Tony_S

Morning everyone. Slight frost here as well, I'll go out in a minute and see if my wife's car needs the screen scraping. Robbie pretended to be asleep when I suggested a garden visit at 6.30. Tony

The rmweb twitter page did have news about the system problem. Tony

Hello Just back from dog walk/paddle in the park. Earlier this morning the rain was going sideways and there didn't seem to be a bus so I took Matthew to college . I'm glad I no longer have to drive in wet "rush hour" conditions every day. Tony

You had better move the carpets then! Our Robbie seems to like stretching out on the most expensive rug he can find. Tony

At least Albert isn't burrowing! Tony

I think there may be some claws in the highway code to stop them.

Must be some sort of canine raindance. If it doesn't rain my dog jumps in streams or ditches anyway. Tony

Hello. I'm glad I did the garden jobs yesterday as it is raining and has been raining all night I think. I don't have a rain gauge but the bird-bath is full. My electronics tip for the day, lights good, smoke bad. Tony

Like being hit with a CosH ?

No obtuse comments here!

That struck a chord.

I don't understand why my other suggestion of buying two pairs of shoes (to save time in future) is treated as "silly". I suspect the new shoes will be black or navy blue rather than red though. Tony

Apparently my views on the functionality of shoes are not really appreciated. Words like "sensible" don't seem to be the right thing to say. I believe she may have been successful in her shoe quest and is coming home via the gym/swimming pool with a baguette. This the version of the message Matthew gave me anyway. I've tidied up the leaves, given the lawns a trim and put some mastic and draught excluder on the rear door of the garage. I think I can safely take the dog for his walk now. Tony

It is still pleasant here so I think I'll do a bit of tidying outside. Most of the leaves from nearby trees seem to be piled up against my garage. I'll collect them up and pile them up in the back. Perhaps a hedgehog will come and live in them, though perhaps the presence of a dog would deter them. Before I fitted draught excluder to the bottom of the garage door the garage used to collect most of the leaves in the street. My wife has decided to go to Upminster to look for new shoes. I am not required for this expedition! Tony

Morning all. Congratulations Dominick. Are you planning to continue studying at another level or is that it for now? Weather here is rather pleasant. Clear blue sky, no clouds just distant aircraft. Tony

Was that the result of getting an energy consultant in?

Perhaps you should get Gordon to come and install a new set of wiring? Tony

Good morning. Weather seems quite pleasant although rather cooler than it has been. Not too much planned for today but I must not forget to buy dog food. I was also going to take Matthew to the local branch of his bank to deal with his card problem but we'll wait until he has his new one set up. He was grateful for the ideas suggested yesterday by ERs. Call centre service can work really well. I was paying my credit card via my bank's automated telephone service when something went wrong and I had to speak to a customer service person who dealt with the problem efficiently and pleasantly. Tony

I think my mother in law clearly gave the impression she wasn't moving until she got her cheque. My (nice) bank have given up with me. They say do you know how much you have in your current account? (Yes), do you have plans for it? (Yes, I'm going to spend it). Tony

Sounds like a good idea. I try very hard not to get cross with people doing their job and following regulations but cutting somebody off for asking their father which of the items on his statement was the one they wanted to know about did annoy me. My mother-in-law had an high interest account (when rates were much higher!) where 6 months notice was required. She had given the 6 months notice and turned up on the due day and asked for a cheque. They then told her she would have to wait 7 - 10 days for the cheque. This wasn't written down in the instructions or conditions but was "policy" as for the amount she wanted needed an extra signature. She did get the cheque that day after insisting they found someone who could sign it. Tony

I'm just calming down. I think I've just had a touch of the Victor Meldrew's. Matthew wanted to pay for his UCAS application online. When he did the last bit his debit card was rejected by his banks verification process and he had to phone his bank. Because he got confused (the man didn't speak clearly) and asked me what they meant they said they couldn't help him as someone else was providing the answers and put the phone down. He re-dialled had another go while I went out of the room and they wouldn't talk to him and said he had to go to a local branch. Well he will go into a local branch and he is going to close the account and he has opened one up online with the bank we use. To be honest I was never really happy about how he'd signed up with his present lot (who when I had an account with them in the 1970s lost my account for 6 weeks), apparently some woman pursued him round the college at new student week last year until he signed. He was too polite to say no. I have told him it is perfectly polite to say "No, thank you " to people like that. My local bank branch are nice and their national call centre (out of hours) are helpful and pleasant even with financial nincompoops like me! I did pay for Matthew's UCAS entry with my card! I think a cup of tea is called for. Tony

Their cricket team changed their name and still do rather well! The oddest thing about cooking a goose was stuffing it. Vast quantities of prunes in Armagnac just seemed to disappear inside. I'm convinced it was like a Tardis inside. Tony

I suppose I'd better think about tidying up the freezer before I start thinking about stuff for Christmas. At least this year we know lots of people will require feeding here. In the past we have got everything sorted for a quiet Christmas at home and then lots of people decide to come to us. One year, my wife's uncle (a resident of California) decided to visit as he wanted to experience a "real English Christmas" but didn't want turkey as he could have that at home. My wife wasn't too amused at some of my dinner suggestions and so I cooked a goose. Haven't done one since though.

Hello all. The sky is turning from grey to blue now. I'm planning an outing to the recycling tip today. Apparently I may have a sore arm following last evenings swine flu jab but it seems OK at the moment. I've got to go back in three weeks for another one. Tony

I used to like Hotspur, Film Fun and The Eagle. I suspect I reached my intellectual peak very early and deteriorated thereafter. Swapping comics with friends must have been the 1950s version of file-sharing. Tony