Angry

You remember I was going to get an iPhone? Well, I’d decided to go and sort this today, as it would have been just too distracting to get it midweek when I was supposed to be working. I was looking forward to having the weekend to play with it.

I went into town specially. In the Vodaphone shop, I spoke to an assistant who looked and sounded like she’d rather be somewhere else. I explained I wanted to upgrade, and had been told I could do so from the end of January.

She tapped in my number. ‘When did you enquire about an upgrade?’
‘About 2 weeks ago, I was told I could upgrade 90 days before the end of my contract’.
‘Yes, you could. Only this Monday, it was changed to 50 days’.

I must have looked a bit dumbfounded. ‘What?’ (What she doesn’t realise is that this is my ‘dangerous’/scary tone)
‘You won’t be able to upgrade until the end of Feb’. By way of explanation ‘they sometimes do this without telling us’.
'So if I'd have come in last weekend, I could have got one?'
'Probably'

I’m seriously not impressed, and actually quite angry at being denied my new ‘toy’. ‘I’m not at all happy about this’. I think if she could have got away with shrugging her shoulders, she would.

But what do you do. No point ranting any more in the shop – though I was quite loud in my displeasure.

I bought chocolate (see, even my diet has suffered). And came home and sent a strongly worded email to Vodaphone.

And blogged about it.

On underplaying things

‘Where’s ‘wibbly-wobbly gate’? Dean asks, ‘the one on the postcards’.

‘You mean Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate’ I reply. ‘I’ll take you there’.

So on Sunday, as we’re in town I decide to include it in the tour, warning ‘don’t get your hopes up’. I smile to myself, as I sort of know what’s coming.

We walk down Colliergate, and I pause at the end. ‘Are you ready?’ and I step forward, ‘there’.

Dean looks around ‘what?’

‘Here we are’. I point to some junction markings a few yards ahead. ‘From here, to that junction. That’s Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate’. I also point to the frankly tatty road sign proclaiming the name. It consists of a concrete building to the left, and a shop and church hall to the right.

His face is a picture. I can almost see the rant forming. ‘They should have called it don’t-bother-Gate’. I can't help but laugh.

‘Are you sure you don’t want a photo with the street sign?’

Equality has a long way to go

Scene 1

An office. The saga of the laptop continues. I asked the question, 'How's my laptop?' more in hope than in expectation.However, the answer was unexpected.
'Ah, well, you didn't need one that good, so we've decided N should have that one. We've found you a 'ladies' laptop'.
Me: (in what even I would describe as a 'dangerous' tone) 'What? I really don't think you want to say that to me.'
Said laptop is produced. It is second hand, has been gathering dust for a few months, and is the size of a note pad. It is useless. 'How do you think I'm going to use that?' (I'm angry, but also close to tears, which are partly frustration at the fact I'm getting nowhere)
'What do you mean? It's a ladies laptop - look, it will go in your handbag'.
I know in my head that I'm being fobbed off here. And it isn't even working yet.

Scene 2

A pub. I'm sitting on my own, clutching a glass of wine, and feeling conspicuous. I find I'm doing this more frequently these days, as I'm away quite a lot with work, and this means I usually have to eat alone. I still feel that a woman alone in a pub looks odd, in a way that a man never does. Perhaps it's the fact that the pub remains, in my eyes, a 'blokey' environment, in a way that a wine bar doesn't. I know these are my issues, but I guess I hate how vulnerable it makes me feel.

In this pub, there's a line of blokes standing at the bar. I wait patiently to get served, and am pretty much ignored, until one of them rather than the bar staff notices that I was before him, and points me out. I spot a little cubby hole where I can sit, and quickly claim it. I try to be a grown up, but I still find I'm getting out my work file, and scribbling notes, and the playing with my phone. Anything to look busy, and create an illusion of confidence.

More battles with technology

I was given a brand new flashy laptop yesterday by work! Very exciting. Of course, I couldn't get it to work, and couldn't fix the remote mouse (I can't cope with those little pad thingys that laptops have)

So, today I went in to work, all ready to get it fixed. Firstly it turns out that what I thought was a memory stick (it looks like a memory stick and you put into a USB port, I thought they were just being generous) is actually the arial thingy for the mouse, So that worked.

Then IT took it over. And proceeded to rant at me about how, of course, I can't possibly use it for internet and email, as I might pick up a virus, and anyway, I can't have it yet, as they have to load stuff. At which point I was blinded with science and ranted back. 'You mean I can use it like an oversized memory stick to save my work on, and that's about it'

Later in the day

'Have you got your new laptop?' (red rag to a bull)
Me: (in 'not a happy bunny tone') 'No, apparently it hasn't got everything loaded, and still hasn't got Word on it. Apparently it had to be stripped down'
'Well, you see, your computer's like a brick wall. It's going to be taken back down, and even the plaster taken off. Then it will be re-plastered, but we'll add a lick of paint as well'

Now, that, I understand!

Chav's Day?

It's been York Races this week - the Ebor meeting is the biggest of the year, and Thursday is traditionally 'Ladies Day'. It's 3 or 4 years since I last went (that sounds like I go a lot, but I've only been twice in my life). It's an excuse to dress up, wear a big hat, drink champagne, oh, and watch the occasional horse race.

It seems to have gone downhill a bit, though, as I counted not one, but four pink stretch limos heading back towards Leeds along the A64. Well, at least they had the good grace not to stay in town!

I go on about electrical equipment again

I took the dvd player back to Currys on Saturday. No problems, they didn’t even take it out of the box, just told me to get a new one. I’m now not sure if this is a good sign in terms of customer service, or a bad one, in that they’ve had a lot back that don’t work.

I think I’ll be going back next week with the mp3 player, which has shown no inclination to work at all.

This weekend, I moved onto more mundane things, and bought a new Dyson!