Defeat: Facing up to the mess in two drawers that I have to sort through to do my taxes.
Victory: Discovering an ancient 'After Eight' mint stuck between old bank statements and share documents. Quite delicious, it was.
Life's little victories and defeats Page 4
Pub Quiz Night.
Victory:
Asking the Quizmaster if he'd mark us last in the vain hope that I could go somewhere less noisy & try to get the two TV theme tunes we hadn't answered.
One sounded a bit Gerry Anderson & the other was a bit Soapy.
Joe 90 & Falcon Crest!
I had impressed myself, with both my pointless desperation & also with my powers of recall
Defeat:
We came second anyway.
Defeat: being told by my Director that I cannot book a first class ticket to Manchester, even though, after foregoing breakfast allowance, it only works out £1.50 more expensive, because it 'looks bad' civil servants travelling first class.
Victory: refusing to get up two hours early to travel standard class at peak hour, and so booking onto later train which turns out to be the one train of the day on which first class is actually cheaper than standard class, a full 50p saving for my employer - how could I turn it down? Director furious but I refer her back to guidance that says I should buy the cheapest available ticket.
Defeat: being to ill to travel.
Victory: could not get a refund for the ticket, could only transfer to a train at a future date at an equivalent or higher price. Book onto same train a fortnight later, but price of standard class now considerably lower than face value of my ticket, so no option but to rebook into first class.
Quote: Timbo @ July 15 2011, 1:28 AM BSTDefeat: being told by my Director that I cannot book a first class ticket to Manchester, even though, after foregoing breakfast allowance, it only works out £1.50 more expensive, because it 'looks bad' civil servants travelling first class.
It all sounds a bit 'Yes Minister'.
Quote: Nogget @ July 15 2011, 5:21 AM BSTIt all sounds a bit 'Yes Minister'.
Welcome to my world. Since MPSswent all hairshirt and started travelling standard class, the civil service has been under pressure to fall into line, tricky as a lot of civil servants as part of their terms and conditions have the right to first class travel; so management are trying to turn the screws without outright banning it, and tying themselves up in knots in the process. They cannot tell me that I have to travel second class, they can only stop me from travelling on departmental business if I refuse (and let it be known that I am a marked man).
For myself I have never believed in the automatic right to to first class travel - in fact I would not have first class carriages on trains at all. But so long as first class exists, and standard is like a cattle truck, the trade off between cost and convenience should be a consideration. But as usual in civil service decision making commonsense takes second place to arse covering and keeping up appearances.
Though I still think the real bureaucratic idiocy in this story is Virgin selling a first class ticket cheaper than a standard class ticket on the same service.
I bought my son Lego Pirates of The Caribbean for the Xbox from Tesco. When I looked at the receipt they'd charged me a fiver more than it said on the tag. So I took it back and they gave me ALL of my money back (30 quid) AND the game for free! Victory!
Lego for Xbox? How does that work?
Quote: Lee Henman @ July 15 2011, 9:14 AM BSTI bought my son Lego Pirates of The Caribbean for the Xbox from Tesco. When I looked at the receipt they'd charged me a fiver more than it said on the tag. So I took it back and they gave me ALL of my money back (30 quid) AND the game for free! Victory!
Tesco's good for that. They once charged me double for a bottle of wine (it was meant to be half-price) and by the time they compensated and let me keep the wine, I was actually 1 penny in profit.
Quote: Timbo @ July 15 2011, 9:17 AM BSTLego for Xbox? How does that work?
Quote: Timbo @ July 15 2011, 9:17 AM BSTLego for Xbox? How does that work?
It uses a plug in?
Quote: Lee Henman @ July 15 2011, 9:24 AM BST
That's just Pirates of the Caribbean CGI on the cheap!
You might as well have Call of Duty animated with buttons!