Monday 8 April 2013

Z hasn't quite got over an annoying morning

I should be working, but I had a very frustrating time looking for my wallet, the one that holds membership cards and so on.  Eventually found it where it had fallen behind the bureau.  So now I've finally changed my blood donor appointment, which clashed with something else, though I'd had a free day when I made it back in January.

Don't you find that's the way with appointments though, of whatever sort?  You can have a free week except for one vital thing, and that's bound to be the day that someone invites you to a non-alterable party.  I booked a range of concerts for the Aldeburgh Festival and it's the day I have two, one in the afternoon and one in the evening, that Wink asked me to go to a literary lunch in London that I'd really have liked to attend.  Similarly, all work piles up at the same time, even if you think you've planned things quite nicely.  Only too often, it's the social side of life that has to be jettisoned, though I'm trying hard not to let that happen too much any more.

Deciding not to grow vegetables will save me a couple of hours a day all summer, I realise.  But since that's often the time I enjoy most, the realisation doesn't give me any satisfaction.  Although it's not as simple as that really - I love growing things, but the weeding gives me the pip.  And for years, the weeding, watering, picking, then having to prepare the vegetables, then cook the damn meal was rather more than good nature could necessarily stand, every day for months on end.

I'm quite annoyed to have received a cheque in the post relating to the Nadfas meeting the week before last, from someone who hadn't got around for paying for lunch in advance as I'd reminded her several times to do (this is the only real negative feeling I have about this job: the necessity to nag, which is so tedious from my point of view and the recipients').  So the last time I wrote, I asked her to send it to the Treasurer instead of me as I'd hand all cheques to him at the meeting.  So I'll have to pay to send it on and bad cess to her, really.  I can see if the bank will pay it into the account, but I very much doubt it, a third party cheque into a different bank's account.  

 



8 comments:

Liz said...

I sympathise with that last frustration. The inability of certain people to follow simple instructions is a source of mystery and annoyance to me too.

I hope the rest of your day was an improvement on the morning.

Blue Witch said...

You are far too nice.

If someone did that thing with a cheque to me I'd simply send them an email or leave them a phone message very sweetly pointing out that she'd sent it to the wrong person and either she can send me an sae for it to be returned to her, or trust me to destroy the cheque so that she could send a new one to the person to whom it should have gone. Why should you be 50p (minimum 2nd class) plus envelope plus time out of pocket?

I am convinced that people only behave like that because no-one ever calls their bluff and people have mopped up behind them for years and years. I know several Nice Ladies like that.

Actually, I'd probably have refused to let her have lunch on the day had she failed to order/pay when she should (and, in a lot of venues these days, catering is done to exact numbers, so she wouldn't have been able to assume she'd have some).

But, I'm nowhere near as nice as you :)

But, you should be able to pay a cheque into another bank account, if you have the details of that account. The bank for either the cheque or the receiver must be the bank you pay in at, or you'll be charged. Them's the rules these days... although perhaps not in Norfolk...

Z said...

Unfortunately, it's the CAF bank (for charities) in both instances, so I'd be charged, if they'd do it at all. I work by being friendly and co-operative - look, if a stranger was short of change in a car park, I'd give them a quid to help, I'm not going to fuss about the price of a stamp.

It was a sandwich lunch, there was plenty and the numbers had already been given in - she'd booked by email so had been included in the numbers.

The afternoon has been quite okay, too much time spent chopping at brambles to be able to feel really cheerful!

Anonymous said...

You are too kind, but that is the Z way. I would have sent it back with a note reminding the lady that the check goes to a different address. That is the only way some people learn.
Chopping brambles or pruning are great ways to get out one's fustrations.

janerowena said...

Do you have anything much near the brambles? Could you set a bonfire around and under where they are growing? Then, when new shoots emerge, cover them in salt, or use a strong glysophate solution, whichever is your preferred method. Do you need a little break? Just a bit of time away somewhere quiet to sort out your thoughts.

Z said...

We're all volunteers, the cheque came from the treasurer and I daresay the chairman will be fed up when she realises. Sending it back will cost me as much as sending it on - grumbling about it got it out of my system and I can be good-humoured again!

A wood store, Jane! - but they've been chopped down and, as you suggest, some serious weedkiller will be used when they start to sprout again. And thank you very much for your thoughtful suggestion. I've got a standing invitation to visit my sister, but there's too much on here at the moment - however, plenty of relaxation planned for later in the year.

nick said...

The whole self-sufficiency grow-your- own fruit and veg thing is very attractive until you realise how much work is involved in doing the growing! I content myself with buying as much home-grown produce as I can from our local greengrocer, rather than the shipped-across-the-world stuff from the supermarkets.

Z said...

Hello, Nick - yes, my son used to be the local greengrocer and I was one of his chief growers...which was the reason I needed three huge greenhouses and a lot of veg garden. We ate the misshapen stuff.