Birthday

Birthday girl! Older but no wiser at 77! This was my first treat of the day, taken out by a granddaughter for breakfast, followed by cake. Later my daughter and SIL took me out to a festival, followed by lunch. Then I had an evening visit from son, DIL and grandchildren, and more cake, followed by a long phone call with my son in England. A lovely day all round.

I´ve spent the rest of the week trying to suss out the present I gave myself - a sewing machine. I already have an old one which I brought with me from England, but it is so heavy and also needs adjusting, which I can´t seem to get right. I am completely self-taught when it comes to sewing, in other words I don´t really know what I´m doing. When I first started sewing there was no You Tube with useful videos. Now, at least, with my new toy I can look things up. It is just a simple machine, nothing fancy and very light. I´ve managed to make a pillowcase for my very long body pillow and only jammed the bobbin six times...happy days.

At last

The painting is finally finished. New details kept appearing although I hardly ever saw anyone working on it but a face slowly emerged from the background and the smaller parrot gained feathers and colours. Now it has all been varnished, my photo does not really do it justice. By the way, the larger parrot does have a head - the painting continues round the other side but unfortunately I cannot get a proper look at it or a photo.

Another tip

Here is a brilliant tip I saw on Facebook the other day - unfortunately I can´t remember the name of the person who posted it.

Take a small cup and fill it with water then put it in the freezer. Once the water has frozen take the cup out, put a coin on top of the ice in the cup and return it to the freezer and leave it there.  

Next time you return from holiday or after a prolonged power cut take the cup out and check if the coin is still on top of the ice. If it has sunk this will tell you your freezer and contents have defrosted then frozen again and the food may have spoiled. If the coin is still on top all is well. So simple and so clever.

By coincidence I had a 14-hour power cut from seven o'clock last night. When the power returned I checked my cup and the coin was still in situ. Result!

Shein - not recommended

Dear Shein,

Over the last three weeks you have sent me 13 identical e-mails (in Spanish! - we actually speak Portuguese in Brazil) - translated they say:

Dear

We apologise for the inconvenience caused. We have arranged a refund for you in accordance with your request* and the refund has been deposited in your original payment account. If you do not receive your refund please check your payment account again. If you have any questions please feel free to contact us. Best wishes

Customer Care Center

*not requested!

You send me the same e-mail - without my name -  every time I tell you the refund has not been deposited. I think it is about time you used a human being to reply to me, although your e-mails come from Henry, Hilary, Paul, Abby etc. they are obviously computer generated (nice touch using Western names, by the way).

I originally made a small purchase from you in May. Small because as a first time buyer I was cautious (thank goodness), wanting to make sure you were trustworthy and reliable. I waited 41 days for my parcel to arrive. The tracking system eventually claimed it had been delivered, which was not the case. My building reception has 24 hour cover and all deliveries have their bar code read and are registered on the computer. The receptionists are reliable and honest. It is also rather strange the "delivery" was on a Sunday.

Despite my queries you kept insisting the parcel was delivered but would not tell me the name of the courier company or of the person who signed for it. Instead you initially offered me a 60% refund, then in subsequent replies increased it slowly to 90%. I never actually accepted your refund offer but eventually you claimed I had and that it had been deposited in my account. That was nearly a month ago.

I don´t know if you are dishonest or incompetent, or just don´t give a toss about the odd dissatisfied customer. Accountability doesn´t seem to form part of your vocabulary. There is a consumer site here in Brazil called Reclame Aqui which has numerous similar complaints about you. I wish I´d checked it before buying from you. All I do know is I bought from you in good faith, have received neither my goods nor a refund and you obviously intend to just keep on sending me automated replies when I contact you. The sum involved is not large, but that is not the point. 

The correct and honest thing to do would be for you to send me a replacement item, free of charge, or give me a full refund. Neither of these is going to happen, I´m sure.

A disgusted customer

I woz robbed!

Stars in my eyes!

 

Well, that was a good´un. I managed to slam a kitchen cupboard door on my thumb so hard it sliced through the cuticle to the nail bed. It was incredibly painful and I saw stars...there might have been some swearing as I stomped up and down until the pain wore off and I realised I was dripping blood on the kitchen floor.

It had to be my right hand, of course, so putting on a bandage was difficult. I can understand how we outstripped the chimps evolution-wise with our opposable thumbs because it has been difficult managing the last couple of days without mine - it is also the same thumb I scalped on my mandolin not so long ago. Ho hum as John Gray would say.

Photo by Jan Antonin Kolar atUnsplash 

Frustration

It has been a bit of a morning and I feel very crotchety...

I bought my medication via the internet, as usual, but for some reason the transaction went wrong. I´d followed all the usual steps up to and including payment but the chemist´s system did not acknowledge my payment or send my order number despite the sum having been deducted from my account.

I tried phoning but got enmeshed in an automated system because my problem was not on their list of options and I couldn´t get through to a human being. In desperation I went to one of the local branches to see if they could help, but even they couldn´t sort it out after half an hour on the phone. After much discussion I managed to convince them to give me my medication as I could prove I had already paid for it, although it wasn´t really their problem. 

That was a result, at least, but it took up so much time that I missed my gym session, had to rush around the farmers market and had a very late lunch.

When the internet works it is excellent but when it doesn´t it´s a nightmare.

A little tip

 

If your bananas are ripening too quickly here is a suggestion - once they start freckling pop them in the fridge. The skin will go black over a couple of days but when you peel the banana it remains white and firm inside.

This was a tip from my cleaner when I remarked to her the other day that I was going to freeze my excess bananas as usual. I normally peel and freeze them whole but when defrosted they are somewhat mushy and best for smoothies etc.

I´ve been eating "black" bananas for a week now and they are still perfectly fine.

Photo by Matthew Feeney at Unsplash