Giving humanity the bad eyes since 1970

As much as I like Facebook, I have to admit to becoming annoyed at the ads on their interface these days. Not that ads are a bad thing, I use Google Adsense myself, and after the initial teething problems of inappropriate advertising until site content is properly established, I find them quite effective. The ones that specifically bother me are those that promise you can make $5000 a month by using Google ads.

These ads are in high supply on Facebook lately, and they look too good to be true; pretty much because they are. While most of us, in our right minds, would dismiss them for what they are, they do seem to prey upon the vulnerable, and in tough economic times, I can see these might be appealing to some people.

I thought I’d investigate one of these links, and it leads to a site that asks for a $1 sign up fee, and promises the key to instant monetary success. There is a swanky sign up box with a countdown, suggesting if you don’t sign up within ten minutes that you’ll be missing out on a golden opportunity.

I decided to look into it a bit further, and googled (of course) the company in question, and suprise of all surprises, it’s just a scam. Unfortunate victims are parting with their one dollar, and then various other mysterious charges are appearing on their credit cards. It isn’t even a secure transaction. Plus there’s the small print stating there will be a charge of $39.95 a month thereafter if you don’t cancel within x amount of time.

I suspect that this is some form of pyramid scheme (which would be illegal in the UK), with any money making occurring through referrals, and getting other poor daft sods to sign up.

So you and I wouldn’t sign up; but there will be some desperate and scared people out there who just want to keep their heads above water after losing their jobs. So please, pass this on, and maybe if we all complain about these ads to Facebook, they might just get rid of them.

This article about the lack of cleanliness in UK budget hotel chains sadly rings very true with me. I’ve stayed in the chains mentioned more times than I can count, and while the majority are ok, and you get what you pay for (ie, a basic but clean room), some of them are really just beyond belief, and I have demanded my money back on more than one occasion.

The Etap Hotel in Birmingham was the one that won the prize for filthiest hell hole. The place was like a young offenders institution, noisy, graffitti on the walls in the room, and with an overflowing toilet. I may have only been paying £59 for the night, but hey, it was my £59. *shudder.*

This is just one of the reasons I like staying in serviced apartments if possible while I’m out and about. The rates tend to be lower than hotel charges, plus there’s the added bonus of a kitchen and being able to make toast whenever I like. It’s the small things. There’s also added attractions, such as no mobile drug units outside the window, not having to pay for lukewarm water from a machine to make coffee, or being in a room so small it induces a panic attack. RAR for claustrophobia.

Well, today I travelled for a total of 8 hours, and arrived at my destination to find there was no confirmed hotel booking for me. Wonderful. Luckily there were rooms available and I was booked in after giving the name and phone number of the person who booked my hotel.

Next time this particular person sends me a snotty email about not having received my invoice (usually because I’m waiting for them to confirm info and the info never arrives) I will be reminding him that I could have been stranded with nowhere to stay and no way of getting home until tomorrow.

I’m not happy.

It’s quite sad to see the demise of Woolworths. It’s often referred to as a great British institution, even though it has its roots in the US and was a five-and-dime store when the company first set up.

I remember it when I was a child, when it was still called FW Woolworth, and it was a place where you could just buy anything. During the eighties, it was the place to go and buy those coveted 12″ singles. Sadly, its demise is down to a number of factors; I’m no business analyst, but the rapid acquisition and diversification of the business led to the stores becoming run down, with nothing to entice the buyer in. The download media market was never embraced…even Tesco have done this…and Woollies just stayed stuck in the 90s.

It’s a pity. But maybe it’s just time to say goodbye.

I am either exuding a Zen-like calm, or I am far too laid back for my own good. Either way, I appear to have accomplished an enormous amount with very little effort.

I’m really not a morning person, and when I work from home, recognising that does me the world of good. I don’t have to feel guilty about not being constantly on the go, I know what my rhythms are throughout the day, and the best time to start working. So from about 3pm I’ve got through everything on my to do list.

I can now go and eat mini shredded wheat with a clear conscience.

that now means Carphone Warehouse ads now appear in the adsense links…

A call from this number earlier:

Her: Can I speak to Mr Jones please?
Me: Sorry, he’s not here, can I take a message?
Her: Can you tell me when would be a good time to call?
Me: Not this week, he’s away. Who’s calling please?
Her: My name is (I forget), will he be around next week?
Me: No, can I pass a message on to him?
Her: No, I’ll try again
Me: Well, that would be a bit pointless as he won’t be here. Who is this please?
Her: It’s a private matter for Mr Jones
Me: Well, if you tell me who’s calling, maybe I can get him to call you.
Her: I’m sorry, I can only give you my own name, not the name of the company
Me: Why, is it a state secret?
Her For reasons of security.
Me: Well, in that case, your chances of contacting him are slim to none. BYE.

I called 1471. This company that has to keep their details so secret? The Carphone Warehouse. With whom he’s had no dealings whatsoever (although I have)…I mean, come ON!!!

Our number is ex-directory, we’re on the TP list, and yet this still happens all the time. Grrrr.

so it’s about time I posted.

I’ve been doing the insular thing of having to stay focused in order to get the next stage of the business up and running (interrupted by training trips to Coventry which I enjoyed immensely). I have to say, I don’t remember when I last felt as positive about my little business, and even in these tough times I think it will work out just fine. I’ve had to take a week off training to be able to step back from everything else, and not do any classroom delivery because I need this time to plan.

Stuart’s death has hit hubby very hard, and so this means we’re also carpe diem(ing) like mad. I guess we’re both affected by it in different ways, him more so than me, Stuart was TJ’s friend, but it has impacted on both our iives. So when opportunities are coming along, we have to grab them with both hands. As they say, regret the things you don’t do rather than the things we do. Talking of which, I’m starting to get used to my tattoo now.

*Sigh* what a disappointing gig.

Duffy herself was great, and it was the first night of her first solo tour. However, she was really let down badly by the sound engineer and the band. If you have her album, you’ll know that the instruments are mostly strings along with fairly sparse guitar. On the night of the gig, she was completely overpowered by the guitarists, who had their amps turned up to 11, and as much overdrive as the sound system could cope with. The engineer had her vocals mixed too far back, and the only times they were really audible were on the intro to “Warwick Avenue” and “Mercy.” I’ve never been bored at a gig before…

Although, a fight broke out in the stalls which was vaguely entertaining…

Copied directly from an adsense advert right here…

“Ensure You Communicate Effecively with Customers and Colleagues”

Pitman Training, you should be ashamed.