HELLO!

Hello! (Again)
What the fuck have I been playing at? It's been, what? 3 and a half months since I last decided I had something interesting to say? I am truly sorry. But at least this must mean I've got quite a lot to tell, right? Let's see.

So. In my last post I told you all about the time my beloved Aston Villa were robbed (robbed!) of winning the League Cup. You'll be pleased to know I am nearly almost entirely over this, so let's move on! Since then, I'd like to think I've been really busy doing lots of interesting things. And right now, I am going to attempt to recount them.

I guess the biggest thing that happened is that I finally, thankfully, managed to pass my bloody driving test. Third (or was it fourth?) times a charm, as they say. I even have a car! And I've been busy driving around (very sensibly, if my mother asks). It's a 1999 Ford Fiesta, and I paid a little over £500 which I have decided is a bargain, so please don't tell me otherwise!

I've been working a lot of overtime at work. I only do it in an attempt to make ends meet, and to be honest, I'm getting pretty bored of it. There is a lot of responsibility in our job. We constantly get told that if we make a mistake, it could very well lead to someone dying. Yet we get paid the same as cleaners. This makes no sense to me. And it is leading me to think I need to find something else to do with my life. Fuck knows what though. Any suggestions you have are more than welcome!

I've just been reading back on a post I did towards the end of last year entitled "Things that will help improve my life." I would say I've achieved six or seven of the things I listed. And has my life improved? Probably. Though, I can't really remember what my life was like then. Suffice to say, it must have been pretty crap if I thought getting a haircut would help me out.

I also did a post suggesting that 2010 will be "The Year of New Things". I am sorry to say that I'm pretty sure I haven't done anything new. But do not despair, I will double my efforts for the second half of the year! (Probably.)

I think that's it for now. I'm off to a couple of music festivals over the next two of weekends so perhaps I'll have something interesting to say about them.

Bye.

League Cup Final

Sunday February 28th was a day of mixed emotions for me. I'll get into why as this post progresses, but I may as well just delve right in and get into what happened...

As the title might suggest, Sunday the 28th was the League (or Carling) Cup final, and my team, Aston Villa were playing. This is a pretty special event, one that doesn't happen all too often. The last time we got to a cup final was the 2000 FA Cup final vs Chelsea. We lost. The time before that was in 1996 in another League Cup final against Leeds United. We won! The trouble with both these finals (and the 1994 League Cup final) is that I wasn't really old enough to fully understand the happenings. Aged 8, 10 and 14 at the time of each respective final I think I was too young to get fully involved. But now, aged 24, I felt I was ready.

The day started at about 7am. Please bear in mind this is on a Sunday! And, I struggled to sleep the previous night. Call it pre-match nerves, I suppose. Anyway, after I showered, ate and pulled on my lovely new Villa shirt (featuring "Petrov 19" on the back) we left at about 8.30am.
I'd like to tell you about the journey down, but to be honest, I was sat in the back and not paying much attention. All I know is this; at 9.30am I decided it was time to open a beer and at about 10.15am we stopped at a service station near Reading for breakfast. The rest of the journey was pretty uneventful, other than the terrible traffic in London, but that was to be expected...

We parked up just outside the stadium at around midday and began layering up because it was very cold and wet. Once this was done, we set about trying to find a nearby pub (whilst drinking the remaining car beers) to enjoy some pre-match build up in. Eventually we found one, I think it was called JJ Moon's, and headed inside. It was a designated "Villa Pub" so there were only Villa fans in there, and boy, were they having a jolly good time. There was singing, and dancing, and swearing at things on Sky Sports News they didn't like the look of, and very soon we were joining in. Apart from my grandad. I forget he's almost 73, and I think he was a bit overwhelmed but he did quite well. After much singing, at around 2.15pm, it was time to get out that pub because we were off. Off to Wembley. Like properly. Inside the stadium and everything!

Wembley Stadium is a magnificent thing. I know it was about a hundred years late and a billion pounds over budget, but for all the cock ups, it turned out alright. My only problem with it is there are too few toilets. Actually, that might not be true, but for an event where the majority of people there are going to be men, you think they might change some of the women's toilets in to men's in the hope of alleviating some of the congestion. At the very least, I would have got less piss on my shoes.
Anyway, that aside, it is glorious. I only took one picture while I was there, and it doesn't exactly do the place justice, in terms of the sheer size of it but here it is anyway.I took that as they were announcing the teams. They did it in quite a cool way, each of those flags bearing the players' names in which ever position they played, revealed one by one to the cheers (or boos) of the fans. By the way, I should point out we were playing Man Utd. (Yeah, booooo! Right?)

So, the teams had been announced, and they were out ready to play. I think there was the national anthem but I went for a wee just before kick off. And then there was the kick off! I tell you what, I sang a lot. I was singing along to songs I didn't even think I knew the words too. Our fans were so much louder and more passionate than those other lot. And I'm not just saying that. I watched the game back on TV when I got home and I could just not hear them!
The game itself was really rather good too. Sort of end to end for a lot of it. We got a penalty after 4 minutes. Vidic brought down Gabby in the area but once again, the referee was indeed a wanker. Vidic should have been sent off, everyone knows it. Milner scored the penalty and we were 1-0 up. Exciting. But then, one thing led to another and we lost 2-1. Oh.
Let's not dwell on that though, because, although I was terribly disappointed, I was also incredibly proud. The final whistle went and after some cheering from the Man Utd fans, what could you hear? It was the Villa fans. AND IT'S ASTON VILLA, ASTON VILLA FC. THEY'RE BY FAR THE GREATEST TEAM, THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN. Amazing. Manchester United have just won the League Cup and all you can hear is Aston Villa fans singing for their team. That's why I was so proud. I was also proud of the team's efforts they gave it a proper good go.

That was that then, cup final over. A slightly less buoyant car journey home (with another stop at those Reading services) followed, and we were home for about half 9. It was a bloody long day, improved only slightly when I found out I won £120 on a bet!

The trouble with weight loss.

Now, I'm not big on dieting. Exercise is something I do for fun, rather than to improve my body. But over the last few months I have lost nearly 2 stone. This is mostly from my walking to work and occasionally being too poor for food. And I have discovered something. MY CLOTHES ARE TOO BIG. I don't own a single pair of jeans that won't fall down if it wasn't for a belt. It's very frustrating.

I bet they never tell you about that when you sign up for the gym!

A Reply!

Hi Ben

I’m sorry to hear that you’re having problems with the coverage.

I realise that you need to stay connected with a strong signal at all times especially when you’re at home. I understand you’re upset as you didn’t receive a reply from us for your previous email. Due to unforeseen reasons, we haven’t received any correspondence from you earlier - this is first email that we have on our records. Let me explain how I can help you to receive better signal.

You have good coverage at DE1 3BB, so you should be able to use our services without any trouble. But I note that the issue persists, though we have covered your area well. Don’t worry - I’ll help you to sort out the signal concerns. Before we try anything else, let’s give this a go on your Nokia 6500 slider.

1. Turn your phone off.
2. Take the battery out.
3. Wait for 30 seconds.
4. Put the battery back in.
5. Turn the phone back on.

This step sounds too simple, but it helps to fix a lot of things. Also it will help to refresh the connection with the network to carry out the next step. Now manually select the network on your phone using these steps.

• go to Main Menu
• select Settings
• select Phone
• select Operator selection
• select Manual. Now choose the required network from the list.

We have updated Orange as our preferred roaming and back up partner. From the list, 3 or 3G (with a home icon) is our network. Whereas, 3(2.5G) and 3(2G) and 3 is for Orange network. You can select any one of these options which gives you the best signal.

After selecting the network, check if you’re able to get an improved signal. If not then please try a Sim card swap, if you have spare 3 phone available from your friend or family. This means that you need to try your 3 Sim card in another 3 phone and also use your 3 phone with a different 3 Sim card. This will help us confirm if the phone and Sim card works fine and where exactly the fault lies.

If you don’t have a spare phone, then just call us with the results of the other checks. Depending on the fault identified, we can investigate further. If the issue is with the phone then we’ll book it for repairs. In case it is a coverage problem in your area, then we’ll escalate the matter to our next level to fix it.

But, if we’re still unable to sort this issue then we’ll definitely suggest the best available options to resolve the matter. So we need talk you for this. We tried calling you twice on 01332230660. First time, you didn’t want to speak to us and the second time we left a voicemail for you. Can I call you at your convenience? Please give me your contact number and a time when we’ll be able to discuss this.

The bill dated 22 January of £40.10 is due on 10 February. I understand your reasons to cancel the direct debit (DD), as you find it upsetting to pay for a service that you’re unable to use when needed. Please reset the DD, to save the £4 admin fee for non DD mode of payments. You can reset the DDI by calling us or via My3. In the meantime you can make the payment using the options on the back of your bill.

We want to work this for you because we’d love you to stay with us. I note that you’ve already considered cancelling your account. However, once we solve the signal issue for you, I’m sure that you will not feel the need to leave us. Give us a chance and we’re hopeful that we may be able to change things for you.

I’m sure these settings will help to get your service up and running at the earliest. If it doesn’t, just call us and we’ll take care of the rest. You can tell us what you thought about our reply by doing a quick survey – just go to http://www.three.co.uk/responsesurvey. We’d love to hear from you, and we’ll use your feedback to help improve the way we do things.

If you have any more questions, please call on either 333 (free) from any 3 mobile phone or 0843 373 3333 (national rate) from any other phone and we’ll be happy to help.


Kind regards



Seher Ahmed
3 Customer Services


The desperate pleas of the ex. Well, it's too bloody late!

You won't reply, eh? I'll show you!

Dear Sir/Madam,

This is a follow up email to the one I sent you last week. In case you've forgotten, in it I requested to have my contract cancelled due to the poor signal I receive in my flat, thus rendering my phone useless.
Unfortunately, I have yet to here from you so I feel it is time to take matters into my own hands.
Dearest Three. I am leaving you.
If you'd got in touch, perhaps we could have worked things out? I guess we'll never know. I'll pay up until the end of the month (January 2010) but then I am off. If this was football, there'd probably be talk in the media about "mutual consent" but we both know I've quit. Were this a relationship, instead of a friendly break-up, you've just been dumped. I think you get the idea.

Let me just end by saying thanks. When I wasn't at home, you were actually quite a good service provider. Which was nice.

It's been fun.
Ben Trow.

An Email to Three

Dear Sir/Madam,

Mobile number: 077********

I am writing to you with a request. The request is to cancel my contract with yourselves. The reason for this is that I cannot get a signal in my flat, which is why I am emailing rather than phoning up. When I signed up with you in November 2008 I lived elsewhere and never had any trouble with signal, but since moving house in July 2009 I have struggled to get even one bar of signal on my phone. I think you'll agree that this is a very frustrating situation to be in.
What started off as a small annoyance has since grew into, well, a large annoyance and I would hope that nearly 15 months into an 18 month contract you could grant me my request and cancel my contract. I feel the £35 a month, plus £5 add on for internet which I have been paying (totaling £600) more than covers the cost of the phone and any usage over the last 15 months.
So how about it? Lets just accept we've had a good run but that it's time to go our separate ways. I hope you agree its the best thing to do.

Many thanks,
Ben Trow.

The Year of New Things

I've decided 2010 is going to be a year for trying out some new stuff. Foods and drinks that'd I'd normally turn my nose up to, situations that I perhaps wouldn't usually encounter. You know, that sort of thing.
I'm not entirely sure what these things are going to be yet, so suggestions are welcome! I thought maybe I might start drinking whisky...and I've not had sushi before. I could start smoking a pipe? I've never owned a leather jacket! All possible new things I could do.

I'm quite looking forward to it. Let's see how it goes, eh?

Sorry About The Doom

I agree you were right to say we're doomed
Cuz there isn't a chance that I'll get to be in your arms soon
Cuz I'm back on the road now
And there is nothing that we can do
I have to find a way to make the days pass soon

We spend our time looking for which one fits best
And in the morning I am waking
And I'm wondering how its me who ended up like this
Cuz I'm the one who said it would be easy
Now I'm the one whose feeling worse
Cuz I agreed that I would never be put first

And I know your heart is beating slow
And out of time with mine
So now I'll say goodbye


It's an amazing song. Go listen!

The Perils of Living Alone.

No one else to split the bills with,
Or the rent,
What if I slip and fall in the shower?
And what if start to choke on something?!
There's no one else to do the washing up,
Occasionally it gets a bit boring,
I've got no one to beat on Fifa on a regular basis,
Or lose to, but less regularly, obviously.


I can't think of anything else really. I've just decided I like doing lists at the moment.

Things that will help improve my life.

A better paying job,
A flat with central heating,
And double glazing,
32 inch HD TV,
iPhone,
In fact, how about I just win the Gadget Show competition?
Being able to be more sociable,
Passing my driving test,
Then getting a car,
A relationship?
I'm not sure about that one actually,
Owning the entire Monk boxset on DVD (or Blu-Ray?),
New jeans without holes in,
That goes for shoes too,
A hair cut.

Nothing

Hello there. You alright?

Just thought I'd spout some bollocks for a few minutes before I go for a shower and get ready for my day!

You might wonder why I'm not at work at this time, but don't you worry, I'm not having a skive. I've started doing shifts at work. 2-10. I'm only doing them for this week, then I'm back on the 9-5 for a while. These late shifts aren't too bad though. I get a lie in, and usually get to leave early. If I get home for half 10 then I've done well.

I've started driving again. I've had a couple of lessons which have gone quite well. Apart from when some idiot drove into the back of me, which wasn't much fun. At first I was like "Ah shit! What have I done? Was that my fault?" Then I realised, no, it wasn't. I was waiting at some traffic lights and this fella decided to use the back of my (ok, my instructor's) car to slow down instead of his brakes. But that's normal, right?

I'm getting a washing machine! How sad is it that I'm excited by this? I've not had one since I've moved in, which was...4 or so months ago. That's a long time to be going over to friends' places to borrow their washing machines. It's coming on Saturday, I may just do a load of washing there and then. Foof, right?

Christmas....that's getting closer, right? Gah...I hate talking about it already, but you have to get things organised and that. This year is the first I'm actually going to be working a bit. Last year I managed to get 2 weeks off, and before that were uni and school times. I'm working Christmas Eve, then I've got to get myself to my parents in Worcester for a couple of days then it's back to work in Derby until New Years Eve. Busy times. By the way, don't feel like you have to get me anything. I'm probably not going to get you anything, so...

I'm currently reading Tiny Acts of Rebellion by Rich Fulcher (of Mighty Boosh fame, but you knew that, right?). It's quite good, I might even attempt some of them. I'd give you an example, but they're quite long and I can't be bothered to type any out. You'll just have to get the book, maybe I'll lend you mine. Or maybe I won't! (a tiny act of rebellion there, actually).

Anyway, things to do. Bye!

Tea-tea-hurray!

Oh, what's that? In my mouth and going down to my belly? Oh yes, it's tea! Ah, I am happy.
I learnt nothing from my week of no tea, other than not drinking tea is rubbish. But I think I might have known that anyway.

I was going to do a bit of a general update now, but I can't be bothered. Tomorrow perhaps, right now, it's time for another tea.

Oh hello.
I feel there isn't much more I can tell you about wanting a cup of tea. There probably wasn't much more I could tell you about wanting a cup of tea after the first update.
That might explain why no one is reading this...

Anyway, 3 days to go and I want a flipping cup of tea!!!

Can you imagine going into Costa Coffee and (bearing in mind I don't drink coffee) not ordering a cup of tea. I've had two hot chocolotes today. I don't feel any better for having them, not like if I had a cuppa.
I've had a good day today though, so I guess you don't need to be downing gallons of tea to feel better!
I've now passed the three full days mark. By the time I wake up tomorrow, I'll be half way there. Woo! I can do this!

I'm now into my third day without a cup of tea. My mouth still feels so dry! Still slightly headachey too. Here's the worst thing though; people are saying I seem different. I'm not sure how, but they're right. I feel different. Lethargic. I think that's how I'd put it.
I don't think it helps that it's so cold out. Normally I'd have a cup of tea and I'd be warmed right up. Now I'm having to sit about wrapped up in a million layers, not daring to move just in case the cold gets in.

I'm not even half way but it seems like I've been doing this forever. I'm going to see my parents at the weekend. My mum makes a lovely cuppa; how will I cope?

A hangover is the worst thing in the world when you don't have a cup of tea.

Oh my days. Who knew not drinking tea could make you feel so bad? All day at work I've felt rough. Headache, dry mouth, tiredness. It was rubbish. Can a simple cup of tea in the morning stop all this? Or am I coming down with something? I don't know, I just don't like it. Still, only 6 days to go.

This morning was weird. I nearly put the kettle on, but then I remember what I was doing.
I am cold and I need a cup of tea. I knew this was a bad idea.

Update Number One.

I could really go for a cup of tea right now.

An experiment.

I don't know if you know, but I bloody love a cup of tea. In fact, I've just finished one. It was delicious. But here's the thing, that was my last cup of tea. FOR ONE WHOLE WEEK. Yeah, I know.

I don't know why I'm doing it, I just thought it might be interesting. I can't remember the last day I didn't have a cuppa, so am I too reliant on them? We shall see!

I'll keep you updated with how I'm getting on, because I know you care. So this is it, no more lovely hot steaming cups of tea for a week. Lets hope it goes OK. And whatever you do, don't try to make me a tea!