What happened to the handy local shops?

I know all the reasons why they don’t exist in small towns any more – but it is just not on when I want something and would have to travel a long way to buy it!  J

Someone had a photo of their tarot reading set-up and had a really lovely soft velvet blue cloth on a small square table and I thought it would be excellent to get one.  

I want a really sumptuously soft royal blue or purple fringed one and have been searching online for hours checking out scarves, square shawls, tablecloths etc. trying to find one, or even the material so that I can possibly make one - although that would mean having to dig the dreaded sewing machine out of hibernation in the loft to add the fringing.

But I have had no joy whatsoever - I think I really need to check out car boot sales etc. although I would never be up in time to go to one.  We used to have haberdashery type shops or stores around to buy material but they all seem to be long gone.  

I suppose I could check out local markets or go to a big town and try a department store.  But do I want one that much???!!!  Especially as they may not even have what I want when I get there.

I have found some heavy velvet/velour material on eBay for curtains or dressmaking but I am not sure that will actually be the thick soft plush velvet I am thinking of, although they probably don’t even make that type of fabric any more as it is too expensive and everyone wants the thinner stretchy velour type material now.

I just hate sewing at the best of times so would much prefer to buy it already made especially as my sewing machine has this nasty habit of chugging nicely along, teasing me into thinking all is well, and then it suddenly jams and totally annialates the fabric by bunching it all up and getting the cotton all knotted up in a huge bundle.  

This then takes me an hour to unpick, then check the machine that always seems to look all innocent with nothing wrong, and then having to try it again with fingers and toes crossed just hoping it will get to the end without ruining it any more.

I don’t even know why I am that bothered about getting some velvet material as I already have some perfectly good black velour material that has silvery white specks on it that I use (no fringing though) that looks really good with the tarot cards.  

I originally bought this from my belly dancing teacher with the idea of making a hip scarf with it for doing my belly dancing, but it just sat in the drawer for ages as I bought a couple of ready-made satin ones with coins on to jiggle and shimmer nicely instead.  I do love the material and it is perfect, but it would be lovely to have the sumptuous velvet fringed one as an alternative.

I do wonder though if they even still make what I have in mind without it costing an arm and a leg plus only being available in very elite stores.

Importing CD’s to the Computer (Update)

I thought I would give you an update on my putting music on the computer saga! 

Well the CD importing came to an abrupt stop for quite a while as I ran out of space to put them on the 2 laptops and the main PC!  Not something I had expected at all. 

I had obviously realised early on that I couldn’t put much on the 144GB main computer but as the laptops didn’t really have anything stored on them I thought they would be OK.  No such luck.

Oh what a state I got myself into – I was having to juggle it all around to get the ones I wanted most on the iPod, some of which I haven’t even managed to import yet.  So I was having to transfer imported music from one laptop to the other, a few at a time back and forth, to get what I wanted on just one laptop to copy to be able to sync the iPod.

I had presumed I could just add the music from EACH of the laptops and the PC but realised belatedly that you can only “sync” it from one device.  If you plug it into any of the others it syncs everything from that one and overwrites what I have already put in from the first one. 

You would think there would be a way of adding rather than overwriting but hey isn’t that just too obvious a requirement for the designers.  There could be an overwrite choice or an add choice.  Surely that wouldn’t be too hard, after all iTunes let’s you add up to 5 computers to the network so why can’t you add music from each of those?  Makes sense to me. 

So anyway you can only sync from one computer, although you can add things manually from that computer so you don’t have to add everything.  It is frightening though as I had to sync them all again once and then when you go to add some more songs manually it comes up with the little warning box that it will overwrite them which you have to click to confirm.  But then you can add them manually.  So why have the warning box come up at all when the manual box is ticked???!!!  Who designs these things!

Sooo – it was either buy an external hard drive to add all the music to or buy a new computer that we had been putting off for so long. 

After many, many hours of talking about it and checking prices online we finally decided we may as well put the money towards a better computer so we wouldn’t need an external hard drive.  Or not yet anyway, as we would feel safe in that everything is stored on Carbonite.  I will just try to convince myself of how much I have saved rather than how much I have spent.

As soon as my new computer arrived I have spent the requisite number of hours pulling my hair out trying to get it running and all the data transferred before I could get the final third of my CD’s imported and transfer all the others from the laptops so they have memory space to do things again.  Of course this will mean syncing the iPod yet again, with the new computer this time.

I should think in about 3 months time I will finally emerge from IT computer world, Carbonite will have finally backed it all up, and I can get back to doing normal things! J

My Recent Experiences with Private Health Care Appointments

Well how is this for private health care (in England)!  I am seriously wondering if it is worth trying to keep up my private healthcare payment now I am not working full time.


Problem 1

I had an appointment a few weeks ago for an eye problem - I drove half an hour to get there and when I got in to see him he said he doesn't do those procedures now and said he would refer me to someone who does.  

Seeing as the letter from my optician and doctor must have clearly stated the problem then he or his secretary should have informed me of this instead of making the appointment.



Problem 2

I drove half an hour to the same private hospital for an appointment about my back.  On arrival the receptionist looked baffled and then said she would get someone to come and see me as the consultant had no clinic there that morning.  

A lady came out and said that although my letter clearly stated the time and hospital, they had booked me in at a hospital miles away at that time instead.  However he did have a clinic at this hospital that evening and they could book me into that if I would like to come back.

I did go back later and all the consultant said was "did you not fancy a trip over to the other hospital" - I refrained from saying that unless I could be teleported it would have taken me a further hour to get there so would obviously not be in time for the appointment, as I was at the correct place on the letter at the correct time.  

He then just casually mentioned that this happens all the time.  WHAT - this is private and even the NHS doesn't get it that wrong!!!  

Not one word of apology!!!

If I had taken time off work I would have been even more infuriated as it would have cost me wages as well as fuel.

Plus he asked me if I had the doctor’s referral letter as he hadn't - I replied that I hadn't but he should have, otherwise how would I have received an appointment in the post without ever having contacted him.  

He also said he couldn't find my MRI scan and would have to try and track it down.  To that I said, “I have a copy of the disc in my handbag if you would like to borrow it”.  That was £10 well spent in getting my own copy!

I am even wondering who I could possibly complain to about any of this as he obviously wasn't bothered - the hospital? (they only book the rooms not the clients I presume), the secretaries? (like they are likely to bother any more than him), the insurance provider? (it didn't cost them any more and it wasn't their fault).  

I can only see that he is to blame because he is expected to take responsibility for his secretaries but he didn't seem to think it a problem at all - why one earth not as it must waste his time as well as his clients time.
I does make you wonder, doesn't it..........