Grannymar

Well…….

I needed something to keep me busy when the broadband died.

That bag is tightly packed and if this had arrived while I was shredding, it might have ended up in there too!

The remote control is sitting on the address window on purpose.  The printed address on the back is for a genuine bank.

The letter/bank statement/whatever is addressed to:

• Mr 3 initials Surname
• C/O My Full Name
• My full address and
• Postcode

George, hold Elly down.

I DID NOT pick up a Toyboy on my way back home from Dublin.  The phone line and broadband were really not working, I would never think up an excuse like that!  Would I?

Do you know of anyone with a Barclays Bank account in the UK?

What would you do with the envelope?

Earlier in the week I found a letter on Elly’s Doorstep… well I suppose it was half way through the letter box.

Junk Mail.

I am well used to it.  It comes in many guises…

You have won… open the envelope to discover it is a fib, and it is a request to spend money on some rubbish.

The Occupier… usually a note telling that the power or water will be off for a few hours on a certain day for what ever reason.

The Householder…. Real junk mail selling exactly what you don’t want.

Letter addressed to my late husband….. Usually a platinum or gold credit card offer from some bank or other.  I once returned one of these saying he would only accept if it was valid for the next world!

I stole the envelope from Elly’s junk mail since it was a new one on me:

Tonight I was in the hall and thought I saw something on the doorstep.  I opened the door to find this:

At first glance I thought someone had left me a present of a puppy or kitten.  Then I took a closer look.

It was a food caddy from our Local Council so that we can recycle food waste.  The leaflet informs me that I may put any raw or cooked food in the caddy.

• Meat & fish - raw or cooked including bones.
• All dairy products - such as eggs and cheese.
• Raw & cooked vegetables and fruit.
• Bread cakes and pastries.
• Rice, pasta and beans.
• Uneaten food from your plates and dishes.
• Tea and coffee grounds

Included are two rolls of corn starch bags and a number to order more!

Do people not eat any more?

The day was turning to monochrome as I helped remove the anorak on an early November evening. You could feel the frost on the grey green fabric. I tugged on the elasticised cuffs as the arms were pulled away from me. All the while the chatter continued and you had to listen carefully, because she would say things only once! Soon I had the coat in my hands and despite the outer fabric of the garment feeling like ice, the inside was as warm as a furnace. I held it close to me as I looked into the glowing face standing before me. Automatically I reached out to touch the rosy cheeks and almost squealed at how cold they felt.

Taking the coat from me she headed off to hang it up and find her slippers. I went back to the task in hand. The door burst open and she was back in the centre of the floor with hands on hips, and a very determined look in her eyes.

“Its Ok, I know!” she blurted.

“What do you know?” I asked as I continued to peel potatoes.

“There is no Santa Clause!”

“Who told you that?” I asked as I removed an eye from a potato.

“Lucy! She knows.”

“Well if Lucy says so, then it must be right” I say as I put the potatoes on to boil.

“There is no Santa!” she repeated raising her voice, a little surprised at my lack of interest.

“That’s fine, if you say there is no Santa, then there is no Santa! I believe there is a Santa and your dad believes there is a Santa. Wouldn’t it be terrible if Santa filled your dad’s stocking and my stocking, but left your stocking empty because you don’t believe in him? Now would you ever gather up your Library books they need to be returned tomorrow” I added quickly.

With the mention of books she was away as fast as she had appeared. Books were her world and her room was full of them. No doubt with the first book to catch her eye, the topic of Santa was forgotten. It was never mentioned again.

The weeks passed. The tree was decorated, presents bought, menus decided and the shopping done. All too soon it was Christmas Eve. Little Miss said her goodnights with the usual hugs and kisses and we trundled down to her bedroom for the bedtime story. About 20 minutes later I snuggled her down, switched off the light and came away.

Once she was asleep Jack and I set about leaving out the stockings and presents around the tree.

Before going to bed ourselves we always checked on her.

That was when I found this little beauty:

An envelope addressed like this was stuck in my letterbox yesterday.

I only found it when a young man called to tell me he could save me money. You know the type… a cold caller selling something or other and if you even cough they have forgotten the half learned speech that was supposed to make them a millionaire never mind save me a shilling! I usually give them their five minutes, well in other circumstances he/she might be my child desperate to get a foot on the working ladder. I never purchase items or make major changes, on the word of door to door sales people. I prefer to think things through and do some research.

Now back to the letter.

To the Legal Occupier,

Some time ago, we were advised that no TV receiving equipment was being used to receive TV programmes at this address, and therefore no TV Licence was required.

That is very true; I have had several letters and visits over the last ten years since I disposed of my telly. It is the next little bit that has me worried….

Our standard practice is to now visit your address to confirm that no type of television receiver is being used there to watch or record TV programmes as they’re being shown on TV. This includes the use of a TV set, digital box, DVD or video recorder, computer or mobile phone. Our visit should take no longer than a few minutes.

I have no TV set or digital box. I do have a computer with a DVD player in it and a mobile phone does that make me a criminal?

And bless me father, I once made a mini video (approx 1 min long) on my FinePix A330 that I uploaded to my blog!

Now if I disappear in the near future worry not, I will be staying at Her Majesty’s pleasure, three meals a day, but not at Buck House!

The post yesterday brought my annual rates bill.

In Northern Ireland money for public services comes from a) our share of the UK’s central tax revenue and b) the contributions we make through the rates. The latter is again split into two parts, the reigonal rate and the district rate. In the year 2008/09, as in previous years the reigonal rate helps pay for services such as the health service, education and water (including sewerage). The proposed changes and addition of seperate Water rates take effect in April 2009. The District rates pay for services provided by the local councils such as leisure services, refuse collections, building control and environmental health.

With the bill were three items:

1) a booklet with information about the rate bill

2) a leaflet on how to get help for those on very low income

3) and this:-

The crest on the right is for PSNI (Police Service for Northern Ireland).

The idea is good to inform people on ways to protect their home and belongings, but I wonder how many little old ladies were unable to sleep last night?

Remember this?

You will remember my Post about it and the follow up Apology Huh! I know you eagerly await the outcome so let me recap.

I emailed a letter to the Editor of the Irish Independent because I took exception to the photograph of Grandad & I with Martha Rotter of Microsoft at the Irish Blog Awards 2008, appearing directly under a heading ‘WEIRD WIDE WEB’. I copied my email to my daughter Elly. What is so weird about blogging or the fact that I a sixty-one year old woman and Grandad, who is in fact, a few years younger in age and by a month in blogging time, pass our time with this hobby? Both of us for our pains are rewarded regularly with comments. The wonderful faithful readers range in age from over 80 up to 18!

Yesterday afternoon as I worked about the house I heard the ping announcing an email. It is like the phone ringing, you want to know the details right away. This is what I received minus the email addresses and phone numbers which I removed:

From Marie Boran - Siliconrepublic.com

To
date Tue, Mar 25, 2008 at 3:01 PM

subject FW: eThursday

Hi Grannymar,

I have read your blog post ‘Apology huh!’ and to answer you: I didn’t email you because your daughter, who alerted me to your letter requesting an apology from the Independent in the first place, said she would pass on the email directly to you and that you might be in touch.

As I said in the email, I didn’t create the caption ‘Weird Wide Web’, it is a pre-existing section for non-business related technology headlines. In the spirit of openness feel free to publish the email which I sent your daughter on your blog because as I have already said, I am not ageist in the slightest not would I ever wish to cause offence.

To clarify, the letter requesting an apology that you sent to the Independent would never have reached me because Silicon Republic is a separate entity that provides the independent with its technology news.

Yours sincerely,

Marie Boran
Journalist
Siliconrepublic.com
Tel: +353 (0)1 XXX XXXX
Mobile: 0XX XXXXXXX
Email: xxx@xxx.com

‘I didn’t email you because your daughter, who alerted me to your letter requesting an apology from the Independent in the first place, said she would pass on the email directly to you and that you might be in touch.’

Why would I be in touch? I did not know, and from the layout of the page it is not clear that Siliconrepublic.com is responsible for the content on the page. In fact there is a thick blue line under our photo separating it from the large advert and the article ‘Why don’t we do digital dinner?’ written by Marie Boran.

‘I didn’t create the caption ‘Weird Wide Web’, it is a pre-existing section for non-business related technology headlines.’

If the offending heading with the word WEIRD was pre Ms Boran, then I was correct in the first place addressing my correspondence to the Editor of the Irish Independent.

The second e-mail was sent to Elly (coincidently on my sixty-first Birthday) and not to me, therefore it was not mine to print here on the blog without permission.

Last week I phoned the Irish Independent and asked to speak to the Editor. I was informed that he was away and asked if I would like to speak to his deputy. She was not interested in hearing what I had to say she sounded condescending and her manner was almost rude. She informed me that it could take THREE weeks for the Editor to read an email???? Yes I did say three weeks!

On Mon, Mar 10, 2008 at 9:58 AM, Marie Boran - Siliconrepublic.com wrote:

Hi Elly,

Sorry for any offence caused by the heading ‘Weird Wide Web’ - that’s the section where eThursday does anything different ie not business related, but I can see how this caused offence to your mother. Tell her that I apologize sincerely and that I find nothing ‘weird’ about older bloggers and I am not ageist in the slightest.

Just to reiterate again, I didn’t write the caption ‘weird wide web’ - it is a standard label that is part of the eThur layout and was there before I even worked there but in order to get the blog awards and the fact that your mother won, into eThursday, I had to work around the standards that already exist.

I did write the text ‘Senior citizen bloggers known as Grannymar and Grandad tied for the award of the best personal blog at the Irish Blog Awards 2008′ but I do not see how this is offensive.

I will let the editor of eThursday know that your mother found it offensive to have her picture and name in the ‘weird wide web’ section and wants an apology printed.

Regards,
Marie Boran.

I replied to Marie Boran’s email to me saying that my anger was not with her as a person, but with the use of the heading above our picture. I noticed there was no picture the following week under the heading and the nuns she mentioned and pictured in the main article were well away from it! But then they were using mobile phones and nothing to do with blogging!

Did I get an Apology? I’m not Elly!

On one hand we are told that 60 is the new 40 and on the other we are past it and ready for the scrap heap! It is almost worse than being an adolescent!