British Gas for failing - at least four times - to inform me that this area is unsuitable for smart meters, having Pestered (that's too strong a word, but I'm going to use it here!) me to have one. The meter is situated just outside.
After the latest fiasco, I insisted on a letter of apology. It arrived this week.
I'd also like to consign to this All Saints version of hell the way the letter was written. Every time an apostrophy could be used, it was. Are they too lazy to type out the subject and verb, or is it because they think that reducing the number of characters is obligatory?!.
I'd also like to consign to this All Saints version of hell the way the letter was written. Every time an apostrophy could be used, it was. Are they too lazy to type out the subject and verb, or is it because they think that reducing the number of characters is obligatory?!.
But did they use the apostrophe(s) correctly? I assume they did, from what you say, so perhaps we have here a small, but positive, sign that the Rogue Apostrophe is on its way out.
I'd also like to consign to this All Saints version of hell the way the letter was written. Every time an apostrophy could be used, it was. Are they too lazy to type out the subject and verb, or is it because they think that reducing the number of characters is obligatory?!.
But did they use the apostrophe(s) correctly? I assume they did, from what you say, so perhaps we have here a small, but positive, sign that the Rogue Apostrophe is on its way out.
I would have to check, but I'm (oops! I am pretty sure there was no need for the possessive apostrophe.
Although it is Raining now, we have in fact had Three Dry Days this week. I cut the lawn yesterday; well that was the idea but I think the soggy grass got bent as much as cut.
Hellish wild fires, scary wind, power outages, tired of it all. Bring rain please lots and lots of rain. @Bishop's Finger, as you seem to do good with the water works could you turn on the rain over Northern California and hurry before wildfire spread any further.
TICTH the reason why Sparkle Medium is going off the market. It had become an essential part of my preparation for Christmas. I made chocolates and would decorate the boxes using sparkle medium and stencils. It was quick and looked good. Last year there were all sorts of new developments happening but this year they are difficult to get (a limited quantity available on Amazon or Ebay and some from the last seller). The second problem is the same firm made decent stencils and now I am going to have to hunt for a fresh supplier.
TICTH the defaults in Apple's messaging services. I'm sorry, but "Ok" is not the equivalent of "OK," but the name of a caveman. ("Me Ok; you Gruk.") Apostrophes should never, ever be the default. (It's not "the Brown's;" it's "the Browns.") A carefully typed-out name should not be "corrected" to something else. (You don't want to know.) Someone with a good command of the English language should be in charge of this stuff, not Apple's faulty AI.
It's very true; but I do wish you'd tell me how to pluralize my last name! (It ends with a long o, people, like the o in "cone"--and when pluralized with a simple --s gives the effect of somethingsomething-oss, as in "Ross." In fact I used to work with a man who had the correct plural form of our last name for his (singular) last name, and who DID pronounce it to rhyme with "Ross." )
Were it not a proper name, we'd normally add --es to pluralize it without misleading people about the vowel sound, as in hero/heroes. But I've never seen that done to a proper name.
Our current work-around is to say ditzy things like "Mr. Lamb--oh, and the rest of the family, too" to avoid the plural altogether.
Getting a new cell phone. How is it that I can never get one with a loud enough ring, yet when I am on the bus I can hear them ringing down the other end - even if I don't have my hearing aids in?
My washing machine is out of action and will be for a couple of months. After various bouts of hand washing, I took a smallish load to the local laundrette - just tee shirts and a towel - and decided to have a service wash. Afterwards the laundrette lady turned to me and said "That will be £17.00 please". £17.00!!!!! I collapsed, and they had to give me mouth to mouth resuscitation to return me to life. Apparently even without the service wash, it would have cost £13.00
I used to pay £10 per load, some 3-4 years ago, to a lovely Turkish chap, who ran our local Launderette. The cost included washing, drying, folding, and (if he had time) a bit of ironing. He asked me not to call on Friday lunchtimes, as he'd be at the mosque...
If I gave him a £20 note, he'd iron the £10 note he'd give me back as change.
The hellish bit of all this rigmarole is that he's now retired, and there's no other facility within easy reach, so I have to employ a Wash Ing of my own.
TBH, for a single chap like me, £10 a week was worth paying!
You would be cheaper getting a new wading machine. Why is it out if service for a couple of months? Doing up the kitchen? Have you no friends or neighbours?
@Bishops Finger Your Turkish chap sounded an absolute poppet! Hope the replacement solution is proving okay, even if not up to his standards.
@Cathscats I'm getting a little bit of building work done. The washing machine & dryer will be up and running in a month or so, once there is housing for them again. Meanwhile I am doing a lot of grumpy hand washing. I've only been here a year and don't feel I can lean on anyone I know.
Ugh... the Faith Mission were back again today. I didn't need a verse and three choruses of "anyone who isn't a Christian in the way we say you should be a Christian isn't really a Christian and anyone who isn't a Christian is going to hell" this morning. Who the fuck do they actually terrify into converting with this borderline-blasphemous drivel? Thank heaven only 10 people were there to endure it.
Our local launderette is £4 for the wash and £1.50 ish for the dryer. I usually put the washing in and retire to the nearest pub - there's just time for a half while I read my book before I go back to take the washing out of the machine!
Ugh... the Faith Mission were back again today. I didn't need a verse and three choruses of "anyone who isn't a Christian in the way we say you should be a Christian isn't really a Christian and anyone who isn't a Christian is going to hell" this morning. Who the fuck do they actually terrify into converting with this borderline-blasphemous drivel? Thank heaven only 10 people were there to endure it.
Ugh... the Faith Mission were back again today. I didn't need a verse and three choruses of "anyone who isn't a Christian in the way we say you should be a Christian isn't really a Christian and anyone who isn't a Christian is going to hell" this morning. Who the fuck do they actually terrify into converting with this borderline-blasphemous drivel? Thank heaven only 10 people were there to endure it.
Was that in church, or an open-air mission?
In church. Not that it matters as he says the same things all the time and everywhere. I don't think he knows how to preach a sermon to people who are already Christians.
Ugh... the Faith Mission were back again today. I didn't need a verse and three choruses of "anyone who isn't a Christian in the way we say you should be a Christian isn't really a Christian and anyone who isn't a Christian is going to hell" this morning. Who the fuck do they actually terrify into converting with this borderline-blasphemous drivel? Thank heaven only 10 people were there to endure it.
Was that in church, or an open-air mission?
In church. Not that it matters as he says the same things all the time and everywhere. I don't think he knows how to preach a sermon to people who are already Christians.
Sounds like our chap. Today he twisted the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector to say, in so many words, that churchgoing is no use, all we need is to trust Jesus.
Ugh... the Faith Mission were back again today. I didn't need a verse and three choruses of "anyone who isn't a Christian in the way we say you should be a Christian isn't really a Christian and anyone who isn't a Christian is going to hell" this morning. Who the fuck do they actually terrify into converting with this borderline-blasphemous drivel? Thank heaven only 10 people were there to endure it.
Was that in church, or an open-air mission?
In church. Not that it matters as he says the same things all the time and everywhere. I don't think he knows how to preach a sermon to people who are already Christians.
Sounds like our chap. Today he twisted the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector to say, in so many words, that churchgoing is no use, all we need is to trust Jesus.
Visited a friend's church today and heard the same text - Pharisee and tax collector. After reading it, the excellent minister announced, "You just walked into a theological trap!" ensuring that we all sat up right away and enjoyed a fine sermon.
I lost track of our sermon and the same subject, but there are always written copies for those who don't hear well. This one was in smaller type and went on for 4 side of A4. Usually it's 2 sides - and in larger print.
{Retrieves and dusts off old fundamentalist faith hat.}
The Faith Mission pastor probably believes that going to church, etc., doesn't necessarily indicate that you're a Christian. He sounds fund/evo, whatever his denomination may be. If that's his perspective, then he most likely believes that you actually have to *choose* Jesus (consciously) in order to be a Christian. Anything else is deception by the devil.
He may also believe that you can lose your salvation--e.g., do something God considers so awful that you're going straight down, going away from God, etc.
Fortunately, my childhood church taught "once saved, always saved"--which saved people a lot of grief, anxiety, and terror. *But* there was also the possibility that you didn't *really* mean it when you accepted Jesus into your heart, or that you since wandered away. I wrestled with that, off and on. "If I'm not already a Christian, God..."
Kids who've grown up in church all their lives, but never made a conscious decision for Jesus, sometimes wonder if they're really Christians. I didn't, because I'd made a conscious, voluntary decision when I was little. But the possibility that God might look in my heart and decide that I'd "fallen away" or some such wasn't fun.
The pastor in question may well be a jerk, or misguided. But, from his point of view, he may be sincerely concerned for people's souls.
My only experience of the Faith Mission was from my Christian Endeavour/Baptist days, and the people concerned always seemed to be Irish, probably Very Good and Holy and in some cases rather fun, despite their Con/Evo stance. I imagine they would find me irredeemably far up the candle these days ...
We had the tax-collector and the Pharisee today too, and a sermon about original sin.
Faith Mission certainly used to include a lot of Irish folk, and it was founded by a Scot. My brother-in-law's son worked with them for a few years in north-east England but is now the Pastor of an Independent Evangelical Church in the central belt of Scotland - curiously I preached there myself, before he was even born! There is a chappie of similar ilk who comes to our shack from time to time (not when I'm there, obviously). Quite a few folk can't stand him and stay away. We have dropped hints to the person who arranges these things that he should not be invited, but he's a personal friend of said chappie so it's difficult ...
We didn't make it to church in the morning (maybe if we had all gone, the result would have been different!) as we had friends staying and the torrential rain had at last abated; but we went to 6 o'clock service and had a very interesting, relevant and engaging sermon about films (!)
Our vicar, who is a Rural Dean or whatever they call it these days, who hadn't preached, then announced that he wouldn't be on time at the Deanery Synod - next Saturday at half nine!
Our church believes in engaging with popular culture!
{Retrieves and dusts off old fundamentalist faith hat.}
The Faith Mission pastor probably believes that going to church, etc., doesn't necessarily indicate that you're a Christian. He sounds fund/evo, whatever his denomination may be. If that's his perspective, then he most likely believes that you actually have to *choose* Jesus (consciously) in order to be a Christian. Anything else is deception by the devil.
Not only choose consciously, but have a conscious "relaaaationship" with him, such that it is never hard or a chore to pray, that your whole life is transformed and every moment lived for him. Or you're not really a Christian. There seems to be some bits of the Gospel that eluded him, like "blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed", or the bits about forgiveness and mercy and love. I find it really hard to understand how anyone who has dedicated their entire life to saving souls can manage to make the Gospel sound so unappetising.
Just chipping in with my anecdotal evidence for caroline444's straw poll. Every few weeks / couple of months, I take a large bag of towels, bedsheets and nightwear to a local laundrette to save them hanging drying in my house and generally save the hassle of washing them myself (I wash all my own clothes and hang them up at home). A service wash for said (very) large bag of laundry usually costs somewhere between £9 and £12, which I consider excellent value given the hassle it saves and the fact I only do this about every couple of months. I'm in the north east of England.
Missed the parable yesterday - still not going to church.
BUT TICTH HMRC and all its works, especially their helpdesk. There's a misnomer for you. Seething and weepy at the same time.
Missed the parable yesterday - still not going to church.
BUT TICTH HMRC and all its works, especially their helpdesk. There's a misnomer for you. Seething and weepy at the same time.
Sympathy with the “help” desk. Never have I ever spent so long on hold on the phone to anyone else.
TICTH: I have a lurgy, and my dad is ill in hospital, and I feel I shouldn’t visit as he doesn’t need a cough and cold to add to his woes.
We’ve been texting back and forth, and he phoned earlier. I’ve been able to send my love, and hear his complaints, and let him know why I’m not able to see him. So it’s ok, I just feel a bit sorry for him - I mean, not that my presence is so wonderful and life changing, but you know what I mean.
Yap, yap pause. Yap yap, pause from early morning till around lunch time. Even later yesterday. Two dogs next door, border collies. One is fine. The other does that for hour after hour because he has been left. I feel sorry for him , not a young puppy but about a year old. It seems there are no toys or puzzles like a kong. Next door to my private end of the verandah. Today I have come around the back so bulk of house helps to quieten noise a bit. Poor dog but it is very annoying.
We've had a pair of young border collies staying across the street for the last couple of weeks. Similar sorts of behaviour, but I suspect the distance from our place lessens the nuisance somewhat compared to yours.
There is about a normal suburban block between my verandah and the fence to next door. Blocks are big and our house is in three blocks together. There are a dozen huge, solid cypress trees along the side and a couple of very tall gums.
House is two storey, double brick so that helps too. However the noise penetrates. I feel bad for wthe dog as well as for my head.
Having started so well the Boiler Company have now gone quiet.
My solicitor has sent them a very concise letter asking what is going on. He attached to it the final workings-out of the accountant showing just how much extra we have been charged for gas over the years and the total cost of all the visits by engineers; and a schedule showing how much we would have had in compounded interest had those sums not been spent because of their fault equipment.
The solicitor has given them 7 days to come up with a cheque to cover the excess expenditure and interest, plus a sum for "goodwill, distress and lack of amenity".
Those idiots who have spent this week letting off the loudest fireworks in the shop, generally late in the evening. Bonfire Night is NEXT week. (And round here we have an almost grandstand view of the municipal display.)
Those idiots who have spent this week letting off the loudest fireworks in the shop, generally late in the evening. Bonfire Night is NEXT week. (And round here we have an almost grandstand view of the municipal display.)
Diwali, however, began last Sunday. Is it possible you have neighbours with cultural origins in southern Asia?
Comments
After the latest fiasco, I insisted on a letter of apology. It arrived this week.
I'd also like to consign to this All Saints version of hell the way the letter was written. Every time an apostrophy could be used, it was. Are they too lazy to type out the subject and verb, or is it because they think that reducing the number of characters is obligatory?!.
My prayer was Efficacious - the rain stopped, very soon after I'd posted
The episcopal laundry is clustering around the Stove, though, and drying nicely.
But did they use the apostrophe(s) correctly? I assume they did, from what you say, so perhaps we have here a small, but positive, sign that the Rogue Apostrophe is on its way out.
'ALWAY'S YOUR MINNIE'
I expect they were made in China, or somewhere similar, but had no-one in this country even looked at them?
Mrs. S, scandalised
Were it not a proper name, we'd normally add --es to pluralize it without misleading people about the vowel sound, as in hero/heroes. But I've never seen that done to a proper name.
Our current work-around is to say ditzy things like "Mr. Lamb--oh, and the rest of the family, too" to avoid the plural altogether.
If I gave him a £20 note, he'd iron the £10 note he'd give me back as change.
The hellish bit of all this rigmarole is that he's now retired, and there's no other facility within easy reach, so I have to employ a Wash Ing of my own.
TBH, for a single chap like me, £10 a week was worth paying!
@Cathscats I'm getting a little bit of building work done. The washing machine & dryer will be up and running in a month or so, once there is housing for them again. Meanwhile I am doing a lot of grumpy hand washing. I've only been here a year and don't feel I can lean on anyone I know.
In church. Not that it matters as he says the same things all the time and everywhere. I don't think he knows how to preach a sermon to people who are already Christians.
Sounds like our chap. Today he twisted the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector to say, in so many words, that churchgoing is no use, all we need is to trust Jesus.
Visited a friend's church today and heard the same text - Pharisee and tax collector. After reading it, the excellent minister announced, "You just walked into a theological trap!" ensuring that we all sat up right away and enjoyed a fine sermon.
The Faith Mission pastor probably believes that going to church, etc., doesn't necessarily indicate that you're a Christian. He sounds fund/evo, whatever his denomination may be. If that's his perspective, then he most likely believes that you actually have to *choose* Jesus (consciously) in order to be a Christian. Anything else is deception by the devil.
He may also believe that you can lose your salvation--e.g., do something God considers so awful that you're going straight down, going away from God, etc.
Fortunately, my childhood church taught "once saved, always saved"--which saved people a lot of grief, anxiety, and terror. *But* there was also the possibility that you didn't *really* mean it when you accepted Jesus into your heart, or that you since wandered away. I wrestled with that, off and on. "If I'm not already a Christian, God..."
Kids who've grown up in church all their lives, but never made a conscious decision for Jesus, sometimes wonder if they're really Christians. I didn't, because I'd made a conscious, voluntary decision when I was little. But the possibility that God might look in my heart and decide that I'd "fallen away" or some such wasn't fun.
The pastor in question may well be a jerk, or misguided. But, from his point of view, he may be sincerely concerned for people's souls.
FWIW.
We had the tax-collector and the Pharisee today too, and a sermon about original sin.
Our vicar, who is a Rural Dean or whatever they call it these days, who hadn't preached, then announced that he wouldn't be on time at the Deanery Synod - next Saturday at half nine!
Our church believes in engaging with popular culture!
Mrs. S, who never goes to the cinema...
Not only choose consciously, but have a conscious "relaaaationship" with him, such that it is never hard or a chore to pray, that your whole life is transformed and every moment lived for him. Or you're not really a Christian. There seems to be some bits of the Gospel that eluded him, like "blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed", or the bits about forgiveness and mercy and love. I find it really hard to understand how anyone who has dedicated their entire life to saving souls can manage to make the Gospel sound so unappetising.
BUT TICTH HMRC and all its works, especially their helpdesk. There's a misnomer for you. Seething and weepy at the same time.
Sympathy with the “help” desk. Never have I ever spent so long on hold on the phone to anyone else.
TICTH: I have a lurgy, and my dad is ill in hospital, and I feel I shouldn’t visit as he doesn’t need a cough and cold to add to his woes.
House is two storey, double brick so that helps too. However the noise penetrates. I feel bad for wthe dog as well as for my head.
My solicitor has sent them a very concise letter asking what is going on. He attached to it the final workings-out of the accountant showing just how much extra we have been charged for gas over the years and the total cost of all the visits by engineers; and a schedule showing how much we would have had in compounded interest had those sums not been spent because of their fault equipment.
The solicitor has given them 7 days to come up with a cheque to cover the excess expenditure and interest, plus a sum for "goodwill, distress and lack of amenity".
Best of luck, anyway.
Diwali, however, began last Sunday. Is it possible you have neighbours with cultural origins in southern Asia?