"They'll eat your brain"
An act of war(drobe)
We had Sharps come over last night to give us their interpretation of our wardrobe requirements and they fell fowl of my stringent bullshit tests. As well as the design not being quite as flexible and practical as the Hammonds one, the finish looked much cheaper. The worst crime of all, though, was in their ridiculous and patronising pricing.
When they totted up the overall cost it came to... wait for it.... £7500!!! "Fortunately" we had a voucher for 50% off and no VAT which reduced it to £3200 - I doubt anyone would not have a voucher of some kind and I'd have loved to have seen the price the Sharps lady would've come up with if we hadn't got one. I bet it would've still been £3200...
However, she then insulted our intelligence even further by saying that if we took their finance scheme, the price would only be £2700! Except after all the repayments you'd have paid £3200 still - she then had the audacity to say that we should be comparing the £2700 against the price from Hammonds, not the £3200 which is insane!
I'm not someone who takes much crap off people and I can't stand this shabby DFS-like practice of making you feel you've got an amazing deal. I could guarantee that if we were to go to a local carpenter he could make us an amazing (& perhaps solid wood) wardrobe for £7500. If something is going to cost me £3200, then just tell me it will cost that, don't make up some cock and bull story which will only fool those of weak mind.
As a result, we probably won't go with either offer since we'd rather save our money and find a better, if slightly more hassle, option.
Anyone know any good joiners in the Middlesex / Bucks area?!!
Strawberries and Champagne
Oh, what better way to spend a sunny Wednesday than enjoying free tasty things whilst watching tennis on Court One at Wimbledon? Well, some good matches wouldn't have gone amiss. Having said that, the Roddic match was HUGELY entertaining, in contrast to the two matches that bracketed it (I can't even remember who was playing, except some old Italian fella who clearly bribed someone to be there).
The only thing missing was the Pimms. Aaah, Pimms - how much better you taste when outside!
Unexpected result!
Just got word that because the new company (new to me, that is) is doing pretty well thankyouvery much, everyone is going to get an extra days holiday! Aces!
Since I changed jobs after taking my main 2 week holiday this year, it means I've already a whole load of days to take. Now, how should I best spend this extra 24 hours?
Options include:
a) Learning to speak Finnish
b) Getting into London early and laughing at all the people going to work.
c) Staying in bed, with nothing more than a kettle, a pot noodle and a couple of books.
Radio Blah Blah
Flicked the radio on yesterday morning and fell into despair.
I'm basically fed up with all the breakfast shows out there since Christian O'Connell moved to Virgin. His is still the best out there, but you have the risk he'll play some Robbie Williams or worse. As for the rest...
- Xfm still plays the best music but Lauren drives me mad.
- I like Johnny Vaughn, but Capital play even worse music than Virign
- Moyles annoys the crap out of me AND they play quite a bit of shabby music
- Theakston is a bit lame (in my opinion)
- Wogan is a genius, but I just can't listen to the whole show (music poor too)
- Radio 4 is enjoyable, but not every day since it never really wakes me up
- BBC London is still quite favoured with me but they just seem to be recycling their content a little too much now
Gah. I'm stuck! I only get 30-40 minutes in the morning and I like to be entertained and not have to keep fiddling with the 'dial' when some substandard band / 'act' comes on. What's a boy to do?
The scores* on** the doors, Miss Ford***!
* prices
** for
*** Hammonds
Last night, after shopping at (officially) the worst supermarket chain in the world, we got back home and made the quickest dinner we could for the Man from Hammonds was coming to say Yes! The question in question (!) was: can you make us some lovely wardrobes for our bedroom Mr Wardrobe Man?
He did indeed say yes; he was at ours for 2 hours chatting to us about possible designs, colours and fittings and at the end of the evening, we'd grown to really like the design that he'd put together for us. Basically, a corner wardrobe, a nice chest of draws and a huge double wardrobe, making the most of some awkward shapes in our bedroom.
Bearing in mind the doors were 'only' made of MDF with a vinyl finish, guess how much the whole lot plus fitting was going to be?
Go on?
£1000? No
£2000? Our guess, but... no.
£3000? Keep going
£4000? Nearly there...
£4500? Yep!
'Bargain' was not the word we first thought of. 'Bugger' would be closer. Of course, if we order by the weekend, they'll knock 20% off. I'm not a fan of this kind of pressurised sales technique - it's a lot more than we bargained it'd be and not a decision we can take lightly. Sulrey, if we don't bite the cherry right away, they'll come back with another offer rather than lose a sale. Won't they?
Belt up!
Apparently, 4x4 drivers are four times (4x ?) as likely as regular car drivers to use a non-hands free mobile whilst driving. They are also much more likely to drive without wearing a seatbelt.
Frankly, I was stunned to hear this. After all, it seems like ALL 4x4 drivers are on the phone all the time (so are most Saab drivers too, it appears).
Actually, I find it incredible that such a huge proportion of people (more than a sixth) drive without putting a seatbelt on. Have these people never had to brake hard, ever? Have they never felt the seat belt restrain them (well, clearly not if they don't wear one, but you know what I mean)? I just don't get it - it's the biggest life saver of all.
The only excuse I can think of is that it creases your clothes, but then so does sitting down! Does this mean we can spot the serial offenders because they've removed the drivers seat and have replaced it with a small cushion on which they can kneel?!
Alan Titchmarsh would be proud!
Though I'd rather he'd come over to my garden and sort it for me.
Had a thoroughly outside weekend this weekend - yesterday was spent at the village fete, with the better half selling some of her own wares (the famous chocolate brownies!) as well as some of mine.
After a couple of hours the stall was almost barren of food, it'd been so popular. In fact, all the stalls had pretty much sold out of everything! Still, there was plenty to keep the fete-goers entertained, what with dancers, a very good band (of teenagers, no less) and various competitions. It looked to me like it was a big success and hopefully has made a load of much needed cash for the local church. Village life is aces!
As for the garden, well, we popped out to a Pick Your Own (in Iver Heath) and spent a good 20 mins in the sun picking our own (!) gooseberries. My fave! The place was heaving with fellow pickers, mostly in the strawberry aisles though. PYO is really good fun: you know the fruit is fresh & it means you get to choose each and every fruit you want. It was good seeing so many kids there - look kids, strawberries don't grow in Tesco! On the way back we picked up a gooseberry plant of our own and have planted it (along with a whole load of other plants) in the garden where hopefully it'll produce a crop for ourselves next year. Fingers crossed!
Every time I do gardening, whilst I'm on my hands and knees with a trowel I always feel I'm on Time Team! A mini JCB would come in handy occasionally though!