21st September 2017

Yesterday we popped Thomas Patrick, Mary Eleanor, Silk Run, Midnight Aurora, Colt Lightning and David’s Phoebe over some hurdles. All the others had an easy enough day cantering around the sand or up the hill having worked on Tuesday.

Harrowing the gallops after lunch in black cloud and pouring rain really felt like the National Hunt season is upon us. Flashing Glance is declared to run at Newton Abbot tomorrow. He is in very good form and will hopefully, have learnt a lot from his Stratford experience. He too jumped 8 hurdles yesterday and did it nicely.

Occassionally, we have to take horses out of their comfort zone. Most fences jump both ways!

I will try to explain the shenanigans we have had with BT, you may simply struggle to believe it – or maybe you will and experienced similar, we are not an isolated case.

Three if not four welcoming letters and three fibre optic hubs later.

We have learnt today that our latest order, yet again, has been cancelled. However, wait for it……………………. Yesterday 2 very nice men arrived and planted 3 telegraph poles for the cable to come from the road side to the house.

Having had the poles erected we rang BT this afternoon with great hope that some cable maybe on the way in the near future. We were told that our order has been cancelled and no fibre was available to the premises. Even though I had been telephoned a week earlier and told that they, the poles would cost me nearly £500.00 they have no records of the telegraph poles being ordered. I told them that the poles were put in place yesterday. I was dumb founded to be told that, often, the poles are put in at the wrong address. I explained were we lived and that the workmen had arrived with very accurate diagrams and photos of the site with the locations for the poles clearly marked. Unless I was mistaken the photos were certainly of our farm. I was assured that the poles could have possibly been erected at the wrong site and no records relating to our address were held. A sketch writer couldn’t write it, it is beyond all belief.

We currently have poles in situ, 3 BT hubs, 4 welcoming letters and another order cancelled. I feel that we are finally going in the right direction.

During the last few days I have also managed to pluck up the energy to deal with Vodafone. I’ve had an iPad sitting on my desk for 3 months that won’t charge. I explained the problem, a pretty simple on by all accounts, only to be asked to describe exactly the technical fault with the devise. I reassured the man on the phone I spoke English and that if he didn’t understand the first time around he wasn’t going to understand the second time. We finally established that the iPad needs to go to the repairers. He very kindly agreed to send me a pre-paid envelope to return the iPad which arrived today. The envelope was gladly received but is for an iPhone! Every chance the iPad will sit on my desk for the next 3 months……..

My next challenge is Sky Q but I will need to regain some energy, learn Hindi and practice meditation before embarking on such a task.