Wednesday

A rant.
It was going to be a reply to Joan's comment yesterday but it turned into a fully blown rant regarding that phone call to the Pru!

What really got up my nose was - well several things . . .
1.  The phone call took over an hour and none of it was stuff that HAD to be transacted over the phone.  An email would have done just as well or a letter.  It was an attempt to push their own financial services when I just wanted to keep it simple!
And it was MY phone bill!
2.  We got moved around from pillar to post and had to say the same thing several time to different people.  Beth was remarkably patient and I thank her very much.  The alternative would have been a visit and I'd very much have preferred not that.
3.  Would they have queried my clearly stated (and correctly recorded on the right form) pension decisions had I been male, not female (no answer but both B and I thought not)?
4.  They seemed to equate hard of hearing with lack of brain.  I wanted to say 'I'm deaf, not thick!' but I didn't.  Oh, the chains of common courtesy!  At one point I thought I would scream if they asked Beth 'Does your mother understand . . .' once more, especially as I had discussed it all in considerable depth with my own financial adviser, aka Dad, in depth before making my decision.
5.  And finally - a letter that could only be sent AFTER the phone call arrived yesterday but there's no sign of any lump sum in my account, confirmation of monthly amounts, etc.  If they can do one, they can do the other!

If I HAD been considering investing some of my very hard earned lump sum cash with them, I doubt I would now, not without very strong financial incentive.  I may have some dyscalculic tendencies but stupid I am not.  Seriously not impressed.

The financial world doesn't seem to appreciate the issues created by a heating loss and seems reluctant to put into place alternatives.  I've had the same from the bank when I have been contacted by phone even though it is clearly stated that I do not wish then to with the reasons why.   Grrrrrrrrr

Rant over!

Yesterday didn't quite go as planned but it was good.  After the reading time with the littlies, the last one of the school year as the books are all being collected in today, I went home to find Beth already at work.  I got stuck in too and we decided that as the work was flowing, we would defer the visit to And Sew On until Friday when we would perhaps know better if we needed other stuff as well.

So we had the picnic lunch I had prepared earlier inside rather then outside the cafe and carried on working and by the end of the afternoon there was quite a pile of little bits and bobs,  decorations, and so on, ready to stack away for the Christmas stall.

After Beth had gone I had a visit and by the end of it I had another pupil to tutor.  Now that the supply has more or less dried up and there are no one day a week contracts, I can devote a bit more time to private tuition, three students looks very manageable to me and the cash will be very useful for Christmas things.  I'm happy.

Today is a full craft day with no other commitments until the evening when I am off out to watch the year 5 and 6 Summer Show, A Midsummer Night's Dream'.  I rootled around upstairs and found some more paper patterns to add to those I bought recently and I want to set to and make myself another summer skirt, just in case the weather ever turns consistently warm and sunny.  You never know, it might, although, after monsoon conditions at times yesterday, it is still dull, damp and dismal this morning.

It's July, Mother Nature, where's the heatwave?

Today's food plans, which have been thoroughly messed around this week but never mind, are . . .
B:  natural yogurt, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and granola
L:  hummus with crudites, mixed salad, orange
D:  fish pie, green beans,  fresh fruit salad with a dollop of yogurt