Posted: Mon 11 February, 2008 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Cynicism, Domestic |
It’s that time of year when farmers start to work at making their fields all lovely and fertile for their crops later in the year. Not being a farmer, how do I know this?
Because around us, every single farmer is out spreading manure, fertiliser, and all manner of other stinky items on their fields. It fuckin’ reeks round here today, I can tell you.
So yes, living out in the bum-end of nowhere does have it’s down-days, despite being generally bloody great. And today is one of the down-days. Hey Ho.
Posted: Fri 8 February, 2008 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Customer Services, Cynicism |
So, Valentine’s Day is next week. Great. As regular readers will know, I couldn’t give a tin dog’s dick about Valentine’s Day, and I turn into a right grumpy old bastard. (Yes, even more of one than usual)
However, it’s good to know that I’m not the only cynic on the block, and as usual Meg has released her fantastic Anti-Valentine’s Cards on the world.
Fantastic, as ever.
Posted: Mon 4 February, 2008 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Cynicism, Work-related |
So, as it turns out the interviews last week weren’t as successful as I’d thought.
The one for the permanent job hasn’t gone any further, as I don’t have a couple of things in my skillset that they deemed essential. Not important enough to put in the job-spec, of course, but still essential to the job itself. Which is a pain in the tits, because it means that I’ve wasted my time (and theirs) by going for something that (because of my not having those essential bits) I had no hope of getting.
The other one is even more irritating, truth be told. If they had stuck to their initial spec/requirements, I’d have got the contract and all would be well. Except the (non-technical) board changed their minds, and decided that actually the necessary work could be done 50% cheaper, and in half the time, so that having been in and interviewed well, all of a sudden I was too expensive, and the contract came down from three months to six weeks.
That’s the second one with that problem in less than a month.
Now I realise that it’s looking like financial times are going to be a bit tough for the next few months for a lot of businesses, but surely it’s a bit late to be thinking about that when you’ve already agreed terms with a recruitment agency, interviewed people, and spent money on it all ?
Ah well, more CVs and the like have been sent out today, and will be through the rest of the week/month, so we’ll just have to see what comes up.
Posted: Fri 1 February, 2008 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Customer Services, Cynicism, Getting Organised, Own Business, Work-related |
When I said a few weeks back that I’d submitted by tax return by post, recorded delivery so that I knew it’d got there, a ouple of people wondered why I didn’t use the online sstem for submitting it.
There’s a number of reasons for it, although this story on the BBC about it having crashed wasn’t in that list ’til today.
Mainly, I like cast-iron proof that it’s been received by HMCE. I’ve been bitten before by “Well, just because you submitted it online doesn’t mean we received it”, and also by “If we send something out to you, we assume you’ve received it – but that doesn’t work the same way when you send something to us”. In my experience, the cunts at HMCE will lose tax returns just for fun. I don’t know what systems they’ve got there, but it’s all too easy for them to lose information. I prefer to make sure they at least have to lose hard-copy, rather than something that can be killed by just the click of a mouse. Yeah, I’m cynical – but then, I’ve been on the receiving end of some seriously shit service at the hands of HMCE, so it’s understandable.
Secondly, I just don’t trust a system that’s a) been written by shyster motherfuckers like Capita and EDS (and that is renowned for being a sack of shit) and b) that’s not secure enough for royalty, MPs or celebrities. Oh, it’s secure enough for Joe Public of course – just not for special people. So no, I don’t trust the system at all.
Hell, the system isn’t even stable enough to handle the load when lots of people submit their forms just in time for the deadline.
So I’ll stick with submitting my forms by post, thanks. I might let the accountant do it online – so lng as I get a full hard-copy of it as well, for my records and verificatiion.
Posted: Thu 31 January, 2008 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Customer Services, Cynicism, Domestic, Own Business, Work-related |
Having filled in my Tax Return a few weeks back, I got a letter from HMCE this morning. Happily, it’s initial proof that I was right in a couple of assumptions/beliefs.
I bloody knew that Parasol were costing me too much money, and that I wasn’t getting paid the correct amount. I’d asked them about it several times, but they insisted I didn’t know what I was talking about, and that of course they were correct in what they were doing.
The initial letter from the taxman confirms I was right – I’ve overpaid nearly £2,000 in the 2006/7 tax year. I don’t know yet how they’re going to plan on paying it back, but I’m looking forward to the day it happens.
Mind you, I’d rather have received that missing £150 per month, rather than paying it to the fucking Inland Revenue for them to pay it back to me without any interest accruing on it…
Posted: Mon 28 January, 2008 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Cynicism, Thoughts, Work-related |
Occasionally, one really has to wonder how your name has come up in a search.
This morning I’ve had a call from the HR department of a massive international company – and we’re talking seriously big, I have to say – asking about the work I’d done with the company I worked for in 2006 (the one that moved from Wokingham to London, and was run by AB) as they were launching a team to do a similar type of thing, and wanted to know if I’d be interested in working with them on doing so.
It’s something that would definitely be of interest, I have to say. And when they mentioned the money, I’ve become very interested. Just have to see what they say, now.
But I’d love to know where/who they got my name from…
Posted: Fri 25 January, 2008 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Customer Services, Cynicism, Weirdness, Work-related |
Today, I’ve had to park on the road outside the office, there being no available parking spaces on their forecourt. Not an uncommon occurrence- but the road is all parking-meter type things, where the maximum duration is two hours. A bit of a pain in the tits, but I just set the alarm on my mobile for five minutes before the ticket is due to expire, go down, renew the ticket, job done.
Only of course today I haven’t got the phone with me.
The parking charges start at 9am (which is another good reason for coming in early – if I get in at 7.30 or so, I get 3½hours parking in the morning for my £1.20, rather than the standard 2 hours for the same amount) so the first reminder is at 11am.
With no reminder, I just looked at the clock on my PC and thought “Oooohh, tits” , as it was 11.35. Yep, I’m so going to have a parking ticket. Bugger. Working two days a week it’s actually more economical to drive in, even including the petrol and parking costs, than getting the train. Except when I get a parking ticket. Then all economy goes out the window.
But I get down to the car and lo, no parking ticket. More than half-an-hour over my limit, and nothing. I really don’t know how I’ve managed that, but I’m not going to complain!
Of course, now I’ll go down at 13.40 (the ticket expiring at 13.35) and I’ll have a ticket…
