| Thursday 29th November 2007 13:41MST | → 0 Comments |
(Apologies to Scott Adams)
I knew, I just knew I was asking for trouble by posing a simple question to Virgin Media, my phone/internet provider, through their online email system. The incompetence of VM’s predecessor, ntl, was legendary but I naively assumed it had improved. The question was thus:
I have phone and internet through VM. Can you tell me if it’s possible to get rid of the phone and only have internet access at the current price
Simple enough. All it needed is one or two yes/no responses. Instead I got this:
The notice period required to cancel any of the Virgin services is 30days from the date we receive confirmation for disconnection, if you have completed one month with Virgin Media. If you have not completed 30 days with us, your services will be disconnected within 5 days after we receive confirmation for disconnection of services. However, if you are within the 12-month contract, you?ll also need to pay off the remaining monthly charges (early disconnection fees) for your 12-month contract. If we receive your request for disconnection of services in the 11th month of the contract period then we won?t be charging any early disconnection fees.
… followed by some guff about checking out their new deals before leaving. It was obviously pure cut-and-paste text.
Now I have that sinking feeling of having to fight through their online systems again to phrase the question differently several times before finally getting a real answer.
BTW Don’t even think of suggesting I call them instead. I was the tedium of being on hold when trying to get in touch with ntl customer services that forced me to buy a speakerphone - just for the purpose of of dealing with them.
Then I come home to a letter from EDF Energy stating that they would be visiting to replace my meter between 12am and 8pm. Idiots.
| Tuesday 27th November 2007 17:55MST | → 1 Comments |
GodCan
Are televangelists now redundant? Possibly not, as they spoil it by saying:
God Can™ is a great tool to help strengthen your relationship with the Lord, but our goal here is to encourage your faith in God with or without a God Can™.
Don’t get caught with your hand in the cookie jar or the GodCan™.
| Sunday 25th November 2007 12:25MST | → 3 Comments |
Two things have gone wrong today:
- I have been experiencing chest pains
- My iPod stopped working
Three guesses which I was most worried about. After all, it has been relatively easy to get an appointment with my doctor (albeit not until Friday) and he can either prescribe stuff or pack me off to the hospital. I don’t think dealing with Apple would be as straightforward or productive.
| Saturday 24th November 2007 12:47MST | → 0 Comments |
Rupert Murdoch decides the political line of the Sun and News of the World… he has told a parliamentary committee. Tell us something we don’t know, such as why Blair and Brown sucked up to him to the detriment of the country.
However, to stay on topic, a few choice extracts from his evidence to the HoL committee (warning: Microsoft Word format - ironic, given the context):
When asked about Britain Mr Murdoch stated that the UK was “anti-success” – this had prevented him from expanding further (for example through the purchase of local evening papers).
… possibly because we want those few remaining media outlets to continue to give us news, rather than present Murdoch’s neo-con agenda as news.
He believed that Sky News would be more popular if it were more like the Fox News Channel.
Then it can be as ‘fair and balanced’ as Fox. Just watch Outfoxed. They don’t nickname it ‘Faux News’ for nothing.
He stated that the only reason that Sky News was not more like Fox news was that “nobody at Sky listens to me”.
My respect for Sky News has just gone up.
Mr Murdoch believed that the role of the media is “to inform”. Reporters are there to find out what is going on and editors are there to invest in those investigations if they uncover something.
… and to distort them before broadcast/printing to ensure they meet the “proprietor’s” right-wing slant and bear little relation to reality.
To quote Richard Littlejohn, you couldn’t make it up.
| Sunday 4th November 2007 17:04MST | → 0 Comments |
‘Unwelcoming’ US sees sharp fall in visitors since 9/11. I can vouch for that, though not as far as ordinary USians go - they’re always very friendly. However, they are not the first you come across when arriving (if you don’t count the flight crew). Out of all the times I’ve arrived at ORD, only once have I dealt with a friendly immigration officer - and even then that could only be defined as minimum federally standard required friendliness.
It’s a bad situation as I’m sure that sort of attitude sets the tone for the whole trip for a lot of people. I also gather that they’re equally unfriendly to returning US citizens so why hasn’t anyone noticed it before?
Well, actually they have now and have commissioned Disney to produce a video welcoming one and all to the land of the free and not-really-unfriendly-after-all. But, in the typical government style of left hands, right hands, etc. we now learn that the TSA wants everyone to have to request permission to fly to the USA beforehand (i.e. reversing the current situation where you can always enter unless there’s a reason to keep you out). I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
| Saturday 3rd November 2007 11:21MDT | → 0 Comments |
Well, I’m back - and back proper this time. It’s been a difficult year one way or another but practically everything has resolved itself. Terry has been very supportive (and has recently undergone major dental surgery but is recovering), my job is going well and I’m enjoying it and it’s autumn and the leaves on the trees outside my apartment look fantastic.
The webcam is back, though the location (i.e. where it’s pointing) has yet to be finalised. I’d added a new section that shows recent images from my flickr stream - which will be used for photos captured and uploaded via my phone.
Terry will be here for five months again from next Sunday, so I’d better get the place tidied up. In the meantime, I’m off to a bonfire night barbeque at Brett’s house - where the main attraction may be him setting fire to the shed.
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