August 14th 2015 - so much to do

August 14th 2015 - so much to do

I have So much to do but so little time.  Tomorrow is my middle son's 10th birthday and the day of day camp.  I got the confirmation I could do it 6weeks ago and this time has gone so quickly!

I have emptied and re-packed the crates of stuff I need to take with me tomorrow.  I *think* I have everything I need.  I still have few things to cross off my list but i'm getting there slowly.  The cakes are now made and are cooling down ready to ice, the chocolates and biscuits i'm using as twigs for the fires are in the fridge to harden slightly as this will make it easier.

I have boxes of stuff everywhere as well as lists.  I just hope I get it all done in time, as I dont want a late night tonight as need be up at stupid o'clock in the morning.

June 17th 2015 - where has the time gone?

June 17th 2015 - where has the time gone?

SO the question for today's pin is "where has the time gone?"  I can't believe that this time 2years ago I was travelling to the other end and side of the country to a new house and a new life.  My house was boxed and loaded on a lorry, the car was loaded with kids, pets, food, a kettle etc.

It has gone really quickly, although we are settled etc there are still few bits that need doing or finishing etc, like the wall behind the dvd shelves still has HORRID white with red flower wallpaper on it, but in order to remove the paper and paint it purple to match the rest of the room I need to move nearly 600 dvds which is NOT an easy task.  I also need to finish painting the stairs and landing, but again its not major.  The garden is also a work in progress but getting there slowly.

This is what the garden was like in April 2013 (when I viewed the house, June 2013 when I moved in and August 2013 as we started to clear it.

The next 2 show the difference in the garden between when we moved in 2013 and June 2014 - a big difference, all the dead trees and weeds cleared and grass starting to grow, and part of it cleared and a patio laid.

This picture was the end of summer 2014, the kids swing is in back garden, the  grass is still growing and the patio is laid.

 The next few are 2015 and the start of the decking, where we have dug out, the starting to build the framework, checking the tiles fit and the fairy garden which is along the side of the garden shown in the first of the double 2013/2014 pics.

May 8th 2015 - Don't back down.....

May 8th 2015 - Don't back down......

.....When you know you are RIGHT!  This matches today's pin which is a quote :

"I love proving people wrong, 

because it proves what I 

knew all along - 

I was right!"

This is very apt following today's events.  I spent over 3hrs on the phone and internet chat to a company trying to sort out the bill they had sent me that made no sense.  In this time I spoke to a total of 8 people, 5 of which were total muppets and didn't listen to what I was saying/asking, told me their was no managers available when I asked for one, dropped calls (I got the message "the other person has cleared the line") and couldn't understand why I was slowly getting more and more annoyed!

When I got a call back I asked for a manager and was put through to the insurance department!!!  LIKE REALLY???  they don't even sound the same (maybe if you say them both 10times really quickly when drunk they do - but i'm not trying it and i'm not drunk!)  Anyway the nice man in the insurance department was like "can I help you?" So I explained all of what had happened and that I asked for a manager got him, he couldn't understand as customer policy is a manager is asked for the call handlers have to try and find one or arrange a call back.  He put me through to one.

The poor manager got the brunt of my temper as I explained the previous people I had spoken to, the mixed information of yes its disconnected/no its not, calls being dropped, the extra charges on the bill, the fact the price had gone up from £23.98 owing to £54.63, the insurance was still on it when should have been cancelled in January.  She said she would look into it all.  I knew that the amount they were saying was wrong as when I spoke to them in April it was £23.98 owing to them.  However, I worked it out that they owed me nearly £60 in charges that they had taken since January that they shouldn't have done.

At the start of the 3hrs I owed them (according to them) £54.63 and they owed me £60 which according to maths meant that there was £5.37 owed to me.  My figures that they had given me in April was I owed them £23.98 and they owed me £60 which means there was £36.02.  After loads of discussions and umming and arring, they cancelled the insurance that should have been done in January and are going to credit my account - except I no longer have an account with them.  The manager agreed to send the money to my bank, but we were still not agreeing on figures, she reduced her figure to £37, I was still not agreeing as she couldn't tell me where the extra £14 had come from since last month!  I stayed on hold, she went to sort things out and eventually came back to me that I was right and they owed me more than I owed them!  

What a turn around, in the space of 3hrs it had gone from me owing them £54.63 to them owing me £45.88 and the difference was being wiped due to the inconvinience.  They also confirmed the problems had come about because the account wasn't fully disconnected in January like it should have been.

IF you know you are right on something don't give up!!!

January 17th 2015 - Polite request

January 17th 2015 - Polite request

I'm not sure if you know how pinterest works, but basically its an online noticeboard, you can have sub-boards for different things, and to these you can "pin" links to internet sites and photos and ideas of things you want to do/places you want to visit/receipes you want to try etc. 

The owner of the pin is the person to whom's blog it originates, so when you "pin" them you are basically borrowing their image and/or idea.  Most people are happy to let you "pin" their items but some get very protective and request that they are removed (ive had this happen a few times).

Anyway, I have spent a great many hours (far too many hours) on pinterest searching for things and pinning them and making my own boards about different things.  I have no problem with people re-pinning them within reason, as I said above I don't actually own the pins (well I own a few that are my own photos that I have used.) However, saying this I am protective of my boards as I have researched them and sorted them into alphabetical order and even split some boards into extra sub-boards to make finding things easier. 

When you log onto pinterest on the top right it tells you a number next to your name, and this relates to how many of  your pins have been re-pinned and by whom.  Yesterday I went onto it and the number was 346!  YOU WHAT?!?  How did that happen?  So I looked and was in total shock most of them were from the same person and they were all of 1 board.  Yes this person had copied my entire board linked to my "pirate party" including my personal photo's and removed the information about where the pic had come from.  Said person had also copied some from my main "party ideas" board.  This really made me mad.  It's not just re-pinning a few but blatently copying everything I have worked hard on finding and making.

So I made my own pin and have given it it's own folder called "please read".  The pin I made is this.
It reads:

Im disapointed that I have had to do such a thing but I thinkit is very rude to copy a whole board.  Yes it has 1 re-pin on it and that was me as I have re-pinned it to my 365 board as todays pin.  It will be very interesting to see if it gets re-pinned by others. 

Rather than just re-pinning from the board click on the image and see where it takes you - hopefully it takes you to the original image and you can pin it from there, yes its about 30seconds longer but your still getting the pin you want without upsetting other pinners by copying their boards.  I try to do this as much as I can, and I try not to copy/re-pin more than 5 pins directly off someone elses board.

And yes I did block the person that copied all of my board!!!


Rant over, have a great day and happy pinning!