A Confusion of Relevance

Yesterday evening we submitted the following Customer Service enquiry to ntl via e-mail on their ‘interactive form’:

“We are currently paying £10.50 per month line rental and £17.99 per month for 1Mb Broadband.

Whilst visiting your website we noted a VALUE PACK for Phone & Broadband including:

Unlimited local off-peak calls
1Mb Broadband

for an inclusive price of £24.99 per month.

Could you please switch us onto this tariff, as we don’t like to miss out on getting more services for less money, or would this change deprive us of the unlimited broadband usage promised from this month?”

The automated response assured us that the enquiry would be submitted to “the relevant ntl department”. A quite straightforward Customer Services enquiry I would have thought.

This morning’s reply, (for which I’m not criticizing their promptness), to our customer service enquiry, came from the ‘ntl Technical Support Bureau’ … I suspect this was not the “relevant department” … so, not at all unexpectedly, their message states:

“Unfortunately we are unable to process your request as we only handle internet technical support queries.”

Oh the wondrous joys of automated systems.

Climb every mountain

After much prompting and prodding from my beloved, managed to remove myself from the duvet realm in order to keep a dental appointment at 9.45AM! I’m not sure what is the most unnerving part of such occasions; the lights, the injections, the drilling or, the sonic cleaner (with its high-pitched whine). Each of the aforementioned items creates an ‘overloaded’ sensory experience but, I think, in this instance the sonic cleaner has to take the honours.

Hopefully, fillings and scalings completed, I don’t have to face this ordeal for another six months when the next routine examination is due. Everything, that I used to take in my stride, now feels like I’m undertaking an arduous expedition!

As I struggle to hit the appropriate letter on the keyboard, I intersperse the exercise with trying to find the location of my supra-numb mouth in order to sip a warm drink.

Methinks a rest is now in order.

Shared Pleasures

My adored one, last evening, went out to share a pizza and potato wedges with her friend Hilary at an underheated Pizza Hut … it’s the company she goes for! Meanwhile, poor lonesome me was like little boy lost; having first watched ‘A Seaside Parish’ and the following programme about a headstone carver, quickly realized there was nothing I really fancied watching on the goggle box.

The strange thing is, for all the backlog of DVD’s to catch up on, I couldn’t quite apply myself to the procedure. DVD & Video viewing can never be a solitary procedure for me these days; I would so miss the pre-emptive laughter and suspense (even the commentaries) proffered by my beloved. Part of the pleasure, the entertainment even, is the amazing gusto of appreciation that emanates from ma belle amoureuse. The contribution of these idiosyncratic responses is definitely on a par with those of l’auteur him/herself!

And For This I Give Thanks

This morning, I awoke after some seven and a half hours of intermittent hot-flushed sleep but, all too swiftly returned to a state of rib and limb aching stupor. Some eleven hours after retiring to bed, my beloved assisted my slow elevation into an appropriate position to manage a hot drink and a bowl of cereal.

Half an hour later, I managed to remove myself from the duvet lair and proceeded to the bathroom where, under the caring supervision of ma belle, I managed to enjoy a shower even though the subsequent towelling procedure proved a bit of an effort. It was a pleasant surprise to find that a further rest period was not required after this exertion.

Being the brave soul that I am, I eventually managed a brief brisk walk in the company of ma belle. At the present time I am feeling reasonably alert, ache free and, quite human. For this I give thanks!

A Relaxed Evening

It was really good to have Cathy and Ken as our guests last evening and, I was relieved that my stamina held out, after the earlier ‘cold flush’ attack. It proved a very relaxed evening, aided and abetted by a glass (or two) of “L’Escarpe” Pouilly Fuisse, 2004 and a Warburn Estate ShowReserve Shiraz, 2002. My past experience of the Shiraz and, the application of the women folk to its consumption, assured me that I was not proferring a dud, whilst the Chardonnay provided Ken and myself with a fruitfully smooth and long finished imbibing pleasure.

In these days, when my tolerance of alcohol ain’t what it used to be, I still manage to derive considerable pleasure from the bouquet and palate of a well-made wine, consumed in moderation. In the course of the evening, I even managed to take a piccy of Ken and Cathy in which Ken looked remarkably like a sultry early ‘60s (the calendar years, not the unattained age) Elvis. The digital result was achieved sans manipulation of the image. Even in the cold clear light of the following day, I can still observe photographic evidence of this resemblance … I refrain from publishing the piccy for fear of adding more grist to the “Elvis isn’t dead” mill. [You’ll just have to take my word for it, I’m afraid].

Unwelcome Visitors

My days of navel-gazing are so long past, they seem to belong to another being! I suppose that, to some extent, it has been replaced by thermo-torso observation. The mysteries of the body thermostat are way beyond my comprehension. Sudden “hot-flushes” which totally disregard the ambient temperature have had, over the past few months, to share the place of honour with “cold-flushes”.

What is it with these all too frequent “body event” visitors? They don’t seem to realize that I wouldn’t feel too upset if they deprived me of their companionship!

Best Wishes for The Coming Year

Sinna Luvva and Bright Light send our best wishes for 2006 to all our readers.

A Reluctant Hero

In an age when heroes seem to be in short supply, or perhaps that’s a reference to any age, it really is good to be informed of one whom I had overlooked. This is the man to whom we should be grateful that we were not all annihilated in September 1983; his name is STANISLAV PETROV.

I am grateful to my friend Nigel for sending me this link, along with his New Year’s greetings.

Plus ca change

Having watched ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, last evening, in which it gave one a warm glow to see the greedy get their come-uppance, this evenings viewing for my beloved and myself was ‘Bound For Glory’ (The Story of Woody Guthrie). As Guthrie, temporarily ‘exiled’ in California in the late 1930's, recalls his Oklahoma home, he states that it’s “easier to put up with nature, dust storms and all, than it is to put up with greed”. As we observed the great gulf between rich and poor Stateside, we couldn't help feeling … plus ca change!

Simple Pleasures

The Christmas period has once more enabled us, (or should that read driven us), to ‘lapse’ once more into the routine of having our main meal at the dining table. The dining table is usually the preserve of Sunday lunches alone, our bean bag supported lap-tables being the more usual resting place for our dinner plates. Each meal, sat at table, becomes somehow a more significant event. Even the little ‘grace’ of thanksgiving, before we apply our snouts to the trough, seems more gracious.

As circumstances dictate that I spend most of my day lounging around, the move through to the dining room serves to add variety to my day. I admit there are times when even that exertion would seem too great but, in general, it is good to have an extra reason for using my ambulatory gift!