About seven o'clock this evening,I was just about to lock up the workshop when there was a phone call.
One of our female customers-and friend-phoned to say she had been in an accident with a car driver,in Heath road,North London.
Both she and the the bike were ok,though her clutch lever had broken.

My friend,who lives up that way,packed a bag of tools and off he went to replace the lever.
I phoned the lady to tell her help was on the way.She sounded calm,told me that she had no injury and that all was well.

She was in slow moving traffic when the car behind hit her.
Her words were that it was just a nudge but she overbalanced and hit the deck.
The driver got out,picked the bike up and moved it to the side of the road .
He then got in his car and drove off !

My friend was too shocked to take the number and he soon disappeared.

She did recognise the car as a silver renault espace.

Ive just come back from a weekend in Surrey.
I have to use the M3 for 3 miles then the M25 for less than one.

Very few car drivers drive the Motorway correctly.
In fact,they make it bloody DANGEROUS.

How many people remember to 'keep left unless overtaking' ?
So many drivers just sit in the middle lane blind,or not caring,of the hazards this causes faster flowing traffic.

Riding,according to the law,I have to move over TWO lanes to safely overtake a car that insists on not moving for their fellow road users.
Then,to ride,according to the law,I have to move over another TWO lanes.
What madness is that !

I could always Undertake the car.It is against the law and dangerous,but less dangerous,in my mind,than moving across FOUR lanes of traffic.

I have even witnessed Police cars using the Middle lane only !

If everyone was to stick to Lane Discipline there would be less accidents.
The traffic would flow better.
Motorway use may become a pleasure.

At the moment,alot of car drivers are making the Motorways unsafe.

So,to all those car drivers out there-you know who you are.

Start thinking about others,rather than yourselves,and drive properly.

KEEP LEFT UNLESS OVERTAKING !

Then the 7650 failed to light up.

I found one of the very first phones I had and used that one.
It made and received calls with ease.
Battered,but realiable,it kept me in touch with family,friends and work.
Though,it had no camera and no WAP facility.

I was one of the first to sign up for WAP when Orange first introduced it way back when.
They offered me Unlimited Wap for £4 a month.
Sounds great now,but in the begining there was very little out there for the mobile generation.

Because my old phone couldnt access WAP,Orange stopped my entitlement.Use it or lose it !
Nothing to do with the fact that Orange were making vast amounts of money from WAP and were determined to 'bump' the early promises made to their customers.

That was the final straw for me.I was determined to drop Orange as soon as my contract expired.They had gone from the best Network to the worst,in my estimation.After nearly six years,Orange left a bad taste in my mouth.

Then in October,2005,I received a call from a lovely lady,claiming to be from Orange.
She listened to my tales of woe and promised me the world if I took out a new contract.
For £31 a month,I could have the most recent Nokia,200 minutes any network and unlimited phone calls to any network at weekends.
Yahoo.

It was more than I wanted to pay but eh.What clinched the deal for me was she told me I could have my Unlimited WAP for £4 a month back.
I duly agreed.

The Phone arrived the next day,with a letter from a company called QUALITEL,agents for Orange.
I was suprised and slightly miffed that they had not made it clear they were only acting for Orange.But I forgave them very quickly.New phone,1.3 meg camera and my unlimited WAP left me smiling for at least a week.

Come November and my first bill.Strange,but my WAP wasnt unlimited.In fact,I was only entitled to 4 Mg a month.
I rang Orange who told me that I had to talk with Qualitel.
They didnt answer my calls,but their answer machine told me they would get back to me asap !

On my third attempt I got through to the lady who sold me the contract.She was all apologies and reassurred me that there was a mistake and it would be sorted.
I believed her.

My next bill was for £150.

Orange stung me a huge amount for using more than the 4 meg a month.
I complained bitterly to Orange customer care and informed them that I was reporting QUALITEL to them as mis-selling the contract.
The Orange agent agreed I had a case and promised me she would sort it out.
I had moved address and she took my new details.Her last words to me were not to worry and that she would sort it out !

Over Christmas,I fell ill and needed Hospital treatment.
My main concern was getting well and helping my friend with his motorcycle business.
One day I went to the bank and the hole-in-the-wall refused me money.Strange,because I knew there was nearly Five Hundred pounds in that account.
On getting a statement I was amazed to see that Orange had been taking huge chunks from my account.
I rang them and was told that Orange had no record of my Complaint or change of address.The hour long conversation had been simply ignored.
I was fuming now and repeated my story to the Customer Service(!) team.
They agreed to investigate.

Nothing !

Three weeks later,I rang again and asked about my Complaint.
No record.
Though my phone bill showed hour long conversations to customer services,their staff did not log the calls.
I repeated my complaint and was told that I had agreed to an 18 month(!) contract and they expected me to honour it.
Any complaints was to be taken up with QUALITEL.

I rang them,asked for a supervisor ,who told me that there was nothing I could do and that the contract was actually for Two years !
No-one was interested in the fact that I had been lied to,misled and had my account drained by action that was nothing short of Theft.

I cancelled my Direct Debit with Orange and stopped using my mobile.

Then,the letters from the Debt company.

I paid the amount they said I owed as I didnt want the hassle of Court.
The people I spoke to were horrified at my story,but still wanted paying.
The £231 was small fry to get these leeches off my back.

21st century Britain and companies like ORANGE,QUALITEL and DL&C can get away with such tactics.
It truly is a disgrace !

Anyone heard of a company called D L & C ?

They operate from Buckingham Road,Brackley,Northants.NN13

Well,they are a debt agency employed,in this case,by Orange,the mobile phone company.
The letter they sent me,crudely done,simply stated to ring their number as a matter of urgency ?!

I have been with Orange for over 6 years.
Every month,my bill was paid by Direct Debit.No late payments,no need for reminding,a model customer ??

Like everyone,I have endured poor quality customer care.I was sometimes overcharged and getting through to customer services often meant an hour of my life wasted in the queueing system.

I remained loyal to Orange,knowing that all the other Networks had similar problems and I was always impressed with the quality of their people when I,finally, did get to speak to one.

18 months ago,I visited an Orange shop,in Surrey,where I was told I was overdue an upgrade.
My Nokia 7650 was becoming less realible and suffering battery life issues.
Yahoo,I thought a new phone !

My contract with Orange was the 'Everyday 50.' It suited my phone use well and came with a free upgrade every year.
Apart from this year,I was informed.
The staff member apologised and told me that Orange were NOT going to give me free upgrades anymore !
If I wanted my free upgrade I was to quit my contract and take out another one.The cheapest they offered me in the shop was £30 a month.Nearly double the amount I was paying for on the Everyday 50.

I was shocked by their attitude and reminded them that my contract stated a free upgrade every year.
I know a little consumer law and the Manager relented by offering me the cheapest phone in the shop !
I just walked out in disgust !

A few days later,I phoned customer care and told them of my experience.
The woman I spoke to expressed concern,told me that I was a valued customer and reiterated the fact I was due an upgrade.
Yahoo.

Back to the Orange shop-a different one-where a helpful young boy advised a Moterola as being,if not as good as the 7650,at least on a par with it.
It had ALL the features I needed.Bluetooth,WAP and Infra red.
I took it.

When I got home,I realised that it was a very basic Motorola,with NO Infra-red.
The Infra-red I used to connect to my Laptop and was essential to me.
Fuming,I tossed it to my girly and made a present of it to her.Her phone was a dinosaur back then.
I just swapped the sim card and continued on the Nokia 7650.

To be continued !

A customer of ours turned up this morning complaining of difficulty riding his BMW C1.
The back end felt 'weird' and he had noticed a missing bolt from his exhaust.

On investigation,I noticed that FOUR bolts were missing !

Somebody had taken out a bolt from the rear brake caliper.Two bolts from the exhaust bracket and one from the shock absorber.
I can only assume that it was an attempt to steal the exhaust,or even the brake caliper.

In doing so,the thieve(s) had made the machine dangerous.
Collapsed suspension;exhaust fouling the rear wheel,or failure of rear brake in London traffic would be simply horrendous.
The customer,not being mechanically aware,rode 8 miles home.(We are just 600 metres from his flat)

The C1 is no longer supported by BMW and parts are becoming scarce.
And expensive !
That is still no excuse for stealing parts from other motorcyclists.

What is even more disturbing is that,for whatever reason,the bike was left in a very dangerous condition.

Stupidity.

Ive just heard the news and I dont believe it.

Tony Bl(ia)r always had the intention of resigning from politics when he turned 50.
Well,that was 3 years ago now??

Tony Bl(ia)r has discovered,in himself,what few other people know about themselves.
A Lust for power.

Bl(ia)r was swept to power on a wave of optimism.
Remember Cool Brittania ?
He seemed so fresh after years of Tory sleaze.
The country even appeared to like him as a person.
So what went wrong ?

Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have not helped.
Though,there is little doubt that any Prime Minister would have been unable to resist the USA demands after 9/11.
Saying that,the reasons for the Iraq war have proven false,
and,as such,is an ILLEGAL war.

We are still there !

Power corrupts and though Bl(ia)r hasnt total power,
he likes it !

The next few months are crucial for the Labour Party.
I hope that Tony doesnt wreck their chances for the next election.
Imagine the horror if the Tories got in,
Bl(ia)r would be so smug !

Quit now.

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Ryanair,a budget airline,have announced plans to equip their planes with technology that will allow passengers to make mobile calls in flight.
They say it will be available early in 2007.

Congratulations to Ryanair for being one of the first to achieve this.
Though Im unsure whether its a good thing.
(I found little worse than having to listen to people talking loudly about their affairs) shudder.

What is puzzling me,is how were people on the planes of 9/11 able to make phone calls 5 years earlier ?