Rip off Britain strikes again!

Cheap flights ain't what they used to be!! Recently I booked flights for 5 of us to go to Germany for Brother in Law's wedding in June. Remarkably we got the flights for about £17 each outbound and a mere £7 inbound (total £24 each). But then taxes and fees put them up to £75 each!

Still not too bad until you realise that a bag in the hold is another £28 each way, and if you want to check in at the airport check in desk it's another £14 each way! Not only that, if you wanted to reserve seats together is was a further £5.50 each - each way (£9.50 if you want an aisle seat with a bit more leg room).

But the final insult was when I booked by credit card. Now most of us are used to getting "stung" by a £2.50 or £3 credit card charge but this company stated:

• No booking fees apply when paying with VISA Electron
• For all other card types a booking fee per person per flight of £3.00 is applied
• Credit card supplement is £1.50per person per flight

So although I was paying for all 5 of us (so 10 flights) with ONE credit card transaction, they charged me £3 plus £1.50 per flight - so that added a fee of £45 just becasue I paid by credit card! What a rip off. I shan't use that company again!

Using you vote to get the government to change

Wouldn't it be nice if we could say to the politicians "Do this" or "Sort that out...and I'll vote for you" - and actually think it would happen? If it isn't the case now it certainly used to be! My late Father in Law was a bit of a hoarder and after he passed away we discovered all sorts of things including a copy of "Country Life" magazine of July 14th 1928. In it was an advert entitled "The Art of Not Voting" sponsored by Haig Whiskey, which stated:

"Politicians pay no attention to persons whose votes are pledged. If you require attention you should keep your vote in your pocket and only give it in return for a difinite promise...many thousands of people - especially in Scotland - will not vote for any government that will not rectify the admittedly unfair tax on Scotch Whiskey which is improperly restricting the Home section of a fine British industry. 8/51/2d tax per bottle is a grossly unfair tax. It means that

PROHIBITION HAS BEEN IMPOSED ON ALL BUT WELL-TO-DO PEOPLE.

This movement to "hold up" votes is spreading all over the country. It is the only method available of expressing discontent in an effective manner. We who continue fighting for an abatement of the Whiskey duty wish this movement success."

Strikes me we should do something like this about taxes on petrol - and VAT - and tax on wine and beer - not to mention income tax. Or better still the petrol companies should! Of course it wouldn't do any good - and I don't suppose this campaign did either. But at least it might make us feel better!

Trains are not what they used to be!

I suppose that's pretty obvious really - now nice quiet, warm, smooth etc and with internet in the train - but totally souless. Bring back the steam locos of my youth - that's what I say.

Am travelling today from Brum to London via Virgin Trains. Managed to get a great deal on First Class with my OGR (Old Gits Railcard) - well there has to be some benefit in passing the 60 level (apart from the winter fuel allowance that is) BUT there is no hot catering on this service - disgusting - so no free (veggie) full breakfast - what is the world coming to?

And now they have announced delays of up to 15 minutes due to the wrong points near Milton Keynes - sure it was never like this in the gool old (steam) days! I remember stanidng by the side of the line watching the Devonian with a Jubilee class and jotting down the number...Oh! I think I just gave away a closely guarded secret that I was a train spotter. Please don't hold it against me!!

Motorway speed (or lack of) and Radio 2 (AHHH!)

Aren't we lucky to have such a vast motorway network that lets you get virtually anywhere quickly? Well that's the idea - but half the time it doesn't work. Yesterday, driving from home to Aylesbury, the first 55 miles are all motorway - and managed an average speed of 31 mph! There was no snow, no fog, no accidents (that I saw), but lots of outside lane hugging! The last 20 odd miles - all single track A roads - helped lift the average speed to 35 by the time I got there.

And as for the Radio 2 traffic reports - they were worse than useless. Near the M42/M40 junction they said there was some traffic congestion by Warwick services (junction 12) and some south of junction 9 (Oxford - and the junction where I was leaving the motorway anyway) - due to earlier accidents BUT both had been cleared. They failed to mention the fact that you would end up stationery at Junction 15!

By the time we got through that the Radio 2 traffic said that there was now no problem on M40 - but I was stopped again by Junction 12. After that eventually cleared, and with Radio 2 Lady saying all clear I thought I was OK - nope - Junctions 10 to 9 was totally start/stop.

Once I had LEFT at junction 9 they advised me that there was some congestion between 10 and 9! Some congestion? It was a CAR PARK!

I HATE QUEUES AND MOTORWAYS AND OUTSIDE LANE HUGGERS!!

Lesson: Either don't use motorways or find alternative routes on A roads - on average would be quicker!!I Alternatively why not buy an ex army TANK - that should help get through (over) the traffic jams!

Kodak Printers

The current Kodak advert on TV suggests that the Kodak printer cratridges save you money because they last longer - well they certainly lasted longer than the Kodak printer I bought 5 weeks ago that has already packed up!! But the cartridges have still got ink in so that's OK isn't it?!

To be fair to Kodak they did get me a replacement within 48 hours - after waiting for nearly 30 minutes on the end of a phone that is - and the replacement didn't work to start with either!! Another 20 minutes on the phone and this one is working - but for how long?

But I have learnt a huge lesson from this episode. I am someone who often leaves printing until the last moment - what a mistake to make!! Fortunately this time I could get the prints I needed done in the office - but imagine if it was something urgent - like you book advance tickets on BRail then have to print out your on line booking as a "ticket" for the day of travel. Imagine having booked it and then you can't print it - dragging your PC onto the train to try and prove you actually did book your seat might be a little difficult!!

So in future I will print things as soon as I have completed them and not leave it until the last minute (might pay to buy a couple of spare printers as well!!)

Why don't garden centres sell garden things?

Wanted to buy some seeds for the garden last week - so naturally we went to a garden centre - where else - but they didn't have any - nor spring bulbs for that matter - seems you can buy anything from a cup and saucer to a children's game and from plastic flowers to plastic wellies - but things for the garden like seeds and bulbs - nope! Hopefully once Christmas is over they will replace the Christmas decs, lights and plastic trees with something more suitable for a garden centre. More probably they will replace them with plastic Easter Eggs. Why don't shops sell what they are supposed to sell?

No life's lesson from this other than if you've got some seeds for sale you could make a fortune! In the meantime I'm off to the lingerie shop to buy the Starters Guide to Scaffolding book.

If all else fails - don't read the manual!

I admit that I often don't read manuals - at least not until I'm totally confused - and sometimes that's quite quickly - especially if I'm trying to build something like a piece of flat packed furniture. But sometimes "instructions" are just so wonderful. Friends James and Dana gave me a mug at the weekend with "I (heart) Spreadsheets" on the front and on the box there were "instructions" (I kid you not).

The "Instructions for use" read "Fill up mug with beverage of choice. Drink"

I'm so glad they did that otherwise I would have never worked it out!

Reminds me of when I got stuck in USA (thanks to plane delays) with no luggage - so I ended up going to the local shopping mall in Philadelphia to buy some pants - and the pack had instructions for use on them! It said, "place left foot through garment, then put right foot through, pull over knees, up to waist. Stand with hands on hips and feel good"! No joke - it really did.

And I followed the instructions to the letter - but it didn't work. You see it never said "Remove trousers..." first - so I ended up looking like Superman but with boxers on!

And the lesson here - sometimes common sense is more valuable than written instructions!