Low Sunday

Posted on April 27, 2014 by freda

Our Locum Minister looked round church and said how pleasantly surprised he was to see so many people there on what is traditionally referred to as Low Sunday. The Sunday after Easter Day is thus called, he said, because of the low following on from the high of Easter.  When I was working in the parish I tended to think it was called this, because the Ministers were all exhausted and feeling “low” after all the adrenalin and rushing around of Easter and Holy Week.

One of the things that is so pleasant about being retired is that the lows and highs tend to be evened out. At least they do, if we let them. Life can become more gentle and more thoughtful when there are no huge demands like helping to provide big worship at the festivals of the Christian year. I like to think that the insights that come with ageing can be shared in a sensitive and caring way with colleagues, family and friends. At least that is my hope and my prayer. The central theme of love overcoming all things is the gift that retiral can put into sharp focus to enable us to share with one another.  Just like our Preacher urged us to do today.

Blessings to you and yours from Dalamory.

Posted in Blog | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

In the green

Posted on April 26, 2014 by freda

I received delivery of a box of happiness yesterday – 100 snowdrops in the green. Armed with help and spades, I went outside to dig up little trenches to be the new homes for ten or so bulbs at a time. It is not as fiddly as it seems, since you just grasp the stems and bury the bulbs halfway up the leaf system.

As I was doing it I kept thinking of the joy they would bring next spring. It also seemed that there were nearer to 200 bulbs than the 100 on the description. Double joy.

Posted in Blog | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Credit Cards

Posted on April 25, 2014 by freda

Over the years I have had many a rant about the big financial institutions – banks, credit cards, utilities and so forth. Today I found myself dealing with yet another anomaly with the way credit card companies organise themselves. It all went back to the telephone purchase of an item and its payment via credit card. The first item wasn’t delivered, so the retailer’s advice was to cancel Item #1 and Order an alternative. I was assured that a credit would be issued direct to the card for #1 whilst a debit would be raised for #2

All well and good – the goods were delivered and all seemed well. Until . . . . . . . the monthly credit card statement was received. 2 items billed. No credit given.  So off I went to the retailer (on the phone at least) and they duly apologised and said a refund would be issued straight away. They suggested I phone the credit card issuer with a note of the Refund Admin No.  This is where the trouble started.

It seemed that the credit card people would not receive the credit until the next month. So they suggested that I just pay the whole bill, including the two items, and then there would be a refund due when next I bought something. But supposing I cannot or don’t want to pay for this item twice, said I?  Too bad was the very nicely given advice. The operative noted that I paid my bills off each month, so eventually she said that they would arrange to give me back any interest charged – as a one off.

By this time I was thoroughly confused. Only later did it dawn on me that credit cards are not rolling bills like banks. They are similar to a retailer with a fixed cut-off date. No doubt it is written up in their rules that they are entitled to payment and interest at a certain date. Imagine – your retailer makes an error and charges you several times for the same item. If it happens to be at the end of the billing period, you either have to pay for all the items or pay monthly interest and then fight for restitution.

Either way, big business gets bigger and I get crosser and crosser. It seems that the customer is no longer always right.

Posted in Blog | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Gremlins

Posted on April 24, 2014 by freda

No sooner do I start blogging again than disaster strikes – the words no-one likes to hear.   There is a fault on the line . . . . . .  All of a sudden there is little contact with the outside world. We don’t even get mobile phone reception or radio in this part of the Highlands. And it is frustrating to want to look up google for all sorts of facts and figures. The first two that came up were 1) Who was the first president of the US?  (Okay, I should have known that.) and 2) Was President Lincoln shot? (Of course he was.)

There was a #3 quite soon as well – an order not received from ebay – 100 snowdrops in the green. (Yes, I liked the sound of that as well.)  Today, with the line being sorted it was a matter of a few minutes to discover that they are on their way. We don’t have all that many snowdrops in the garden, but the few we have give a great amount of pleasure as winter creaks every onwards towards spring.

Then of course there is the matter of the end of the month bills.  Sometimes I wonder if we are all too dependent on the world of web. . . . . . .  but I wouldn’t like to do without it.

 

Posted in Blog | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Here I am again

Posted on April 23, 2014 by freda

Here I am back again after feeling pretty ropey and exhausted for a couple of weeks. It seems that I have reacted badly to a Shingles Vaccination. Thankfully, I am well on the mend now – even went for a picnic with HBTW and Misty a couple of days ago. As you can see, the Little Dog is very untidy and desperately needs her spring date with the beautician. Maybe I should try that too.

B2014 Mistyrucsac

Posted in Blog | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Having a clear out

Posted on April 16, 2014 by freda

The Spring clear out has started.  I’ve taken the executive decision that if I cannot read the print in a book, then it is for the high jump. I wonder what other criteria I can use?

  • If a book has not been opened in 5 yrs – seriously think of giving it away.
  • If clothing has not been worn for 2 year – pass it on.
  • How about if a teddy has not been cuddled?  Actually, I think I shall go round the house cuddling all the soft toys. (Don’t ask.)
Posted in Blog | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Angela?

Posted on April 15, 2014 by freda

The phone rang early on this morning and I did not recognise the number on caller display so I answered it without knowing who was on the other end. It was an Indian-sounding lady who claimed to be called Angela, and it was obviously from a busy call centre. She informed me that my computer was “badly infected.” Regular readers will know that I don’t do mornings very well at all. However, having had a relative who worked in Direct Sales for a while, I did my best to be polite. I tried to get a word in edgeways, but had the distinct impression that “Angela” was working from a script and that nothing was going to get in the way of her working her way down the spiel she had in front of her.

First off I tried the, this-doesn’t-apply-to-me-as-I-am-a-Mac-user approach, but that simply meant her voice went up several decibels and she told me again that I was infected. I was going to tell her about my telephone preferential registration, but by then she was insisting I switch my computer on and she would tell me what site to go to. (All in a peremptory and aggressive style.)  I can only presume the next step would have been an instruction to type in passwords or other sensitive information, and as I was getting nowhere, I hung up.

My point is this. What if I had been someone who was not computer savvy? Someone who was only too ready to believe that somehow my computer was “infected” and ready to give away personal information? I have known cases where people have been taken in and ended up being taken for a ride.

By the way, if it had been “Lionel from Bolton” would it have been any less intrusive? No, not really, but it would not have been happening. As far as I can find out the Telephone Preferential Service registration only applies to this country, hence the reason for overseas sales centres taking on this type of work. Coupled with the daily onslaught of spurious and dastardly emails, it all goes to show that the online world needs a degree of scepticism just to survive.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

Hannah

Posted on April 14, 2014 by freda

This is the littlest grandchild – amazing how she has grown and is such a feisty wee character. All her family and friends are calling her the “miracle baby” because things did not go smoothly for her whilst she was in the womb. And look at her now.

B2014 Hannah6weeks

Posted in Blog | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Ship to shore

Posted on April 12, 2014 by freda

Today’s excitement was a phone call from friends who are currently cruising in the Med. They were anchored off Corfu in balmy weather, and we chatted in real time as clearly as if they were phoning from home. Afterwards we looked up their position on AIS similar to google earth only for ships.

What an amazing world.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

It is here

Posted on April 10, 2014 by freda

And here is . . . . . . . .  the new fridge/freezer

B2014 Samsungopen

Posted in Blog | Tagged , | 5 Comments