What's made you grumpy today?

[pxr5]

Another update on this abortion of an order from BT - remember I started this 08 Aug:

The guy dealing with my issues rang a week last Saturday telling me the original order wasn't actually closed as there were issues with OR. So now I have no open orders but the reference order number for the OR work as well as a complaint reference. I had to ring the BT connection team 11 Sep to hasten the OR work. I've told the BT rep that this is their last chance and I expect compo, which has been agreed and will be paid after the "order" is complete - what a mess. I'll probably go with Zen if this all falls through again.

Despite being assured that nothing at all would happen before the 11th Sep I came back from walking the dogs to find 2 civil works guys digging up my front patio (9th Sep). Of course they couldn't give me an update but I had been on holiday last week hence the assurance of no work before the 11th (I now have a big red safety barrier set up in  the front now too where the hole is). The guys did try to pull a cable through, but couldn't because of a block further up the street. What really peeves is seeing OR guys working on other properties in the vicinity - I even collared one to ask if we were next. Again I knew he'd have no idea. The BT rep who was dealing with this has left too and as I've said before I have no order. except a complaint ref and an OR job number, so the next phone call to them will be interesting.

Yesterday some other civil works guys came out and sorted the hole that had been made on my patio to expose the trunking. On Tuesday night I got a text from OR that they are coming to install the fibre Wed 18 Sep, but I also rang BT/EE (11 Sep) as advised to check everything was going to plan and spoke to a nice guy called Ignacio. Because I didn't have an order I had to mention that I would need Smarthub here when OR came out, so he had to get his manager's approval. Anyway he told me he'd ring on Friday with an update on the tracking for the router delivery. And today he did ring me - to tell me the OR order has been cancelled yet again. Apparently someone else there had gone into my account and cancelled the OR job - he has no idea why. My only option is to speak to sales and go through another order - yet again. I told him I'm not willing to that and they need to sort this mess out.

[Fishy]

I'll need to get my openreach debacle in this thread..

[Slim]

I'm on holiday in Montenegro, and I'm sick to death of it now.

I'm sick of:

Having to share a bathroom and wait 20 minutes for the wife to emerge from it just so I can go to the toilet.

Insect bites

No bath. I have to use a shower. No choice.

Having to use a little phone or android tablet instead of a computer

Oily restaurant food and having to go out somewhere just to eat

The fucking awful coffee in the hotel

No cycling

No guitars

No proper hifi, no UK telly

And that's before you consider hanging around in airports for hours, aeroplane food, having to buy travel insurance, arranging car parking near the airport and all the rest of that nonsense. And of course the expense.

I just do not understand holidays. I'm far more comfortable and happy at home and I've been counting the hours since our second day here. But it's a sacrifice I have to make.

Why do people spend the majority of their time working to pay for a house, furniture, hi-fi, telly and the rest of it only to abandon it and live out of a suitcase as soon as they get some time off? Sheer madness.

[Thenop]

^^this is exactly why I stay in Holland, go to a place I know and mentally prepare for a few days away from the record player, dartboard and familiar supermarket. I am no adventurer, I much prefer my own bed.

Having said that: I will go away for a few days starting tomorrow 

[Matt2112]

I'd probably have at least four holidays a year if I could.

[The Picnic Wasp]

Whilst I do appreciate the increase in knowledge and experience which travel brings I've never been big on holidays for the reasons so well gathered together above. I silently disapprove every day when the Emirates A380 passes over, thinking of all the unnecessary waste of fossil fuel and the possibility of some new fangled sniffle virus about to jump in a Glasgow taxi.

There is a hypocrite lurking within though. If I won the Euromillions I could charter a Learjet for a couple of days here and there. Avoid all the airport and faffing around hassle, see some interesting places and get home pronto when fed up.

The other side of the coin is that there is so much in the UK which I haven't yet explored and I find much of our nation's features more attractive than those found elsewhere in any case. Except for midges and rain.

[captainkurtz]

I'm on holiday in Montenegro, and I'm sick to death of it now.

I'm sick of:

Having to share a bathroom and wait 20 minutes for the wife to emerge from it just so I can go to the toilet.

Insect bites

No bath. I have to use a shower. No choice.

Having to use a little phone or android tablet instead of a computer

Oily restaurant food and having to go out somewhere just to eat

The fucking awful coffee in the hotel

No cycling

No guitars

No proper hifi, no UK telly

And that's before you consider hanging around in airports for hours, aeroplane food, having to buy travel insurance, arranging car parking near the airport and all the rest of that nonsense. And of course the expense.

I just do not understand holidays. I'm far more comfortable and happy at home and I've been counting the hours since our second day here. But it's a sacrifice I have to make.

Why do people spend the majority of their time working to pay for a house, furniture, hi-fi, telly and the rest of it only to abandon it and live out of a suitcase as soon as they get some time off? Sheer madness.

I love the idea of holidays but I share some of the dislikes you mention here.  I can't really have an 'out of office' on so I do spend a lot of time wondering when the next work related issue is going to crop up...and given I predominantly deal with students..it happens a lot.

I am looking forward to visiting Thailand over Christmas and new year though..

[Nick]

I'm on holiday in Montenegro, and I'm sick to death of it now.

I'm sick of:

Having to share a bathroom and wait 20 minutes for the wife to emerge from it just so I can go to the toilet.

Insect bites

No bath. I have to use a shower. No choice.

Having to use a little phone or android tablet instead of a computer

Oily restaurant food and having to go out somewhere just to eat

The fucking awful coffee in the hotel

No cycling

No guitars

No proper hifi, no UK telly

And that's before you consider hanging around in airports for hours, aeroplane food, having to buy travel insurance, arranging car parking near the airport and all the rest of that nonsense. And of course the expense.

I just do not understand holidays. I'm far more comfortable and happy at home and I've been counting the hours since our second day here. But it's a sacrifice I have to make.

Why do people spend the majority of their time working to pay for a house, furniture, hi-fi, telly and the rest of it only to abandon it and live out of a suitcase as soon as they get some time off? Sheer madness.

How is the country itself?

[pxr5]

Holiday in the UK - it's much more civilised. Last week we spent up near Alnwick, somewhere I've not visited much over years. We stayed in a lovely cottage: with 2 bathrooms, UK telly, my laptop, great food, it only took 3 hours to drive there, the people were lovely, I read loads and visited some great places, we took our dogs too. I despise travelling through airports and I've done it so many times with work/holidays that I'd be happy to never travel on a plane again. I recall flying to Tabuk in Saudi Arabia - Manchester - Frankfurt - Jeddah - Tabuk - it was sheer hell and I'd rather sit in a traffic jam for 24 hours than going through anything like that again. I've been through Istanbul a few times too - an absolutely hideous place and I was in business class. No I think I'll be holidaying in the UK for as long as I live - there are still so many great places I've yet to visit.

[Nickslikk2112]

The other side of the coin is that there is so much in the UK which I haven't yet explored and I find much of our nation's features more attractive than those found elsewhere in any case. Except for midges and rain.

And other the midges and rain overseas are worse than ours too

Whilst I would love to take Mrs S to Chicago and Oslo/Stockholm/Helsinki there's plenty to keep going at at home. This year I've been to and thoroughly enjoyed Newcastle, Liverpool and Norwich. Newcastle I'd only ever been to for a University interview before.

[pxr5]

OMFG - On Friday pm BT persuaded me to through the order process yet again. This morning cancelled - AGAIN. The poor woman who answered the phone earlier didn't really deserve the anger I directed at her. I'm pricing up Zen, Sky, TT, Vodafone now. I really think I'm part of a test to see how much shit a customer can take before leaving.

[David L]

OMFG - On Friday pm BT persuaded me to through the order process yet again. This morning cancelled - AGAIN. The poor woman who answered the phone earlier didn't really deserve the anger I directed at her. I'm pricing up Zen, Sky, TT, Vodafone now. I really think I'm part of a test to see how much shit a customer can take before leaving.

Delivered by Openreach?

[David L]

Huw Edwards avoids jail 

[Slim]

How is the country itself?

Montenegro is great as far as holiday destinations go. We're at Tivat this time (previously we've stayed at Przno and Budva) and there are loads of bars and restaurants and nice beaches.

One annoying thing, and this applies to all the old Yugoslavia countries: everybody smokes. Teenagers, young adults, middle-aged folks, old codgers, everyone. It's like 1950s Britain.

They don't smoke inside bars or restaurants now but if you sit at a table outside, which of course we usually do in the nice weather, you can't avoid breathing someone's second hand cigarette fumes.

It's so depressing to see nicely dressed pretty girls in their early 20s sitting round a table with fags on.

[Thenop]

How is the country itself?

Montenegro is great as far as holiday destinations go. We're at Tivat this time (previously we've stayed at Przno and Budva) and there are loads of bars and restaurants and nice beaches.

One annoying thing, and this applies to all the old Yugoslavia countries: everybody smokes. Teenagers, young adults, middle-aged folks, old codgers, everyone. It's like 1950s Britain.

They don't smoke inside bars or restaurants now but if you sit at a table outside, which of course we usually do in the nice weather, you can't avoid breathing someone's second hand cigarette fumes.

It's so depressing to see nicely dressed pretty girls in their early 20s sitting round a table with fags on.

As a former smoker I wholeheartedly agree with this. I know I am the worst critic, being a former addict, but I really think regularly: why do people still smoke? I see no positive side to smoking at all, none.