trials and triumphs

White is not an ethnic origin!

It makes my blood boil when I see forms asking for ethnic origin! Not because I'm not proud of my ethnic origin - more because of the stupid bureaucrats who create the forms and seem to think that white is an ethnic group! White is a colour!  An ethnic group is European or American or Australian etc and can be divided up even further into North, East, South, West, Central Europe or America. In the UK, you could have Welsh, Irish, Scottish, English - these are ethnic origins not White!

War on Slugs intensifies to new level

Those of you who have read with avid interest my battle against the slugs last year will be pleased to hear my latest weapon. Thanks to Alison from The Pumpkin Plot, I (well Alison really) will be converting one of my flowerbeds to be a new kitchen herb garden. This summer I, like Jamie Oliver, shall be nipping out to my garden to pluck all sorts of fresh herbs to use in my cooking.

Reclaiming Late Payment Charges

Martin Lewis' (www.moneysavingexpert.com) advice is that bank charges are unlawful, so I decided to put it to the test. I somehow missed the payment date of my store card. I normally pay it off every month if there's anything on it. I had marked it as paid in my accounting system, but hadn't actually done the online transfer, until a couple of days after it was due, when, for I don't know what reason, I made me check whether I had. The next statement I got I saw they had slapped on a £12 late payment charge. I decided to use one of Martin's free templates for getting this money back.

Virgin Media now up and running

I've learnt 3 new things today relating to broadband and Virgin Media...

Brain Training

My friend Erika showed me a great gadget that I was so impressed with, that I bought my own. I don't normally allow myself to get sucked into buying pointless electronic games, but this one I could see a real positive benefit to my 8 year old daughter who has been diagnosed with dyslexia. It's the Nintendo Brain Trainer.

War on Slugs

What is it with slugs and snails? Why do they only eat the plants that I sow or buy? Why can't they be more useful and eat the weeds in my garden? I've tried everything....

Sky's Poor Service

Danielle Keister, Virtual Assistant writes about her experience of trying to renew a service and getting nowhere http://www.grittyva.com/the_gritty_virtual_assist/2007/04/ipowerwebcrappy.html, so I feel comforted that I'm not the only one experiencing poor customer service albeit with Sky who have a monopoly in satellite tv.