Nick's Ramblings

Archive for the ‘Day to Day Stuff’ Category

I’ve been trying to think of all the bands / artists that I have seen live in concert. Going to Glastonbury in 1999 and 2000 certainly helped! Anyway, here goes and in no particular order –

• Paul McCartney
• Pink Floyd
• U2 (twice)
• R.E.M. (twice)
• The Levellers (twice)
• The Beautiful South (twice)
• Echobelly
• Terrorvision
• Pet Shop Boys
• David Bowie
• Manic Street Preachers
• Chemical Brothers
• Travis (twice)
• Eric Clapton (three times)
• Oasis
• Lonnie Donnigan
• Robert Plant
• Al Green
• Blondie
• Carter USM
• Elastica
• Jools Holland & his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra
• Joe Strummer
• Bonny Raitt
• Moby

Plus a load more when I can remember!

I woke up this morning (no, this is not a Blues song!), to find we had no running water. A water main had burst in the night in Wolstanton. Luckily, we had enough in the kettle for a cuppa and to clean teeth etc.

I’ve written about this before, but it really makes you realise how dependant we are on our taps and what comes out of them. All the local schools were closed today as they had no water either. No water = no drinks, cleaning or lavatories = not good!

We are really lucky that we can just turn on a tap and out the water comes!

Oh dear. Last night I was getting ready to go to a Group Scout Leader's training weekend, which was to run today and tomorrow. Carol asked to see a copy of the programme, so I printed it out and showed it to her.

She then pointed out to me that it was actually arranged for next weekend. Did I feel silly? I would have felt a right fool if I had turned up today!

I think I need a lie down……… 

Bother, it’s 0.57 and I can’t sleep. Thank goodness for the BBC Radio Player.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

As 2007 closes, time to look back at the year. Only positive and good things I think, there’s too much doom and gloom around already!

2007 has seen a number of centenaries both personal to me and personal to everyone else.

My Mum’s parents were both born in 1907. It’s hard to think of them as being 100, although Grandma nearly made it to 92!

Grandma’s 75th birthday.

Mr. William Thomas Vickers and Mrs. Alice Irene Vickers

I could have got into real trouble for announcing to the world that Grandma’s first name was Alice! It’s a shame Grandad never got to see all the computer and interweb stuff as he would have been fascinated. The first radio (wireless) he had, he built himself!

Newcastle (Staffs and District) Camera Club was 100. Grandad and Mum were / are members and they had an exhibition to mark their centenary. Mum had a couple of here photos displayed.

Of course, one of the big events of the year was the Scout Centenary. Looking back at some of my scribblings from 2007 and looking at my Scout Group’s web site you can see some of the things we did. I think my highlight was restarting the Scout Troop after 18 months and investing the new Leader and new Scouts at our District’s Centenary camp.

The other two personal highlights were finally seeing Paul McCartney live and actually driving a real locomotive – albeit up and down the yard at Cheddleton a couple of times!

Goodbye 2007 and hello 2008.

I hate feeling ill. I’ve had a cough and temperature all weekend and still feel rough. Apart from the fact of actually being ill, I hate the time wasted! I had a few jobs lined up over the weekend, which now have to be done some other time. Oh well at least I can catch up on some James Bond films!

I’ve just been reading this article (sorry it’s been removed) on the CBC website about the joys of ringing call centres in Canada. Now considering they’re at least 3000 miles away, it seems that they have exactly the same issues as we do.

What is worrying is that despite being two separate countries, with different companies and an ocean apart the same problems happen! Don’t these companies realise that holding on the phone for yonks is the best way to upset your customers?

There is a story on the BBC today of a man who had an issue with BT. It took months for him to get nowhere, so he posted a video on YouTube, told BT and hey presto, the issue was sorted! Companies don’t like bad publicity.

Another trick is to write directly to the chief exec of the company and demand a personal reply (you wrote to them so why get a customer service assistant’s reply?). That normally works! So, Mr. Dunstone, I’m waiting!

Another trick is when the company offers a phone number that costs you for the privilege of being on hold, use the Say No to 0870 website to find a free number. Make them pay to have you on hold!

In Flanders Fields

by John McCrae, May 1915

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

We went to Blackpool yesterday with Carol's Mum, Dad, sister and her husband.

After last year it's nice to see the prom is greatly improved, but sadly not yet finished. Once it is, however, it will be nice. Although it's a shame that the shops, hotels etc on the front all look pretty awful from the Tower south. It's a pity they didn't take a leaf out of Llandudno's book. 

One interesting thing is, once you go north of the Tower up to Bispham, the illuminations get a lot better! I guess this is considered the 'posh' end of Blackpool!

I took off my wedding ring yesterday and dropped it on the floor in my office. Can I find it? NO I CAN'T. I'm not happy.

Just downloaded Radiohead's new album 'In Rainbows'. I did try to buy it the other day (I thought £5 was a fair amount), but something failed and it didn't work. So, today I've 'bought' it for the grand sum of £0.00!

And listening to it for the first time,  I'm glad I didn't pay anything. It's a bit, well, dull! Time will tell if it grows on me, but my current thoughts are that it won't. I much preferred 'The Bends' and 'OK Computer'.