Lookalikes/IDS



Heartless, soulless villain with dull, unmodulated voice devoid of passion...




er....Ditto....?

 @ Janey Bancroft



MOVING HOUSE UPDATE....

 

Just moved house for the third time in 3 years,. Administratively  it's been the easiest move yet, due to advances in IT and forms you can fill in in line, but there are always the inevitable frustrations that lead the over 50s to get to boiling point with private companies who simply can't follow their own procedures and leave the customer high and dry. This is a brief diary of events since 6th June, which was moving day for us:

Our new tardis of a house that withstood the best of what the Luftwaffe threw at it in the blitz, and now just needs some TLC and some shrub roses in the front garden....

 

MOVING UPDATE 1

10.06.2012

Frustration! Downloaded new facebook for android yesterday and now have zilch but title bar on screen. Tried signing out and back in....and cursing loudly. Any sensible and/ or amusingly helpful suggestions out there from younger phone-users who appreciate the occasional lack of basic social media technical knowledge of the over 55s? A young friend of mine, Marcus, came to the rescue, and suggested unloading new software. This worked, but have to keep repeating the process....

MOVING UPDATE 2:

11.06.2012

British Gas 0:1Jane Bancroft (apology gained after extra time..) Promised to come and move electric meter which is 8 ft high and most adults of average height can't access, without employing their pole vaulting techniques, a pad of paper and pen....

BT 0: 0 Jane Bancroft (can't find where I packed the phone)...

MOVING UPDATE 3:

12.06.2012
BT send me 5 emails, all giving different advice, and haven't delivered new hub...hoped to have better news by this evening, but still no landline, broadband or BT vision.....

 :-(

MOVING UPDATE 4:

13.06.2012
I should have known better....Still waiting for BT hub...think Michael Gove moonlighting as their project manager...the words piss-up and brewery spring to mind...engineeer arrived at 6.30pm. Said it was a 2-man job, but that his colleagues's partner had just gone into labour (up a pole?)...so he installed phone line, but forgot to complete the job and left his equipment on kitchen windowsill as he had a "rush job in Widnes". Don't know outcome of birth, but he did come to pick up his meter the next day....but didn't finish the job as told us BT hadn't written it on his job sheet...but at least we have a landline and can connect to internet via laptop. Paul buys an android phone to celebrate and messes up my connections to home hub.....

MOVING UPDATE 5:

15.06.2012
Why can't BT finish what they started? Still no BT Vision a week after moving in. Right...it's "Simply not good enough" time and possible threat to stop direct debit and take up on the enticing offers from Virgin Media....watch this space....

PM: Spoke to charming young man in Delhi. Told me it was very hot in his office. Explained that the error was indeed BT's and that they would put it right free of charge....next Tuesday.....he thanked me for being so understanding (well, it wasn't his fault...) and wished me and my family a happy weekend....

So the outcome is that we are tv less this weekend, which considering there is apparently an outbreak of football (again, so soon after the end of the season?.How do these overpaid monkeys ever find time for a holiday?), we're not missing much and can at least catch up on some movies from Love Film.

Decided to go to IKEA instead and buy a table....the meatballs were delightful and the shop almost deserted. That's the way I like it....

So, this is our first week in Litherland. Pretty exhausted, but have had some pleasant and unexpected surprises...such as an impromtu visit from Cllr John Kelly

 

http://modgov.sefton.gov.uk/moderngov/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=1010

from Sefton Council,http://www.sefton.gov.uk/

I am more than impressed by the way the Local Authority and the Labour Party repond to issues, so, while I'm at it, I have a quick question....

Q: Why are local authority workers here so shocked and flattered when a customer/council tax payer says "Thank you"? Sefton has the best customer services  I've encountered anywhere in the country. Polite, funny, and get the job done. Is this because Sefton has an amazingly astute Labour-controlled council that can actually follow up on issues and find a direct and workable approach to problem solving?

Sefton Plus http://www.sefton.gov.uk/ has one of the best user interfaces I've ever had the pleasure to use and as an ex Local Govt IT development manager, I've seen some pretty bad ones in my time....Bradford, hold your head in shame...

So this weekend,  let's celebrate all that is good in Sefton, and particularly the efforts and achievements of our newest councillors:

Look what Cllr Nina Killen

http://modgov.sefton.gov.uk/moderngov/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=1553 

 

 

and Cllr PeterMaguire

 http://modgov.sefton.gov.uk/moderngov/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=1564

 

 

 are achieving already since being elected. Just brilliant community politics in action.

Pity we haven't got their kind of talent in BT.... ;-)

http://www.sefton.gov.uk/

Just to finish, here are some images of Sefton for all those of you who have not visited the area:

If you'd like to see more of the beauties that Crosby and Sefton have to offer, visit http://crosby365.tumblr.com and view the fantastic photographs by Andrew Hoban :@hobanphoto on Twitter.

Personally, I'm looking forward to a tv-free weekend, BBC World Service and a little light gardening.  I wish you all a happy weekend.

Jane @Janey Bancroft

 

 

Seriously Shirty

OK, I feel a rant coming on...I've been working since I was 19. I've paid NI, direct and indirect taxation by the bucket load, produced four intelligent hard-working taxpayers and received precious few maternity rights. I've contributed £ks to educate my youngest, as I was foolish enough to want to set her an example by picking up my career in my 40s and, by being promoted rapidly through the ranks of both the NHS and Local Govt, thereby got clobbered with higher rate NI and tax bands. Now I have a permanent disability, Ian Duncan Smith treats me, and so many others like me as if we're scroungers who should be hidden away in a ghetto.

Well IDS, you've never met me, or encountered an angry ex public school-educated socialist who comes from a long line of political free-thinkers who stand up for the elderly, poor and disabled whom you lot treat with contempt. I mean business, and I'm not going to keep a low profile any longer. You and your Tory bully boys are turning this country into a place I'm not proud to live in any more.

You are betraying the hopes and ideals of generations of decent, hard-working men and women who sacrificed so much in WWII and who are now afraid to turn the heating on, and who get put to bed at 6pm by a homecare worker on minimum wage who has to complete 6 evening visits in an hour. You are going to reduce the disability benefits of permanently disabled ex servicemen.

Just you wait...I'm getting ready to get seriously shirty with this Government. You ain't seen nothing yet....end of rant.

;

It indicates possession or omission....

Having been given a swanky Sony Ericcson Xperia for my 55th by my beloved significant other, I am now faced with the issues that fox anyone of a certain age who takes on some new technological gadget. My support network has been consulted and they are all advising me to ask Dr F, a fellow blogger, much admired for his intellectual and academic prowess, not to mention his excellent choice of wife, the multi-talented Mrs F, whose employers simply don't understand what a gem they have in their midst...but then Bradford Council isn't renowned for appreciating its hot talent, is it?!

While I await with eager anticipation, Dr F's advice over my issues with my browser, it occurs to me that mobile phones could be responsible for the decline in the use of that wonderful English tool - the apostrophe. As technology advances, it appears to be more and more awkward to use one on a keyboard or touchscreen. This leaves me a little irritated - in fact, I'm incandescent with rage, but that could be the result of 2 early morning coffees....

A couple of my offspring  never mastered the apostrophe, although both have been through Higher Education. What is going on? I agree with Mr Fry's view that language has to adapt and change according to need and irksome Australian influence, and am even prepared to make every attempt to understand text speak, but I will NOT stop using the apostrophe, no matter how long it takes me to type a text. Some standards have to be maintained! My senior offspring, (who is himself a father twice over), and I pride ourselves on grammatically correct text messages, much to the amusement of other members of the family. I will thus resolve to ensure that my grandchildren are all introduced to the joys of using ' as soon as they are ready as part of my grandparental responsibilities. Should I start a Facebook group? "Save the English Apostrophe" ?

http://www.apostrophe.org.uk/

A Good Innings

As 55 approaches, I feel the need to reflect on what has been a colourful and indeed eventful innings. A couple of people have said to me recently that I'd lived a very "full" life. Well, yes, I've certainly packed plenty into it so far, and although the catastrophes have been on a mega scale, the highs have been equally brilliant. I've been lucky.
Whenever I've been at my lowest, someone has been there for me - and we can't really ask for more than that. I once had the privilege to work with a lady from Wigan, Doris Baxter. She told me three things I've always remembered:

• That Fate only dishes out to us sh*t that we have the capacity to cope with.
• That if you get ideas above your station, and try to impress those who know you're blagging, you'll stand out like "Liver on a Cake Stand", and
• That magnolia-painted woodchip wallpaper looks like someone's hurled rice pudding at the wall and not washed it off properly.

There's a lot of truth in each tenet - thank you, Doris - I'll never forget you.