I got my water bill last week. The same time as every year. And every year, I call them to tell them I want to pay by 12 installments rather than 10.

“You can’t” they say. “Our system is set up for 12.”

“But I’ve been paying in 12 installments for the past 13 years.”

“You can only do that if you call us when the bill comes in.”

“I do”, I say, “And every year you OK it. And every year, you send me threatening letters saying I’m behind in my payments. If I don’t bring them up to day, you’ll take me to court. And every year you back down because of the agreement I made at the beginning of the year that you find in the notes on my account but have somehow failed to make it to the computer to tell it not to send me the threats.” I do wonder who, or what, is in charge.

This past year is the only year I haven’t had a ‘reminder’. Probably because I told them if I get one more threat, I’ll take THEM to court for what ever I can.

Back to this year.

My bill had an outstanding amount. I called them. The amount outstanding on my bill, prepared on their computer system, differed from the amount outstanding on the computer screen, generated by their computer system!

I got a tad annoyed and asked to speak to a supervisor and ran into Deja Vu for the 14th time! The supervisor was very apologetic and promised to look into my account and get back to me AFTER the final installment has been made. The last was at my insistence, just so as not to confuse the poor computer.

Today, I got a call-back while I was at work. They left a message. Two, actually. Limited time on the answering machine. Even with two rambling messages, I didn’t understand what she said. Bugger, I’ve got to call.

After more rambling, I hit that Deja Vu wall again. “We’ve set your account for 10 monthly payments, Mr Smoninrjnbhubhr”. It’s alway fun the get people to pronounce my last name. Thanks dad, loads of laughs over the years!

“No. I want to pay over 12 months…” This went on for a few minutes. The person went to get a manager to deal with me. Fun! No managers are available. Quelle surprise. “I’ll get someone to call you in the morning. What time is best?”

“I leave for work at 8.30. You can call me when I get home after 5.30″.

Episode 2 tomorrow…

Postkat, as seen on the previous post, got lost and travelled around Europe for a while, visiting Athens, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Venice, Rome Paris and other places.

This is Sergei, Aleksander’s head of IT.

I was wearing the same shirt and tie as Sergei is when he arrived! Were we separated at birth? hehehehe

People have been telling me off for not updating my site since Christmas. Sorry Gina.

Got a new them which makes it easier to display my photos. I’ll be adding the pictures a few at a time.

Got to make some tweaks to make it look not quite so bright and maybe add a new picture at the top. Hope you like it.

John x

Saturday morning, there was a light sprinkling of snow left over from Friday. Gina and I took our usual walk into town for a coffee and shopping. Lovely and pleasant walk. Last week we sat outside Costa coffee saying it was probably the last one this year. We’d sat outside since April, sipping our coffee, watching the world go by and taking the pee

Saturday, we said we’d sit inside. It was too cold. We did sit inside. Watching the snow fall. Gently at first then heavier.

We finished our shopping then braved the elements.

The roads were chaos! Unfortunately, us Brits, not being used to driving in the snow, can’t cope. Most don’t think ahead and try to get round corners when there’s nowhere to go because the drivers in front don’t know how to drive in the snow and get stuck part-way up a hill. Can’t go up or down, so they stay put or slide backwards. Either way, traffic jams. As is usual, most people don’t leave space at roundabouts. The result? Chaos, gridlock and accidents. All the way home, on foot, Gina and I were hearing sirens. Police and Ambulance. And the ones that drive at speed! Shame on them.

The walk home is quite nice. Mainly downhill. The freshly fallen snow didn’t make the journey any more treacherous, but it did make it harder. I was pulling a shopping trolley. Yes, it had wheels. But they were small and didn’t rise above the snow. Should have got a sled! It would have been easier

We went again on Sunday.

24 little hours, like the song says!

Harlow, despite what some people say, is pretty. It’s even prettier in the snow.

And we got to see R2D2!

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He will be making full sized stilts for the adventurous, experienced stilt walkers.

For little people and those, like me, who need to stay close to the ground, the ones in the video are perfect.

We set off near to the McDonald’s in Waltham Abbey. No, we didn’t go there first! Can’t even stand the smell since my gastric bypass last year.

According the the MapMyRun app on my iPhone, we walked nearly 5 miles.

The place will look stunning in the snow!

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The before pictures are below. This me today. Getting all teary but oh so happy.

They’re a bit dark, but I’ll Photoshop them when I get home.