This Ordinary Life

My job requires me to wear a suit as it seems that for some reason clients don't buy our product when we're in flip flops and Bermuda shorts. It's seems to be a fact of life that people trust a man in a suit and I have no choice but to conform.

Men are quite lucky that our corporate uniform is the suit as it makes getting ready for work a breeze. Sure, there are still plenty of fashion faux paxs to be made (e.g. striped shirt and tie, clashing shirt and tie), but generally we are quite safe.

However, this lulls us into a false sense of security. Why? Well, men's suits are a bit of a scam. The reason is that the trousers always wear out years before the jackets do and, unless you buy your suits from a discounter, you only ever get one pair of trousers. Why can't you just buy a second pair? Well, that's because supposedly unless the trousers come from the same bolt of material (that's tailor speak for piece) it wouldn't match the jacket. Poppycock!

Well, this has left me in a dire state. My first suit wore out in the crotch area (this is the weak point of suit trousers, much like the poor quality resistors built into electronics to make them break a month after the warranty expires), the trousers on the second suit on tore out while bending over, those from my third got caught on something and my fourth and fifth ones look like summo suits as I bought them a while back when I was a Goodyear Blimp.

Now I have to buy at least 2 new suits despite the fact I have at least 3 perfectly good jackets! Being frugal, I first checked to see if I could find a suit on Ebay (I love Ted Baker Endurance suits, but would never pay full price) and the abundance of jackets only substantiated my hypothesis.

So if you are irked by the "trouser wearing out way before the jacket" conspiracy, leave me a comment. Once I have collected enough comments, I'll take them to the Global Tailor's Guild (the "GTG”) and demand they stipulate all suit manufacture (in particular, Ted Baker with a brand that suggests the longevity of their product) produce extra trousers. By the way, I managed to get 2 Ted Baker suits in the House of Frasier sale for £400 all up, so my corporate life is saved!

That suited me, indeed...

Posted by this ordinary life at 11:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

A terrible thing happened to a friend of mine last night. Being burgled is bad enough on its own, but having it occur while you are asleep in another part of the house gives it a new dimension. It's unbelieveable that people have the audacity to risk being caught and confronted for consumer driven loot. Would you put your life on the line for a digital camera?

My friends are obviously quite shaken and now need to go through the painful process of replacing that that was stolen and ensuring that it doesn't happen again. It seems that they came in through the dog flap without waking up the dogs.

I thought it therefore appropriate to share with you some tips of how to minimise the risk of being burgled yourself. I did a quick check of our flat yesterday, so this is fresh in my mind.

Do an audit of your most valuable possessions. For those items that have only a physical value, keep a record of its value together with receipts, if possible. This ensures that if something were stolen, you have everything you need to make a claim.

Improve the security of your home. If there is nothing obvious to steal and it is really difficult to get into your home, a burglar probably won't bother breaking in for the sake of it. An easy thing that you can do is put key locks on all windows. For instance, use a stay lock on casement stays or sash window stops.

Lock all your doors and windows at nights and when away. Even if you are in and in another part of the house, keep unneeded doors and windows locked. Make sure you also keep the keys somewhere handy, but not obvious or easily found by a burglar.

Keep valuable out of sight. Many burglars are opportunists. As with all lazy people, they tend toward the low hanging fruit. Either keeps electronics/purses/etc in a cupboard when not in use or make sure you have curtains/blinds drawn to keep out the unwelcome eye. For those items that have sentimental value, consider keeping them somewhere hidden or off-site (e.g. safe deposit box) when not in use.

Make a scanned copy of credit cards, drivers licenses, passports and other valuable documentation. Storing these securely online (e.g. password encrypted zip file in your Gmail account) will ensure that if they are ever taken by a burglar or pickpocket, you are able to access them quickly to cancel them and to assist you in the interim while you wait for replacements.

Install motion sensitive lighting in dark, secluded areas. Burglars often don't want to draw attention to themselves and can be put off by automatic lights.

If you can't afford a real alarm system, how about some decoys. There are all types of devices available to help deter a criminal. This can be everything from a sticker on the window from an alarm company to faux motion detectors with blinking lights. Some of these even make noise, again making the burglars life much less pleasant. I actually came up with a great idea which are films that you stick on the inside of certain windows and they make it look like there is wire running through the glass.

Being burgled is a terrible experience and one I sincerely hope my friends never have to repeat. Luckily, in this case only physical possessions were taken and no one injured. I hope the above tips will help keep you safe and your stuff out of the hands of those that shouldn't have it.

Posted by this ordinary life at 9:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Who said great art has to be expensive? I am a recent graduate and big advocate of School of Do-it-yourself Art. You too can become a graduate of this school by following my 6-step programme. This programme will not only give you confidence in making your own art, but also allow you to turn a noise up at those that think real art can only be bought at great expense.

.

Step 1 – Creative concept

Find a great photo. I used a close-up photo of grass I took while on a trip to Cornwall, so this is where your creative side can shine through. I think macro (close-up) photos of plants (flowers, branches, grass) work very well, but make sure the image you use was taken at, at least, 5 mega-pixel quality.

Step 2 – Make the concept a reality

Find a service that will print large format images (76cm x 51cm). I used the online service Photobox, who charge £18.95 (you can always find a discount code on the Internet to make this about 10-20% cheaper) and can deliver your print in about 3 days.

Step 3 – Accessorise

Purchase frame and border. This is an important part of the process as it sets the scene for your image. If you are in the UK, Habitat has some excellent frames at very reasonable prices. I chose one of their 70cm x 100cm black birch frames at a cost of £30. For the mount and border, I used A1 heavy board from Paperchase at a cost of £6. Both Habitat and Paperchase have a variety of colours and styles to choose from making the combinations available to you almost endless.

Step 4 – Assemble

You will need to cut the board mount down to size with a very sharp knife or razor so that it just fits into the frame. I found it easiest to use the backing from the frame as a stencil. It took a few adjustments before I had mount down to the right size, but then it fit like a glove. To stick the photo on the board, I would recommend using 3M spraymount and avoid traditional glue (it can soften the photo and cause bubbles). Be careful to centre the photo on the mount and then leave to dry. Finally, place the mounted photo in the frame and presto, a work of art that could rival many.

Step 5 – Displaying your masterpiece

If you successfully followed the above steps, you will have produce a very substantive piece. I don’t only mean striking, but bloody heavy. Make sure that you use heavy gauge anchors and screws if possible to make sure it stays where you put it. It’s also handy to use a water level to make sure its level as once you’ve gone through all the work to hang it, it won’t really be going anywhere.

Step 6 – Step back and enjoy

I think this step is self explanatory. Although, I might suggest you accompany this with a nice glass of Pinotage and a cracker topped with some blue vein cheese.

Congratulations! You're an artist...

So congratulations, you have now graduated from the This Ordinary Life School of Do-it-yourself Art. Please let me know you got on, but I am sure you passed with flying colours.

Posted by this ordinary life at 5:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I don’t know about you, but I have learned to hate calling customer service numbers. The advent of voice recognition has introduced about 5 minutes of computer-voiced menus at the beginning of every call. I even once heard that American Express made their computer controlled menu system so complicated and lengthy to encourage people to use their website.

But really gets me hot under the collar is the fact that they are earning fat profits off these calls. In the old days, you had free 0800 numbers or a real number to call which if you were lucky was local or you paid long-distance rates. Now everyone uses “National Rate” 0870 and similar numbers. Funny, that 0870 numbers are excluded from every calling plan available in the UK, landline, VOIP and mobile meaning you have to pay for every call. Couple this with the amount of wasted time at the beginning navigating menus only to have the “real” person you end up speaking to oblivious to the menu selections you made (e.g. put in account number, interested in why you overcharged me on my overseas transactions, like the colour blue) asking you everything again and the company you called has a real money-maker on their hands.

Well, you can put an end to this in most cases using a nifty website called www.SayNoTo0870.com. They have the real landline number alternatives for 0800, 0808, 0844, 0845, 0870 and 0871 numbers. I have used it a number of times and saved a packet. If you every come across any landline number alternatives, you can even submit it to the site to be added to their database.

To all you companies looking to make a fast buck off 0870 customer services lines, take as long as you want cus’ we ain’t paying for 0870 any mo'.

Posted by this ordinary life at 10:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

If you rent cars, then here is a word of warning. When comparing car rental companies, make sure that you confirm all charges of so called "pre-paid" rentals at the beginning of the rental. As I found out, they often levy additional charges which make what looks like a great deal initially a great rip-off.

I recently travelled to South Africa (this will get its own entry very soon) and had pre-booked a car with Hertz. Their rates were at least 10% cheaper than Avis, Sixt and EuropeCar. I regularly book with Hertz and didn't expect any surprises.

Hertz have a system that appears to be quite honourable. They quote you a
weekly rate and then estimate any additional charges. The total amount including the estimate for additional charges are booked from your card. What you are left with are supposed to be minor adjustments to account for currency fluctuations.

However, when I arrived in Cape Town to pick up my car I was told that I would be incurring an additional 40 pounds, which on top of the 130 that I had already paid was outrageous. However, needing the car at the time and confirming with the local staff that these charges could be discussed upon returning the car, I drove off oblivious to the charges that had already been authorised to my card but would be booked from it until a few days after I arrived home along with an email receipt that justified the overcharging.

I, of course, queried the counter attendant upon returning the car, who confirmed that I was not to be levied any additional charges. Sadly, I didn't take her name and sworn statement at the time, but can you really blame me? I did however call Hertz in the UK upon my return to the UK and they again confirmed that I wouldn't be levied any additional charges. Would you believe that the customer services name and taped statement were again forgotten?

Finally a few days after returning to the UK the additional charges and supporting invoice arrived to my surprise. Having given up verbally chasing up this discrepancy and "mis-selling", I sent an email to Hertz customer service. They were kind enough to look into my complaint and replied "We are right, you are wrong. Tough luck and there is nothing you can do about it!".

Okay, I admit that their response was much more politically correct, but the effect was the same. I am still negotiating with them using the same tactics they used involving breaking things down into simple bt sized chunks. Let's see if they understand.

In the meantime, I am boycotting Hertz and encouraging all of my friend to do so as well. There is a great company called Auto Europe who book cars on your behalf using all the leading car hire companies. They even offer great things like "excess fee waivers", which is something that is quite rare these days. Their rates are very competitive as well. www.auto-europe.co.uk. I might end up with Hertz again, but Auto Europe operate a 100% prepaid system and any other charges are left for them to argue.

Let's see where I end up with Hertz...

Posted by this ordinary life at 11:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

After failing to acquire a used heart rate monitor (HRM) on eBay, a colleague made me aware of a London chain of cycle shops, Cycle Surgery, that will price match even web-shops.

Now the HRM I was bidding on was the Polar S725x and which sold for £166. I thought this was a great deal as they normall retail for £250 until I found one new online for only £176 from Affordable Supplements. As I had a triathlon the that weekend, I decided to take this price to my local Cycle Surgery for a price-match.

Now at first, this was a very smoothe transaction. I walked in and said "Hello, I would like to buy one of your finest heart rate monitors," (well, not exactly in those words, but you get the gist). I told them which model, which they had in stock or at least I thought they did as there were two boxes on display that were branded "Polar S725x".

Things were still going fine when I asked if they priced matched online retailers, "Yes, as a matter of fact we do, sir". I had checked their corporate website ahead of time to confirm this, so it was a loaded question. Actually, everytime I ask a shop to price-match to the web I produce a little pack to ensure they don't have any grounds to wiesel out of honouring their promise. However, Cycle Surgery really did impress me.

Now in the shop they had the S725x priced at £244.95, significantly more than the £176 I had found online. The shop assistant was fine until he noticed this himself at which point he said, "sorry, we can't price match that because it's a different model as the prices are so different".

In true Macguiver style I was ready for this and got out the pack "I had prepared earlier" and countered with "but how can this be, as the one I found online is the S725x and the box here says its a S725x..." This resulted in a "I'll have to call the stckroom and confirm that".

To cut a very long story involving a half hour of my time, a number of calls to the stockroom and a lengthy debate with the shop assistant, the outcome is they didn"t sell me the watch.

According to Cycle Surgy, there had been a grave error by there distributor and altough all the pckaging across the whole chain of shops stated that they contained S725x's they actually only contained S725's, the older model discontinued in November 2005 and now only available as part of an extremely expensive package including a power guage for £379. A likely story...

I got the same story when I phoned their head-office. However, irrespective of why they couldn't sell me the S725x, the reputational damage has been done and I won't be shopping there anytime soon. Actually, shorty after this altercation, I had a puncture and went straight to their fiercest competitor, Evans Cycles, and bought a new innertube from them. Their service was excellent and they even loaned me some tire levers and allowed me to fix my tire right there in their shop.

Moral of the story is, don't offer price-match to online retailer if you can't accept the fact that the savvy shopper may find a great price. Secondly, when confronted with a price to painful to match come up with a better story of why you can't like "My dog ate the original packaging"...

Posted by this ordinary life at 5:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I'll let you in on a little secret, bleach... It's been around for ages and reminds me of old grannies and clean toilets, but now, at least in my world, it has a new lease on life.

The UK weather has a certain reputation, although not wholly true (it rains more in Syndey and San Francisco than in London), but it does mean that the place is more suceptible to mould and mildew than, say, Phenoix or the Gobi Desert.

One of the main results is mouldy bathrooms and shower curtains. Now our shower curtain isn't the Rolls Royce's of shower curtains with mildew resistance, but it does the job and keeps us from flooding the bathroom. Over time it got a bit tired and seemed to be on its last legs. Being a frugle German, I first tried to wash it in the washing machine (worked great for dirty runny shoes...), but this didn't even remotely do the job. Frustrate, but not downtrodden, I got the bright idea of soaking it in a bucket of water with bleach. What else did I have to loose?

Before I go on and you think I am crazy, if you buy a decent shower curtain in this country, it will put you back up to £30 ($50). I don't know about you, but I have better things to spend that kind of money on and am willing to waste £0.30 of bleach and a pretty much ruined shower curtain trying.

Here the science bit, I used 20ml of lemon scented thick bleach per 5 litres of water in a bucket and soaked the shower curtain for 6 hours. All of the, what appeared to be, permenant mildew and lime scale stains were gone and I had a clean as new shower curtain.

I then proceeded to bleach some old towels and this did get them whiter than white, but left them quite hard and scratchy. I think they would need a bit of fabric softner and a dryer (very rare for apartment dwelling Londoners) to get them back to normal. Believe me, scratchy towels may be great for all-over-body exfoliation, but let's leave that to the experts.

The moral of the story is just beacuse it looks dead, doesn't mean it is dead. Try a bit of bleach and see if it comes back to life...

Posted by this ordinary life at 7:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Today I will be sharing with you Transport of London (TfL)'s, the governing body that sits behind the Tube, vision for the future, the OysterCard. This is a must have for anyone that plans on being in London for a week or more.

This is a charge-card based system that is aimed as getting more people through the Tube's barriers at a faster rate and much more conveniently. It can be used on the Tube, public buses, the Tram (limited streetcar system in the south of the city) and some normal overland trains. At the moment it is also a very cheap way to travel with tube ticket prices in Zone 1 (£1.50) half the price or normal single tickets (£3.00). Oyster prices on the bus are also cheaper at £0.80 vs. £1.50 normally.

The way it works is that it allows you to either charge the card with money (this can be done either at tube stations or a number of local shops) which is pay-as-you-go or you can purchase a multi-trip ticket (multi-day, monthly and annually) which activates your card with the details of the ticket you purchased. The smart thing is that even if you pay-as-you-go, you should never pay more than the price of a daily ticket. Just to let you know that they only brought this in after great uproar from the public when they were spending several times the daily ticket rate!

TfL have also looked to next generation internet technology as you can manage your card online. This includes topping up your card and buying multi-trip tickets. This website is also very good for claiming back the money for delayed trips (20 minutes or more) as this is a little known fact to most travellers.

The foundation of this system are sensors at all tube stations that you have to swipe your card over when entering and exiting the public transport system (except for buses where you only swipe when boarding). These sensors are linked to a sophisticated computer system that recognises the type of card you have and registers where you swiped. It then deducts moeny from your card or validates your multi-trip ticket as appropriate. The fact that it registers where you are is a bit Big Brother, but it can be a bit entertaining as you can choose to view the last 5 journeys you made when recharging your card at a ticket machine.

The system actually works quite well, but does still have a few shortcomings...

- When the system doesn't register you, your go through the barriers to quickly and it still is registering the person in front of you or you forget to swipe somewhere where barriers are open. The system then registers an incompleted journey, which you then resolve by paying the difference at the ticket window. However, I am told this also deactivates the daily capping of pay-as-you-go users, even if you resolve the incomplete journey. When this happened to me, I was told "that is what you get for not swiping in and out". A very forgiving system.

- The other problem is that there is not an option to have your card automatically topped up. Therefore, it is up to the user to either go online or wait in line to put money on their card or to validate it with a new ticket. This occassionaly leads to uncomfortable situations where you are turned away from a bus (you can't charge up your card on the bus or in a train) because there isn't enough money on your card and nowhere to top it up. Automatic top-ups are in use for a number of other pay-as-you-go systems such as Toll Passes in the US. So, I hope TfL will hear my cry and introduce this in the near future.

All in all and despite a few minor short comings, an Oystercard is the must have accessory for travellers in London.

Posted by this ordinary life at 7:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Dear reader,

Welcome to my blog. Being new to this avenue of expression, I have decided to take a broad brush approach to what I will be posting. In a nutshell, at the moment this is London-based blog about life, technology, travel, sports, politics, culture and the pursuit of happiness..

Of course, not necessarily in that order...

I hope readers will find this a useful source of information about London, tips and reviews of technology, various rambling about various aspects of life (travel, sports, politics, culture, etc) and also some enjoyable annecdotes about how I see the world.

I don't promise to have all the answers, but I hope you agree that I have a lot of fun trying.

Posted by this ordinary life at 5:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)