Firstly, sorry about the quality of the pictures this time. We forgot to take our camera with us (twice) so the photos were taken on our phones and they’re just not as good.
We had a big start to the week with our boxes of things finally arriving from Australia. We now have the kids’ toys and games, books, our IT gear (alright, Scott’s IT gear), our own doonas, kitchen things, art supplies and, best of all, our piano and guitar.
And a nice end to the week with us being able to watch our niece Meredith’s wedding to Dave in Sydney live on the internet. At 3 o’clock on Saturday morning. It felt a little like one of my recurring dreams – the one where I’m sitting in church and suddenly realising I am wearing only pyjamas. At least nobody in the church could see us. If you want to find out how they streamed the wedding to the internet go to http://www.ustream.tv/mobile.
But, you’re probably wondering about the title, huh?
Settlements
Man, the bureaucracy here is amazing! One example is our internet provider.
- I called them to organise phone and broadband and was cut off half way through the application process. I called back a minute later and completed the application with a different operator, who advised that the connection would be in place in two weeks time on July the 1st.
- I called them one week later to check on progress and was told that the application wasn’t complete, so I needed to do it again. Then they told me that it would be 2 weeks and no, they can’t make it any quicker even though it was their fault.
- A router arrived in the post a couple of days later.
- A technician came out on the appointed day to connect the line – yay! So I called them to find out what time the internet would be connected only to be told there was a problem but it should be connected within 24 hours.
- The next day (Friday) I called again and was told that someone would call back. Didn’t happen.
- I called again on the following Monday and was told that the application had been cancelled so I needed to do another one. A little peeved by this stage I went through another application and was told it would take 2 weeks to connect and the system wouldn’t allow them to do it any sooner. More peeved now, I asked to speak to have a complaint registered as it would mean that the connection was going to go in 5 weeks after I first applied – they said they’d see what they could do.
- They called me back to say that they couldn’t change anything (so the connection would still go live in 2 weeks, no sooner) but would look at some kind of “goodwill gesture” once the connection went live.
- The Friday before it was due to go live (and 44 days after I first did the application) I connected the equipment to the line and turned it on. Hey presto, the internet connection was live. So much for not being able to do it any earlier than the 14 days!
- They did eventually call back to sort out the goodwill gesture, so we’ll get a couple of months of free internet. Better than nothing, although later that week another router arrived. We don’t know why.
We had a similar issue with our car insurer which thankfully got sorted out (after 3 weeks of hassling) as it would have cost us an extra £800 per year. Did I mention that it’s the same company as the internet provider?
Breathing slowing, rage subsiding.
Amusements
On Sunday we had a day down at the seaside resort town Mablethorpe where we had some time on the lake and had fun at the amusement park.
Battlements
On Wednesday we travelled down to Tattershall Castle. Built by Ralph Cromwell (the Lord Treasurer) in 1434, it was one of the first castles to be built of brick instead of stone. 6 stories high, its foundation walls are 15 feet thick and it has a real moat. While it had the usual castle defences it was really only built to show how rich and important Cromwell was.
It was bought by Lord Curzon in 1911 and he spent an obscene amount to restore it and open it to the public. He left it to the National Trust when he died in 1925.
The castle has brilliant views of Lincolnshire – Lincoln Cathedral was clearly visible even though it is 20 miles away. It was quite surreal being in a 550 year old castle and having fighter jets almost constantly taking off a mile away from Coningsby RAF base. Surreal but enjoyable. If you look closely, you’ll just make out a couple of them in one of the photos.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment