Cat Fereday's Blog (89)

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Making yourself heard - responding to consultations

Hi.



I've been thinking about doing a blog or forum post like this for a while as I've seen a number of forums discussing the pains which result from changes to legislation and thought that this may be helpful...



Very little changes without public consultation and debate - this is part of the democratic process. Anyone can get involved in a public consultation, you don't have to be a trade association or a big company. Although trade associations like the Federation of… Continue

Added by Cat Fereday on August 21, 2010 at 11:30 — 1 Comment

Customer Service gone mad!

I've received an email this evening from a well-known retailer which has perhaps the best reputation in the country for customer service.....



this email was headed... "We're here to help you if you need advice on your recent purchase"



Now, this is nice, indeed it's very nice... there's someone waiting on the end of a phone to give me advice if I need it - well, great....



But then try as I might, I can't imagine what kind of advice I am going to need on a single… Continue

Added by Cat Fereday on August 15, 2010 at 21:27 — 4 Comments

The Dryad in the ballistic trolleys.....

Friday was a work from home day. The GPRS card only works in the bedroom upstairs, so I had a 'branch-side' seat to watch the tree surgeons take down the tree which shades the terrace. Said tree was in prime position to reek serious damage in the event of high winds bringing it down. Last year a whipping branch had threatened to lift the roof off the landlord's two-storey workshop in the back garden, and so it had to go....



Tree surgeons arrived just after 11... two young chaps and… Continue

Added by Cat Fereday on August 14, 2010 at 11:00 — No Comments

SERIOUS fauna....

We are very slowly adjusting to the flora and fauna of the south..... as far as the flora goes, what's really great is that plants grow like, well, they grow like, .... (I can't say 'weeds', can I??)..... okay, they grow exponentially like the world's disaffectedness with the Doha trade rounds... zzzzzzzz ..... nah, they just grow like weeds when all is said and done... and I'm fairly happy about that - I'll perhaps rethink the amount of space I leave between perennials (read: the amount of… Continue

Added by Cat Fereday on July 23, 2010 at 23:00 — No Comments

Bees (Erics)

Just been down to the courtyard for a 'reward' ciggie after completing summarising and analysing 10 speeches..... ARGH!



At this point, I feel like the chap in the cigar ad as I sit outside mulling the day's efforts and trying not to worry about the 'value add'.... when Eric appears (I should perhaps explain that all bees in the garden are called 'Eric', largely because it makes it easier when you are talking to them - and, no, I don't think they talk back to me... at least, not… Continue

Added by Cat Fereday on July 19, 2010 at 17:19 — 4 Comments

In the grand scheme of things...

We all make mistakes.... whether it's planting bulbs upsidedown, designing in centimeters only to measure in inches... ordering 5, only to end up with 5 dozen.... writing an entire paper for a senior committee and not realising that an acronym had been changed to 'BOOBS' throughout by the automatic spell checker which clearly thought it was in line for a slot at the Edinburgh festival (me).... hey, we've all been there and it's not usually the end of the world.... so pity the poor bugger at the… Continue

Added by Cat Fereday on May 15, 2010 at 10:30 — 4 Comments

It's not the dog, it's the owner....

The mistress of my favourite canine emailed me yesterday.... along with some work stuff, she also mentioned that she'd been enjoying my blogs recently.... she's remaining nameless in this blog post, because I want to do a little hymn of praise to the fabulous bubble of joy that is Newton the black labrador to balance out the rant I'm going to have a bit further on....



So.... Newton.... Ahhhh, Newton..... he is everything a dog should be and more.... he wags not just his tail, but his… Continue

Added by Cat Fereday on May 11, 2010 at 21:00 — No Comments

The inner Gordon....

Some days I find the volume of bad news overwhelming. If the mythical Atlas does indeed carry the world on his shoulders, then those are shoulders scarred and gashed by the rough surfaces and jagged pains of the globe. News story follows news story follows news story, each more doomladen than its predecessor, seemingly an inexorable commentary on our progress to some great apocalyptic moment....wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,.... oil coursing towards the coast of Louisiana bringing more pain on… Continue

Added by Cat Fereday on May 9, 2010 at 9:30 — 1 Comment

Expert insight please - Gardenias in Surrey, yes or no?

Shameful request for free advice.... we're still working on the enclosed garden - well, there's enough room to still walk through the space fairly easily, so you know that can't last! I'm now thinking of fragant white flowering plants - already have a lavender and two wisteria (which we're not counting on flowering this year as they're quite small). I've really got a hankering for a gardenia - there's one called Kleim's Hardy which is supposed to work outdoors. Does anyone have any experience… Continue

Added by Cat Fereday on May 2, 2010 at 20:31 — 5 Comments

You couldn't make it up.... peach leotards, poetic form, oh, and your fundaMENTAL rights in the European Union

Much amusement all round in the office today... someone has finally cut EU wasteful spending by intervening just in time.....



http://euobserver.com/9/29972



Yes, my prize of the week for tackling uselessness goes to the EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding who has stepped in just in time to stop the EU Fundamental Rights Agency from proceeding with plans to reformat the EU charter into an 80 MINUTE LONG EPIC POEM!!!!! Or, if you… Continue

Added by Cat Fereday on April 30, 2010 at 21:20 — 1 Comment

Garden Centre Alley

Wowza wowza wowza.... I've found Seventh Heaven (and all the lesser Heavens were really cute too, bless!).... I know the way to Nirvana (it's the second left past Amarillo)..... Shake your money maker (but keep all your clothes on!).... Climb every mountain (but concentrate on the short ones first and ease yourself in)..... You were the wind beneath my wings (stop eatin' beans)....



By now, you're thinking.... 'Crumbs, what on earth has sparked this extreme outburst of Stimpy-like joy… Continue

Added by Cat Fereday on April 28, 2010 at 11:54 — No Comments

Yankee McNugget???

Ah the joy of discovery.... the leader of the Scottish Liberal Party is called Tavish Scott... Poor chap, school must've been a nightmare.... though, I've got to ask why can't we have a US presidential candidate called Yankee McNugget (from a Northern state obviously)....

What surprises me - genuinely - is not so much the name, but that we haven't yet had this on 'Have I Got News for You' or 'The Vote NOW Show' or 'The News Quiz' or indeed, even in 'Private Eye'....

Added by Cat Fereday on April 26, 2010 at 20:31 — 2 Comments

Somewhere under the Gatwick flight path

Well.... we've finally hit our Southern stride (which, I admit sounds like some Country and Western dance move, but fear not, while I have brought you the foibles of a Morris Man, I'm not about to declaim on the joys of boot scootin).



Fereday is employed (big cheer)!!!! He's now working out at a beautiful garden centre near Cobham which has a very nice vibe - I was even invited out on the Saturday before he started to meet the team and see the lay of the land.... which I thought was… Continue

Added by Cat Fereday on April 24, 2010 at 8:30 — 3 Comments

Phew, well, it has been some time - the last blog was November 2009! So,.... let me think.... anything new? Well, as Fereday has already posted (blogs passim), we're now down within spitting distanc…

Phew, well, it has been some time - the last blog was November 2009!



So,.... let me think.... anything new? Well, as Fereday has already posted (blogs passim), we're now down within spitting distance of London at Coulsdon.... or, more accurately, in the part of Coulsdon known as 'Stoat's Nest Village' - charming, yah! - no sign of any stoats, however.....



The drive down from West Yorkshire was unmitigated hell. The movers came the evening before - Pat, from Helpful Hogan,… Continue

Added by Cat Fereday on February 26, 2010 at 14:04 — 6 Comments

Death on the DLR.....

So.... what happened to November? All I remember was anticipating October.... then it was Halloween.... tons of candy and about 10 kids show up.... then I was in the Big Quiz for the Heart Foundation or Cancer Research... I can't recall which... but it was all for CHAR-ID-EE, man.... then my shoulder nearly got 'sanded' by Dragon's Den outcast Richard Fairleigh's overgrown designer stubble while I scurried to keep pace with my boss as he scuttled through the Barbican.... my boss was not… Continue

Added by Cat Fereday on November 24, 2009 at 0:05 — 6 Comments

Halloween with Fereday....









Continue

Added by Cat Fereday on November 1, 2009 at 15:44 — 1 Comment

One bed flat in Reading....

Greetings all from the Fereday Haunted House - we're getting ready from Halloween..... as an American, I'm ever so pleased to have brought a wonderful tradition to our local neighbourhood... competing to have the best Halloween house... no contest, really - the title is ours.... we've got fake spider webbing, really BIG furry spiders crawling up the wall - and because lighting is fundamental to establishing the mood - we have blue bulbs in the hall chandelier, a red bulb in the hall table lamp,… Continue

Added by Cat Fereday on October 30, 2009 at 19:30 — No Comments

Brogues and antler hats for dogs....

It's been a good weekend. The weather has turned sufficiently cold to warrant camouflage clothing - gloves, scarves, jumpers, and shoes which don't require a wanton display of toe clevage or luridly painted toenails - perfect bliss....from here on in, it's roast chickens, hot soup, and happy days.



Still, the impending move to the South plays on my mind. Fereday, bless him, is bearing up, but I know it's tough. He's leaving behind a successful little business for the great unknown.… Continue

Added by Cat Fereday on October 18, 2009 at 22:30 — No Comments

My new career path - puppy couture

Yawn - it's been another busy week in the life of the commuting tortoise (AKA me with backpack carapace nicknamed Mildred traversing the west coast line)... Tuesday night saw me somewhere south of Birmingham eating my evening meal in a bunker with work colleagues before hastening off into the night to hit London's Marylebone train station just before Wednesday morning.... having never been into Marylebone before, I found it a truly pleasant surprise. Everything was still open - and there is the… Continue

Added by Cat Fereday on October 17, 2009 at 0:00 — No Comments

On a peaceful Saturday morning....

Fereday got a new toy delivered on Saturday morning.... a BlackBerry Bold. This is his second BlackBerry, so you might think the whole BlackBerry ownership thing would be a bit old hat by now, but you'd be wrong. My sister calls them 'CrackBerries' because they're so addictive. And I think I can follow the argument that there will eventually evolve a race of pointy-thumbed, squinty people which has its genetic source in the current group of BlackBerry owners.



Anyway, it was a very… Continue

Added by Cat Fereday on October 10, 2009 at 9:30 — 3 Comments

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