Pet Hates

Now I managed to confuse my daughter when I tweeted this recently, she asked what the cat had done to upset me ....  I had to explain to her what I was talking about ..

I have several pet hates but my top three are:

In third place ... people bemoaning about Facebook users posting pictures and updating when on holiday or doing fun stuff.

Err hello, isn't that the point of FB, it's a social media site.  It's about showing our friends and family far and wide what we are doing and where we are?  I am confused if you don't like it un-friend me.  One female who used to pick on me school made such a song and dance several years ago about me uploading my holiday pics whilst away that I had to block and delete her following the barrage of abuse ... there is just no need !!

In second place .... people who don't recycle ....

Why everyone isn't doing it in this day and age is beyond me.  Our landfills are full to bursting point and putting cardboard paper, cans, bottles and plastic in when they can be reused just infuriates me.  I live in a row of four houses.  I recycle everything and anything.  I have four boxes for each type of product, we put peelings, egg shells, boxes, cut flowers and tea bags in the composter.  This means each week we have one black bag approx half full with unrecyclable stuff.  Between three adults I think this is pretty awesome.  However all three of my neighbours homes place out three plus black bags each and not one recycling box between them .... one word describes them ... lazy !!

And top of the shop, my biggest pet hate ... Noisy eating

Last week at work the woman I sit opposite managed to make her bag of crisps last 20 mins.  she crunched and munched her way through the bag and in the end I had to get up and leave my desk as I just couldn't cope with the noise level.  It's not just crisps, could be breakfast cereal or pork crackling to name another two that tip me over the edge :0)  All of these made much worse if the person consuming the food eats with their mouth open .... but then thats a whole new pet hate ....

Go on then tell me what are yours ??

Hello I am back

Well I expect you all thought you had seen the back of me, but following discussions with a GOOD friend last night I realised I actually missed writing down how I was feeling.

So I am going to try again blogging about our lives.  It won't be too personal but I will try and give you an insight into my busy life.

Look out for my new post soon :0)

The power of Twitter

Following on from @mummybarrow's blog the other day I thought I would tell you about my experience of customer services and the twitter effect.  This all relates to my dealings with a company called Bluegreen over the last 24 hours.


Firstly let me tell you a little bit of the history about how we came to own a timeshare with a US company called Bluegreen.

We purchased it back in 2000 when Airtours originally built the resort but a few years later Airtours sold up/went bust and we found ourselves dealing with the US company. We have three weeks of deeded ownership, one which falls on week 10, early march, and then two that are first two weeks of November. Deeded means they are ours, for life, and when we pass on they become our children's and so on. Airtours were very clever to protect uk citizens in the minefield of timeshare ownership.


Now the minute you mention timeshare most people take a sharp intake of breath and believe you have been suckered in during a very hard sales meeting. I suppose we were drawn in by the sales pitch all those years ago, but two adults and three kids in a single motel room isn't exactly the perfect holiday experience. To then walk into an apartment on a beautiful complex, with separate bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen and lounge it was perfect. So we did the deal and have never regretted it.


We travel there twice a year and can't imagine a time when we don't go "home". Generally as soon as I land in the UK from the previous holiday I am booking if not researching flights for my trip back. Hence we arrived home mid November 2011 and by the end of November our flights were booked :-) this makes me happy.


So anyway back to my blog ..... Sorry for rambling :-) Our maintenance fees are paid every January and as soon as we are sure payment has cleared we speak to reservations and confirm we are coming for "our" time. Anyway yesterday I finally made the call to the US. First call I explained what
I wanted and was abruptly told there was no way we could be accommodated .... Not good !! I asked about alternate travel dates and hung up stating I would call back once I had spoken to hubby. I called again once I had reviewed all options and this time the chap on the phone appeared to be complete inflexible, I was willing to move to another unit, building or amend our check in as although we are on due to stay at the resort for one week, we are actually in Florida for two weeks.  Nothing no matter how nice and flexible i tried to be, the more stubborn the chap on the phone became.  I got exasperated and just  said i couldnt make a reservation and ended the call.


I text hubby and told him how upset i was and then posted on twitter just how upset i was.  Within an hour i had received a DM from Bluegreen, they already knew who i was as they had looked me up on the customer database.  I was amazed, my last message from them last night was to "Hang fire and they would get back to me today"  At 4pm UK time today (therefore 11am their time) I received my reservation number from Jimmy who had been DMing me.  I was staggered!!  I had posted one tweet with the exact wording of

really upset and angry with @bluegreentweets ....... #beingavaluedcustomerdoesntcount
— Sarah Webb (@all4aquietlife) January 25, 2012

Now i dont perceive this tweet to be OTT but obviously something struck a chord with Bluegreen, maybe they had seen the LA Fitness debacle this week, which managed to go viral worldwide.  Whatever it was, it made Bluegreen sit up and listen to me, their customer.


I am so pleased they have gone totally out of their way to help us.  We are now really excited to be arriving at The Fountains on 10th March and I will be writing a review for the blog on our Bluegreen experience for my followers .


Thank you Bluegreen and Twitter for giving the customer the power back to ensure we get what we pay for.

Living with a DJ

Over 20 years ago I met a wonderful man, @andywebbdj - as you can tell from his twitter user name he is a DJ.  Now initially when we first got together it wasn't an issue.  I could tag along to all his gigs and being in our early 20's it didn't look too bad, albeit there were the tell tale signs that I wasn’t interested, namely a woman (me) sat behind the decks with her nose in a book showing she was visibly bored by the drunks who were high kicking to New York New York at the end of the night.

When I became pregnant I still used to go along but knew time was ticking and there would be a point where I would have to stay at home with the baby.  When K arrived it happened and it was a complete shock to the system, all the socialising and mixing with people stopped as abruptly as it had started, this caused a whole new set of issues and I am sure I will blog one day to explain my struggle with Post Natal Depression. 

I can’t remember vividly much in the first five years of mychildren’s lives but I do remember the feeling of isolation, and being left home alone whilst my hard working hubby was earning a crust to support us.

Hubby progressed over the years, parties, bars, radio work and clubs.  I think the worst time was when he was DJing at the lap-dancing club. Most males would deem this their ideal job, for A it was hard work,heading into London at 7.30pm and often not getting home until 4am the next morning.  But I think it was then insecurities set in, despite his constant reassurances.  There was me post babies, overweight and confined to the house and there he was with gorgeous women who were generally naked 80% of the time he spent with them. It did cause issues, only due to my jealousy, but with lots of love and support we worked through them.

Then in 2002 the DJing stopped.  It wasn’t out of his choice he had a freak accident where he turned round and his leg shattered in three places.  This meant he wouldn’t be able to do anything for a number of years, I think this was probably my favourite part of our relationship, not because of the accident, but because he truly depended on me for a change.  I nursed him, helped him to bed, rehabilitated him and ran the business we were running together (albeit with the help of his brother @pcls1972) It looked like his DJing days were over and I felt this was a great turning point, however only a few years ago he went back to it …  I would say I was gutted but the extra income was useful.

Due to a change in self confidence I would say these days I don’t struggle too often (but I do on the odd occasion) with his choice of DJing, he does it for the finer things in life, new cars, meals out etc, but it isn’t something I would suggest for couples who haven’t faced adversity over the years.  However,the last 18 months have been hard, not only have I been working 24/7 shifts but with him DJing, often the only time I am home he is out at a gig.  Between being a DJ widow and crappy shifts it has meant we have barely seen one another. Being ill over Xmas has been bloody hard, whilst the world and his wife were partying, hubby has been making them all have “the time of their lives” , I have been laying in bed feeling very sorry for myself.  The worst two nights being  Xmas eve and NY eve, the latter involving me crying on the sofa to the fireworks in London knowing I wouldn’t be able to even text or speak to him until at least 3am.

So to anyone thinking of dating a DJ be careful it is hard, it can be bloody boring but most of all you need to be sure you can cope with the jealousy that having a man who is the centre of attention can throw up in your life.  How will you deal with the photos on Face book with him and other women? The chats about “what a great night” and the lack of sleep caused by being home alone until 3am (at the earliest) I am certain it has made me the person I am today, but there are still the niggles in the back of my head … Why would someone so popular want to be with me??

Good Customer Service

Now all too often we rant on about how badly we have been treated by a company, it was something I learnt on a training package for my voluntary work. You try and think of a company who you have good service from .... Hard isn't it. Now try and think of a company who have upset you through inefficiency, bad aftercare service or just good old rudeness.


My list of bad service is immense, the most recent being Three Mobile, god awful customer service who pretty much called me a liar :-/ not a happy Mrs W after that experience!!!


However when things go right I do try and remember and given recognition for it.


Firstly, the DVLA, we attended their office in Theale just the other side of Reading on Wednesday. We have just bought a new car and needed to transfer the registration from my previous car across. We arrived expecting a huge queue and were shocked to find three people ahead of us. When at the counter we weren't sure what we were meant to do but after a little advice we were told which form to fill out and then our number was put on "hold" until we had done this, so rather than waiting again for a new number to be called you managed to get dealt with quicker. Forms completed, payment made and were told it would be at least seven days until we would be able to complete the transfer process. Today only three days after the forms were submitted we received in the post all the documents, certificates for getting plates made, new tax discs and replacement MOT's. This made the whole experience painless and extremely efficent. To say i am impressed is a complete understatement.


Secondly I recently made an online purchase for hubby's birthday. Now i am unable at this stage to tell you which company it is, just because he reads my blogs and he will know what i have bought :0). I logged onto the company's website, became a member and within five mins had made my purchase. Nothing spectacular i hear you cry ... no maybe not. Yesterday I picked up an email saying it had been despatched ... Yay i thought .... Impressing myself that a full two weeks before his birthday ... yes two weeks !! I would have his present purchased and wrapped ... never in 20 years of marriage has this happened. So there was me thinking Monday/Tuesday delivery .... nope next day ... Saturday delivery ... yes the day when most companies will charge you an additional 40 pounds fee not to guarantee the delivery, the company in question had delivered the boxes. Again very very impressed ....


Both companies consider this normal ... they haven't gone out of their way to impress me, this is what they do. And I like it .... alot !!


Now to other companies out there ... AOL, Three Mobile to name but two who have upset me recently, you could really learn from these organisations. You could have happy less stressed out customers if only you could follow suit, people who would actively advocate the use of your services. I will be telling everyone and anyone who is interested (or not for that matter) about these two experiences because i can applaud the way they have made me, the customer, feel today :0)))

Our Chickens

Firstly I would like to introduce our beloved girls, we had Chook, she was a black speckled neck maran and Maddie, Honey and Lolly who were all hybrid hens.

I wish we had researched properly when we first got our girls.  My hubby and daughter really wanted chickens and i suppose i just went along with their wishes.  I always thought i wasn't that fussed with them, having to sweep paths and hose down to keep poop to a manageable level made me think they were hard work at times, especially after a long shift at work.  However after the events of that Friday night Saturday morning in December I was so wrong, I loved our girls, they were fab layers and all had their own little characters.  Even now as I type this over a month since they went I can't stop the tears from flowing.

We had friends (@tvrwolf and his wife) visiting that weekend and had been chatting excitedly about introducing them to the girls the next morning.  I even warned them that being at the back of the house they would probably be woken by their indignant squawks that they were still inside ...

At 9.20am on Saturday 17th December (ironically the anniversary of my father's death in 2006) I got up and thought the girls must be out as they were all quiet, thinking our poor guests had been disturbed and been kind enough to let them out.  I went to the back door and it was locked I opened it and at 09.22am my heart broke with the silence and scene that was there to greet me.  I saw a pile of feathers and thought omg what on earth?  (i will hasten to add we were very new to chicken keeping)  as i got closer to the coop it was then i noticed the first mangled bird ..... i screamed until hubby got to me ..... we then checked and there were no others, three missing hens.  We thought they had probably escaped in fear of whatever had done this.  Daughter and one of our friends scoured the neighbourhood and apart from finding some feathers a little further from the house there was nothing

We went inside and i just broke down, how could this happen to us?  My daughter went out to the garden and went and sat on the small wall we have which runs to the back of our house and she looked and saw a freshly dug hole, she thought it was odd and called her Dad he ordered her inside and then checked .... yes it was one of the other girls ... double tragedy.  We then considered all the other places a bird could be hidden and started hunting high and low.  To the rear of our garden we have raised beds and in one of these we found Chook, our black speckled neck Maran buried there.  So now we have two buried birds, one mangled bird and one missing one, which we presume the predator must have eaten.

We sat and wept, our beloved chickens were gone and we felt so helpless and that we had let them down.  It was then that discussion turned to foxes had done this. I have NEVER considered foxes, yes i live in a village which is near farms but i just have never seen a fox in our garden or even in the locality.

Following trawling the Internet it became apparent that foxes do once inside a hen house, kill all even if they don't eat them and that they bury the rest to retrieve at a later date.  I was flabbergast, i know they call foxes wily, cunning and sly but now i fully understand why.

We have lost pets, including the 17 year old cat this year, but that has always been old age and expected.  To lose these girls in such terrible circumstances has left me so upset i am not sure what we do next.

We may get chickens again at some point this year but the coop will be placed on a patio base .... to protect them.  We need to mourn our loss for now and remember the funny times we had with our girls.

To anyone considering keeping chickens please please please protect your birds i would never wish this on anyone else, it has been one of the hardest things to deal with, the sleepless nights, the nightmares and most of all the guilt that we left those girls down and they died in what must have been the most scariest of circumstances.

I would like to suggest  http://www.poultry.allotment.org.uk/ for any advice/chat and support in relation to chicken husbandry.

It's not just a weekly shop it's an M&S weekly shop

Now I don't know about you, but I tend to nip to Sainsbury's every day of the week.  It's the only problem with having a "superstore" a few minutes from home.  Whether we need a pint of milk, or a whole weeks shopping, off we go.  Generally even if we head down there for the one pint or loaf of bread, we leave having spent £30 and have three bags of shopping, for just in case.

We have been spending in excess of £150 per week on groceries and I would hazard a guess that approximately £20 of that has been thrown away.  I try not to be too wasteful but with grown up children and having a hectic life means that things end up beyond their sell by / use by dates and we have to just clear out the fridge to get the new load of shopping in.

So last Sunday we decided to go out for a spin in the new car, I didn't want to go out for food, but fancied something "tasty"  I suggested to hubby that we nip into our local M&S Food Hall.  It is a stand alone store and is next door to a huge retail park, now the first thing I hadn't considered on Sunday was the amount of cars trying to get onto the retail park.  Dear god does the world and his wife do DIY on Sunday's??  So we persevered and managed to get into the car park of M&S.  We had a nice saunter around and picked some yummy food for the next few days.  I was suitably impressed by some of the offers that they had on and we managed to take full advantage of them.  At the checkout i expected a large bill, after all my usual top up shop at Sainsbury's is normally in the region of £70, so was astounded to discover I had in fact spent only £54!!  This would probably have been the cost of one nice meal out but had managed to get enough food for six meals.

We went home and cooked the first M&S meal and it was delicious, we ate it all and felt it had been money well spent.  So as they week has gone by one by one I have cooked each of the meals purchased.  Nothing has been thrown away, every meal has been thoroughly enjoyed by all of us.  So this week instead of spending an astronomical £150 on my week nipping into Sainsbury's all I have spent it £54 .....  in one M&S visit.

Do I intend to do it again??  Of course ... there is this notion that you can only afford to shop there if you are "well off", i think that's rubbish with sensible budgeting and buying only what we have needed and intend to cook we have managed to save ourselves over £90 this week.

So get down to M&S .... I plan on "spoiling" myself with their lovely food later tonight :0)