Thursday, 12th November 2020
Yes it's been one of those days/weeks - a stop/start/repeat one. Tuesday, i spent some time with Neighbour Helen (such a nice person) helping her work out with what she wants to do with her kitchen window curtaining. At present she has a vertical Venetian blind which she is not happy with. We measured and discussed what she wanted and i went and did some searching online for the roller blind she chose and prices, etc. Wednesday, i reported back with all the ones i'd found (quite a few, so she had a good choice), from 3 different companies. After some thought, she chose one and i duly went home to order it for her. i was waiting for a courier pick-up for a returning item, which never eventuated - bloody Hermes are very erratic and have one or two total stupidos working for them! Annoying... So far so good - except for an audible alarm went off on my Central Heating panel in the kitchen. At first i thought it was a car alarm, as it went off outside, but when i pressed one of the buttons, to try stop 'Ser' flashing, it stopped. Much to my surprise. Anyway, my instructions said call your engineer; too late that pm. i did early-ish today, Thursday.
Nice girl on the phone, she would put me on the list for 'as soon as' and lo and behold, about 10.30am, a very nice service engineer arrived on the doorstep! No, i would not have been able to sort out the panel, he said, i would need one of the little gizmos he held in his hand. Which he duly pointed, pressed, reset my panel and in less than 10 minutes, it was all fixed. Yay! That cut down on the people i was expecting to call today, two to go. One the courier and a lady who was coming to pick-up a Mah Jong set (all in Chinese) that i had on free offer at Facebook's Marketplace. She was supposed to come about midday but didn't. Apparently, she couldn't find a place to park (i could have told her that) and finally figured she was at the wrong #10 (i could have told her that too! WHY do they read Mews and go to the Terrace?). She came back to me online and after some detailed instructions (and my phone number) said could she come later, say 4.30 pm? Yes, fine. i settled down to watch Cheffins' auction live and finish my breakfast!
About 2.30 pm, i decided to hell with this and contacted Amazon Customer Service about the lack of courier. Supposed to be within 2 days and this was day 3. After some flowery back and forth on their Chat line, El Dumbo came back with 'Hermes has a problem' and eventually said he would re-book the pickup, making the 2-day pick-up Frid/Sat. And if that fails i replied, what then? 'Alternative option' he said. What option? 'Drop of' was the short and ungrammatical answer! i managed to hang onto my temper, just. And what part of 'lockdown' are you missing, i said. Give couriers a chance, he replied. i gave peace a chance and swallowed my tongue, said okay, thanks for your time, and logged off. Some time later, checked out my emails and ED had firstly sent me a notice of re-book and second, a message saying he had decided i had been hassled enough and he would, in this instance, issue a full refund - without a return and i could do what i liked with the item! This went half-way to soothing the savage beast and i decided to accept and not call for his decapitation.
i caught up with the latest horrible figures and graphs of Covid and at 4.30pm, stuck my head out to check for the Mah Jong lady. To my surprise, she & husband hove into view on their bicycles and left rejoicing with the set, inspite of not speaking Chinese either. All i need now is neighbour Roy to take the fibre-optic Christmas tree that i'm getting rid for his children's group and i'm done for the week! BTW Roy will replace Helen's blinds and more, will put up the Venetian in my kitchen. Good man, even if he is the nosiest town crier i've ever met; he's the monkey that's into all the bananas, if he can. This will be the first time he has been inside my house - won't that give him something to chew on?! He can tell everyone what a mess my place is!
i decided that was enough for today and ordered Chinese!
The Friday Five for 13 November 2020: Gifts
1) What kinds of gifts will you give this holiday season?
The only regular gifts i give are Advent Calendars. i give small gifts to my neighbours when and if the mood and desire strike
2) What are the best types of presents to give?
Those that make you think of the recipient, knowing hopefully they will like it or because you think it will suit them well
3) Have you ever given someone a gift as a surprise? Why did you give the gift?
Yes, mostly to make a person happier by knowing you are thinking of them
4) Have you ever received a gift that you didn’t like? How did you respond?
Rarely, but usually a random guess that is well repeated - this gift will go to the women or men, like a blanket that doesn't require much thought. i smile and usually recycle it as a token gift to someone i don't know well.
5) Would you rather give someone a gift or receive a gift? Why? i like to do both but on the whole, give one