Just heard from the manufacturers that my new camper is due off the production line today - yay!!!! Then it has to be quality controlled and tweaked, canopy fitted etc, and of course it's Bank Holiday weekend, so I'm hoping it should arrive at the dealer in the middle of next week. Then they also have to quality control it and do bits and pieces I've asked for, like an external water pump, and register it etc...so I'm hoping to get it in time for the Hare and Hounds Show....please!!!!!! Cross your fingers for me!!!
Edited to add (12/05/10) that it still is not here.....the dealers tell me that, after nagging the manufacturers - Swift - for a week, they eventually went over to take it for PDI to Peugeot themselves this morning, and it should have arrived back at their own service area for their own PDI this afternoon. They still seem to think they can get all the extras done by tomorrow.... we will see, but I hope they are not being over-optimisitc. The dealers are just as p****d off about this as I am! At least they have managed to get it registered to me and road taxed.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Lincoln
What a weekend! First of all, I still don't have a camper, so I had booked B&B at a place recommended to me by a friend - went there first to dump my stuff in my own annex with en suite, four-poster bed, and mini kitchen.... and b*%%dy peacocks - 8 of them!!! Then on to the showground just 20 minutes away for a wonderful training session for 2 hours. Really enjoyed that! Then an hour's measuring of dogs, and back to the B&B.
Saturday dawned bright and sunny, a lovely Spring day for a show. I love Lincoln; even though it is a biggish show with 10 rings, it doesn't feel so big because the rings are in the 3 central arena areas (just 1 outside) with the camping and parking all around the arenas, and the stalls and marquee in the centre as well. It also has massively huge exercise areas in every direction, and proper showes and loos. The ground drains well so it is always good to run on, and, an added bonus, is level.
Bryn ran like a real top dog, lots of enthusiasm and drive, totally accurate contacts and weaves, just a careless handler as a handicap...doh!! But I was delighted with him, and drove back to the B&B in a really good mood. Amber and Corker had had some good walks and runs in the exercise area, so we were all a happy band, and Jackie and I did another hour's measuring at lunchtime.
Not so happy by the next morning. The peacocks had decided to roost on the roof of the annex I think; they were certainly not very welcome vistors as far as the dogs were concerned. Anyway, it was raining - urgh! then one of the birds landed on the roof and startled the dogs and me, so that was coffee all over the cushion on the delapidated chaise longue. I had already spent ages mopping up the tipped over water bowl from earlier, now I had this to contend with, and I needed to somehow get the dogs past the peacocks to the car to set off for the show - without any birds being killed or the neighbourhood woken up. To say I was stressed by the time I arrived is an understatement!
Bryn ran like a trooper again, though the courses weren't as nice, in my opinion, as the previous day's (except Dave Hutchinson's which I messed up on the start line!) two of the other courses were too straightforward - all you needed was a very fast dog, little skill at all - and the other was a boring collection of pullthroughs but not much else. Bryn went clear in the agility, but wasn't fast enough for the simple blast course finishing 24th and about 3 seconds behind the winner. BUT the sun came out again between the showers; my 'passenger dogs' got their exercise frolics again; Bryn really looked to be enjoying every moment of the show; and it was great to catch up with so many friends. Another excellent Lincoln show!
Saturday dawned bright and sunny, a lovely Spring day for a show. I love Lincoln; even though it is a biggish show with 10 rings, it doesn't feel so big because the rings are in the 3 central arena areas (just 1 outside) with the camping and parking all around the arenas, and the stalls and marquee in the centre as well. It also has massively huge exercise areas in every direction, and proper showes and loos. The ground drains well so it is always good to run on, and, an added bonus, is level.
Bryn ran like a real top dog, lots of enthusiasm and drive, totally accurate contacts and weaves, just a careless handler as a handicap...doh!! But I was delighted with him, and drove back to the B&B in a really good mood. Amber and Corker had had some good walks and runs in the exercise area, so we were all a happy band, and Jackie and I did another hour's measuring at lunchtime.
Not so happy by the next morning. The peacocks had decided to roost on the roof of the annex I think; they were certainly not very welcome vistors as far as the dogs were concerned. Anyway, it was raining - urgh! then one of the birds landed on the roof and startled the dogs and me, so that was coffee all over the cushion on the delapidated chaise longue. I had already spent ages mopping up the tipped over water bowl from earlier, now I had this to contend with, and I needed to somehow get the dogs past the peacocks to the car to set off for the show - without any birds being killed or the neighbourhood woken up. To say I was stressed by the time I arrived is an understatement!
Bryn ran like a trooper again, though the courses weren't as nice, in my opinion, as the previous day's (except Dave Hutchinson's which I messed up on the start line!) two of the other courses were too straightforward - all you needed was a very fast dog, little skill at all - and the other was a boring collection of pullthroughs but not much else. Bryn went clear in the agility, but wasn't fast enough for the simple blast course finishing 24th and about 3 seconds behind the winner. BUT the sun came out again between the showers; my 'passenger dogs' got their exercise frolics again; Bryn really looked to be enjoying every moment of the show; and it was great to catch up with so many friends. Another excellent Lincoln show!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
And so to bed....
Well, I took Amber to the physio and vet last Thursday afternoon as she hasn't been 'right' for a few weeks - intermittently, not all the time. I had taken her to the vet about 3 weeks ago, but without much satisfaction as the young locum was obviously out of her depth with anything more complicated than kennel cough or a cut paw....... Anyway, the verdict on Thursday was that Amber has arthritis in the dodgy left hock (expected) and also in her right front leg (compensating for the left rear) and also in her spine between her shoulder blades (compensating for both). As a result, they advised that she should continue with exercise and some light agility training, but the lovely twisty Grade 6/7 courses that she and I adore and do well on are a 'no,no'.
I've spent the past hour ringing and emailing show secretaries and processors to withdraw entries for her later this summer at those shows where the closing date hasn't yet arrived. No problems at all, just a bit of a sad job.
And so to bed, for Austmans Amber Nectar at Yettontop A.W.Now I need to plan her retirement party!
Thursday, April 08, 2010
The oh-so-slow Vision Express experience!
Vision Express - well there's a misnomer for a start!! I've been waiting to calm down to write this Blog, but, as that isn't going to happen apparently, I'll write it now.
I went for my eyes tested at my normal optician on 26 March. As suspected, I needed a new prescription for reading and, for the first time, some distance glasses for driving. I like to read outdoors and to wear sun glasses when driving on bright days, so that effectively meant 4 pairs of glasses to buy!!! (Or those ones that change colour, but they don't go dark enough for me, and take too long to change) My normal optician didn't have any offers on, so I visited a few others - Specsavers, Boots and Vision Express - and decided that Vision Express offered the best deal for me because they not only had a 2 for £99 offer, including lenses, but also offered a one hour service. So, I chose the best I could from a very limited range of frames, and off I went to have a coffee for an hour. When I came back, only one pair were ready.....they hadn't actually got any lenses in stock for the others.......they would have to order them, and, if I was lucky, they would be ready on 1 April. So much for a one hour service!
So, back I come on 1 April to collect the glasses, only to discover that they hadn't tinted the sunglasses to the shade I wanted: these were much too light. And the pair I had taken a week ago already needed adjustment as they were too loose and wonky. The shop offered to retint the glasses on the one hour service after the Easter break, so, unable to do anything about it, I accepted.
Visit 3: 7 April. I return with the sunglasses for retinting, only to be told by the Assistant Manager that there isn't anyone in the lab to do the retinting for me - it will have to be done the next day. I explain why I am not a happy customer, especially as the other pair that I collected on1 April are now wonky and loose and need adjustment too. No apology - nothing except a nod and a repetition that the sunglasses would have to be done the next day. He obviously missed out on the 'handling disgruntled customers' part of the customer care training......
Visit 4: 8 April: I arrive at the time specified by the Assistant Manager and I speak to the Store Manager who is immediately apologetic. One pair of sunglasses are brought down from the lab.....but they haven't taken the tint properly and are blotchy. The other pair haven't yet been done. They would like to order some new lenses and start again. Very quietly I erupt! I am sick of driving into town simply to get these glasses, paying for carparking, and going home without the glasses and with the prospect of another visit. The Manager offers to deliver them to my house, but with the negative experiences I have had, I want to collect them from the shop where I can - and will - make a very big disturbance if things still aren't right. They promise to get them overnight and tint them properly in the morning, ring me so that I can collect them in the afternoon. No offer of any recompense for all the troubles; no sweeteners of any sort.
So, Visit 5. As promised a phone call is received at lunchtime, and I go into town again. The very pleasant Manager is waiting for me with two, perfectly tinted, pairs of sunglasses - one for reading, and one for driving. She apologises again, and offers me some cleaner for the glasses as a small recompense for all the troubles. Now that is the way to treat customers! I leave with a smile on my face instead of the deep frown I had after previous visits. She even thanked me for being so patient!!!! I obviously hid my feelings better than usual, then.
I went for my eyes tested at my normal optician on 26 March. As suspected, I needed a new prescription for reading and, for the first time, some distance glasses for driving. I like to read outdoors and to wear sun glasses when driving on bright days, so that effectively meant 4 pairs of glasses to buy!!! (Or those ones that change colour, but they don't go dark enough for me, and take too long to change) My normal optician didn't have any offers on, so I visited a few others - Specsavers, Boots and Vision Express - and decided that Vision Express offered the best deal for me because they not only had a 2 for £99 offer, including lenses, but also offered a one hour service. So, I chose the best I could from a very limited range of frames, and off I went to have a coffee for an hour. When I came back, only one pair were ready.....they hadn't actually got any lenses in stock for the others.......they would have to order them, and, if I was lucky, they would be ready on 1 April. So much for a one hour service!
So, back I come on 1 April to collect the glasses, only to discover that they hadn't tinted the sunglasses to the shade I wanted: these were much too light. And the pair I had taken a week ago already needed adjustment as they were too loose and wonky. The shop offered to retint the glasses on the one hour service after the Easter break, so, unable to do anything about it, I accepted.
Visit 3: 7 April. I return with the sunglasses for retinting, only to be told by the Assistant Manager that there isn't anyone in the lab to do the retinting for me - it will have to be done the next day. I explain why I am not a happy customer, especially as the other pair that I collected on1 April are now wonky and loose and need adjustment too. No apology - nothing except a nod and a repetition that the sunglasses would have to be done the next day. He obviously missed out on the 'handling disgruntled customers' part of the customer care training......
Visit 4: 8 April: I arrive at the time specified by the Assistant Manager and I speak to the Store Manager who is immediately apologetic. One pair of sunglasses are brought down from the lab.....but they haven't taken the tint properly and are blotchy. The other pair haven't yet been done. They would like to order some new lenses and start again. Very quietly I erupt! I am sick of driving into town simply to get these glasses, paying for carparking, and going home without the glasses and with the prospect of another visit. The Manager offers to deliver them to my house, but with the negative experiences I have had, I want to collect them from the shop where I can - and will - make a very big disturbance if things still aren't right. They promise to get them overnight and tint them properly in the morning, ring me so that I can collect them in the afternoon. No offer of any recompense for all the troubles; no sweeteners of any sort.
So, Visit 5. As promised a phone call is received at lunchtime, and I go into town again. The very pleasant Manager is waiting for me with two, perfectly tinted, pairs of sunglasses - one for reading, and one for driving. She apologises again, and offers me some cleaner for the glasses as a small recompense for all the troubles. Now that is the way to treat customers! I leave with a smile on my face instead of the deep frown I had after previous visits. She even thanked me for being so patient!!!! I obviously hid my feelings better than usual, then.
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