things

There are a number of things that have irritated me this week to greater or lesser degree. I don’t expect you to be interested, indeed why should you, but it’s my blog and I’ll cry if I want to, cry if I want to, you would cry too if it happened to you.

Today we had the results of the Wiltshire County Council Job Re-evaluation. This information is only available to Headteachers and not to be shared with staff (until we are officially told in January), but my Head, bless his little cotton socks, couldn’t wait to tell me that my job is due a pay cut of £3990 as of effect the 01/4/07. Yes that’s right, last April.

Oh F*cking Joy Is Me.

I had to attend a Health and Safety conference last Tuesday. There is nothing on this earth so irritating and scream worthy as the anal attentive operatives of the Health and Safety Executive. Among the many things I learnt is that you have to be ‘trained’ to use a ladder. Not only that but you have to be trained in the art of ‘inspecting a ladder for safety’. Indeed the County Council (sorry to interrupt my chain of typing but I just typed cunty council – is that a genuine Freudian slip d’you think?) runs courses (£75 per delegate) in the art of ladder inspection where you can learn which stickers to use and on which rungs to stick them. By lunchtime I had gnawed my nails down to the wrist bone.

Wednesday I attended another course, this time on the ISA. You have all heard of the ISA, obviously? It’s the Independent Safeguarding Authority (Independent from whom I don’t know). It’s to ensure that those working with vulnerable groups i.e. children do not have criminal records as paedophiles etc. This is another government agency doing exactly the same work as the Criminal Records Bureau. Exactly. No difference. Still it spends some more tax payers’ money doesn’t it? More jobs for the civil service boys.

Today I phoned Dubarry of Ireland at the UK distribution point

UK Sales and Customer Service

Ludlow of London Ltd
Pyatts farm, Park Lane,

Lane End, High Wycombe, Bucks, HP14 3LB, UK
Tel/Fax::+44 (0) 1494 88336

because I purchased an expensive purse from them in November. Within 3 days the zip had broken so I returned it and they sent me another. Within 3 days the zip had broken so I returned it and asked for my money back. After 10 days or so I phoned and asked where my refund was. I was told they were paying it that very day. I thanked them and when a week had passed and no refund received I phoned again. This time I was told that the purse had never been received by them and therefore they were not refunding my money. I told them I had a certificate of posting but was told by their extremely rude customer services girl that basically it was tough because unless it said on her system that the purse had been received they were not refunding any money, after all I might just be saying I’d returned it. I pointed out that they could just as easily be saying they hadn’t received it, but she assured me that this was a company that never made mistakes. At this point I reminded her that not only had they delivered the purse twice to the wrong address, had left out part of the original order, but furthermore it was only because they failed to sell an item of merchantable quality that I had to post it at all, her claim to be infallible fell somewhat short of the mark.

She, however, was having none of it – not our problem she said, goodbye.

Here’s my advice DON’T BUY ANYTHING AT ALL EVER FROM DUBARRY VIA LUDLOW of LONDON

And finally! In the summer a car hit a house that fronts onto the road in the next village. Scaffolding was erected and then temporary traffic lights, because it’s a narrow village street, and then nothing more happened. Nothing in August, September, October, November, December.

Each day these lights hold me up for about 6 minutes each way.

12 minutes a day.

1 hour a week.

4.5 hours a month.

About 25 hours so far.

Over 1 day of my life.

So I wrote one of my letters to the Council asking HOW MUCH LONGER IT WAS GOING TO TAKE, INDEED WHEN WERE THEY GOING TO START???

I had a very sniffy letter back saying that they hope the work would start soon.

SOON? I wrote back, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN??

'March' I’m told, and furthermore, I’m told, 'they are not causing undue delay', and 'interestingly some people have asked they remain there'.

UNDUE DELAY I wrote IS A RELATIVE AND SUBJECTIVE TERM I wrote, I DO NOT CONSIDER 4 DAYS OF MY LIFE WAITING AT ‘TEMPORARY’ TRAFFIC LIGHTS AN UNDUE DELAY, I RESENT EVERY SECOND. AND, I said, THERE ARE ALWAYS FRUITCAKES WHO WANT TO PUT UP TRAFFIC LIGHTS ETC BUT IT’S IRRELEVANT BECAUSE THIS IS LEGALLY A 2 WAY HIGHWAY!

I also put MERRY CHRISTMAS.

No sign of my gift from Lloyds TSB.

(send all of them to Grantham Reg)