secondary school (which I did twice).
The regret that the long hot days of summer are over, but a freshness in the air.
The realisation that it's not that long till Christmas.
I love the feel of autumn.
BUT NOT AT THE END OF JULY
Saturday, 28 July 2012
Not quite a curate's egg, but distinctly patchy
So what did you think of the Olympic opening ceremony then?
Opening film good, pacy. Historical stuff good, although the much publicised animals seem to have been reduced to a few horses who looked well used to the spotlight, and the chronology seemed a bit hit and miss.
Musical stuff all over the shop. Not at all helped by Trevor Nelson's inane comments. Still, at least the rest of the world didn't hear him.
Queen's arrival excellent. Glastonbury Tor interesting (it's a lot harder to climb than that in real life - last time I did it the Red Arrows just happened to be practising and flew over, that was quite spectacular).
Arrival of athletes - well I went and loaded the dishwasher and when I came back it was still going on. Quite intrigued by the ice-cream girls leading each nation and obv setting the pace.
Cauldron - excellent, very impressive. And clever, the way pre-event publicity had odds laid on several likely torch candidates, and they were all there, but not the one.
Cringeworthy - Paul McCartney. Please. I used to love you when I was younger. Now you've become an embarrassing cop-out at the end of every event. No wonder they pulled the plug on you the other day.
Overall, 9/10. And you?
Opening film good, pacy. Historical stuff good, although the much publicised animals seem to have been reduced to a few horses who looked well used to the spotlight, and the chronology seemed a bit hit and miss.
Musical stuff all over the shop. Not at all helped by Trevor Nelson's inane comments. Still, at least the rest of the world didn't hear him.
Queen's arrival excellent. Glastonbury Tor interesting (it's a lot harder to climb than that in real life - last time I did it the Red Arrows just happened to be practising and flew over, that was quite spectacular).
Arrival of athletes - well I went and loaded the dishwasher and when I came back it was still going on. Quite intrigued by the ice-cream girls leading each nation and obv setting the pace.
Cauldron - excellent, very impressive. And clever, the way pre-event publicity had odds laid on several likely torch candidates, and they were all there, but not the one.
Cringeworthy - Paul McCartney. Please. I used to love you when I was younger. Now you've become an embarrassing cop-out at the end of every event. No wonder they pulled the plug on you the other day.
Overall, 9/10. And you?
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