Skip to main content

Rip off

 I don't use the phrase lightly but in the UK the biggest rip off is the cost of having a test for  covid 19.  I would like to  highlight a small but equally irritating rip off in France.  On Tuesday I bought a box of 50 Green Tea with mint teabags for 2,25€.  Yesterday in a café in Angers I was charged 3,90€ for 1 cup of green tea with mint using 1 teabag.  It is not much better in Saumur where the cost is 3,65€.  Nothing can justify this , absolutely nothing.

I was told yesterday that the doctors had removed all the cancerous cells along with the tumour during my operation two weeks ago.  Reprieve for me for a while, but not for a friend who sadly died this morning after deteriorating over several months.

I  have noticed that since companies have relied on the internet to  conduct their business they are asking the customer to do more and more of their work.  When I was looking for an estate agent one asked me to measure all the rooms, send a detailed description of the house and decide on a price.  No, that is their job.  Now I am finding that removal companies are doing the same.  I asked 2 companies to come and give me an estimate.  They said they don't come to properties anymore and that it is up to me to list in detail exactly what I want removed, take measurements and estimate the weight of the items.  They have to be kidding.  And the answer is still no.   That is their job.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Oops!

 The air conditioning has broken in my car so it was some relief when the temperature dropped  back to the 30 degree mark.  This gave my neighbours fresh enthusiasm to clear up overgrown vegetation.  At my request my American neighbour climbed down to a flat bit of ground where a tree had grown about 6 feet in as many weeks, to lop it.  My job was to clear all the debris when it fell and drag it to a parking space in the courtyard.  The system was working well with another neighbour and her granddaughter joining in to help me clear the debris.  Meanwhile. up above us the American was in full swing, not stopping at 'lopping' the tree but cutting it right back to its roots.  Soon great big branches were hurtling down and that is when it happened.  One branch, instead of coming straight down to the ground decided to take a detour onto his garage roof, creating a big hole right above where his precious car, a Tesla, was being kept safe and sound....
1 comment
Read more

I'm Free

 After being incarcerated in my son's house waiting for the results of the day 2 test I was finally allowed out today.  I went to Chichester and was saddened by the number of familiar shops that have disappeared from the town centre.  Bognor is the same.  You wouldn't die of thirst in either town though as the number of cafes has increased.  Both town centres were busy making it difficult to keep a safe distance from others but many people were wearing masks in the street. I was pulled over by Customs in Caen.  As I opened the trunk of the car one of the officers asked me if I was carrying goods.  'Yes,' I replied, ' French Champagne and French wine'  They nodded approvingly and waved me away. During my 3 days in the house, I have cleaned, filed all their paperwork, mended the shower, cooked dinner and tried watching television, the latter being totally uninspiring.  The news consists of covid, travel restrictions, forbidden Christmas parties...
Post a Comment
Read more

Playing by ear

My father could play the piano.  Not an unusual skill but he was deaf.  He lost his  hearing fighting in the army in India in the 30s so he was an adult when he lost it and therefore remembered tunes, even though he couldn't hear him.  However he didn't have the skill to learn anything new so  either you liked the old music or you didn't.  He used to say that he played by ear and then would roar with laughter.  He would have struggled in many ways with modern living but most of all during the pandemic, he would have lost his ability to communicate as he always lip read.  There must be thousands of people like him today who still rely on reading lips to understand,  in fact all of us do it to some extent, so please be patient if someone is struggling to communicate while you are wearing a mask. I went to the supermarket today and at the check out, the cashier asked me to move the trolley into a particular position.  As I manoeuvred it ...
Post a Comment
Read more