CHEER UPS AND WIND UPS

Crap BT marketing

2009-12-26T23:25:00.001Z

I got a letter from BT advertising their broadband. At present I am with Pipex (=Carphone Warehouse) and connection speeds are erratic.

I responded with a telephone enquiry and was offered their service with a "free" wireless hub/modem "worth £88". I explained that I already had a modem and did not want another one, which I would have to configure to suit my system. I asked if I could have something else instead such as a discount.

Nothing doing. But don't they realise that a lot of people already have modems, which makes their offer worthless? What kind of marketing people do they employ to come up with stupid promotions like this?

Great to be back in Britain?

2009-10-07T18:07:00.003Z

Stepping off the boat at Harwich is like going into a public lavatory. You are met with an overwhelming smell of some carbolic type disinfectant. As if there aren't any pleasant-smelling disinfectants available these days. Then you come face to face with the hatchet-faced passport checkers, sitting at a high desk, which makes you feel you are being taken into custody, which is not far from the truth.

Then you go to catch your train and find it has just gone and there isn't another one for an hour, such is the perfection of the timing. So you wait in the ferry terminal, which is getting a bit shabby these days.

Eventually the train comes. There is nowhere to put luggage where it will not be in somebody's way.

It's great to be back on the island.

Aldi basket mystery solved

2009-10-07T12:45:00.002Z

The supermarket Aldi, notoriously, does not supply baskets for customers, only trolleys. Most people don't take one and then only buy as much as they can carry in their hands.

The procedure, apparently is this. Take a trolley and walk round the shop to pick up what you want, then go to the checkout and put the stuff on the moving belt. Then put the trolley in the recessed space beyond the cashier. As the cashier checks out the goods, put them back in the trolley. After you have paid, you wheel the trolley over to the shelf by the exit and put the things in your bag. Then put the trolley back and get your deposit back.

The advantage is that you are not having to rush to put your things in your shopping bag while the next customer's stuff is piling up behind you. Pity the shop does not explain this as it is far from obvious.

No quibble refund after rucksack problem

2009-10-05T13:54:00.005Z

I bought a new rucksack in 2007. After four months' use the waterproof layer came away from the base nylon fabric. I took it back to the shop and the manager told me it was due to "abuse", but after I made a fuss it was sent back and a replacement authorised.

I used the replacement daily in 2008 for five months and it was ok, and again for four weeks in March 2009. After four weeks' use in the summer of 2009 the same problem appeared. By the end of the summer it looks like the photographs. One can say that it has had, in total, just over a year of continuous hard wear. In most other respects the bag is as good as new.

There is obviously something wrong with the way the latex waterproofing is attached to the base nylon fabric. I have spoken to other people and they all report the same thing but have not complained about it.

Any how, the good news this time is that following an exchange of emails, the suppliers, Blacks, immediately agreed to arrange for a replacement, which I did not expect as I had had it for a reasonable time, though not as long as I would have expected it to last. Hopefully the product has been or soon will be, modified so this time it will keep going for longer. But it is a good thing to complain because otherwise the manufacturer never gets to know if the product isn't right, so if you have had the same problem, don't just suck your teeth - tell the right people and something will get done.

Why no baskets at the new Aldi?

2009-04-15T11:05:00.002Z

Aldi has just opened a shop near me. There is a good and inexpensive range of continental delicatessen. But there are no hand baskets, only trolleys for which you must have a £1 deposit.

Almost nobody uses the baskets, so people will only buy as much as they can hold in their hands, which is a nuisance and must be bad for business. I expect stuff gets dropped on the floor and has to be swept up.

I spoke to one of the managers and was told that it was "policy" - presumably carved on tablets of stone in some basement.

There are three reasons why people are not using the trolleys. First, you have to dig in your pocket for the £1 coin, assuming you have one in the first place. Second, the trolleys are cumbersome. Third, because most customers are on foot, they are not likely to want more than a hand-basket of things as it would be more than they could carry home.

Is this because Aldi is a German outfit? I have had the same nonsense with Deutsche Bahn over train tickets, as a result of which I don't travel through Germany any more but use an alternative route. Why is there this insistence on rules, beyond the bounds of commonsense?

Puffin crossing

2009-03-15T20:29:00.003Z

Signs of a bad UI
Originally uploaded by adactio.

The latest bright idea from the clowns in the Department of Transport at Marsham Street is the "puffin" crossing. The old crossings have a red light/green man on the other side of the road. Which means that you can see the sign if you just look where you are going. With the puffin crossings you need to look for the illuminated sign, which may have people standing in front of it. And once you have started to cross the road you can't see any sign at all to reassure you that it is still clear to cross. What a stupid design. I have not heard anyone with a good word to say for them.

Pedestrian nightmare

2009-03-15T19:22:00.002Z

When you come out of Lancing station you are pitched into this traffic. When the level crossing is open (to the right, off the picture), pedestrians are also at risk of being knocked down by left-turning traffic.

What a difference from Sweden where the rule is that turning vehicles must give way to pedestrians.

Pendolino alternative

2009-03-14T11:54:00.003Z

But if one is only going as far as Milton Keynes there are these Southern Electostars which run to East Croydon. This is very handy because although it is slow, one does not have to change and use the underground.

The Electostars are not wonderful but the carriages at the ends of the trains have a nice interior layout with comfortable seats and an unobstructed view from every place.

The horrible Pendolino

2009-03-14T11:48:00.005Z

Having got used to Scandinavian trains like the Öresundtåg (top), which is basically just a commuter train, I had forgotten how cramped the British Pendolino was.

London Midland's new train livery

2009-03-14T11:41:00.006Z

What a bizarre colour scheme. It fights the windows.

Horrible Saturday evening journey from Seaford to Brighton

2008-11-16T21:17:00.003Z

I went to visit friends in Seaford last night. At around 9.30, I looked up the times of buses or trains home. Then my host told me that the bus had been mobbed at Newhaven by a gang of teenagers and the driver had only just managed to keep them off by closing the doors promptly. So I decided to take the train instead, only there weren't any between Seaford and Lewes due to engineering works.

The rail replacement bus duly arrived, and a group of passengers got on and said that there hadn't been any buses for a long time. Presumably the drivers had walked off the job in protest against the previous week's troubles. The bus got to Lewes in good time and there was a train waiting at the platform. It was filled by a rowdy assortment of people, including a very fat woman and her children, one, of whom aged about six, was stretched out across two seats, shoes on the cushions. As the train approached Brighton I noticed a strange smell and looked up. The child had deposited a large puddle of sick on the carpet, even though the toilet was just a few steps away. The train arrived in Brighton and the crowd that got on must have got a nasty shock. By now, it was about 11.30 and the station was stiff with police.

At least I didn't have to pay for the journey as my bus pass was accepted as valid.

What a great country Britain has become.

Motorola = Trouble - Razr V8

2008-10-25T14:01:00.003Z

Motorola = Trouble - Razr V8
Originally uploaded by seadipper.

For some reason, over 600 people have viewed this picture on flickr since it was posted on 19 May 2008, another 335 in the three weeks since this blog was written, and the total views is now 1275 (March 2009).

Why I have come to Sweden

2008-07-20T07:57:00.003Z

People are generally helpful rather than obstructive. Their normal response is to try to facilitate. This can be embarrasing as it makes one feel one is being too demanding.

People usually behave in public in a civilised way. The streets are clean and properly repaired. They don't put their feet on seats on public transport without taking their shoes off.

It is easy to get decent food without having to go to Waitrose or a specialist health food shop.

One does not pass newspaper shops displaying papers with stupid headlines, especially those in the Sun, Express and Mail.

These completely transform quality of life.

Carphone Warehouse problems continue

2008-07-20T07:53:00.002Z

For the best part of two months I have been engaged in correspondence with the firm about the phone. I refused to take it back and it is in their shop in Brighton. In the meantime I have gone off to Sweden and do not plan to return till the autumn.

Lots of emails have gone to and fro. It is obvious that whoever is dealing with them does not bother to read them properly. If things go on this way the dispute is liable to end up in arbitration, when it could be so easily dealt with.

What a company.

DON'T GET AN MOTOROLA PHONE MODEL V8

2008-05-17T21:59:00.004Z

In the beginning I used Nokia but on a recommendation I obtained a Motorola Rasr V3i. This soldiers on, now with a Swedish SIM card, and after a lot of fuss and bother I managed to get it to display the Swedish characters Ö, Ä and Å. I got another V3 last year and this has done well too. The V3 was a handy package and well designed. They sync perfectly with an Apple Mac so you can make a backup of your contacts book and diary and transfer things between the two using iSync. The main snags are short battery life and sometimes the phone just crashes.

So I went into Carphone Warehouse and was offered a V8 as a replacement. These are very well built, well finished and more substantial. I was assured that I would still be able to transfer data between the phone and my Mac, as usual.

It doesn't work. There is a lot of information about the problem on the net. Strange that the firm didn't bother to sort it out. I have no intention of copying all my contacts by hand and then not being able to back up onto my computer.

And the software will drive you mad. It all looks flashy but it is not as intuitive as the old models. Before giving up on the thing I decided to see if I could load and unload stuff by connecting it to a Linux computer using the USB cable provided, to browse the filesystem of the phone in the usual way. But I was unable to do that using SuSE Linux 10.3.

Back to the Mac, I managed to export the address list as a file and transfer it to the V8 as there is an option to import contacts from the v-file. That didn't work either. So after wasting several hours I have packed it up and it is going back to Carphone Warehouse.

I don't suppose I will be the first person to have complained about the problem as transferring contact lists is the first thing one would want to do. Sounds as if Motorola has shot itself in the foot.

Worst Great Western

2007-10-29T15:02:00.001Z

Class 180, Paddington
Originally uploaded by Coffee Lover.

Went to Oxford for the weekend. The fare from Brighton to Oxford via London was £28.65 after allowing for my railcard discount of 33%. Which is about the same as Copenhagen to Stockholm.

I arrived at Paddington at 6.30, for the 18.52 but when the train came up on the indicator, it said that discounted tickets were not allowed till the 19.22. The 'Service Delivery Assistant' (who thinks up these titles?) suggested I took the stopping train, but it was a three coach train and so full that it was physically impossible to get on. Partly that was the passengers' fault as they will not move away from the doorways.

The 19.22 also had only 3 cars because the correct 5-car train - an Adelante had broken down. As First Great Western has been getting rid of them and they are standing idle, in store at Eastleigh, there are no spares and only thing they had available was a 3-car Turbo train. I got a seat but the train was completely full ten minutes before it was due to leave.

On Saturday morning I went from Oxford to Reading with a friend. The train was 20 minutes late but nobody could tell passengers what was happening until just before the train came in and all the VDU displays and train indicators were out of action. The train back was just a few minutes late.

On the journey back on Sunday evening, the station indicators at Oxford were still out of order and again nobody knew what was happening. At the ticket barrier I had my ticket checked by a man who was not working for the railway at all but for a security firm, and of course he knew nothing about the train services. The Virgin Cross Country train arrived a few minutes late and because so much slack is now built in to the timetable it arrived on time.

Oddly it was a double-Voyager set with 8 coaches. After they have had the trains for seven years they have suddenly found a way of making them up to a sensible length. Is this because Virgin has just been taken over by Cross Country or what?

This is consistent with my usual experience that about 2 out of 5 train journeys go bad. But First Great Western has plenty of resources to make sure their trains are done up in their migraine livery, so it is reassuring to know they have got their priorities right.

To be fair, in the past my impression was that Great Western was one of the better train operators. I think what has happened is that they bid so high that they have to pay so much money to the Treasury that they are having to scrimp and save wherever they think they can get away with it. Which cannot make for a good service.

Moon over DB

2007-08-10T10:33:00.001Z

Moon over DB
Originally uploaded by rmayda.

The picture is well titled because the company seems to be run by a bunch of loonies.

Months ago I attempted to renew my Bahn Card by credit card over the telephone in but their office would not accept payment. This was a good time ahead of my planned departure; I pointed out that I was going away on 21 June and would not be returning to the UK until late September, which would have caused a problem in forwarding the renewed card to me as I could only give a fixed address for part of the time.

In the event I decided to travel by alternative means which avoided using Deutche Bahn, and as this in any case proved more satisfactory and less expensive, when I travel to Sweden in the future, I will not be travelling by Deutche Bahn so this has lost the company hundreds of pounds a year in revenue. Which suggests the company should get its act together so that people in the UK can renew over the telephone which would be the normal way of paying for things, and at a fixed fee which covered day to day exchange rate variations.

Weeks later I got a letter from DB say that I had not filled in their form correctly. I don't know what the information on the form was, that was missing but required, but obviously it would not have helped if it had been as the card could not have been sent to me. In any case they must have all the information correctly from the original application for the card I got last year which expires 5 September while I was away.

I thought that train companies aimed to provide a service to their "customers" but seemingly DB is the same as the UK train companies.

Although this is nothing directly to do with DB, Eurostar was unable to provide me with a return booking out June back late September and offered me single tickets for an outrageous amount so leaving aside the Bahncard problem, essentially it was Eurostar which was unable to convey me to Brussels for my onward journey over DB so in the end I went on a luxury cruise to Denmark instead which was cheaper than sitting squashed up on the nasty cramped trains used on the Eurostar and Thalys services between London and Köln. Which may be a big reason why people are preferring to fly.

I will make another attempt to renew my Bahncard when I return to Britain and am planning another visit to Germany.

Uppsala

2007-07-07T19:58:00.001Z

Uppsala Botanic Gardens
Originally uploaded by seadipper.

There is a lot to see in this town so I am glad I am here for long enough to visit them all.

Parking voucher machine

2007-06-10T00:15:00.001Z

Parking voucher machine
Originally uploaded by seadipper.

How do these things get to be designed to look so horrible? Why the weird shapes? They make no sense.

I expect some young designer was given the job of designing the fascia and did it perfectly well, then some interfering manager, probably from marketing, said it needed to look more sexy so they added the meaningless curves. Apart from looking stupid, they make the thing more difficult to manufacture and add to the cost. And the designer ended up demoralised.

But that is the way things are in Britain.

The Tarmac Patch

2007-05-17T04:57:00.001Z

New Road Tarmac
Originally uploaded by seadipper.

Brighton Council had a grant for new paving in New Road, as part of its idea of creating a "culture area" - its idea of culture being theatre and arty stuff. It has taken the best part of a year and cost millions.

Now it is almost finished another Council department has come back to put the usual signs up. Traffic engineers love signs on poles. So the workmen dug up the paving to put the sign up and refilled with the usual dollop of tarmac. Eventually someone else might come back to put the paving back, assuming there are stocks of this special paving. Eventually they will run out of spare blocks and then it will be patched with whatever is to hand.

Rusty ticket machine

2007-05-16T09:10:00.001Z

Southern Ticket Machine
Originally uploaded by seadipper.

At Portslade station. When the sun is shining on the screen you can't see anything.

Turning away customers

2007-05-01T18:44:00.001Z

side on
Originally uploaded by brapps.

I tried to book a trip on Eurostar today (1 May) but their system would not let me book a departure on 20 June and a return on 5 October.

The earliest date I could make a booking to travel on 5 October was 2 June. But by then, the discount rate tickets for 20 June will all be sold.

They could only offer me a single ticket from Waterloo to Brussels with no discount. So much for encouraging advance purchase.

So I booked the DFDS ferry from Harwich to Esbjerg for the same price as Waterloo to Brussels, with a single outside cabin, dinner and breakfast and all inclusive.

Which saves a day and is all a lot easier and cheaper, even with a Deutsche Bahn card, than going on the Eurostar to Brussels, rushing to catch the Thalys train to Köln, another train to Hamburg and another to Copenhagen.

Then I will go home on the ferry as well so they have lost all the money I would have spent, all because their systems are inflexible.

What's up with W H Smith

2007-04-30T22:46:00.001Z

Pressbyrån bookstall, Malmö station
Originally uploaded by seadipper.

Went to W H Smith's bookstall at Brighton station to buy the latest edition of Modern Railways. They have "rationalised" what they sell and have cut down on their range. More tit and bum stuff and away with the serious titles. At least you can get them at Pressbyrån. It's a funny old world.

PS They are back again.

Confusing sign

2007-04-29T22:35:00.001Z

Confusing sign
Originally uploaded by seadipper.

This plan is on the old Sainsbury's shop window to give directions to the new shop. But it is confusing. North is at the top of the map, but as you look at it, you are facing west. A lot of people find it hard to turn the map round in their heads. Why don't the people who do these maps put them the same way up as people will see them when they look at them?

Buses replace trains

2007-04-29T22:34:00.001Z

Buses replace trains
Originally uploaded by seadipper.

Buses replace trains for the 20 miles of route between Three Bridges and Brighton. This happens regularly at weekend for engineering works but are they really working on the entire 20 mile stretch of track and if not, what aren't the trains running apart from where they are actually doing the engineering works?

Ticket machine out of order

2007-04-17T21:02:00.001Z

Ticket machine out of order
Originally uploaded by seadipper.

Three out of the five ticket machines at Brighton were out of order so there were long queues at the ticket office and the two machines that were still working.

These machines have been no good ever since they were introduced. The old Quickfare machines required only two button presses to get your ticket, these need about a dozen as the software can send you round in loops.

New railings, Shoreham

2007-04-14T22:34:00.001Z

New railings, Shoreham
Originally uploaded by seadipper.

Adur Council has replaced railings on the sea front. The railings themselves have been done very well, but, oh dear, the stairs are another matter. They should have used posts with holes running through at an angle. Then they would not have had to join up pieces of tubing like this.

In my experience of designing this kind of thing, manufacturers - Broxap and Kirby - are happy to do a modification especially if there is a chance of adding something to their range of products.

Brighton beach rubbish

2007-04-10T21:37:00.001Z

Beach rubbish
Originally uploaded by seadipper.

The British are congenitally filthy. They don't take their rubbish home but just drop it and walk away.

The government has done nothing to encourage deposit schemes which would give people an incentive to take their bottles back to the shop, get their money back and buy some more to drink.

But the cleaning team does a fantastic job. By 8 am the beach cleaners have picked up every last scrap.

Noise troubles

2007-03-27T19:07:00.000Z

Central Brighton is coming under a variety of pressures, one of which is the changing and increasingly transient population resulting as more and more houses are bought for letting. The buy-to-let “investment” fashion has priced owner-occupiers away and the area has changed, and continues to change, for the worse.

Thus, last Saturday night, the tenants four doors away decided to have a party with very loud thumping music. By 1.30 in the morning I had had enough and called the Council’s noise patrol. I was told they would have to visit my house, which I was not keen on as having them ringing on the door and getting me out of bed only added to the disturbance and disruption of sleep. As they arrived perhaps 40 minutes later (the noise patrol "team" consists of two women for the whole of Brighton and Hove) and told me where the noise was coming from, it was obvious that it was not necessary to come to my house.

The Council’s staff, both female, then spoke to the people who were causing the disturbance and received abuse. Their request to reduce the volume of sound was ignored; I reported this to the Council but was told that the patrol had ceased. The noise continued until around five. So I had little sleep that night and much of Sunday had to be written off.

I subsequently discovered that my neighbour who lives next door to the people who were causing the disturbance had requested the intervention of the Council at around 12.30, but on being informed that the patrol would have to call at his own house, declined the offer as he has a pregnant partner and a very young daughter, and he did not wish the Council staff to come and add to the disturbance.

To sum up:
* a disturbance was reported, twice
* eventually, Council staff turned up
* the Council staff received abuse
* the request to reduce the noise was ignored
* the disturbance continued for several more hours
* the people causing the disturbance received a written warning from the Council
* no other action will be taken in respect of the abuse or failure to comply with the Council staffs’ request

Thus, not only did the procedure fail to abate the nuisance when it needed to be abated; the transgressors have got off with ignoring, indeed, abusing the authorities with no sanction being applied.

I must emphasise that this is not a complaint against Brighton and Hove Council and its staff, but against the legal and administrative framework under which they are expected to operate. In its present form it is not “fit for purpose”.

Chewing gum

2007-03-08T12:05:00.001Z

Chewing gum
Originally uploaded by seadipper.

With all the expertise of modern chemistry at our disposal, I can't understand why this is a problem. It is expensive to get the stuff off as it is so sticky and lasts forever.

It should not be difficult to devise a formula which was just as chewy but quickly broke down under the UV from sunlight or would dissolve in an inexpensive solvent like washing soda or vinegar.

This is something the EU should get to grips with, it churns out directives on just about everything else including a lot of things people don't want or don't care about. This is a simple issue which, if dealt with, would save public money and improve the environment.

Candlemas by candlelight

2007-02-06T23:35:00.000Z

Claire took this picture with her mobile phone after the evening mass at St Mary Magdalen's on 2 February, which was mostly by candlelight. Joseph and I were serving so we were kept busy and I did not realise what a moving experience this was for the congregation.

On Friday evenings, Father Blake now celebrates mass facing the same way as the rest of the congregation (looking to the east), which is altogether more satisfactory. I hope we will soon have the sanctuary put back the way it originally was, designed for the priest to face east.

How to do a train ticket machine - sort of

2007-01-27T23:38:00.001Z

Swedish train ticket machine
Originally uploaded by seadipper.

These elegant machines, made by Nixdorf, have a proper keyboard with trackball, so the hardware is a big improvement on what we have in Britain.

But the software is complicated and requires you to use the touch screen, which wipes out the advantage of having a keyboard. The system is dire - when you buy a ticket the machine tries to reserve a seat for you on a particular train, even for a short journey. This means it has to make a connection over the network and search the database to check if there are seats available. This takes ages and the information it feeds back is unreliable and may tell you there are no seats available, in which case the machine will refuse to sell you a ticket at all.

Southern's rotten ticket machines.

2007-01-27T23:30:00.001Z

Quickticket
Originally uploaded by seadipper.

The ticket machines in Brighton are still unreliable, nearly three years after they came in. One of them consistently rejects my Visa card, but not before I have gone through pressing the on-screen buttons a dozen or so times to select the ticket I want.

I got my bank to give me a new card but it has not cured the problem.

I reported it several weeks ago but they have not sorted it out. They obviously know about it - the staff say the machine (the one that does not have a queue, by platform 8) is temperamental, but still nothing is done. But other machines spit my card out too. I have missed trains several times due to this and the over-long queue at the ticket office.

This is a good example of technology gone bad. The old electro-mechanical Quickfare machines sold tickets for cash and notes only, to just London and local destinations with only two button presses, which took about 20 seconds per transaction. These "Fast" machines, introduced in 2003, take, on average, about a minute for a simple ticket and twice that some for something where you need to type in the destination on the on-screen keyboard and have a railcard. They will sell a big range of tickets and you can pay by plastic, but they make buying a ticket a pain, especially as they often fail, but not before you have selected your ticket and wasted two minutes. When I have complained, Southern refuse to acknowledge there is anything wrong with the system they have introduced.

The company that makes them is called Shere. Shere rubbish.

Taking photographs at railway stations

2007-01-26T00:28:00.001Z

Victoria station pre Rush Hour
Originally uploaded by brightonsinger.

The photographer was told off for taking this picture at Victoria Station. The busybodies were acting outside their powers again. It is part of the metamorphosis of Britain into a Police State.

Taking photographs at railway stations is permitted.
Network Rail Guidelines on taking photographs at railway stations

Wordy Notice

2007-01-17T00:09:00.001Z

Wordy Notice
Originally uploaded by seadipper.

Why do they have to be so wordy. Why not just?
====================================
TO DOME BOX OFFICE ONLY
DIVERSION >>>
====================================

Which has the advantage of being so obvious you don't have to think about it.

You wonder what is in their heads to make them even think of using all those words. And why do they need to apologise?

More on Brazil Nuts

2007-01-16T01:16:00.000Z

I had a letter from the Secretary to my Euro MP, Green Party member Caroline Lucas.

She refuses to continue the correspondence. The line is that there isn't a problem and I should just keep on complaining to Trading Standards. Never mind that shelling the nuts in South America before shipping them means that they are bound to be less fresh than if you can buy them in their shells.

Brighton Early Sun

2007-01-16T01:15:00.001Z

Early Sun
Originally uploaded by seadipper.

This makes it worth getting up early in the morning and going down to the sea front.

Crappy Carphone Warehouse - final instalment

2007-01-08T17:35:00.000Z

I took my phone back to the shop and the manageress said they had given me the wrong memory card for the type of phone I had. She took the correct one off the rack and went to the back of the shop, to get some scissors, she said. The memory cards are in one of those near-impregnable blister packs.

A little while later an assistant appears from the back of the shop an tells me she had cut her finger, presumably trying to stab the blister pack she had stabbed herself instead.

I said I hoped the incident had been recorded in the accident book. The assistant put the memory card in the phone, which is now working correctly, two months after I first went into the shop to report the problem.

Crappy Carphone Warehouse - the story continues

2007-01-05T18:12:00.000Z

After five weeks being repaired I got my mobile phone back, but with the memory chip lost. I reported this and three phone calls later I was told I could collect the replacement memory chip.

I collected it this morning and found it did not fit, but they are so small they are difficult to see and I may have damaged the phone trying to put it in.

I telephoned the "help" line yet again and after a 20 minute wait was connected to a technician (the only technician, perhaps?) who was able to tell me that the people in the shop had been given the wrong memory chip.

So it is back to the shop again, and what a surly bunch they are in the branch at Churchill Square, Brighton.

What has happened to the company? They used to give good service

And still the mornings get darker

2006-12-29T00:19:00.001Z

Dawn swim
Originally uploaded by seadipper.

The sun continues to rise later in the morning until 6 January. So the Brighton dippers are bathing in the light of the pier.

Crappy Carphone Warehouse

2006-12-25T23:53:00.000Z

They used to be a good company. They made a mess of my telephone line when they took it over from BT. I had a job getting a MAC code from them when I wanted to transfer my broadband from them because you could never get through to talk to anyone. Their helpline is dire, with a lot of menus and not enough humans.

Then they had my mobile phone for repair for over a month. Didn't inform me what was happening, I had to keep asking. Now I have got it back I found they have lost the memory chip.

To be fair, they have given me a £30 refund for the long wait, but something is wrong with this outfit. Perhaps it is just the UK operation. The Swedish branch, called "The Phone House", seemed very good - they gave me a new number and helpful advice, no problem there.

Now I am going to have to have another round of problems over the missing memory chip.

The Last Leaf of all

2006-12-23T18:41:00.001Z

The Last Leaf of all
Originally uploaded by seadipper.

This one leaf was left after the gales had blown away all the others.

Brazil Nut problem - response from the Food Standards Agency

2006-12-18T23:17:00.001Z

Brazil Nuts
Originally uploaded by coveman.

I have now had a response on this subject.

14 December 2006

Dear Mr Law

I am writing in response to your enquiries to myself and my colleague, Simona Origgi, with regard to the sale of shelled Brazil nuts and legislation for mycotoxins in Brazil nuts, particularly aflatoxins.

Aflatoxins are a group of mycotoxins formed by certain moulds, which may grow on a number of food commodities particularly in the tropics and sub-tropics. Contamination is usually associated with edible nuts, dried figs and spices but some cereals, especially maize imported from some countries, can also be contaminated.

Aflatoxins are known to be liver carcinogens in animals and there is evidence that they are also a human carcinogen. Aflatoxins are therefore treated as carcinogenic food contaminants, the intake of which should be reduced to levels as low as reasonably achievable. In order to achieve this, the European Commission has set regulatory limits for aflatoxins in certain foods, including Brazil nuts.

In July 2003, to protect consumer health, the European Commission imposed special conditions on the import of unshelled Brazil nuts from Brazil into all Member States of the EU. These measures prevent consignments of unshelled Brazil nuts containing levels of aflatoxins above the regulatory limits entering the EU from Brazil, the main exporting country for these nuts. These import conditions and the method of analysis for aflatoxins in Brazil nuts applies equally to all European Member States.

In order to meet the regulatory limits, Brazil nuts exported from Brazil tend to be shelled and sorted to remove any mouldy or discoloured kernels (the ones most likely to contain aflatoxins), which reduces aflatoxin levels. However, the absence of mould or discolouration does not preclude the possibility that aflatoxins may still be present. For this reason the European Commission is encouraging producing countries to develop their production methods to reduce aflatoxin levels at the start of the food chain rather than rely on consumers to identify mouldy nuts, as suggested in your correspondence.

To prevent deterioration of the shelled nuts during transit, Brazil nuts are imported into the UK vacuum-packed. You are therefore taking the correct action by returning the packets of rancid/mouldy Brazil nuts back to the shop, as the sale of rancid or mouldy food is not acceptable. We would also suggest you report your findings to your local Environmental Health/Trading Standards officials, who have responsibility for investigating individual food safety concerns.

I hope this information clearly explains the rational behind the European legislation and the action you can take regarding your specific problem. However, if you do have any further queries, please feel free to contact me.

Yours sincerely

Dr Mat Barber
Chemical Safety Division

Brighton Beach Cleaning

2006-12-17T21:42:00.001Z

Beach Cleaners
Originally uploaded by seadipper.

These guys who work for Brighton and Hove do a really good job keeping the beach clean. The one on the left, John, takes a proprietorial interest in the beach, which helps to keep it safe for people like me who use it.

The sea front cleaners are a good team altogether and I hope the powers-that-be appreciate the extra effort John and his mate put into their job.

Mosaic on Brighton seafront

2006-12-17T21:37:00.001Z

Mosaic on Brighton seafront
Originally uploaded by seadipper.

There is a lot of this goes on in Brighton. The Council engages consultants and the like who don't know what they are doing, such as the artist who made this and other mosaics in the town.

They are too thin - the sort of thing you would use in a bathroom. They are not suitable for use out of doors in a situation like the sea front so they have come off. All paid for from public funds.

Dawn Dipping in Brighton

2006-12-17T21:35:00.001Z

Dawn Dip
Originally uploaded by seadipper.

It is hardly light when we go into the sea at this time of the year.

Brighton Seafront Officer

2006-12-17T17:49:00.000Z

The Brighton and Hove Council officer who is responsible for the seafront has been made redundant.

The Council's management of the sea front has not been brilliant in recent years. Its worst failing is not to recognise the uniqueness of the place.

Perhaps things will take a turn for the better.