Driveway mess (by alaric)

Last Sunday, it rained a lot. Since we live in a valley, this has its risks; our house is next to the stream, and our driveway and the stream run parallel for quite some distance before meeting the road, which comes down the hill on one side and goes back up the hill the other side. So lots of water, laden with mud and leaves and twigs and stones, came rushing down the roads to run into the stream, but due to the way the road is laid out, lots of it comes along our driveway before diving into the stream.

Now, we try and prevent this by having a hump of gravel along the end of the drive, directing the deluge down a ditch into the stream, but on Sunday, this was overrun with the sheer volume, and so the drive was a real mess.

I started clearing it up (click it to look at the large version and see just how much rubbish there is along the drive):

I was soon joined by Barbara, and between us, we shifted about six barrowloads of mud, leaves, and twigs, then collected the gravel and stones (which had been deposited closer to the start of the drive) and used them to build up the hump to try and stop it happening again...

Important Lessons (by sarah)

Well I have been making preserves again 🙂

The important lessons I have learnt are - do not fill my my preserving pan up with more than 9 pints of strained juice - I put 12 in thinking it would be ok not realising exactly how much space the sugar would take up!

Lesson No. 2 - always scaled the jelly straining bag - I am actually using a wine sieving bag but hey same prinicple. I couldnt work out why the first lot I strained went through brilliently whilst the second lot is still straining! Drip, drip... and drip again it goes. This is becuase the first lot I poured boiling water through to steralise it in a fit of hygien paranoia where as the second lot ent into a cold damp bag. I have since found out about 'scalding' jelly straining bags/seives - this is where you pour boiling water onto the bag inorder to allow the fluid to drain through it rather than being absorbed by the bag which then acts as a sort of seal for the liquid left in the bag.

Lesson No. 3 - make sure that when dealing with fermentation buckets full of juice for jam making or preserving pans or anything else - do it, especially any pouring - over a plastic matt.

Lesson N0. 4 - make sure that when Al is helping you pour hot liquids that he is wearing shoes! It saves on moaning!

Lesson No. 5 - no matter how many jars you think you need - it will not be enough - so double the number!!!

Lesson No. 6 - recipy books have a strange idea of temperature convertions! 220 F apparently equals 110 C - yeah right on whos scale? Not that this actually matters but it just annoyed me - I am aweare its the same magnitute but still!

Lesson No. 7 - make sure that there are enough tea towles clean.

Carphone Warehouse (by alaric)

...appear to be incompetent.

About a year ago, we moved house. I wrote them a letter with my new address, and asking to change the bank account my direct debits come from, since Sarah and I consolidated all of our direct debits to come from the one account that our pay goes into, to simplify our joint finances.

Some time later, the mobile phone stopped working, because apparently I'd not been paying the bill. A little prodding revealed that they'd been sending the bills to my aunt (who lives next door), since they had the address somewhat wrong, and appeared to have not performed the direct debit change; I'd stopped putting money into my old account, so the DDs had been failing.

So I wrote them a grumpy letter, and they apologised profusely, and said they'd send me a new direct debit form to fill in.

Which never arrived.

Instead, nasty letters and phonecalls from a debt collection agency started to appear.

I spoke on the phone to CPW, who said they'd send me a direct debit form. Which never arrived.

I spoke on the phone again to them, and they said I could set up the DD over the phone, which I did.

Then a letter came bearing the mysterious message "We have no direct debit details for your account", which I rang them about; apparently this is SECRET CODE for "We tried to send the DD to your bank and they rejected it". They suggested I rang the bank, who said they'd had a DD come in for my account, but with some of the fields not filled on, so they rejected it. I spoke to CPW again, who said they'd do no such thing, but consented to send it again.

The debt collectors then threatened us with bailiffs.

So I went to a CPW shop in a nearby town, and they looked in their databases, and said that my DD should be working now, but it'd be a while before the next monthly billing run, so I should pay off the outstanding balance with my debit card in order to stop the bailiffs, which I did. They said I should have no more problems.

But the debt collectors keep ringing me demanding payment.

So I told them CPW said they shouldn't be ringing me any more.

They apologised, and said that CPW had neglected to tell them this, and suggested I write to CPW pointing this out, which I did.

CPW have not replied.

And tonight, at 8pm, I get called again by the debt collectors, and this time they're being nasty and saying that unless I pay up TODAY they're going to Take Further Action and Harm My Credit File. I explain the history, but they have none of it. So I say I'm not going to pay anything until I've spoken to CPW first. They say that they're very busy right now and if I hang up to ring CPW then try to ring them back I'll be in a very long queue and they close at 9pm so I might not get through, and if I don't pay today, I'm in trouble. The woman also suggests that if I just pay up then I can pursue CPW for a refund if what I'm saying is correct.

sigh

I don't like the principle of people ringing me up saying I owe them money, and when I disagree, threatening me with Trouble if I don't pay, and saying that if I really don't owe, then I can claim the money back. Since it seems to have taken CPW some trouble to understand that I paid them off, I don't fancy being out of pocket until they get their act together, if they ever do.

Anyway, I dug out a number for CPW and rang them, and went around their voice menu system, unable to find a human being, and it's now just turning 9pm, so apparently I'm in trouble.

I think I need to visit the Citizens Advice Bureau...

Teapot Tragedy (by sarah)

I am sad - I broke a teapot - it was clean - so double tragedy 🙁

My own fault I cant reach up to the teapot shelf and I was too dizzy to risk climbing on the chair - so I put it on a low table to await Al - then I knocked over my maglite as I walked away - it came down on the teapot and both ended on the floor with a sound as tinkle shatter :'(

I love my teapots - yes sad I know but I collect them - fortunatly this was not one of the 'special' ones i.e. not one of the ones my nans gave me and not the house, rabbit or cat shaped ones, nore our snuggling geeses one.

I am still sad though - it was handy for my morning mint tea I have to stop me feeling sick. Sigh sigh sigh 🙁

Kittens being Cute (by sarah)

Yes they are cute but they are in the bad books and no mistake!

We had been slowely training them to go a loo outside - we thought we were almost there but alas no! It turns out that the reason they were using the litter tray less and less was that they were in fact messing in the stable and Babara was cleaning it up so we didnt have a clue until she came round and said she was fed up with cleaning it up 🙁

So now they have a litter tray full of mole earth which we hope to slowely migrate away from the house - sigh!