At the Mercy of NPower

I recorded my first audio journal of the year a little earlier. I was prompted to do so by something Richard Vobes spoke about on his Naked Englishman podcast. He remarked at how there is more detail carried in an audio journal than in a written diary or blog. He was referring I think to the tone of the voice and the emphasis given to words and phrases. In a way, I think he is probably right. I should record more audio journals, but I do find it a hell of a lot easier to type and I am constantly frustrated at not having enough quiet time for me to record them. I do find I have to be alone when I record them, but even then I seem to recall only the things that are in the forefront of my mind at the time. There are a great many spaces where I'm literally thinking of things that have happened recently or those things that are causing me stress or anxiety, as is often the case nowadays. I will certainly try to maintain regular recordings though I suspect that I will only be able to commit to them weekly.

I am often compelled to write when I become angered or frustrated by something. Normally it is a company or organisation, and more often than not, they have done me a dis-service or are demanding money. In this case, it is NPower and they have done both. We had an arrangement with them by which we would pay £167 a month for our electricity. We have only electricity here, no gas. Although a little higher than average, we were happily paying this. How shocked was I then to receive a bill from them asking for DOUBLE the £167 we had been paying and rather than asking if this is OK, they proceeded to take said sum of money from our bank account. This in effect emptied it and removed any possibility of me paying back the £255 I owe Lincolnshire NHS in respect of overpaid expenses. It is looking as if this will be the amount they will be asking for monthly, and there is simply no way we are able to afford it.
Rather than calling them today, my wife has taken the wise decision to put it off until tomorrow afternoon. I will be sending a strong letter of complaint and we have decided to cancel the direct debit arrangement we have seeing as they cannot be trusted to take only the agreed amount.
I suspect we are not the only ones struggling to pay their electric or gas bills. The media remind us of how more and more families up and down the country are slipping into 'fuel poverty'. I suspect we can now be counted among them.

As I write this, I see on my Twitter feed that Jessops has become the latest high street name to fall into administration. It is a shame of course but given the effect of digital technology over the last 10-15 years, it is no surprise that much of what they offered has become obsolete. In addition, the huge advances in technology have made photography something that anyone can do with ease. High quality cheap home printing has removed the need for large scale photo developing and forced die hard traditionalists into an expensive minority niche market. I am certainly one that laments the loss of traditional photography but I accept that technology is progressive and digital photography has brought with it huge benefits and advancements. The Internet has developed hand in hand with digital cameras providing a seamless connection between the medium and its audience. Indeed there are digital cameras which are now capable of wireless printing and of posting directly to Twitter and Facebook.
I suppose I am surprised Jessops have lasted this long, but I will always remember them for their friendly and knowledgeable staff, coupled with their ability to provide me with Ilford 400 ASA film, which I used during my brief venture into monochrome photography.

I mentioned previously that I would apply to be a writer for the Mass Observation project. Well this I did a couple of hours ago. I believe one of the topics currently is memories of photography, which is pretty apt given current events.
I did also apply to Silver Training to become a computer skills tutor. They emailed back an hour or two later stating that although I have the skills and knowledge to become a tutor, they do not currently operate in this area. They are keeping my details should this change. Worth a try I suppose.

Still the Rain Falls - Mid-Week Update

It is still raining and there is no sign of it letting-up, except for a brief glimpse of the sun now and then. It is raining as I type this. Everything I can use as a container in the garden is now full of rainwater. My water butt is overflowing and as soon as I empty something to water my plants, it fills straight back up again. I'm by no means moaning, but I do find it slightly ironic given the fact that it wasn't so many days ago that we were beginning to panic and worry about water restrictions and a prolonged drought.

I have spent a worrying amount of time following the Levison Enquiry on TV. They have been questioning James and Rupert Murdoch in light of the phone hacking scandal and press ethics. One advantage of being a 'stay at home' dad is that I get to watch things like this. Though to be honest, if I was at work, I would be stealing myself away to watch TV via the Internet. I do find these things fascinating and I am grateful we live in an open society where these things are public. It wasn't so long ago that inquiries such as this would have been conducted behind closed doors.

I have a little job. My mother-in-law is giving me a laptop to repair. It belongs to one of her work colleagues and it sounds as if the keyboard has become damaged as some of the keys have stopped working. I'm pretty confident I'll be able to fix it. I'll remove the keyboard and remove any liquids and give it a thoroughly good clean. I do enjoy things like that, fixing faults and getting things working again. It was pretty much all I did with my little company a few years ago. The problem was two fold - I didn't charge enough and what I did charge, people didn't want to pay. So in the end, it was costing me money so I had to stop doing it. Shame really as I did enjoy working for myself.

My father had his dressings removed from his face and neck on Monday. He also received the 'all clear' meaning they had removed everything they needed to. He has been told to exercise extreme care from now on and told that on no account should he spend any time in direct sunlight. This is a shock. He loves the sun and always has, perhaps a little too much. He spends all of his spare time in his garden and it shows. Nothing will change this, but he must heed advice and cover up. He's had a scare, we all have, and he must follow the advice he has been given.

My wife is at home today. She woke up feeling poorly and I called her boss to let her know this morning. It's quite unusual for my wife to have any time off work. She's normally very healthy, despite suffering with Asthma. Tiredness is perhaps her main problem, which is no wonder given the hours each week she spends on her feet. She seldom ever gets time for lunch or even a coffee break. It's rather odd to have her at home. I am conscious of her being here and I do feel a little as if I'm under her watchful gaze, eager to know what I get up to when she's not about. The truth is, I actually get up to very little. I try to keep to a routine - breakfast, job hunt, lunch etc. I've pretty much kept to this routine punctuated by frequent checks to see how my wife is feeling and whether I can bring her a cup of tea.

I have given some thought as to whether I can sustain both a written and spoken blog. The truth is that I do find the addition of a daily audio journal very difficult to maintain and wonder whether a weekly version would be more appropriate. The main problem is committing to a regular schedule of recording the journal, particularly when I need to take about 10-15 minutes out of each day alone with my recorder. This is frequently easier said than done. A written journal provides the ability to record my thoughts more easily I feel and without the same level of fuss.

I have a joke. I don't take the credit for it as I stumbled across it on Twitter. It goes like this;
'I bought a dog from an Ironmonger the other day. As soon as I got it home, it made a bolt for the door. '

I'll get my coat...