Tale of Woe #2342315 Part 2

I promised a sequel to this incident and here it is. I followed up about this on the weekend because I hadn't heard anything for a few weeks. Turns out the CSR I spoke with had actually received a response about my enquiry but had failed to advise me of any outcome. Of course this did not please me greatly.

Before I could start my rant to the CSR about the poor service I was offered a compromise in that - without much argument - offered to cover half of the charges I incurred. This blew me away because it is so often corporations like this never give any ground on these matters. Just ask a mate of mine about his episode with a lost cell phone and being charged for calls he did not make.

Needless to say I was pleased with the outcome even though the service had been poor. Vodafone have since credited my account and I consider the matter closed even though something should be done about my phone or the Aussie networks. Easier to throw my phone out.

Foreign Correspondent returns

After an absence of several weeks our foreign correspondent emails the latest .....

Just a quick note to let you know the haps over here of late.

Been a bit of excitment in the last week or so. Sarah managed to write the Corsa off last Wednesday night. Some Chav from the council estate up from where she works lost it going round a corner in the rain and plunged into her head on. Sarah is alright but was a little shaken from it all. Chasis on the car was bent and written off by the assessor pretty quickly. Now we have a free VW Polo for a couple of weeks.

I reckon that we need to buy an Alfa but Sarah seems to want another Corsa. Oh lucky me I get all the good cars to drive!

To celebrate Sarah writing her car off I spent the weekend in Amsterdam and ensured that at various points I too was a write off. I went over with the Sister and Ben. My cousin was meant to come over as well but he had to pass on it after popping his shoulder playing rugby and then getting concussed later on that night after talking to a couple of bouncers. Still got the headaches from it all I understand and probably has learned a valuable lesson.

Amsterdam is a great little city. Heineken Museum I believe is better than the Guiness one, but then its a matter of choice and I am a closet Heineken fan afterall. All the other museums there are pretty good, though on this occassion I did not make it to the Torture and S@x museum. Maybe next time. The canals are wicked and although frowned upon by the locals the canal cruise is a good way to get an idea of how the city is laid out.

True to form I stayed in the cheapest possible accomodation. 17 quid a night buys you a bed of sorts in the dodgiest hostel in the dodgiest part of the red light district. It does come with its own drug addicts for free though! Next time I will not stay in the red light district. Obviously I did not partake in the delights of the working women nor the various live shows. What I can't understand though is the people that say that the working women are attractive.
Would not pay for what I saw that's for real.

The coffeeshops are something else. Once you get out of the town centre they go from being dodgy dives into some of the trendiest cafes I have ever seen. One named Kadinsky in particular is very good. Lovely place light, airy and great hospitality! Of course I tried to get to as many as possible in the short time that I was there. My mission in finding the best ones was made easy by someone I know putting all the good ones down on a map.

The Van Gogh museum is all good as is the R museum. There is a great photography gallery called Foam which rates. Anne Franks house is decent as well. Buy the tickets to that in advance so that you can jump the queue.

Best way to see the city is to rent a bike. It costs next to nothing and stops you from getting blood blisters on the soles of your feet like I did from walking too much.

Well I wrote all that early last week. I did not get a chance to send it as it is so frantic in the office at the moment. Lots of long days and not much sleep due to the stress of it all. Amsterdam is now but a distant memory. At least it is off to Ireland for a weekend in about 3 weeks so that is something to look forward to.

Last weekend I met up with Tim, Andy, Mel and about 20 other kiwis and went to an air show just out of London. A great way to spend a day after watching the All Blacks win the Tri Nations.

Wanted to watch all the All Blacks games over here this year but tickets are too much. All up it is going to cost over 600 quid in tickets alone to see the games. With transport accom and beer money on top it will exceed 2 grand so I may only go to England and Wales games.

It's a bit of saving at the moment as we have just bought our flights home for January. Looks like I will be back for about 3 weeks better be some decent weather. I have already been on the Regional Wines website looking at the price of wine as I intend on getting a bit while back. It's great Church Road equates to about 6 quid a bottle. I spend that on a glass when I go out. I fly in the day before the sister's wedding meaning that I can miss all that boring pre wedding stuff and the arguments. I just hope that I do not snore too loudly in the church as it may echo.

The ashes start today so I will track it on cricinfo through the day. Go England they need to win something as the soccer team lost to Northern Ireland last night. From what I understand it would be like the All Blacks losing to Fiji. The nation is almost in mourning.

Oh well better go and do some work. For all those on Virtual NPC. Watch out I have now started looking at it a bit closer so hopefully I will salvage soem respect by the end of the season.

Catch yas, dont do anything I wouldn't.

Well done England

Well done to the English cricket team for achieving a significant and thorough defeat of the Aussies. After the schellacking in the first test they were clearly the better team for the rest of the series even though the Aussies put up a good fight. They beat the Aussies at their own game and for that they deserve a lot of credit.

What a terrific series we witnessed. From the first ball through to the last there was drama aplenty. I just hope test cricket remains to be so absorbing.

As an aside, I am happy that the series is over. The time difference has meant I have had little sleep over the last few weeks; doing my best to watch as many overs as possible and willing my compatriots on. There is so much sport on and much of it is coming to an end for another year. It's the best of times, it's the worst of times.

Even though they were beaten by the better team I am pleased the Aussies kept at it. Also well done to Shane Warne who single-handedly kept the Aussies in the series. Whatever his flaws are as a person he is a brilliant cricketer - one of the very best of our times.

Banana Cake

Banana Cake

All measures given are metric - a cup = 250ml.
Cake
150g butter¾ cup sugar2 eggs3 very ripe bananas mashed together with 1 tsp of vanilla essence1 ½ cup self raising flour sifted with ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda2 tbsp milk

1. Beat butter and sugar together.


2. Add eggs gradually, then bananas.


3. Fold in sifted ingredients and milk.


4. Place in greased tin and bake in a moderate oven for about 35 minutes.


5. Wait 10 minutes before turning out of tin.


6. When cool, ice with cream cheese icing.

Cream cheese icing
Mix together:
60g butter
60g cream cheese
½ tsp vanilla essence
120g icing sugar

A bleak year

It's been a fairly bleak year for the Australian sporting teams I support. I can only look forward to next year.

Wallabies: Last in 3 nations
Collingwood: 2nd last
Bulldogs: 12th
Australian XI: ???

Wallabies

I want to say well done to the Wallabies for last night's performance [Sat 3rd Sept]. Even though they lost they showed that fighting Australian spirit. Well done also to George Gregan for showing what he is made of. Long may he add to his test record.

I don't subscribe to all the palava that has been circulating in the media. Sure the Wallabies have had an ordinary year in terms of win/loss ratio but their biggest loss has been by 17 points. Their average loss has been by approx. 9 points - could be less but I haven't done any calculations. In today's era their is not much separating the top teams. The ABs for all the hullabaloo and talking up by the media are not as flash as people think. If they were they would've, should've put the Aussies away. Weren't the Wallabies a third grade team?

I hope the Wallabies don't self-implode between now and their European tour. What the last few weeks has shown me is a good depth in the backline that will form the crux of the World Cup tilt in 2007. I don't think they are as badly placed as the doomsayers preach. Sure they need to work on their front row and scrum but they looked better this time around.

Some silly errors cost them the opportunity to really give it to the ABs and the perpetually myopic NZ sporting public.

The international season is done and dusted. It is time to divert the attention to the other Aussie demise, the Ashes. I expect the Aussies to come out firing and put England back in their box. If they don't, come this time next week, things might be a bit glum to say the least.

At least the AFL and NRL finals series is on too.

Nerd, geek or dork?

Joe Normal 47 % Nerd, 21% Geek, 34% Dork

For The Record: A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia. A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one. A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions. You scored less than half in all three, earning you the title of: Joe Normal. This is not to say that you don't have some Nerd, Geek or Dork inside of you--we all do, and you can see the percentages you have right above. This is just to say that none of those qualities stand out so much as to define you. Sure, you enjoy an episode of Star Trek now and again, and yeah, you kinda enjoyed a few classes back in the day. And, once in a while, you stumble while walking down the street even though there was nothing there to cause you to trip. But, for the most part, you look and act fairly typically, and aren't much of an outcast. Take the test