Thursday 14 August 2008

Z works for her living and Ro is helpful

No news, darlings, nothing to report from Weeza.

We've spent the whole day working on the catalogue for the next sale. It's a rather good one, with some rare shapes and inscribed pieces - the whole collection of someone who has died is being sold and the family has decided to have a special sale with a fully illustrated catalogue. The Sage, helped by a couple of friends who know even more than he does, has been researching it all, finding out the provenance of as much of the china as possible. Several pieces were bought in our saleroom over the years. Weeza is putting the catalogue together and I sent her all the descriptions this afternoon, and I've taken all the photographs and will go through them, cropping and labelling them tomorrow morning, ready for her to finish it off. It will go to the printers on Monday. We won't have finished; I still have the few other pieces to photograph that aren't illustrated (some of the entries from other vendors), the description of some books and other publications to write and every piece has to be examined carefully for a condition report. Ro will update the website, then we'll have to post all the catalogues. This will be done by early September.

So that's all I've done today from the list and I'll have to buck my ideas up on Friday afternoon to get everything else done.

Oh, one useful thing happened the other day. The phone we use with our BT internet connection stopped working and Ro spent a long time (on a freephone number) trying to get help with it. Everyone he was passed on to was very helpful, but working from the same checklist and they made him go through all the checks time after time. He was inordinately patient and polite. Finally, he got on to someone who wasn't on a helpline in India, who agreed that the Home Hub was at fault. But it had had a 12 month guarantee and the deal we got it free with had an 18 month contract which didn't end until the start of December. A new one would be £70. You can quite imagine my reaction to this news. Ro, still patient, agreed to be rung back (this was, by now, the third day of effort). The next night, he got a salesman who was able to negotiate. We now have a new 12 month contract, starting now, at £2 less per month than we had been paying and a new free home hub which arrived today. I'll be quite sorry when the lad leaves home. He is useful to have around.

He's useful to his brother too. Al and Dilly were going out to a concert at Snape and I was out for dinner and the Sage for his wood club. This is not a club made of wood, it is a society of people who make things from it. So Ro was the only person left to babysit.

Do you know, I feel quite inclined to have an early night. I'm quite tired. I wonder if I will or if, when I start reading, a couple of hours will go by without being noticed.

14 comments:

Dave said...

I'm switching to BT when I move in, as my son's with them and recommended them for the freebies etc.

I don't think I have anything else to say.

Z said...

Good morning, Dave. I hope the decorating goes well.

Anonymous said...

The only good thing to say about BT is that they use freephone numbers, and their automated system offers to ring you back if there is more than a couple of minute's wait.

The price of their phone calls now shocks me though - it's now 7p just to get connected, and they've downgraded what you get for free in the packages they insist you must have with standard line rental. Hurrah for over-ride numbers.

Z said...

I don't make many phone calls, it's the internet service I mind, and that's been trouble-free.

Dandelion said...

How about now? Any news now?

The Boy said...

I've tried a couple of broadband providers, and I have to say BT is the only one that's been trouble free. Glad they cut a deal.

So, any news yet?

Z said...

I take the view that if I want them to make a profit and give a good service, then I am prepared to pay enough to make them do so. The over-ride numbers are all well and good, but they don't give the services that BT does. Fair's fair.

You two are teasing me. No, no news. Today, she's working anyway. It will be more convenient for her parents if she has the baby after she's finished our catalogue.

Dave said...

Good afternoon. Just back from LS. I've decorated the two alrgest rooms (by bedroom and the living room) and my son's nearly finished the other two bedrooms. It's starting to look a bit nice.

Z said...

Excellent, well done.

*ponders on a tactful way to angle for an invitation without being too pushy*

Going to invite me to your housewarming, Dave? I've got my diary all ready.

Anonymous said...

"The over-ride numbers are all well and good, but they don't give the services that BT does. Fair's fair."

ROFL!

One gets truly *excellent* service from over-ride numbers. It's impossible to get anything else as BT still provides the line.

I reckon they save me several hundred pounds a year. Why should I contribute even more than I already do by having to have BT landline (there is no cable here and BT is cheapest for just line rental) to BT's shareholders' profits when there are services that give me as long as like to a landline number for 5p? (that could be all day!) and 6p per minute to mobiles in the day and 3p evenings and weekends? Plus heaper rate non-geographic calls.

I'll finish the post on this subject that I have in drafts next week, then everyone will see just how BT rips us all off. If we let them.

Dandelion said...

I'm out of my depth here, but I shall certainly look forward to your post, BW. I'm counting on you to shed some light on things.

Z said...

I feel a bit like I do when I have a mobile phone salesperson on the line asking how much I spend on my phone and when I say £25 per year they don't get it, think I mean per month and try to sell me a deal on cheap calls I don't want to make.

I can't save hundreds of pounds a year on calls, because I don't spend that much. I don't make many phone calls. I am not fond of the phone and I don't have time to talk for ages (I'll have a chat sometimes in the evening but that is included in the package and doesn't cost anything extra). If the phone were entirely free, I still wouldn't use it much.

Dave said...

Housewarming?

Z said...

Ooh, yes please, Dave. What a good idea!