Idiot estate agents

We’ve had the house on the market for 4 weeks. We need to move to a bungalow as stairs are getting too hard for me to cope with. Four weeks and NO viewings at all. An “open house” had been arranged for 2 weeks ago, but was cancelled at the very last-minute by the agents (an hour before it was to start). To say I was pissed off would be a colossal understatement. With my health, doing a massive tidy and “staging” of the house for viewers is not a trivial thing.

I have 2 other agencies very keen to work with us (calling regularly to see how things are going), so I rang this lot to find out what the problem was.
“Oh, there’s a lot of interest, so we were going to arrange another open house for next weekend, if that’s ok with you?”
I asked why we weren’t getting people booked in to view if there was so much interest.
“We put people off having a viewing until we have an open house, then we can show them all through at once!”
WTeverlovingF?
No, dear agent, as soon as someone expresses interest, you ask if they would like to view. Then you call me with the day/time that suits them and as long as it is at least the next day or later, and I will be home, I will say “Yes!” – and I will accept “unaccompanied viewers” as well if it’s just too much work for you.

Need to check the contract to see double-check dates and see how hard I can batter them with the threat of going multiple agency.

Anybody after a 3-bed/1-bath, 250+ year old semi-detached mill-worker’s cottage in the Mendip Hills (Somerset – not in a flood risk area!), split-level garden, 2 sheds (one has been used as an office), 2′ thick walls, predominant beams, cottage doors, a duel-fuel burner set in the centre of the old stone walls (keep it burning for a few days and the heat radiates through the stone via the chimney to heat the house), deep windowsills and new carpets downstairs? OIRO £215,000 – it’s on Rightmove 😉

My Review of Bra-Llelujah Bra

Originally submitted at Freshpair

No more bra lines, bulges, clasps, hooks or wires

"Underwire" lift without the underwire

Unique hosiery knit engineering offers the ultimate support and comfort

Designed to give you a smooth, sexy back

Straps distribute weight evenly and won&…

Bra-Llelujah Bra

Almost Perfect

By Kayla from Somerset, United Kingdom on 6/2/2013

 

4out of 5

Cup Fit: Feels true to size

Band Size: Feels true to size

Pros: Figure-Flattering, Comfortable, Soft, Good Coverage, Washes Well, Good Support

Cons: Seams At Back Irritate

Best Uses: T-Shirts, sleep, Everyday

Describe Yourself: Geek, Comfort-oriented, High-end shopper, Mature, Practical, Disabled

Was this a gift?: No

Fabulous. I’ll buy more. The ONLY issue is that I have to wear them inside out. There’s a seam on both straps where they attach to the back band. Those seams manage to be at the most sensitive part of my back & cause intense irritation & itching. Wearing the bra inside out puts the smooth side of the seams against my skin instead. If the manufacturer could find a solution, the bras would be perfect & worth 5*.

This bra is one of the most comfortable I have found. The lack of clasps & few seams means that it feels comfortable against my skin & I don’t have to reach to put it on/take it off (the best way to put it on is to step into it and pull it up). I wouldn’t recommend it for cup sizes bigger than a D/DD if you’re looking for strong support.

Liberal Democrats, enablers of bully boys

I wrote the following as a comment to the linked post on Tessa Munt’s website:

“I believe it is far better legislation than Andrew Lansley proposed.” So said Tessa Munt last year.

You know, that really wouldn’t be difficult. You wrote this a while ago, since then we have seen patients turned away from walk-in centres that display the NHS logo but are run by private companies because they had already “filled their quota” for that type of health problem. We have seen patients turned down for operations that are desperately needed because, again, the private company running the service has already done as many as they are allowed. We have seen private healthcare companies artificially increasing their waiting times for operations & lying to patients that the waiting list for an operation is so long that they would be better off paying for it to be done privately… with that company, of course.

We are seeing NHS hospitals closed & then handed over to private companies at a discount. NATIONAL Health Service hospitals simply cannot run out of money – that’s what the N in NHS means. They are not individual hospitals, they are part of the whole. If a NHS hospital goes “bankrupt” that means that the entire government is bankrupt (financially this time, as well as morally). In which case all MPs and Civil Service Heads will need to be charged with Dereliction of Duty and held to account in court for the destruction of the United Kingdom.

Without the Liberal Democrats in coalition the Conservatives would never have had the power needed to ram through the NHS Fire Sale Act (with LibDem fully informed support). Without LD enablement, the NHS destruction (yes, begun under Labour) could not have continued. Without LD enablement the War on the Poor would have never seen the light of day. The policies begun under Labour would have stagnated and the levels of harm would have been manageable.

Without the LibDems acting as enablers to this bunch of sociopthic, sadistic, bully boys the UK would be ticking along with the focus on properly managing the debt & controlling the deficit rather than enacting ages old Tory ideology & taking from the poor to give to their rich mates & families. How does it feel knowing that your party sold itself to the highest bidder for the illusion of power? Because that’s all you have, and all you will ever have. The Lib-Dems as a party have regressed to about 2 decades ago in terms of likelihood of ever gaining power again. Speaking of likelihood of being elected again, I think you’ll find that everything I have mentioned, in addition to the outright lies on Student Fees, will not be forgotten when it comes time for you to try to keep this seat.

The people of this constituency are very disappointed. We kicked out Heathcoat-Amory primarily because his expense claims were finally too much for even the True Blue core to swallow. Such a pity that his replacement is a media hungry, photo-op jumping, PR junky rather than the supportive, caring, non-career-politician we were shown.

You should learn to use twitter properly rather than just sending an auto-tweet whenever there is an update to your website.

Oh, by the way, Tessa, is it just letters & emails from me that you can’t be bothered to even acknowledge, or is it those from all women? (or maybe you’re avoiding certain subject matter)

Lewisham decision exposes Hunt’s NHS ‘ratchet’ con

Lewisham decision exposes Hunt’s NHS ‘ratchet’ con.

I can “hear” millions of minds around the country, all thinking exactly the same thing “Lewisham? Doesn’t affect me.” It does.  Every single decision taken by the Coalition, since Nick Clegg allowed the Tories to take power with no real brake on their ideaology, will affect you. One day you will turn around and wonder WTF happened.

What mainly happened was general apathy; an “I’m all right, Jack.” mentality; and a serving of Bread & Circuses to disguise everything else. All aided and abetted by the media, including the BBC.

Hey, BBC, I’m not so Proud of you right now.

via Lewisham decision exposes Hunt’s NHS ‘ratchet’ con.

Trolls, The Care & Feeding of

The argument over whether to reply (or “feed“) to a troll or not is as “ancient” as me the beginnings of the internet.

One side is : Do Not Feed The Troll
With the theory that the troll is seeking attention/wants to cause trouble/is looking for an argument/is known troublemaker. This treatment works well in a closed environment with few new people & no passers-by or where the troll is of a type that the general public will instantly recognise as best ignored. Like ignoring the argumentative drunk in the pub; the loud-mouth in the classroom; the cat-calls from a building site. Ignore the troll, do not feed the troll, do not give the troll the oxygen of attention/publicity/oxygen*!

If the audience in question are generally “singing from the same hymn sheet”, then Do Not Feed The Troll is the best course of action – with the caveat that somewhere in the general discussion a rebuttal of the troll’s arguments should be made (but not in direct reply to the troll) so that newcomers can see that the troll’s comments and views are not the norm.  Where it doesn’t work so well is on an open forum with lots of passing traffic or a constant influx of new members where people may take the troll’s comments as agreed with if no-one responds and be scared away from the group; they may think the troll’s views are commonly held amongst the users; or mistake the troll for someone who is so admired that no-one will argue with them.

That’s where the other side of the argument comes from: Slap The Troll Into The Middle Of Next Month (think Iron Fist In Velvet Glove though – I tend to be more the Iron Fist in Iron Hand type, unless I really work at it).
Don’t make the mistake of thinking this means descending to the troll’s level. A simple, civilised, polite rebuttal of every post. No name-calling, no abuse – civil, polite, restrained even. A modicum of amusement if you like.  On a usenet newsgroup I frequented, way back when the world was young, someone developed a tactic of posting something like “I can’t be bother to tell you again why you are wrong (link to last time they replied if there was one), let’s share recipes instead.” And posted a recipe for something nice to derail the thread.

I tend to flit between both attitudes depending on the seriousness of the subject & my own energy levels. It comes down to whether I think other people will benefit from a rebuttal (because a real troll certainly won’t) and, sometimes, whether there’s a tiny chance that the poster might not be a troll but simply misinformed and could be open to discussion.  Someone on a fan forum who is spouting things like “[idol] is overrated” to get a reaction from fans of [idol] should be ignored. Someone spewing hatred and abuse into a serious discussion on Disability Rights/Childcare/Education/Misogyny or Misandry should be calmly corrected, but not argued with. A simple correction of their misconceptions and a refusal to engage with them otherwise because the correction is not for their benefit but for your readers’.

Feed The Troll. Don’t Feed The Troll.  Make your own judgement as to what your reaction will be but, please, unless it is a formal part of a group’s rules (or decided by the owner of the blog in the case of a “Comments Troll”), don’t berate people who do respond and correct the troll. That just gives an image of division within a group and makes an experienced troll happy to know that they’ve caused some dissent.

I’ll continue to respond as and when I see fit & Ignore The Trolls otherwise.

* with thanks to the late Linda Smith

Let’s Get Political… Why The Blame Game is Bollocks

You know, digging a bigger hole in flood defences in the face of an oncoming storm with the excuse that “the hole was already here, the other guy didn’t fill it in when he was in charge, so it’s his fault it’s getting bigger” is the sign of rank stupidity. Every time a government (and I really don’t care which flavour it is) blames the previous incumbents for something that they are making worse you have to ask the question “So, they did nothing to fix it and your solution is to either not fix it or make it worse? But it is definitely their fault that you’re not fixing it?” You know, after the first 12 months of a new regime, that excuse goes nowhere except with those too one-eyed to see beyond the end of their own nose.

Next elections, make a pledge to yourself to refuse to vote for ANY party that campaigns on “what the other party did/didn’t do” rather than on “what I will do”. Say to the campaigner “I’ll listen to you as long as you can tell me what you/your candidate will do about [issue] without mentioning any of the other candidates or the current incumbent party.” You’ll probably find that you have to interrupt them every other sentence to remind them of the rule.

My current MP is the LibDem Tessa Munt who has never once replied to my (always polite and well written) letters or emails, never even an acknowledgement of receipt. I find it interesting that my husband has received replies to his queries. Typical non-replies that don’t answer the question, but still an acknowledgement of his existence.

Welcome to my World

As the title of the Blog says, this is my place to talk about my world and to review books and anything else that I feel the need to comment on.  My name is Kayla.  I have Fibromyalgia (aka FMS), am an avid reader with an eclectic taste in books and have been playing World of Warcraft for around five years.  The FMS seriously limits my ability to do things, so reading and playing computer games have become important to me as ways to relax and stave off depression.  I shall write more about all three things as time goes on and, along with reviews of books and thoughts on my favourite game, I hope to give people something of an understanding of how FMS – which is also known as an “Invisible Illness” because you cannot tell by looking that someone has it – affects people of all ages.

When the FMS allows me to be a little more active, I love to cook and bake.  I am currently (ha! have been for over a year now) working on collating most of the recipes that I use and have adapted over the years into a collection that I can publish via Lulu or similar simply so that I can have them all as a single volume rather than random scraps of paper piled high on a kitchen shelf.