Dangling carrots?

It has been reported in the local press,(city) that one of the prime power companys had dangled the 'carrot' of an offer of an extra $300.00, over and above the double time paymant they were aready entitled to, for any power techie, if they would work on Sunday and get the power supply reconnected as quickly as possible. It was also reported in the Press this morning, that many of the techies rang in to say they were available , but were not called in. While this, some would say is commendable as it was above 40c, I cannot see that they should have been offered extra money to do their job. Most of the Australian work force is made up of people who don;t give any consideration to incentives, but just want to do their job and make sure the service is running properly. I therefore, find it mildy demeaning of the bosses, to think it was necessary to offer the extra money at all. I know there are those who only do the bare minimum to hold onto their pay packet, but I hope they are in the minority. I wouldn't blame anybody for being reluctant to work in such heat. I know I could not. The power companies seem quite happy to charge the consumers exorbitant fees for their services, but are very reluctant to put any of their profits in to the infrastructure, to keep it running smoothly. So much for the privatisation of utility services!

Great Day in the Morning!

I have been reviewing some of my old Blogs, and came across one for 16/2/05 in which i lamented the lack of courtesy and acknowledement of me, and my status as a wife. Well, I am happy to report there is at least one gentleman in the world of business. I answered the phone last Friday, and was greeted thus. 'Hullo, Mrs Ham, how sre you today? Richard Harvey speaking." " Is Neville about?" I said I was very well thank you. Then it hit me. I said, "I am going to give you a prize." He was, no doubt, somewhat nonplussed at such a rejoinder, as I have only met him once. He asked me what I meant, and I told him he was to first person to acknowledge my status as Neville's wife. I said I would probably 'lose my rag' with the next person who didn't He asked how they addressed me, and I said they usually grunted,'Is Neville there?' He assured me he would never do that. I said I would probably ask them, 'what am I, Scotch mist?' He said I should tell them Neville had died and I was the boss now. I don't think so. Not my style. Richard is our stock agent and a very nice man.

Rodeos!

One of the things that I abhor in the human nature,is cruelty to animals. I think rodeos are one of the cruelest activities that some of the human race, so called, participate in. I have only been to about two, in my entire life, and I was very young, but they left me cold. Tonight on the news, I witnessed one of the worst acts of cruelty I have EVER seen. A bull broke his back, and had to drag himself off into the enclosure, and it was several hours before a vet was brought in, to put him out of his misery. In the meantime, the 'cowboys' were inflicting more pain and distress to the poor animal, by kicking it and trying to make it stand up, when 'blind Freddy' could see it was in agony! I left the room in great distres and in tears. Why do people, who are supposed to be of higher intelligence, persist in such barbaric practises? I think rodeos should be outlawed, and the sooner the better. Let these 'heros' find something else to do, to satisfy their ego mania.

Won't go there again!

Neville and I went to Naracoorte today, to do the grocery shopping, and a few other errands. As it will be his birthday on Sunday, I shouted him lunch at our usual watering hole. We have frequented this pub for years, as the food was good and inexpensive, and the service good, also. They have introduced a new specials board, with choices at $10.00. The usual specials are $7.50. I ordered pork schnitzel with parmegiana sauce, Neville had the $7.50 fish. While we we waiting to give our orders, he said to me in an aside, "Don't have any of the salads." I thought he may be referring to the fact they are laced with capsicum, which I hate, but when I asked him why, he said there was a huge blowfly landing all over them. Yuk!! We waited for nearly half an hour for our meal, which is longer than usual. There was a large crowd, as there were many elderly patrons today. Suddenly, one of the waitresses came and said. "Excuse me, we have 'lost' some of our meals. Could you tell me what you ordered,please?" It was all I could do not to crack up laughing. I managed to restrain myself, and told her what she needed to know. The meals were duly served about 5 mins later.
I was, to say the least, very disappointed to see the 'chef' had melted elcheapo tasty cheese on my schnitzel. It looked and tasted like yellow rubber! The veges were no better. THe cauliflower was nearly raw, the mixed veg, namely,broccoli, carrots & beans and sweet corn were likewise, raw in the centre and overcooked on the outside. The 'roast' potatos were like bullets. There was a dish of what looked like chook food, which I passed on. Neville had some, and said it was dry and tasteless. I have since discovered the pub has changed hands. I am seriously thinking about writing a letter of complaint.

Banking troubles.
Yesterday, I received a letter from a company who do Christmas hampers. Now, I have been happily receiving hampers from a rival company, but thought I would try this one, for some extra items. The cost spread over a year is not prohibitive, and is taken out by direct debit. I placed my order before Christmas, and was told how much per fortnight would be debited, once I had done the necessary paper work authouising them to do so. This was duly done several weeks ago. Since then, I have had numerous letters, saying they cannot access my account, because they did not have my details.
I had rung them last week, and the girl told me that when another girl had proccessed my details, she had not clicked or pressed the right button/key, and
she had rectified the problem.Therefore, I was most purprised to receive the letter yesterday. When I rang, the girl asked me, once she had ascertained she could not gain access, if I would get in touch with my bank and find out what information was need to start payments. I said I was going to Naracoorte the next day, and would do just that. Then I had a brain wave, or so I thought. I would ring the other hamper company, and find out what account number I had given them! After verifying my identity, I was asked how she could assist me. I made my request, but was told, "I am sorry, we can't give out that information."
I was stunned! While I applaud their vegilance in protecting my details and privacy, I thought it ludicrous she was unable to tell me, what I wanted to know, as it is my account. When I got to my credit union this morning, Rochelle rang them for me, to ask what account number they had/needed and was told the same thing. She got around it by saying, "I will tell you a number, and you say yes or no." She told her the membership number, and the girl confirmed that was the one she had. Rochelle then told her the account number, and suggested she try thet. Rochelle was flabagasted that they were having trouble, as that is the method they always advise customers to use, and they have never had any problems before.I was astonished to find not one, but two, further letters from said company in the mail today!! It would have to be me that hits a snag, wouldn't it? If, after next week, they are still having trouble, I have another idea up my sleeve. If that fails, I will just cancel it. Bah, humbug!

Not an auspicous start to the new year.

It sems a bit hollow to wish everyone a Happy New Year with the carnage on our roads, but nevertheless, it is sincerely meant. In the daily paper this morning, there is a photo of the latest crash debris, and it is shocking. The RAA is blaming the state of the roads. I say, if there were no humans in the mix, we didn't drive cars, and we didn't need great juganaughts of trucks to transport food, stock and other commodities, then we wouldn't have the problem, as we would only need walking trails and pack horses! But, of course, that is not being realistic. Neither is the attitude of road users, who steadfastly refuse to drive responsibly,ie:- when they are not tired, drunk or under the influence of other substances. Too many of them are driving without a licence or while disqualified. There is the case of the 16 year old girl who was driving a car, and was killed last week. Everyone thought she was in her thirties. Perhaps it was a case of mistaken identity in that they thought an older woman was driving. Until people change the attitude of 'I'm alright Jack, it won't happen to me,' we are not going to see any change in the statistics. The roads are not often the cause of the crashes. It is the tupidity and speed etc that are the main causes.