Just had a long tussle with my mobile phone company.
The signal was bad when we were at the rectory, but at least I could go upstairs to make a phone call.
About six months before we left the rectory, I foolishly allowed the company to persuade me into renewing my contract for another eighteen months, even though my head was telling me to Pay As You Go.
Here at the bungalow there’s almost no signal. Most of the time my phone says “Emergency calls only”, and if I want to send a text, it takes ages before there’s enough signal for it to go.
So today I rang Orange to ask if might terminate my contract (due to end in July) without any penalty charges.
They tried all sorts of things. I had to take out the sim and replace it. Then another department tested the signal in the area and surprise, surprise! Found it was very weak and intermittent. After hours of listening to rubbishy music and being shunted from department to department, they reluctantly agreed to end my contract and cancel my direct debit (hope they’ve done that bit!)
So I asked for a PAC code, to transfer the number to a new network.
“That will cost you £80,” they said.
I was outraged and I’m afraid I told them where to stick the number. Then they wanted another £20 to unlock the phone – same response from me.
I’ve now ordered a free PAYG sim from Virgin (according the map, their coverage is excellent – we wait to see) and am awaiting an unlock code from an internet site for £5.99.
But I’m still boiling. I’ve been an Orange customer for nearly three years. They’ve broken the contract by not providing me with services, and all the girl could keep saying was, “It’s in the terms and conditions…”
That was the point when I slammed the phone down in disgust!
We had friends from our previous parish to lunch yesterday. Gill is a Reader in the Church of England, and was one of my mainstays when I was rector there.
She brought one of the nicest gifts I have ever received – a wooden fridge magnet carved into the shape of a tulip, which she had made herself. She took up woodworking last summer, and this was one of her creations. I’m so thrilled with it.
We had such a good time with her and Mark – good food, good friends and good fun! Made me feel quite nostalgic for the old parish.
They’re still waiting for a new rector, but hope to hear soon that someone has been appointed. They’ve been without anyone for six months now, which seems quite long enough!
Meanwhile, I’m off to a clergy Chapter meeting in this new deanery tomorrow.
Can’t keep away, that’s my trouble!
There I was, in the middle of composing some brilliant and amazing piece, when my laptop died. Normally, if I inadvertently pull out my power lead, the battery takes over and I carry on regardless. But this time, one minute I was writing, the next, everything went black.
Thinking I might have caught some weird hotkey or something with my sleeve, I pressed the power button again and hey presto! It sprang to life again. (When I say, “sprang to life”, what I actually mean is that it laboriously began again the slow process of booting up.)
So I happily continued with my writing for half-an-hour or so, when to my horror the laptop died again. Totally black, no power.
Pressed the power button again, nothing. Nada. Zilch. This is the point where yet again I began to seriously regret failing to back up my files.
So I tried bargaining with God. “God, if you just let me boot up once more, I promise I’ll back up everything for evermore. Honestly. I will. Really.”
Ed, being a sensible sort of guy, said, “Don’t panic. Perhaps it’s a safety mechanism. Perhaps it just cuts out if it’s in danger of overheating. Leave it for a couple of hours, then try again.”
So I did, and guess what? It worked!
So you see, resurrection rules OK (so far, at any rate!)
Have you ever clicked on the wrong button (either physically or metaphorically) and found yourself in trouble?
Mind you, I should know by now how to do it properly. Scrabble, that is.
There’s an online Scrabble game on Facebook, whereby I can happily waste away hour upon idle hour. My youngest daughter started me on it, she got bored, I got hooked. So now I play with an old friend on the other side of the country, which is good, but it’s more fun to have several games on the go at once.
So I decided to invite more friends, but not knowing properly what I was doing, clicked on the button which says, “Start new game”, and suddenly discovered I’ve started a game with a perfect stranger!
Oh well. I’ll just have to win!
And sorry guys, for some reason this particular app says, “excluding USA and Canada” otherwise I’d have invited you all.
So you see, you’re saved from a fate worse than death…
Well, golf, actually.
Being optimistic but also somewhat short-sighted and naive, I put my name down to play golf with the ladies today, assuming I would wake to cloudless blue skies and warm sunshine.
No.
Foggy, damp and dull. But unfortunately, I was committed (should have been too, by the men in white coats!) so off I drove.
The course is so wet that a new stream has appeared on the first fairway. Naturally our balls ended in it, so my partner and I didn’t score brilliantly. Didn’t score at all, actually.
After eight holes we’d had enough so went into the Bunker’s Bar for coffee and warmth. That was much better.
Next week we’re playing with the men’s section, but I’m slightly worried. We have to carry our clubs at the moment, due to the state of the course, and I haven’t managed to carry for all eighteen holes yet. In fact, I haven’t managed more than nine…
Oh well. Perhaps next Thursday will be cloudless blue skies and warm sunshine.