Why can't holiday makers park?

So I haven't ranted for ages.  And believe me I've had loads of things to RANT about but I haven't.  I've tried to be restrained?!!




One week into the school holidays and my ressie car park is being over run with holiday maker cars................  I'm sorry but I have to rant.




What is it about holiday makers that means they can't park their cars properly?  All the holiday let agencies in this town give the holiday makers the dimensions of their car parking spaces so that they know whether their car will fit. It's not my fault if the visitors don't know what size their car is???



This is a small fishing town.  It was built hundreds of years ago when cars hadn't even been invented.  Most properties in this town don't even have a parking space so those of us who do are extremely lucky.




And yet still people come on holiday in their huge 4 x 4's expecting to be able to fit them into a space that only a smart car will fit into.  So today, in my car park there are 3 huge cars that are way to big for the spaces (& we have big spaces compared to the rest of the town?).


Should I photograph these cars and 'name & shame' the holiday makers who think it's acceptable to leave their cars in the middle of a communal car park.  This is sooooo, soooo disruptive to the rest of us?  If we want to go out or come in, we have to go knocking on doors to ask the holiday makers to move their cars so that we can actually drive into our own spaces that we occupy 52 weeks of the year.


Why on earth do people book a holiday, get told the dimensions of their parking space, and then just think they can park wherever they want, even if that means blocking other people in?


.............And don't even think that you can speak to these holiday makers in a civilised fashion.


If you so much as say to them, that the holiday let they are saying in, has confirmed the parking space dimensions, they just give you a mouthful of abuse and say they haven't measured their car.


Why not???


Every single person who comes on holiday and stays in a holiday let property in this town has to sign a form to say they've read the terms & conditions of the booking. 


They sign it, agree to everything and then just do their own thing when they arrive.  And there's nothing us ressies can do.


Makes me mad!  Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.......................

Where are we staying?

Living in the Southwest and working in the tourism industry; I really don't feel that I can divulge exactly where I live.  I really wish I could because........... honestly, I'd really like to 'name & shame' some of the very stupid requests from holidaymakers that I have to deal with at work on a daily basis.


Holiday makers drive us all mad??!!


Take today for example;


Man phones and says, 'I'm coming on holiday I'm omitting the name of the town here to the SW next week and I need a high chair.'


And this is the conversation that followed:


ME - 'Yes, we can do that for you.  Where are you staying?'


MAN - He names the town.


ME - 'OK, Can you give me the name & address of the property?'


MAN - 'No'.


ME - 'Have you booked it through an agency or is it a private let?'


MAN - 'I don't know. My wife booked it'.


ME - 'Can I speak to your wife?'


MAN - 'No - she's at work but she told me I had to book a high chair.'


ME - 'I'll provisionally book a high chair for you. What dates are you coming on holiday?  And can I please have your name & a contact number.  And when you've spoken to your wife can you please call back to confirm exactly what you want?'


MAN - 'It's in (he names the town) but I'm not sure of the dates, my wife booked it. And I don't know what my phone number is.'


At this point I really feel like slapping him.  But obviously I can't because he's just some incompetent person on the phone who hasn't actually got a clue where he's going on holiday, when he's going on holiday and I doubt if he even knows who exactly he's going on holiday with??? And also he wants to book a high chair so he's a client and I have to be nice to him.


ME -  (trying to be really friendly & super efficient here)- 'OK, if you give me your name & number, I'll give you a call back in the morning, once you've spoken to your wife.  Then we can get the 'high chair' booked in for you and we'll be able to deliver it to your holiday property free of charge'.


MAN - 'I don't know what my number is.'


ME - I'm losing patience here?!!  Obviously I did not say that!!!!


ME - OK. Not a problem.  I'll be in the office 9-5pm tomorrow, so just give me a call.


Idiots???????????????????????????????????


Obviously 'Mr I don't know where I'm staying, I don't know what dates I'm staying, I haven't got a clue who I'm going on holiday with???'..................................


...............................Is  probably not going to get his high chair???  LOL!!!!!


What amazes me though...............................


............................Is why don't they just leave all the organising to their wives????


And then everything would be sorted????? LOL!!!!!!

Instruction Manuals

Today I am going to RANT about 'instruction manuals.'


I am seriously not happy.


I have bought a 'fitbit' pedometer.  I want to measure the distance I walk every day. I want to be 'dead techie' and plot all my walking on my computer or on my  iphone.


Unfortunately I am NOT 'dead techie'??  I naively thought that my 'fitbit' would come with instructions.  My fitbit does not come with instructions.  It comes with a bit of paper that says (in 6 different languages), 'to set up, go to: www.fitbit.com/setup'


OK, so I've tried that.  I got so far and then it asked me to sign in with a Facebook account or a Google account?? Tried signing in with a google account and it kept telling me that my 'user name' or password was incorrect.  Which it's not.  Grrrrrrrrrrrrr....................


I don't really want to try signing in with my Facebook account because I have a fear of it infiltrating all my friends and doing stuff I don't want it to do.


Why on earth can products not just include a step by step 'paper' manual of what to do???


Why is life so complicated????


And at one point in the 'online set up procedure' it said, 'make sure the tracker is next to the computer'.  What on earth is the 'tracker'??????


These companies that sell 'techie devices' (that a lot of old people use) need to realise that us oldies OK middle aged trendy people haven't a clue about 'modern jargon'.  How on earth can I make sure the 'tracker' is next to the computer if I don't even know what a 'tracker is???  I just shoved everything that had come in the box next to the computer and it still didn't work.


And that brings me to the next RANT......................  The pedometer & all it's bits were in a box about 2inches square.  The packaging was about 10ins x 5ins.  Just how un environmentally friendly was that???


This whole thing is just doing my head in!!!


So I've done what any old middle aged trendy  person would do and have invited a couple of youngsters over tomorrow night to sort it out for me.  Yay!!!

Needy friends

OK I've called this post 'Needy Friends'.


'Needy Friends' are friends that actually think they're you're friends but actually; you're only a 'friend' to 'off load' on.  OK I've just read through this RANT - I love my 'needy friends'.


I've just spent 40 mins on the phone to a 'needy friend'.


'Needy friend' phoned and before I knew it, I'm hearing all about the latest trauma in her life.  Admittedly when I answered the phone she said, 'How are you, what have you been up to?'  I tried to tell her what I'd been up to.........................


..........................Obviously she wasn't interested because 'needy friend' is going through a trauma.  'Needy friend' is always going through a trauma??!!  I've known 'needy friend' for more than 35 years and 'needy friend' has spent her whole life going through trauma's.


At our age middle aged we've all gone through a load of traumas in our life. But for most of us, we just 'dust ourselves down and get on with it.'  Not so my 'needy friend'.  For the last 35+ years my 'needy friend' has been phoning me on a regular basis to discuss the latest trauma in her life.  And believe me - there's always a trauma in her life.


Sometimes I feel a bit guilty that I just sit on the phone agree-ing/disagree-ing/commenting on what she's telling me.  At other times I just think that she's had copious quantities of wine or whisky and won't even remember the conversation in the morning??


BUT.....................  At the end of the day, she's been my friend for more than 35 years.


Yes, she's ALWAYS got problems.  She always will have.  BUT, she's my friend & I love her.


.................And after more than 35 years I'm pretty sure that we'll always be mates!!!!!!

Bin Bags

OK, so you may not feel that 'bin bags' are worthy of a 'RANT'???


They most certainly are.


A few weeks ago I bought some 'extra strong' bin bags from a well known supermarket.  'Extra strong'?? - 10 for £1.  That's 10p per bin bag.  My bin bags are anything but 'extra strong'.  In fact if the truth be told......................  My 'extra strong' bin bags are actually 'extra weak'.


To say I am furious about this mis-representation of my bin bags is an understatement.


So far I have used four of these so called extra strong bin bags.  And so far every time I have taken the bin bag out of the bin it has split.  That means, I then have to put the 'extra strong bin bag' into another 'extra strong bin bag'.  That means that every time I use a bin bag I actually have to use 2 bin bags.  So now my bin bags are costing me 20p per bin bag.


Unfortunately, I can't remember which supermarket I bought these 'extra strong bin bags' from???


It is so, so annoying though.  I think I might do a bit of 'googling' to see what criteria is used for describing a bin bag as 'extra strong'??


I can't believe that I am 'ranting' about bin bags??  Bin bags are just bin bags - black sacks that one fills up with rubbish.  ................BUT if you fill up your 'extra strong' black bin bag with rubbish and then it splits and all the rubbish falls out, the minute you try to move it...................  Then in my opinion................  that is NOT an 'extra strong bag'???


Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.......................

Good schools

OK so tonight I am sitting here watching 'How to get into a good school'.


I haven't got kids so I've never been through the 'which school should I send my kid to' scenario.  I have however, been a teacher and I have taught in some so called very bad areas.  In my day of teaching, 'Ofsed' was only just beginning and 'league tables' hadn't been invented.  If league tables had been around I can guarantee that one of the schools that I taught in for more than 10 years, would probably have been at the bottom of the league??  I can also guarantee that, that particular school had the most dedicated, conscientious, hardworking bunch of teachers that I have ever encountered.


Ofsed & league tables are all very well and good.  But what the majority of the great British public don't seem to understand is...................  There's more to life than 'academic achievements'???


OK, so I accept that as an 'educated person' (who has worked in a lot of so called 'menial' jobs); I have a choice because I have qualifications.  At the moment I clean holiday let properties one day a week because living in the SW, cleaning pays a lot more than my 'proper job' which is running the office of a very successful company.


BUT what annoys me and turns me into a 'middle aged ranting spinster' is........................  All this 'Ofsed & league tables' stuff never seems to take into account what the teachers are actually starting with in the first place.


For most of my teaching career I taught infants. (Though I have taught all other ages as well.)  And what really annoys me about all these boxes that seem to have to be ticked these days..................  Where is the room for empathy, caring, compassion?????


The kids that I taught in the 1980's were the sons/daughters of drug dealers/alcoholics/etc etc etc.  OK 'Jeremy Kyle' hadn't even been heard of then, but if he had - the show could have been broadcast from the school that I taught in.


I remember one mother coming to pick her son up (an hour late - in those days the teacher just stayed until all kids had been collected), she'd collected her benefits that day and gone out drinking.  Walked into the school, pulled down her pants and wee-ed in the mop bucket that a cleaner had left by the entrance.  


Obviously parents want to send their kids to the 'best' school.


My gripe is - What qualifies as a 'best school'?  And it seems that 'Ofsed' & most parents only recognise academic qualifications???


OK, so most people seem to think that 'academic qualifications' are the only thing that is important.  And if that's what you're looking for in a school then that's fine.


However.........................  I would just like to say........................  that a child who loves to come to school, likes school more than home, interacts more with his/her teacher than his own parents & feels that school is a safe environment................................. Then who cares about league tables????


..........................Some parents just seem to be constantly pushing their kids to achieve the 'materialistic dream' instead of teaching them how to be happy!!!!

Contactable 24hrs?!

OK so I wasn't quite sure what title to give this post so I've given it the title, 'Contactable 24hrs?!'


I've just received (at 8.30pm) a 'forwarded text from my boss' (who is not going to be in work tomorrow) a text that he had received from a client about items that the client wants delivering?!!


My job is; running the office for a very successful business in the SW.  My official title is 'Office Administrator/PA' and yet I am not even paid the 'living wage' of £7.85ph?


So I did what any good 'office administrator/PA' would do - I texted him back immediately and said, it would be sorted in the morning.


And yet....................  This has got me thinking?


1)   Why do people think that businesses operate 24/7


2)   Why does my boss respond via his personal mobile the minute he gets a call/email/text?  This only means that everyone responds to his calls via this number and then he gets angry that they're not phoning the landline???  And then he gets 'angry at me' because I haven't a clue what's going on???


3)   Why can we not have a 'work' mobile that we switch off at 5pm?


4)   How come my boss is texting me at 8.30pm at night? - I'm supposed to be a 'part-time' worker.  Surely if he wasn't coming in tomorrow he could just have emailed stuff through to the work computer ready for me to find at 9am???  I love my job but I hate being contactable 24/7 - I HAVE a life???


5)   ZERO hours contract - This DOES NOT mean that a boss can control your life!!!


I actually don't know the answers to any of the 'above'???


..............DO YOU???