How was your day? (Random off topic chat)

TallPaul, Now there’s a you’ve been framed moment right there. Shame you couldn’t get a recording of it. You could if made a few bob from it.

Here's something that's happened today that's so absurd I feel it must be shared.

The scenario is straightforward. I had a seat booked through an Agency for Thursday for a twice-postponed six performance (amateur) show. It is finally going ahead in September. I already have a show booked for the Thursday to which they have transferred my booking so asked if they could switch me to Wednesday instead. The Thursday ticket price was £18, Wednesday costs £17.

First I was given wrong information that I must first buy a ticket for the Wednesday and only then could I be refunded for the Thursday booking minus an admin charge. I established that applied only to new bookings for shows yet to take place, not pandemic-postponed shows. I rang the Agency today and was told the show organiser could switch my ticket themselves and there was no need to involve them. The lady I spoke to said she would notify them how to do it. Great I think, sorted at last. But no. Here's the email I just received.

"We have had an email from (the Agency) today saying we can process your exchange, unfortunately when we go to do this it will not let us do it as there is a difference in price and they have your money and need to refund you. We have now gone back to (Agency) and explained the situation and they are saying for the customer to call the ticket exchange line on xxxxxxxx and to let you know there is a £1 admin charge."

So before they can exchange my ticket the Agency has to refund the £1 difference in price but for them to do that I have to pay them £1 to get my £1 back ! I've anonymised it as I think the Agency is probably blameless and the lady I've been corresponding with isn't giving them the full picture.

Isn't the concept of "we owe you £1 and cannot process your order until we refund you that £1 but first you have to pay us a £1 admin charge to get your £1 back absurdity of the highest order ?

I wish I'd just requested a refund and rebooked but I thought I was doing the right thing just asking for an exchange. Lesson learned.

My day today was a CHALLENGE!! Just a morning of all things going wrong, a comedy of errors.
So to start off, I woke up late and in a panic, flung my duvet off which had for some reason got my phone on it and it went under my bed so started the day crawling under my bed to retrieve my phone. Then a text from my hairdresser saying she was ill and did I still want my hair doing that night? No thanks. Politely declined as I’m trying to not catch Covid before I go away, so that was my hair cancelled.
Got to work and the phones in the office were down but working for people at home so I was sent home at like, 9.15.
Got home and realised I’d forgotten my laptop charger in my haste. So in order to avoid having to spend my entire lunch break driving to and fro I had to sweet talk my dad into going to get it for me. He then informed me he’d arranged a roofer in the afternoon to look at the ceiling in my bedroom, thinking I’d be at work.
My parents left to get my laptop charger (they are ace) and they’d not been gone long when the roofer turned up early! So I had to send a quick message fo the boss, more downtime, let him in, tell him the problem, try and control the dog, answer the house phone that started ringing….it was like a flippin circus! Then my systems went down and I struggled to get it back and I was soooo close to just shutting my laptop and crawling under my duvet!
Anyway, everything got resolved, the afternoon was calmer, I’m at home now for the foreseeable till the phones are fixed, which I hate cos it’s a bit of a mad house living with my parents and trying to work cos it’s their house and they have phone calls and visitors and the dog is always barking or the phone ringing, or my dad asking me for technical help on something while I’m trying to work! Fingers crossed I can get back to the office soon! Hopefully should be next week all being well. Pray for me guys! 😂

Actually, I decorated at the weekend so there is absolutely nothing under the bed right now! It's clean as a whistle! It's been hoovered and the walls dusted! I found when moving furniture that when you live in a 200 yr old cottage with bumpy walls that the walls get dusty!! so i was ok to commando crawl on my belly to retrieve my phone!!

With autumn on its way, perhaps now is the time to invest in a humane spider catcher.

www.lakeland.co.uk/20455/Spider-Catcher-Vacuum-Insect-Catcher#product-details-accordion

Can probably also be used on tracksuited wannabe gangstas!

Is it wrong that I want it to have a reversible motor so it can also operate as a spider gun?

Before I could go to bed last night I had to hoover up 7 spiders between my room, my mother's room & the bathroom. It was only 36 or so hours after I'd hoovered the entire house. The blighters seem to be coming inside en masse!

Don’t reply to it!!! 

I'm sure it's a legitimate email. It just amused me that they would send it.

At work I have the problem of too many emails. As in addresses, not messages. Five of them, used to access different systems. Every time there's a rebranding or reorganisation I get a new email address but nobody updates the old systems.

Was at my sister's yesterday when they went to try and catch sheep number 2 who had so far alluded being caught and sheared. Cue about 3 hours, of 3 adults, 2 teens, 2 pre schoolers and a dog (who wasn't invovled but would pop up now and again and try and get run over) running around in the increasing dark. The sheep are happy to come up close when they think you have food, otherwise just bolt and run and are the size of small tanks.

Eventually sheep was caught on a lead and promptly escaped in that as no one is strong enough to hold onto it. Finally penned and then since we couldn't walk it to the house where the clippers were plugged in we had to secure it's legs and try and people hand it up a field to get into a trailer. There were these moments when it would run at you and you'd fleeting think 'maybe I could jump and grab hold of it' before sanity took over and you took evasive action. Who knew sheep weighed so much (me, it's important to not fall over walking backwards so it lands on you).

My niece filmed us, we look like we're carrying out some very shady body snatch in the middle of the night accompanied by two small children with spears (they'd got plastic fence posts) and are going to carry out some kind of ritual slaughter. Glad to report sheep eventually had hair cut and went back to hide in the wood and managed to herd kids in from running round in the dark having shadow fights with the bats.

The two smalls start pre school and school next week, their teachers are going to consider them tellers of tall tales I think.

Went to the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park for the first time yesterday for two Mischief Movie Night shows. Normally I have a pretty decent sense of direction, but it failed me as I got lost.

Both times. 🤦🏻‍♂️