No Service? You’re Paying!

Leave a reply

18 – 19 April 2013:

Well, after a hectic few days, I am back and ready to do. Over the last day or so, I have been restoring my website because some lovely person decided to hack into it and cause me problems. This kind of thing happens from time to time, but I wasn’t expecting it to happen to me. I was very annoyed when I found my site had been hacked, but in a way it was a wake up call because I can analyze logs that will help me prevent this from happening again. I don’t know why they decided to pick my site as a target, it seemed very weird. I forgot to mention that Steve’s site (The Wright Times) was taken down also by the same hacker. I won’t mention how I fixed the sites or what I have done under the hood of the software, but I am hoping the extra work will prevent it from happening again. So, anyway, it was a challenge, but I got through it and it didn’t take me long to get them back online, the only problem I did have was when I noticed the time, it was 3am when I finished and I wasn’t happy!

I want to touch briefly on the mobile saga again, the updates are that they still haven’t fixed the issue and their first line support are still unable to get me reconnected. When they rung on Wednesday they seemed very apologetic, but it still didn’t stop them from trying to charge me for a service I can’t receive. So, to be brief, in the end they gave in and said they would give 50% off, which I wasn’t happy with because I shouldn’t have to pay anything. Anyway, I was checking my bill today and it turns out they were trying to charge me an extra £40, for no reason, when I saw that I hit the roof. I wasn’t prepared to pay them any money because I have no service, no one should be expected to pay anything hen it is the networks issue. When I rang them up to explain, they took on everything I said, but they were confused by what’s happened because there were no extra charges, I mean how could you get charges on a mobile phone that is unable to connect to their service, I swear they make it all up as they go along. So, with that said, they credited me back the right amount to correct the bill and they also took more money off because it was their problem (yet again). I hope that their higher management ring me soon or else I will be starting legal proceedings against them for breaking their own contract terms, everyone has this legal right, so don’t forget, if mobile companies screw you over, seek help from the right authorities because you signed a contract and this means that they have to keep to their word as well.

20 April 2013:

So, it turns out that the mobile company didn’t deduct anything yesterday, and there were no notes left about the call I made. I was livid with them because I haven’t had service for five weeks and they were expecting me to pay for it. I think they have lost the plot, I will not be paying for my service until it is working, they are breaking their own terms and conditions as it is. I will be on the phone to their regulator on Monday because this is utterly ridicules. Anyway, I will discuss this further on Monday.

Today has been a very relaxed day, even though I have had pains through my shoulder, but it hasn’t dampened my spirits. I have been in a funny mood since last night, I kept on sending jokes to K, she must think I am nuts because I laughed my head off at each joke, I must have a very weird sense of humor, but oh well that must mean I am unique. This good mood has been funny to say the least, I don’t know why it makes me very happy and weird, but it doesn’t matter, it is better than being deeply depressed and sad.

Anyhow, the rest of my afternoon has been spent shopping and going to McDonalds for some more McFlurries, and yes I am aware that I eat them too much, but they are tasty. I will challenge you all to try them, walk into your local McDonalds and ask them for a Cadbury Cream Egg McFlurry without the chocolate topping, you will thank me afterwards, but beware, don’t have more than two because you will start feeling sick, I have done this and it does upset your stomach. When I had three today, it started making me feel sick, but I think that’s because I haven’t had anything proper to eat all day.

When the evening was upon us, I decided to have the noodles I brought from Tesco’s earlier. I wasn’t very hungry, but I needed to eat something more than ice-cream and yogurts. So, with that said, mum prepared my noodles for me because I wasn’t able to due to my shoulder pains. I don’t know why my shoulder is like this at times, but I guess it is one of these things I have to put up with. Anyhow, to be brief, the noodles were really nice, and I know feel very stuffed! I am currently writing the blog and I feel like I want to sleep, it seems crazy all this tiredness. I had a good sleep last night, well apart from I woke up at 5am needing the toilet (I know too much information).

I can’t wait for bedtime to roll along, my head will hit that pillow and I will be knocked out. I must remember to take my tablets tonight, it might help with the pain I wake up with. I know this will sound bad, but I haven’t been taking my tablets how I am supposed to because I have been feeling bad with depression, I end up thinking screw it because I can’t be bothered to move.

Anyway, on that note, it is time to sign off. Let’s hope that things start going in the right direction because I have had enough of all these issues.

Until tomorrow,

Marc.

Choking Cough, and McFlurries!

Leave a reply

16 April 2013:

Choke, choke, choke, that’s what I have had to put up with during the night. I don’t know what’s causing it, it’s like my body wants to kill me in my sleep. As each hour went by, I was rudely woken up by a choking cough, it was happening every two hours and in the end I gave up trying to sleep because it was starting to annoy me.

Anyway, with a long day ahead, I stayed up and watched television. I had nothing else to do, I couldn’t play the guitar because it was 4am and I don’t think the neighbors would appreciate it, and I couldn’t do writing either because my mind was all over the place due to my medication.

17 April 2013:

So, it turns out that I went on a downer after writing that last paragraph. I don’t know what came over me, it was like someone took over my body. I ended up spending all yesterday wrapped up in bed, I couldn’t be bothered facing the world. While I was in bed, I constantly thought silly things, blaming myself for things that weren’t my fault. I even wrote a three page document about how I feel, I haven’t read it back yet, but I do know I had a few swear words in it. I know I shouldn’t blame myself, but I always worry, and I guess loneliness is getting the better of me.

Anyway, on to today. The day started out with a walk to McDonalds to get some McFlurries, I was in need of a real sugar boost. While I was walking down, I thought I would text Cassie (sister) to see if she was at home, she was home, so I decided to pick up the McFlurries first, and then I will walk over to Cassie’s to eat them.

When I picked up the McFlurries, I put them down on the table to peel off the Monopoly stickers. As I pulled all four stickers off, I found that I had won a free big Mac meal and I also won a free cheeseburger, it has been a long time since I had won anything and I was surprised my luck was changing, but even though I won, I couldn’t eat that kind of food anyway because I can’t swallow it.

So, to be brief, I arrived at Cassie’s and I sat down with my McFlurries & a cup of tea. While I was eating, I spotted Amber (niece) was eying up my ice-cream, so being the good uncle that I am, I decided to share it with her. This was a hilarious task because I was shaking like a leaf and the ice-cream was going all over Ambers face. Once she had the first taste of the ice-cream, she went nuts for more, all I could hear was Amber saying yum, yum, yum. After a couple of spoonfuls, I decided to let Cassie feed her some of the spare McFlurry I had. She didn’t have all of it, but I think Amber had other ideas about that because she loved it. When she got to half way, we decided to stop because the chances are, she will throw it up later, and that’s one thing we didn’t want to happen.

Amber-Sucking-my-Knuckle-17-April-2013

Amber Sucking My Knuckle

Once Amber was finished with the ice-cream, she wanted to suck on my knuckle because she is teething. When she was gumming on my knuckle, I could feel the full force of her gums on my knuckle. I didn’t mind because she is teething, but she certainly has a good chomp on those gums.

After thirty minutes went by, I decided to head home. I was starting to get hungry and I needed some painkillers. As I walked home, I was enjoying the peace, all the kids were in school, and for some reason there wasn’t many people about, which made it extra peaceful.

So, to be brief, I got home and started writing the blog. I haven’t done much of the blog recently, it isn’t like I haven’t had the time, I think my depression has been causing me some issues this week, but I think it will pass soon. I did have some good news today, I had my first revenue payment from my publisher, okay it wasn’t much, but it was a start. I have been writing for over two years, it is about time I had some sort of payment after all this time.

Anyhow, on that positive note, I must sign off. I am starting to feel very tired, and I need to find something to eat, even though after four McFlurries earlier, I am starting to feel a bit sick.

Until tomorrow,

Marc.

Ninja Wasps, and York Pictures

2 Replies

Well, it looks like the weather has started to warm up. My day started out at 10am with a large cup of hot milk, I didn’t feel like having something to eat because I felt unwell, and I also felt very heavy from the big dosages of medication I had yesterday. Anyhow, after I had my drink, I decided to head out to the shops. I had to go over to McDonalds because I won a free cup of tea yesterday (again), the staff at that restaurant must think I drink tea by the gallons each day, this will be the second time this week that I have won a free cup of tea, oh well, I won’t complain, it is free after all.

After a short trip around Tesco, I went across to McDonalds to pick up my free and McFlurry. When I go to McDonalds I always order the same thing, two teas and two caramel McFlurries. I only found out recently that I could have caramel sauce on my McFlurry, I was previously having them plain which got very boring after a while.
So, with my food in hand, I headed back home. While I was walking back, I was stunned by a wasp trying to get at my McFlurry, so, in pure ninja style I waved my hands to get it away, well and I also ran too, but oh well. I hate damn wasps, they are evil little things, no matter what happens, they just want to sting you for the hell of it.

I am having to cut the blog short, I have a lot to do, but don’t worry, nothing I can’t handle. I hope to hear from the mobile phone company tomorrow to sort out my no service problem. The last time I spoke with them, they said that higher management are very annoyed by the way I have been treated, and they were also disgusted by the way I have been spoken to by two managers, so lets hope they will sort out this problem quickly because I am starting to get annoyed.

Anyway, I am going to sign off now, but before I do, here are the pictures from York I promised.

york_pic_1

River Picture in York, Remastered by FStopPhotographs

york_pic_2

Looking down a lane

york_pic_3

A nice Church Clock

york_pic_4

More River Reflections

york_pic_5

Pigeon detailed shot

york_pic_6

Carl, Close up.

york_pic_7

Steve, Biggles Hat

york_pic_8

Denise wearing a hat

York Trip Part Four

2 Replies

Well, the April showers are finally here, it has been raining most of the day. According to the forecast, this weather is set to stay with us for the next month, so if you live in the United Kingdom, get your umbrellas out because we are expecting loads of duck weather!

Anyhow, back to the York trip. The day was Saturday, and the time was around 12:30pm. We were heading towards a fountain in the town centre because everyone was meeting there. Apart from the people I have already mentioned, there were only a few more that were coming to the gathering.
Once we arrived at the fountain, we all stood around waiting for everyone else to turn up. I was surprised to see that there was a good crowd of people already standing by the fountain, this was good because we didn’t have long to wait. While everyone was waiting around, myself, Steve, Denise and Carl went across to the local market to have a look around.

After ten minutes of watching Steve trying on new hats, we all headed back to the main group at the fountain. When we were all at the fountain, we started heading towards a pub called the Black Swan, this is where everyone goes each year to have a meal together.

I am going to sum up the gathering because I am currently feeling unwell, and I need to get many things in this blog that I have missed out over the last few days. The meal at the Black Swan was fantastic, I didn’t have anything from the pub to eat, but I did bring some tube yogurts with me to eat. After the meal, we all sat and listened to Andy, Kevin & Stevie play the guitar. They were fantastic, everyone was asking me to play the guitar too, but I felt a bit shy, well and other reasons, but I won’t go into that. I ended up making up an excuse, but I knew everyone saw through that because each person has seen me play the guitar before. Anyhow, enough about that, I already feel guilty enough as it is.

The whole gathering was fantastic, I loved meeting everyone, and I hope that they all make next year’s gathering. I must admit something, the trip to York went by very fast, I should have booked a week there, it would have been better for me because I spent most of the time feeling sick.
When Sunday came along, I felt very saddened because I had to go back home, and I also had to say goodbye to Steve, Denise and Carl. I always hate saying goodbye to close friends because it feels like I won’t see them again, I know it seems very silly, but I am always like that with close friends.

Anyway, let’s get back to reality. Over the last week I have been feeling very sick, for some reason I have been unable to shift this cold. I don’t know why this won’t go, I have been looking after myself, so I don’t know what’s causing this. Anyhow, I will have to ride the wave, if it doesn’t go in a couple of weeks I will mention it to my doctor.
I think I will sign off now, but I will be back tomorrow with pictures from the York Gathering.
As you will see by the blog dates, I have been missing days out, this hasn’t been done on purpose, it was more to do with this infection and the lack of energy that comes with it.

Until tomorrow,

Marc.

York Trip Part Three, and Funnies!

2 Replies

So, it turns out, I started writing yesterdays blog, but due to my depression and pains, I decided to step away from the computer because it was starting to tick me off. I couldn’t think straight and life in general was starting to piss me off, and sorry for using that word, but oh well, this is my blog and not yours!

Anyway, where were we up to yesterday? If I remember correctly it was the end of Friday night. So, it was Saturday morning and I couldn’t sleep. I had been up most of the night because of the sickness, oh and the pain, believe me the pain was kicking my backside!
I got out of bed at 7am, and headed out of the hotel to find a local Costa Coffee or Starbucks. I looked at my iPhone maps application to locate the local shops (it wasn’t Apple Maps, couldn’t risk getting lost), it turns out Starbucks was closer, this meant I had to put up with second best, yes second best, you read that correctly, don’t judge me because I am a Costa Coffee Junkie! I swear, Costa Coffee need to sponsor me, I would drink there every day if they did, and no that isn’t a joke! I must ask my receptionist to write them a letter, after all, if you don’t ask, you don’t know if they will or not. I am making myself laugh with that receptionist line, who would silly enough to put up with my craziness? I wonder if K will? Saying that just made me giggle, but as I always tell K, a man is only as good as the woman who leads him.

Somehow I went off track there. So, I found Starbucks and asked for my usual order, and of course you will know what that is, big drum roll… One hot chocolate and one tea, see it never changes does it? The funniest thing was, the woman behind the counter gave me a weird look, it was like she saw a zombie walk in the shop, I don’t blame her really, I did look like death warmed up because of this cold.
So, with drinks in hand, I walked out of Starbucks and I headed back to the hotel. The walk was blissful, it was delightfully warm and peaceful. I was so relaxed, I took every step with smile on my face and the feeling of warmth running through every vain of my body. As I walked across the bridge near our hotel, I watched the sun slowly rise. The sky was blue and there wasn’t a cloud to be seen, and as the sunlight slowly came across the lake below, you could see the buildings reflect softly into the ripples of the water.

When I got back to the hotel room, I noticed that Laura (sister) & David (Laura’s partner) were still asleep, which was fine because it was only 8am, but I wasn’t going to sit around in the dark waiting for them to get up. So, I finished up my drinks and headed out again with my DSLR camera. While the morning was blissful, I thought it would be a fantastic opportunity to take some pictures, well and I was also bored, which didn’t help matters.

After thirty minutes of taking pictures, I headed back to the hotel in hope Laura & David would have been out of bed. I was totally wrong, they were still in bed, and I still had nothing to do. Laura heard me come through the door and she said we need to get some medicine for David because he wasn’t feeling well. So, with that said, we both headed out to the local Tesco express store to pick up some painkillers. When we brought everything we needed we walked out of the shop, and as looked to my left, I noticed a Costa Coffee express. Well, from there my Costa senses were tingling, I couldn’t resist, I had to have one! Okay, maybe I didn’t, but I did anyway, it wasn’t like I was going to turn down Costa Coffee!

So, with more drinks in hand, myself & Laura headed back to the hotel. When we got back, we found that David was waking up, which was good because he needed to be ready for the main gathering. I won’t say much about the gathering, but I was meeting some other friends from social networks that I am on.

After ten minutes went by, I received a text from Carl saying he was in our hotel lobby. So, with that said, I went down to meet him. Carl seemed like he was in good spirits, which was fantastic because I was too. When I met up with him, I still holding my drinks, so we sat down in the lobby having a chat, while we were waiting for everyone else to get ready for breakfast. I didn’t pay for breakfast in the hotel because I had my own yogurts, but this didn’t stop everyone else offering to get me food while we were in the breakfast bar. I would have done the same thing to be honest, can’t see friends go hungry.

So, to be brief, after a long game of hide-and-seek by Steve (yes Steve fouled us all), we all sat around a table in the breakfast bar. There was myself, Laura, Carl, Steve, Denise, Jo and Stevie sat around the table. We are a very close set of friends, and it was a pleasure to spend time eating breakfast together.

After everyone had finished breakfast, it was time for Carl to do the marmite challenge. This challenge is like a yearly tradition, all you have to do is take a spoonful of marmite and eat it without spitting any of it out or throwing up.
As Carl ate the marmite, you could tell by the expression on his face that he didn’t enjoy it much. I am hoping they don’t ask me to do it next year because I know it will make me throw up, or it will make me choke, which won’t be good because it is all recorded.

I am going to stop the story here for now because I am starting to get very tired. I have been in such a happy mood today, let’s hope this happy mood will be with me tomorrow.

Until tomorrow,

Marc.

York Trip Part Two

4 Replies

What a terrible day! I have hardly slept all night, and when I did wake up I had more rubbish news to deal with. I don’t know about you, but there are certain things that are getting on my wick lately, I wish I could share them in the blog, but I can’t because it is personal and I don’t want it out in the public domain. My depression has also been a pain in the backside. I end up blaming myself for everything, it seems stupid, but I do this all the time, and it will explain why I have to take strong pills for it.

Anyway, on to part two of the York trip. We were on the train heading towards York, I was so glad to be on the train, but then again, I wasn’t looking forward to the numb bum it would give me, after all it was two hours sitting around.

So, after a long train journey, we arrived in York twenty minutes late. As I mentioned previously, I was in York meeting a group of friends that I have known for sometime, and a few of them are really close to me, two of those close friends are Carl and Steve. I have met Carl before, but it was my first time meeting Steve. This may seem weird, but I was so nervous about meeting Steve, I don’t know why this happened, my legs went like jelly!

As we were walking along the platform, I was trying to see where Steve was because he was meeting me at one of the local Starbucks shops. Once I got over the bridge in the station, I looked over to my right and there was Steve, D & Carl (also other friends) sitting around a table at Starbucks, this was a massive delight to me because I was finally around my friends. When I reached the table, I was greeted by big hugs from Steve, D and Carl. I was lost for words, I don’t know why, it was like someone took all my words and hid them under a carpet.
After the initial stunned silence, I started to relax and open up, it seems silly, I talk to Steve everyday over the computer, but for some reason I couldn’t say anything. Anyhow, once we had our drinks, we headed towards our hotel.

Skipping ahead to the evening, sorry for doing this, but my memory is going haywire at the moment, those close friends will know why this is happening, but don’t worry I will talk about other things another time when I feel with it, this will include the visit to the haunted house. The evening was upon us and we all went to a lovely restaurant. I didn’t have anything to eat, but I did have plenty of tea to drink, even though I later regretted doing this. Once everyone was finished, we headed over to a local pub (public house).

When we got to the pub, the drinks started flowing and everyone sat around a table having a fantastic time together. After an hour went by, I started to feel very sick, and for some reason I started to feel faint. When this happened, Carl looked at me and said are you okay? I replied no, I am going to be sick, he noticed I was going pale. After this Steve asked the same thing, and I replied I need to get out of here. So, with that said, me and Steve headed outside. I felt like I could hardly walk, I had a massive shake going on because I was starting to get scared. Thanks to Steve, D and Carl for being there for me, they noticed how sick I was and helped me get back to my hotel room.

I have to cut the story here for now, I am starting to feel my depression kick my backside again, but oh well, I will be back tomorrow with more of the story.

Until tomorrow,

Marc.

York Trip Part One

2 Replies

Monday is here unfortunately, and the weekend trip to York has ended. I had such a fantastic time in York, such a delightful place. I loved how everything looked different, and how life seemed very relaxed. I currently live in a little place in Essex, it is quiet, but it doesn’t have any character, well it does, but those weird characters are the people who live around in the area. I don’t want this to turn into a rant post, but everyone is different, I just prefer places that have more character, e.g. Old buildings or the countryside.

The trip to York started last Friday at 6am, it was very early for me, I had no energy, but this was caused by a cold.
After much messing around with train companies, myself, Laura (sister) and David (Laura’s Partner) hopped on the train and headed towards London Fenchurch Street railway station. I couldn’t believe how many people were on the train, they must have wet the bed or something because the train was packed, this is something I really hate because I hate being closed in.

Once we arrived at Fenchurch Street, we had to go over to the ticket office because the tickets we had were issued wrongly the day before by our local railway station. Anyway, to be brief, after many arguments with the ticket office, we got our tickets changed. The time was now 8am, and I was in need of a well-deserved drink. I hadn’t had one for several hours, so I think I was in need of a top up. There was one problem with this though, there were no Costa Coffee’s close by and I had to settle for second best, which was Starbucks. Anyhow, with my drinks in hand, we went over to a bench and had a rest.

kings_cross_harry_potter_5_april_2013

Kings Cross, Platform Nine and Three-Quarters

So, after I finished my drinks, we headed towards Kings Cross Station. We didn’t need to rush because our journey was messed up by the train network, which meant we had five hours to waste, well I say five hours, well, it was more like three hours after all the arguing, but either way we had to find something to do. When we arrived at Kings Cross Station, Laura wanted to go over to Platform nine and three quarters because it was where one of the Harry Potter movies were filmed. I have never been a Harry Potter fan, maybe it is too complex for me, or maybe it isn’t something that interests me, who knows?

While we were waiting, I felt my stomach twinge, it was having big spasms and it certainly wasn’t shy about showing how bad the spasms were. When the spasms got worse, I had to rush to the toilet. Which wasn’t such a task this time because I didn’t have to pay to use them, normally it is 30p a time, but I was in luck, the change machines had broken which means the toilets have to be open without charge. I was sitting in the toilet for over thirty minutes trying to cure this pain, but it was having none of it.

Talking about these pains, I have to sign off now to take some medication. I will be telling this story in parts, so bare with me because it will get interesting!

Until tomorrow,

Marc.