Blue Witch

DON'T BUY FROM MESH COMPUTERS!

If you've arrived from a search engine looking for the post on MESH COMPUTERS (save yourself a lot of heartache and hassle, don't buy from them!), welcome, and please scroll down to near the bottom of the page (5th September) for full details.

Weak ending

If you're out and about this weekend please remember:

(a) Witchy wants pictures of water towers for the Water Tower Project (please email them to the address in the sidebar - all contributions will be gratefully received (at any time in the future), and linked/otherwise acknowledged, unless you prefer to be anonymous), and

(b) Petrol and diesel are going up 2.35p per litre on Monday, so fill up. This wonderful tax hike planned for you by Golden Brown (who I may have to rename 'The Undertaker' after a most amusing comment on Breakfast TV this morning) when in his former role.

Here's another of the pen and wash 6" x 4" sketches mentioned in the Friday Question post just below - and, on that subject, what an uncouth lot most of you are!!!

Titled after a parliamentary constituency.

I'll put another one up when someone guesses which one...

Friday Question

(If you haven't got the time and/or the inclination to read the preamble, which preambled a bit more than I'd intended, just scroll to the bottom of the post for the question!)

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday sitting in a field.
In between the showers anyway.
I then spent yesterday sorting out school-based problems which should never have become problems, but had, because people were being intransigent and refusing to think creatively. I banged their heads together and sorted things. It's what I do best. Eventually they were grateful so we all can live happily ever after.

Unfortunately, and, not, now, surprisingly I am now paying the price for this over-exertion as ever last part of my body aches and my brain is not working properly (eg I found 9 semantic errors and 23 typos while reading through this short piece when I'd finished writing it).

However, £inThursday > £outWednesday + £outTuesday, and I know I'll feel better again in a few days, and much better in about 10. But then I'll do it all over again, because the ability to do things slowly and rest regularly is not something that I am capable of doing. Well, I can (er... possibly, maybe...), but the things I enjoy doing don't allow it (neither the sort of work I do, nor good art classes, exist in 3 hour maximum blocks, including travelling, after all), so it's a price I have to balance before paying. I now schedule in recovery time every time I choose to do an art course or some work.

The sitting in the field involved sketching things quickly (on small 6" x 4" cartridge paper) with an ink pen and then later tinting them with watercolour. I am not good at drawing quickly, and I've never been happy with using a pen rather than a pencil for sketching as there are no second chances once a mark is made on the page, and I've never quite worked out how to get the tones right. Plus I've never enjoyed doing landscapes from 'life' as I am very bad at deciding which bit to do and then sticking to just that bit, and the light changes too often and annoys me. However, all that is changing, as the course was run by my favouritest art tutor (I've done courses with her before), and there were only 5 people on it, and as one of them immediately took my usual wailing, "I can't get this right!" role, I could concentrate on improving my technique.

Here's a picture to be going on with, and I'll put some more up over the weekend. It's probably the one I'm least pleased with, but I can't tell you why!

Anyway, the point of all this is that, while I was sitting in the field drinking tea from the tutor's flask, inspiration for today's Friday Question was provided. 3 of the 6 of us were dunking their biscuits. That is something I have never done as the thought of a mouthful of biscuit sludge from the bottom of the mug revolts me, and I'm sure that, expecting liquid and getting sludge, I'd choke. Besides, I'm fairly sure it's a habit developed form an early age and long-term readers will understand that Mummy BW would probably have sent me to an orphanage for committing such a crime as biscuit dunking.

Are you a biscuit dunker or not?

Water Tower Project

I've mentioned before that I have a fascination with water towers, and one day wanted to start a project to photograph as many as possible.

Since that time, when there was almost nothing on the internet, there are lots and lots of places where you can find pictures or other information. But, I still think it would be fun to have a collection... put together by readers (ie all of us!). As and when you see them, and have a camera handy, not necessarily right now.

Here's one at Assington, near Sudbury in Suffolk.

Another view of this one here.

Now, all I need is a few more pictures... anyone?
Or any other ideas/suggestions? (an obvious one is to add a grid reference to each... is there a site that calculates these from place names?)

Mi1dred writes again

Hello sweeties, how have you all been?

Well, knowing how all of you are used to those new automobiles that can start with just the turn of a key and then not need to be checked for 12,000 miles, I thought I might tell you about how an old lady like me needs looking after. I will tell you about my nooks and crannies another time, but for today I thought I would tell you how to get me started….my old friend Georgina used to say that anything could get me started, but you should never trust her because she once drove away with a rough northern fellow and wasn’t seen for weeks, but that’s another story altogether.

Where was I? Oh yes, how to get me started in the morning. Here is a good checklist that Mr BW has to follow each time we go out:

1. Check sump oil and radiator water levels
2. Set charge rate for dynamo (2 if you are going to run lights, 1 if not)
3. Set ignition advance/retard lever on steering column to retarded
4. Pull choke out and secure with old peg, as I am a little slack these days and cannot grip as I used to
5. Prime petrol with the manual lever under the pump to fill my carb' bowl
6. Insert key and set ignition switch to ‘on’
7. Turn over engine with starter button or with the handle on the crank. Mr BW has to use my starter handle at the moment because my battery won’t hold charge. It makes my eyes water if he thrusts too firmly, but needs must.
8. As soon as my engine is running, jump in and pull the advance/retard lever back to level (ready to set to advance once I have warmed up and am running at speed 20 mph)
9. Remember to gradually push choke lever in as I warm my little heart up
10. And we are off

I know it’s a bit more complicated than those computer controlled thingies you have these days….. Old Man Gates told me in the 50s that computers would never catch on, but I guess his son showed him didn’t he? Anyway that’s about it, easy once you get the hang of it.

Thought for the day

We never know the worth of water ‘til the well is dry.

- Thomas Fuller

The nasturtiums are taking over the asylum Coven...

Or, more precisely, spilling out of the garlic bed by the greenhouse, onto the path to the greenhouse, into the hanging basket tomatoes (still cropping well), and creeping towards the beanpoles. I did do a spell to help the hungry ladybirds as they'd eaten all the greenfly, and nasturtiums do breed blackfly. And cabbage whites. Still, nasturtium seeds can be pickled while green and used as capers, or kept for seed next year, so all is not yet lost. The leaves are huge too, in comparison to normal.

This is one of the 3 compost bins (ooh look, even our compost bins have pointy hats) that just-about cope with all the garden and grass waste that The Coven Grounds produce, the newspaper and straw that the hens have as bedding, and the 'confidential' paper shreddings from the Inner Coven (just because its shredded doesn't mean it can't be put back together if anyone is so minded). I say 'just-about', because when Mr BW starts autumn pruning, he doesn't know when to stop, and this is what happens. Thank goodness for heavy-duty garden shredders, it'd never all fit in without.

Each of the three bins is about 5 feet high by 4 feet square (so about 80 cubic feet in capacity), and at any time we're filling one, using one, and one is rotting. In the past we've always bought in some (non-peat based) compost every year, but we've been very disappointed in the declining quality in recent years, and by the weed seeds invariably included free with every bag (my theory is that as more people are gardening, and most ethically-minded people are boycotting products made from peat, compost is being made more and more quickly, so weed seeds aren't being kept at high enough temperatures for long enough to kill them). So, this year, for the first time, we have used all our own compost for every purpose, from seed sowing to potting on, to flower tubs, and, despite our initial hypothesis, haven't noticed any difference at all.

By the way, while I'm talking about spells, I'm usually a Good Witch, but, in order to keep any semblance of sanity in my life, I do have to protect myself from clutter these days.

Real-life or electronic.

In the last week alone I have had 10 invitations. Not invitations I want, mind. As I was telling Gordon earlier, I’ve done a spell that means very bad things will happen to anyone else who attempts to make me join in the mad popularity contest of social networking sites. I am utterly convinced that when you get an email invitiation from someone on one of these services, the addresses are kept and sold on to spammers (who’d probably prefer I called them marketing departments). I've never had spam into a particularly restricted email address I keep for personal use only (and have had for nearly 5 years) - until after I'd received an invitation to Facebook sent to that address.

In the past few weeks there have been a spate of people I know professionally sending me invites to little web-based interest groups they’ve set up - apparently to make it easier for us to communicate with each other. If I want to speak to them, I’ll pick up the phone or send an email… there are already professional email lists for communicating information, and, quite frankly, with a few notable exceptions that I am in personal contact with, that's about as much contact as I either want or need with any of my professional colleagues.

To be clear: I am just not interested in online social networking. My online presence has only ever been, and will only ever be, via blogs. I like being in control of what I share, and how and with whom I interact, and I will always be very careful about the personal details I divulge, and to whom, because information in electronic format lasts indefinitely and will come back and bite you on the bum if you're not very careful. I think that there are far too many people who underestimate how things will connect-up in the future.

I don’t ever seem to have enough time to spend with the people I know and value in real life, so I’m certainly not going to spend the time I do have interacting mindlessly in virtual social networks with people I’d probably not want to pass the time of day with if I met them face-to-face. I am not short of constructive things to do with real people.

The internet has its uses, and certainly I've made several good real-life friendships through blogging (which I think is in a totally different class to social networking sites anyway), but, in general, the internet is not my first-choice medium of communication. Dare I say that, in general, and at its worst, I think it's deskilling people in real communication, and making personal relationships as shallow, meaningless and disposable as most things in this consumeristic world?

And while I think about it, I don't think that the Blue Tongue outbreak has anything to do with any of my spells either, but I just can never be sure.

Friday Question

Mr BW is using up some annual leave by having some four-day weeks. Including a day off today. Lots to do in the garden before the weather breaks, so we need to get on with it.

So far this morning I've stopped him going off to have Mi1dred colour-matched so he can touch her up, refused to let him go into town on the way back from swimming to get a 25mm deep socket to unscrew her plugs, and pointed out some new cracks that need filling before the end wall of The Coven can be re-painted. If he has an urge to Fill and Paint, I'd much rather it was The Coven Wall than Mi1dred. And anyway, I've told him, I and my needs are not playing second fiddle to another woman, particularly when she is 30 years younger older than me ;)

There are about half a dozen new white D'Oves flying wobbily around, and PVC the Dark Tabby Familiar is eyeing up their 'entertainment potential', so I need to get outside to supervise. So, I'll leave you with today's question, which is probably rather discriminatory...

What (if any) food does your partner dislike that cramps your culinary style?

I've been trying to do a "Make Mr BW Like Ginger" spell for nearly 15 years now, but it's not working. The Old Friends BW fed us a lovely Thai stir-fry when we were over there the other weekend. Mr BW said it was very nice, and would have had seconds, except that there weren't any. When we got home I told him about the amount of ginger I'd seen Mrs Old Friend BW add. At which point, of course, he claimed he'd just been polite at the time.

The Kick Christmas into December Campaign

Now that they've reduced and sold off the BBQ tongs, citronella candles and plastic plates, the supermarket aisles are full of advent calendars and calorie- and fat-ladden baddies goodies.

Yesterday I was told that a pub/hotel in Small Local Town has had its full FOTCR™ decorations (including tree complete with lights, tinsel and nasty baubles), up since last weekend.

Last night we were at a meeting of Mi1dred's kind at a local golf club and they had ivy wrapped round the oak beams in the converted barn function room, and a fake-snow topping on the shelf above the bottles behind the bar.

By my reckoning it's still a quarter of a year until the FOTCR™. Sigh.

What is needed is a logo (a sturdy workman's boot kicking a manger with a halo emanating from it would be my first choice, but other versions might include a boot kicking Santa Claus, or a boot kicking a cash register bedecked with tinsel and with golden chocolate coins spilling from its drawer), then I can print out some A5 campaign leaflets, for distribution to offending institutions. Blutacking them to shelves in shops or doors in pubs might work...

Who wants to join me?

Eco-cynicicsm

bob coined a great phrase the other day. I don't know if it was a bob original, but I'd not heard it before. "Eco-cynical."

It is a great expression, which I adopted immediately.

While being very eco-minded, I am eco-cynical about the corporate profiteering engendered within this terminology.

Take, for example the magazine Country Living. Which I have delivered on subscription. Because it's a Value way of purchasing, and saves me having to wade through all the junk that I'd rather not even see on newsagents' shelves. Not that there are many newsagents around here any more, thanks to T£$co, but.

This month's copy arrived on Saturday. Actually, it was probably November's copy, but magazine dating is something I've never understood. I nearly needed a fork lift truck to pick it up from where it had crash-landed on the doormat after leaving the postman's hand. It weighed more than ever.

I took it to the scales. Altogether it weighed 2lbs 2 3/4oz. I took out the leaflets. The magazine on its own weighed 1lb 5oz.

Without resorting to a calculator, I worked out that the 'inserts' weighed 13 3/4oz. All went straight in the recycling bin. I'm not interested in spending £195 on a jumper that I can buy for £18 in M&S or £2.50 in Primark, or in Jules Verne cruises (short of an 18-21 piss-up in Ibiza, I can't think of a worse way of spending a holiday).

And how much for the postage? £4.25 (more than the cover price, and considerably more than the subscription price) according to my Royal Mail chart, although it would be less than that on a magazine delivery contract.

This from a magazine that regularly trumpets its green credentials?

Sure, I understand that printing a magaine costs more than the cover price, and that the profit and some of the production costs come from advertising, but nearly a pound in weight's worth of extra advertising inserts?

And let's not mention the complete con of carbon offsetting. For now, anyway :)

Money, money, money

Oh what a mess the greedy financial world has made for itself. Helped, of course, by the media, who are always happy to distort a story or omit relevant key facts in search of sensationalism and the creation of panic.

I'm talking of course about the Northern Rock situation, into which Golden Brown has stepped with a promise that you and I, the taxpayer, will underwrite the security of investors' money.

Of course, the situation was initiated, as are so many situations in our world, by America. Or rather, by greedy financial institutions in America encouraging non-credit-worthy greedy Americans who succumb to consumeristic pressures and must-have advertising, to get themselves into ever increasing and uncontrollable debt which they cannot hope to ever repay.

QE discussed the interesting analogy to this situation of game theory.

The best explanation of what's going on that I've seen comes from Martin the Money Saving Expert. In part:

Q. What’s caused all this? Should we be panicking?

A. This was originally caused by Northern Rock deciding, for safety’s sake, to open up what's effectively an overdraft facility with the Bank of England. It did this because the US credit crunch means it's difficult for banks to borrow money from other financial institutions at the moment, so it wanted the facility just in case it was needed.

As yet it hasn't used the facility either, it's just there for emergencies. Though this did result in its share price dropping as, if it did need to use it, borrowing would be expensive because the Bank of England imposes a higher rate than normal. All in all, this wasn’t such a big deal for customers, more for the markets; yet it ended up on the front page of the newspapers and that's where the problems started.

The media coverage meant panic. People started queuing outside branches or trying to withdraw money on the web. Add this to the fact that Northern Rock’s web site couldn’t deal with the demand to withdraw cash and you get a siege mentality. Rather than thinking, “there’s heavy demand so the web site is struggling”, worry sets in and people think “they’re deliberately stopping me getting my cash”. Add all this together and what wasn’t in reality a problem suddenly becomes a serious issue for the bank.

Q. Is Northern Rock going to collapse?

A. That’s unthinkably unlikely, though nothing is impossible. The whole reason it opened up the facility with the Bank of England was to allow it to function normally if there was a shortage of borrowing. This means it has access to literally unlimited cash and that’s some pretty good protection.

Plus the facts behind why Northern Rock is the only bank who requested the borrowing facility may end up being its saving grace. When a bank wants to lend you cash for mortgages or loans, in simple terms the funds for this borrowing come from one of two places; either other customers' savings or the financial markets.

Northern Rock tends to use the financial markets more than other banks, which is why when these funds got short it was the first to need the overdraft facility. Yet the current problem is that many people are withdrawing their cash, but by definition Northern Rock is less dependent on savers' cash than other institutions which is a positive thing when so many people are trying to withdraw these savings.

Overall it’s enormously unlikely any customers will lose cash out of this. Far more likely is that with Northern Rock’s share price plummeting, it will be any easy takeover target for a big bank and it’ll be sold on.

Talking to people over the past few days, I've been surprised how few know about the The Financial Services Compensation Scheme. The FSCS is the UK's statutory fund of last resort for customers of authorised financial services firms (ie those regulated by the FSA). The FSCS is an independent body, set up under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, which became operational on 1 December 2001. It can pay compensation if a firm is unable, or likely to be unable, to pay claims against it (ie becomes insolvent).

The FSCS protects: deposits (taken out since 28 August 1988); insurance policies and insurance broking (for business on or after 14 January 2005); investment business; and mortgage advice and arranging (for business on or after 31 October 2004). It is funded by levies on authorised firms.

There are strict limits on what compensation can be paid:

Deposits: £31,700 per person (100% of the first £2,000 and 90% of the next £33,000).

Investments: £48,000 per person.
(100% of the first £30,000 and 90% of the next £20,000).

Mortgage advice and arranging: £48,000 per person
(100% of the first £30,000 and 90% of the next £20,000).

Long-term insurance (e.g. pensions and life assurance): unlimited.
(100% of the first £2,000 plus 90% of the remainder of the claim).

General insurance: unlimited.

Compulsory insurance (e.g. third party motor): 100% of the claim.

Non-compulsory insurance (e.g. home and general): 100% of the first £2,000 plus 90% of the remainder of the claim.

General insurance advice and arranging: unlimited (for business conducted on or after 14 January 2005).
100% of the first £2,000 plus 90% of the remainder of the claim. Compulsory insurance is protected in full.

Unless, of course, if you're an investor with Northern Rock, when the Chancellor announced last night that all of their investors' money would be safe, as you and I, the taxpayers are underwriting it. The reasoning being: "...the importance I place on maintaining a stable banking system and public confidence in it, I can announce today that following discussions with the Governor and the Chairman of the FSA, should it be necessary, we, with the Bank of England, would put in place arrangements that would guarantee all the existing deposits in Northern Rock during the current instability in the financial markets. This means that people can continue to take their money out of Northern Rock. But if they choose to leave their money in Northern Rock, it will be guaranteed safe and secure."

Once again, the Government changes the rules on financial services to suit themselves and the way they are choosing to (mis-)manage the economy. Just like they did with pensions. Is it any wonder that so many people in this country can't be bothered to look after their finances as the constant changing of the rules by The Nanny State makes it all so confusing for them?

And don't get me started on the millions of pounds reclaimed by people who knew what banks would charge them for mis-managing their money, but still went ahead and took unauthorised overdrafts, wrote cheques that they hadn't the funds to cover, and spent so they couldn't cover regular payments from their accounts like direct debits and standing orders, so racked up penalty charges anyway. Most early claimants have now got all their charges back (some with extra for stress and inconvenience!). Funded, of course, by those of us who spend hours attending to minutiae of keeping our financial houses in order. What about a payment for good behaviour for us? Grrrrr.

Thought for the day

If a friend is in trouble, don't annoy him by asking if there is anything you can do. Think up something appropriate and do it.

- Edgar Watson Howe

Naturally nature

This past weekend gets my vote for the best weather of the summer. OK, so it's officially autumn, but with sun and nature like it's been, it's summer by my classification. Not too hot but bright and sunny and every hour throwing up something different environmentally speaking.

10am yesterday.

7.15pm yesterday.

Spiders on the balcony on Saturday evening. The bluey panel in the middle is the top of another of Mr BW's stained glass creations. There were 3 spiders in all. One, just out of shot to the right was finishing off an egg sac and whenever I see that I can't help but think of Charlotte's Web. Possibly the saddest book ever. Or maybe it was just the age I was when I first read it.

I've just downloaded photos from the last 3 weeks (most unlike me - I usually download every day or so, so maybe that's a clue to where my mind has been...), so I may catch up on myself here soon.

Tales of death, cars (old and racing), harvesting, tree felling, preserving seasonal produce, traffic, artful crafty creations (including how I won a competition I went to great lengths not to enter), inviting Nice Ladies, and decluttering, will follow. Sometime.

Thought for the day

Map out your future – but do it in pencil. The road ahead is as long as you make it. Make it worth the trip.

-Jon Bon Jovi

Friday Question

Who's your favourite?

When I was a Small Witch and watched it at teatime (along with 8 million others - imagine that these days!), I used to like Zebedee for his boundless enthusiasm, energy, and ability to cut acrosss everything with one-liners. I think Ermintrude is more my style these days though...

If you've forgottten the characters' names (how could you?!), or you just want to indulge in nostalgia, there are some reminders here.

Philosophy...

...always in search of answers...

Via LaP - who also pointed out that the scores show I'm equally Existentialist: "Your life is guided by the concept of Existentialism; you choose the meaning and purpose of your life."

That probably explains everything.

Thought for the day

I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.

- Mahatma Gandhi

Thought for the day

The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.

- Ernest Hemingway

Wipe that smug look off his face with carbolic I say (AKA Mi1dred Speaks again)

Hello lovies.

Well Mr BW is looking a bit smug I must say.

Remember that rather nasty banging I told you about when I was taking the Old Friends BW out? Well Mr BW did a bit of reading up and diagnosed a problem with my front dampers. He didn’t want to start playing with my screws until he was sure what to do, so asked some nice people for advice, and would you know it his diagnosis was right. A bit of lubrication and half a screw (I am an old lady after all, did I tell you I was 74, so half was enough), and I am as just as dandy as Fred and Ginger gliding down the road dancing a tango.

If that wasn’t enough, it turned out that those silly people at the parts suppliers had sent a 12v flasher thingy, so no wonder my newly fitted new-fangled indicators didn’t work. A replacement 6V thingy was despatched with an apology and my flashers now twinkle like my dear friend Bertie’s glass eye when her dance card is full before the night has even begun.

Mr BW is still having a bit of trouble working out all the places I need lubricating, and finding the time to oil me up in between looking after BW and making chutneys, jams and jellies with all The Coven Produce (not to mention that brought to the door as kind donations from Nice Ladies almost, but not quite, as old as me), but he is nearly there even if it does make my headlights water when he squirts it the wrong places.

Enough for now my dears, toodle pip, speak soon, say hello to Bertie if you see her.

Thought for the day

Life is not always what one wants it to be, but to make the best of it as it is, is the only way of being happy.

- Jennie Jerome Churchill

Thought for the day

What we see depends mainly on what we look for.

- John Lubbock

Friday question

In your experience, who is the worst parcel delivery company?

My votes go to Parcel Farce and ANC, both of whom can always be relied on to deliver late, not answer the local depot telephones, and to tell lies about having attempted delivery and left a card when they haven't.

ANC have the added bonus of rude drivers (well, at least one rude driver, who, I finally heard yesteday, 6 weeeks after the incident in question, is no longer working for the company after I kicked up a big fuss and stuck to my guns when he accused me of having sworn and been threatening to him, whereas in truth he was the one who had the very limited vocabulary and then, when I wrote on his signature sheet, in red pen and capital letters, exactly what he'd done and said, jumped on my parcel repeatedly - having a 7 year old girl Pupil BW in the house as a witness helped :)).

So... nominations for your worst delivery company? (horror stories optional...)

DON'T BUY FROM... campaign (see below, below, and erm, below)

Up from 93rd last night to 20th this morning (if you don't count the sub-returns).

Together we *can* make a difference to this firm's net presence/sales, so to their profitability, so their willingness to invest in customer service (or go bust).

As regular readers know, I believe passionately in the cause of the consumer, and I make no apology to anyone who thought I was being harsh yesterday... well OK, a sort of one, but isn't it hard to get people to get motivated these days? (I'm thinking back to lots of other past campaigns involving Google - not mine, but others, and within a couple of hours almost every site was linked - ah how blogland has changed - and not just blogland I think - why is it that in so many cases people just 'walk on by'? (cf) - and interesting question on the same subject here).

Many thanks to all those of you who have believed in this cause and have already linked. A few more would be very helpful in reaching the aim of front page on a standard Google return that displays 10 sites :)

Disappointed

As far as I can see, there is not one single link to the post 2 down from anyone except the person involved.

Why? Is it yet another example of 'nothing to do with me can't be bothered'? Maybe there were too many words and no-one read it?

93rd on Google (even out of 2.44M) isn't going to have the desired effect, and, at present, without the magic words (see below), it really isn't clear from a Google search that the company in question has such poor customer service and technical support and should be avoided. Yes, there is lots of info, but it needs "DON'T BUY FROM..." to appear in the few words of text that Google displays beside each return.

I have nothing to gain from this personally.
I can personally vouch for the verity of the story.
There is nothing in the story that is not true, so absolutely no way that there is any legal objection to doing this.
There are hundreds of similar stories of this company's complete disregard for the customer once the product is sold.
Together we could save a lot of people a lot of wasted time, money and energy.

Consumers need to learn to bite back at companies like this, or nothing changes and the current situation deteriorates further. Companies are there to make money. That is their sole purpose. They will trim levels of quality, customer care etc as low as consumers will let them.

Please help.

Instructions are at the bottom of the next post down.
The link can go in anywhere, it doesn't have to be a separate post.

Consumer Witch - and request for link help

Thanks very much to everyone who offered suggestions to solve my hard-drive problems. I finally tracked down the source of (at least some of) the stolen space - Java had not-so-kindly placed 11 different 100+ MB update files (totalling 1.4GB) into my programs section. Deleting all but the latest of them gave me 21% free space on that part of the partitioned drive, and allowed me to defragment. 3.5 hours of defragmenting later, the machine is now working like new. *crosses fingers and toes and does spell*

Now, because people know that I'm interested in consumer issues, I often hear tales of woe, and get requests for help.

Most of the time I tut (sometimes more under my breath than others) and profer some advice on how to sort things out, or how not to get into that situation the next time (it amazes me how easily some people are taken in or palmed off - and how few people demand monetary compensation - always call it 'a goodwill gesture' not compensation (aside, just because I'm thinking about it, having done so yesterday: if a timed delivery is late, always ask the company you ordered from for your delivery fee to be refunded - they will simply claim it against the courier who has failed to provide the service contracted for, and, the only way to get companies to improve service is to hit them in the financial department).

But, sometimes I hear stories that are just so atrocious that I feel more needs to be done.

Google is a very powerful force, as I've proved on several previous occasions, particularly for an internet-based business.

I'd like to see the company in the post below sort out their customer and technical support.

It's a company that has already been investigated by BBC Watchdog as many hundreds (thousands?) of people have had problems with them. But, they're not apparently doing anything (and, if they are, it's not enough). They need to be 'helped' to put more effort into improving the situation.

Therefore, it would be really good if you could link to the post below (written by a fellow blogger and friend of mine - and, believe me, the written version doesn't do justice to the amount of hassle he's had) somewhere in your blog.

It won't take many links from bloggers to get this onto the front page of Google. And it will save a lot of prospective computer purchasers a lot of time, money, and frustration.

Your links would be most effective if you would use the phrase (in capitals) DON'T BUY FROM MESH COMPUTERS! around the URL (ie [a href="http://www.blue-witch.co.uk/2007_09.html#005852"]DON'T BUY FROM MESH COMPUTERS![/a] (change square brackets for pointy hats of course), which will make it look like: DON'T BUY FROM MESH COMPUTERS!).

Thanks.

DON'T BUY FROM MESH COMPUTERS!

Overall, MESH is a mess - was earlier this year, still is, as I have found from personal experience (see below). Their levels of customer service and technical support are atrocious - despite being
investigated by BBC TV's Watchdog programme and an appearance by their MD on the show where he solemnly promised he would sort out their customers' problems, nothing has happened.

MESH seems to be run on the ethos of build 'em quick, sell 'em cheap and try to satisfy 90% of customers - but when you're selling at such volume, that leaves thousands, if not tens of thousands of people who are unhappy with their purchase. They keep getting rave reviews in PC magazines, who no doubt want to keep the advertising revenue from such a big market share holder - but there are thousands of posts on the net (see, for example, here ) from customers warning against buying from MESH.

So - my experiences with MESH - my actual problems with the machine are very mild in comparison with others that can be found all over the internet, but it's been the total lack of effective customer support that has been totally exasperating.

I ordered my PC in December, and it arrived on time. Out of the box however, as soon as switching it on I got an 'Unknown PCI Device' error - and the hardware installation wizard. I tried running through this, but the system was unable to find drivers. MESH PC's do NOT come with a disk copy of Windows - the drivers are put on the hard drive, and I suppose in theory these days Windows PCs are supposed to be able to plug&play all peripherals, but in my opinion, if anything goes wrong, you really do need the installation disk. Everything on the machine was working despite this 'error' however, and I foolishly didn't contact Mesh and send the machine back straight away.

The Unknown PCI device error still lingered however, and I eventually posted a support thread on my account page. (Incidentally, MESH's website is fairly badly built, with problems frequently cropping up with posting and dynamic content in the My Account section in both FF and IE7). Eventually I received a reply with a link to a driver. Which didn't solve the problem. I replied to that, and received another link that also didn't solve the problem.

I gave up trying to get the problem sorted - as I mentioned, everything on the machine worked, so I perhaps foolishly decided I would just have to 'ignore' it. Gradually though, I began to start experiencing crashes, usually while playing video-intensive games. I tried again in February
to get some assistance with the problem, and after a couple more links to drivers which did nothing I gave up again - I work long hours and as MESH don't offer much or any support out of office hours, it's really difficult to get anywhere with them.

Again in July I tried to get somewhere with it, and after yet more links to drivers that didn't work, I managed to fix the problem myself after spending a lot of time searching forums and the like. Although I managed to fix the problems with crashing, the annoying 'Unknown PCI Device' was still there and is still there to date. I asked them to send out an on-site engineer, but they won't, saying that it's a software problem - although they are unable to diagnose what the problem is, and there is no way of knowing that it could possibly be faulty hardware masquerading as
a software glitch...

The technical support is poor to say the least - I've found recently that you get put through to Indian call centres, although there does seems to be UK based support - if you ordered your PC after March (I think). The Indian technical support is pretty useless: difficult to understand them half of the time, sometimes they say they will send you drivers but don't, sometimes take your email address down wrong (I have lost count of the number of times I have given someone at MESH my telephone number or email address - why isn't this centralised on my account?) - and eventually the feeling seems to be they just don't want to know about problems or are unable to provide adequate support.

As a final note - despite all my problems, I bizarrely decided I would give them another go, as they had some very good prices on widescreen monitors. Seeing as there isn't much that can go wrong with a bit of kit like that I ordered a 22" widescreen. On the expected day of delivery, I waited until 3pm, then phoned the despatch number to check up.

The girl in the despatch call centre didn't seem to have had the slightest bit of customer service training - one word answers, and hung up on me before I had finished my query (so I didn't get her name of course) - BUT she assured me I would receive my monitor before 6pm. I called back to complain about the way she had dealt with my call, and a second guy informed me that, despite what I'd been told in a despatch email, my monitor hadn't been despatched and I wouldn't receive it until after the weekend.

Infuriated by their complete inability to handle even the most basic order, I cancelled it on the spot. I'm still waiting now to make sure the refund goes through correctly. Of course - even though they hadn't debited my account at the time, there was no way to stop them doing so
(I contacted my credit card company, and they told me I could request the supplier not to redeem the credit voucher - but MESH didn't seem to care about this, or understand what I was asking) - and yesterday I received a returns label from them - despite the guy in support telling
me my cancelled order had been pulled off the despatch vehicle. I will wait to see whether they credit a refund for goods they haven't delivered...

Overall, MESH is a mess - was earlier this year, still is. Their levels of customer service and technical support are atrocious - despite being investigated by BBC's Watchdog programme and an appearance by their MD on the show where he solemnly promised he would sort out their customers' problems, nothing has happened. MESH seems to be run on the ethos of build 'em quick, sell 'em cheap, and try to satisfy 90% of customers - but when you're selling at such volume, that leaves thousands, if not tens of thousands of people who are unhappy with their purchase. They keep getting rave reviews in PC magazines, who no doubt want to keep the advertising revenue from such a big market share holder - but there are thousands of posts on the net from customers warning against buying from MESH.

My advice would be that if you can afford to pay a little bit more, support a local vendor who will build your PC from scratch to your specifications. The parts will be identical, and you will most likely get a much more professional and friendly service.

BW says: That was a guest post from a fellow (currently hiating) blogger personally known to several of you. I would add that he is a professional web developer and self-confessed long-time computer geek (*ducks* ;)), so goodness knows how an average buyer is supposed to cope with the problems that seem to be endemic in MESH computers. I thought Dell were bad until I heard and read about MESH...

I will, of course, be happy to publish any response from MESH (either in the comments below, or, when these have auto-shut in a few days, via the email address in the sidebar.

Thought for the day

Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Yet Another Guest Post from Mi1dred

I’ve been a bit of a naughty girl.

I think I might have to say sorry. But it wasn’t really my fault and it all turned out just right and dandy I tell you.

On Saturday Mr BW fitted brake lights and indicators to my bottom, although for some reason only he knows, my indicators don’t flash like they do on the Moderns, they just light up. Apparently something called a flasher unit doesn’t work and has to go back.

I am not sure I like being prodded and poked with new wires; I am 74 you know and people should have some respect for my age.

Anyway, as I way saying before you interrupted me, I had a lovely day on Saturday. We surprised Mummy Mr BW, by arriving to pick her up for afternoon tea when she didn’t know about me. Then on Sunday, Old Friends BW came to see us in their old car. Well I say old, he was less than half my age, but was a very nice sports car from the 70s.

Well, would you believe it but they went out for a ride and left me behind, no respect for age those young sports cars, too young and too fast if you ask my opinion. But later I took Mr BW and Mr Old Friend BW out for a ride and behaved myself.

Then I took Mr BW and Mrs Old Friend BW out and decided to teach them a lesson for leaving me behind before, so I ran out of fuel about a mile from home as they turned around to come back. Now as they weren’t going far, neither Mr BW nor Mrs Old Friend BW had brought their mobile phones, or any money, and Mr BW had only recently put all the petrol from his spare cans in me, so he doesn’t know what I have done with it all. Hehe.

Some nice people did stop to see if they could help, but just then BW and Mr Old Friend BW arrived in the old young sports car. They had decided to go for a little ride too and luckily went the same way I did, and even luckier that they had a can of petrol, so we filled up and went home again.

Well, that will teach 'em to mess about with my wiring, and let that be a lesson to them, oh yes, make no mistake, no one messes with Mi1dred without me getting my own back. I am 74 you know, did I ever tell you.

I have also started to knock a bit on my front suspension, which Mr BW cannot work out. But I saw him through the window reading books last night and think he might have an idea now so I am expecting to be fiddled with once again.

Oh life used to be so much simpler when I lived in a big barn and only went out once a year for my medical check up.

Computer Witch

Does anyone know how to move a 'partition' on a hard drive?

Mine is split into C and D, but the C (where the programs are) now has only 12% space left, and won't defrag (it badly needs it as it keeps doing strange things, hanging, and crashing all over the place, but says it needs 15% space to do so), while the D (where the data is) still has 75% free (mostly because all the photos are on a portable, but permanently connected removable hard drive).

And later, we'll have a horror story, from a reader's personal experience, of a large computer company to avoid.

Watchdog appear not to have been able to solve this company's appalling attitude to customer service, so I thought I'd have a go at using the Power of Google to warn prospective customers of what they might be in for when things go wrong. I might need a few links from readers to help my spells along...

And Mi1dred was very jealous and very naughty yesterday when the Old Friends BW (who have recently moved back up this way so they are now only 20 rather than 220 miles away, which is good) paid us an unexpected visit. She may need to talk about that too...