Suddenley I have no hair left

Well, its been 6 months since I last had a haircut and the style had grown out so I decided to book an appointment. BMan came along as his recent growth spurt had stopped so a trim was required on his part too.

The salon looked a bit empty when we arrived as only the owner and one assistant was in (theres normally 3 or 4) Lee (The hairdresser) explained that he had stupidly allowed them to go off on holiday at the same time, and one was sick so the poor guy was up to his ears in appointments that he was struggling to keep up with! We had to wait a while to actually get seen, but he was really good about it (I got a free deep conditioning hair mask and BMan got a free box of colour for his next image change)

Once i got into the chair I had looked through a magazine that was in the rack and seen some cuts I quite liked, so I decided to get a bit of a chop...here we have before...

which you may remember from my glasses post... and an after...

I'm pretty chuffed with it and now ready for the next step - It needs re-dyed - and I have plans for that too but more photos will be forthcoming.

Old contacts

I swear my day gets worse...I think I'll just go to bed. I've just got an email from an old acquaintance, someone who I had a bit of a fling with when I was about 16/17 (nothing serious, we were friends and kissed but I'm pretty sure that's not how he tells it). He's found me on friends reunited and sent me a message. I'm obviously unforgettable as he is begging me to add him to my hotmail contacts and hopes I remember him blah blah blah. The actual email comes across as totally slimy and well ewwww.... in fact here it is... read it and remind yourself that this man is now about 34 and has 2 kids...

Hey babe.....Its m******? from norwich? Mate of richards.......hope you remember me as I remember u very well........would like to get in touch sometime. We were kinda close many moons ago. lol..............add me......***********@hotmail.com.....please do....peace babe x

Theres two things wrong with this...

1. "Richard" he refers to hated him with a passion and was my boyfriend at the time who M desperately tried to steal me away from.

2. "we were kinda close" ... whilst I can't deny we were supposed to be friends once this is a man who forced his way into my flat when I was 17, stole a steak knife from my kitchen to slash his own wrists with, and then had the audacity to come back when it didn't work swearing at me because I wouldn't let him die!! (that was the very last I heard of him) Its probably also worth explaining here that he obviously didn't try hard enough as I have a deep scar on my finger from a pizza incident a few years later with those exact knives...

Needless to say I'm not going to respond and I'm definitely not going to add him. This is someone who is going to stay firmly in my past.

Not a good start

Following from the post below...Virgin media came and fitted our new line and broadband today.

As you may have guessed the broadband is working...but not quite how we would like...

First thing the engineer does is fit the phone line, simply plugs into the old Telewest line and hey presto! magic.

Next we wanders off to fit the broadband. (He has been asking some odd questions up to this point and seems to not understand the concept of a network with cables...)

Whist he is banging on the wall outside extending the line or something I got proactive and plugged in the phone. On testing the line all I could hear was a terrible connection and constant crackle which I promptly pointed out to him (I'm getting better at complaining it seems) he went away again but came back to inform me that there seems to be a problem with the network and he wouldn't be surprised if the whole street has the same problem as the box is damp, but he will have to report it as a fault and send a service engineer round.

So off he toddles "my work here is done" (or that's what he would have said if he had any form of eloquence or could even string a decent sentence together...) I venture out into the hall where the modem is...and its just a modem...no router. Bugger.

I hastily plug my network cable into the modem and hit the net to check that we were supposed to get a free router...yup. Ok not a good start then eh? faulty line and no router on day one, so I phoned Virgin media and explain the problems. I have a service engineer coming over Tuesday (almost another week) and I am informed that the router doesn't get fitted by the engineer, but has been posted out to us today...well at least its on its way, but its really no use that its not already here.

I thought this was ok...but I called BMan up to tell him how its all gone and he promptly called Virgin again to get it sorted. That was about 4:30. its now 6:30 and I've just had a text to tell me that he is still on the phone. I can't wait to find out what on earth has been going on but so far its BT -1, Virgin -1.

Sounds like its going to be an ongoing saga...

BT = Bloody Terrible or "Why I have had no internet for a week"

Oh dear here I go again....Another regretful business deal with a "service provider" When myself and B Man moved into our flat he already had a contract for Sky broadband so to keep it going we had to have a BT line. Neither of us were very happy about this as we had both had previous bad experiences with the notorious BT, but it had to be done (Its the only way you can have sky broadband for those who are blissfully unaware) So we had the line fitted and from day one have had constant hassles and problems, including a fault that took about a month to fix and again ended with us having no net connection for a week.

This time however the problem was dire, BMan got a call from his sister who had tried to call the home line but couldn't connect to it. This lead to us testing the phone and finding out that whilst we had a dialling tone we couldn't call out. So on the mobile I hop to BT "Customer services" I am initially told by the first advisor that I had a type of account that she couldn't deal with so I was transferred. A nice man in the billing department looked at my account and informed me that my line has been terminated..."Oh? I haven't had a bill" "hmm well the system is showing that you did not pay your last bill and you have been cut off. " Oddly he asked me when I noticed and was surprised when I said "about a day ago" so it sounds like it was cut off a good while before.
He checked the account and agreed that there was no outstanding amount (I had just made a payment for the month after the apparent "fault" prompted BMan to check the account online)
The nice man in billing then says - "well I can put you through to services and they will be able to reconnect you, just explain our conversation to them." Ok cool...easy to sort.

No.

I was then transferred to another man who instantly said "I'm sorry but I can't help you right now, our system is down so I cannot see your account." ok...but the last guy could...why can't you? "Its a different system, I can't see your account please call back tomorrow."

ok.. I'm baffled but I'll do that.

They were unfortunate, I didn't call them back...BMan did.... the end result was that they had disconnected our line for non payment (even though the bill was paid before it was actually due) the problem arose from a credit that was put onto our account that the highly sophisticated computer system had listed as unpaid (even though that amount had been credited...) and in order to reconnect us they wanted to credit check BMan again and sign us into another 12 month contract. He told them in no short order where they could stick that plan. They then had the audacity to inform him that a final bill with a disconnection charge would be heading our way, they were also told where to stick that and exactly how far... We should now be expecting a credit for the bill paid.

But this left us with no BT line...oddly the broadband was still working however so neither of us were very fussed.

The next day BMan gets home to find out that the broadband has also ceased to exist. So as an act of desperation we are now Virginmedia customers...

Punky Pigeon

Why when I really really need it do I not have my phone on me for blog worthy photos??

I nipped out to the chemist during work today only to spot a pigeon with a mohawk on the way back to the office. I so nearly ran back in got my phone and went back out to get a photo but that would probably be pushing my need to go out in the first place.... So I have an artists impression....
I had to use a little artistic licence (mainly because the mohawk was white and because that really doesn't look much like a pigeon) but you get the idea...

Parents requests...

As mentioned in my last post I'm seeing the parents in a couple of weeks for the first time in about 2 years. I got an email yesterday from dad...

"an you please bring something down for us ??

IKEA... 2 x Round laundry bins / Plastic Made to look a bit like sacking / White / With Lid / Collapsible / Handles on two sides

Not dear (about a fiver each) - we'll pay you on arrival."

OK, so I have about an hour bus ride to IKEA from my flat, then an hour back again, not a big problem, but I could do with a better description of what they re after, so I replied asking if they had seen them on the IKEA website...the answer came today...

"No, Not on Website but we brought two whilst in Scotland."

Yeah because no shops in Scotland ever change their stock eh?

Another trip down south and yet more apprehension

The last trip I took down to Norwich in March went well, I didn't kill anyone, my friends loved BMan, and my family started asking leading questions about him by the time we got home (which means they approved). Soooo... its my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary in August so I'm expected to turn up to their party. I booked train tickets a while back and now the trip is looming in the near future like a train coming through a tunnel towards me...and its making me nervous already! I can't believe it! The only difference from the last trip is that my parents are going to be there too (as well as several other random family members who I hardly know). My parents are probably the scariest thing I ever have to deal with because I just don't seem to be able to stand up to them, they nag and criticise me and treat me like a child and I seem to be helpless to their power.

I'm on an assertiveness course a few days before we leave (for work really) but I'm hoping I can improve on my coping skills...either that or I'm just going to let BMan have at 'em!