Loaded...

Dear Mr NCP Car Park

I had the misfortune to have nowhere else to park on Saturday night to got to the Usher Hall to see the excellent Tim Minchin (though slightly less excellent than a year back at the Fringe with the same show - smaller room + slightly shorter set = funnier) and upon leaving the show made my way to retrieve my car by paying your extortionate charges.

On inserting my ticket I was told by the machine that the ticket was invalid, and it proceeding to retain said ticket. I pushed the information button and after a wait, while the queue for the only remaining machine grew massively, spoke to a chap who confirmed I had already done everything he could think of me having to do (press cancel etc etc etc) and then managed to remotely access the machine so that I may pay £6 for a new ticket. The instant the 6th pound coin dropped the machine then decided that it was out of order.

At this point I was starting to get a little perturbed, but once again hit the information button to speak to someone in india. This time (after another wait) a new ticket was produced. With this success I made my way to my car and made for the exit. I placed my ticket in the barrier machine, and rather dishearteningly I was told I had to pay £7.80 before I could exit.

Fortunately there was only one car behind me (oh, yes, there was only one exit lane with a working barrier as well) and so I managed to reverse out of the way. by this point I was a touch on the 'seething' side, and simply paid the money so that I might not have to spend the entire night in your pitiful car park. I would, therefore, be grateful if you could pull your finger out and reimburse me £7.80 for the ticket, plus the cost of sending this letter to you by recorded delivery. Affirmation of this request will result in me not adding on an amount for my time spent both stuck in your facility, and writing this letter, and walking to the post box.

Your sincerely....

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Not my weekend when it came to these things. Noticed on the way home from Borders, having bought a homebrew book, that I had been charged the dollar amount, but in pounds, some £6 more than I should have been charged (I had bought other things as well, so didn't query the total). I'll be riding via there on the way home form work tomorrow...

Anyway, 2 days spent clearing the back garden with Mel's dad, George, filled the back of the MASSIVE twin-cab transit I got in lieu of a Toyota Hilux that I'd booked, but which wasn't available (and that's only about half the garden done, but it's looking a hell of a lot better). Probably just as well - we could fit a damn sight more in the back of this. So a tiring weekend, and one in which Mel's been laid-up ill for the entirety after her and a colleague appear to have caught something from a client in a meeting on Thursday (which meant I went to Tim Minchin with her dad rather than her).

I'll sleep tonight...

In other news, slightly mysteriously a stack of my old cartoons (ones I'd drawn years ago) arrived in the post on Friday. I think they've come from a chap who was going to design my first website for them (before I did it myself). I thought I'd lost these, so have spent part of the down time today scanning some of my favourites in.

Et voila!

Yvonne
Meeting by Train
Team Meeting
Sandwiches
Vultures
Pounce
Lions
Photocopying
IT Solution
5 O'Clock
Dress Down
HUGE IQ
Flaming Idiot

(sorry for all the links.... ;) )