New Year in London

Ah, new years eve. It brings back fond memories of watching the fireworks, drinking wine and then walking home in the moonlight. In Sydney.

Sadly, its just not the same in London. The weather is probably the main reason.

And prior to this year, so it seems, the fireworks in London were ...... well, pitiful is the best word to describe them. Apparently, this year things are much improved, though we have warnings of wind and rain. The weather, again.

I remember making an effort to get out and enjoy a London new year in 1999/2000. I mean, quite a memorable year to do it if ever I was going to. So there we were, a bunch of us sitting in the dark and cold on the south bank, looking out at .......... nothing. Just the Thames in front of us. In darkness. Along with around 100 other people in the immediate area.

Around midnight someone claimed they saw a flash of light, but it quickly vanished. I think it was wishful thinking on their part.

Apparently, extra effort had been put into the London new year fireworks that year - people say they were quite good but you had to be standing right near the London Eye. I think they fizzled out before they reached the south bank, a mile or so up river. Not sure if it was planned that way.

Where we were, we weren't even sure it had struck midnight. Eventually, figuring it must have, we celebrated - for me, it was as much about being able to finally go home and get warm. We walked home - in the cold and dark.

Right at this moment, the Sydney fireworks have started - see the picture above. Two hours before midnight. The Aussies sure now how to have a fireworks party and to celebrate new year. But its probably due to the weather.

Christmas Shopping

Well, I tried. After doing my best to ignore the fact that christmas was only a matter of weeks away, I decided yesterday to try and get most of my off-line shopping done in one go.

And then I chose to do it at PC World.

For those who don't know PC World in the UK, they currently run a tv advertisement claiming "Internet prices to take with you" or something like that. Internet prices maybe, but products - not always.

I selected a really good camera deal for a friend of mine which was advertised throughout the store, and proceeded to the checkout - and paid for it. Fine. All good so far.

Then the cashier advised me that I needed to find a floor walker to get the product out of the stock room for me. Anyone who has tried to find a floor walker in PC World or their sister stores, Currys and Dixons, will know that its probably easier at this point to give up and simply shop online.

After about 4 laps of the store - where I saw only one floor walker, who was being pursued by about 3 customers - I eventually caught the manager and asked him where they all were. He found me a scraggy looking chap (ok, maybe he was an undercover security guard, who knows) who quickly took my receipt and disappeared into the storeroom.

And I waited. And then waited a bit more. Seemed a long time but was probably about 10 minutes, I guess. Ample time to go to the location in the stockroom where their stocks of the product sat, and bring me one out.

Instead, out he came empty-handed. "I'm sorry, there are none left in stock", he matter-of-factly told me. "So why did you take my money at the checkout for it?" I asked.

"It's not my fault, I just went to look for the product for you and there are none there". At this point, I decided we were getting nowhere and so returned to the cashier and demanded a refund.

"I'm sorry, you will have to go to the Advice and Repairs counter" he told me. Great, another queue.

More time wasted, waiting to unpick PC World's mess. Eventually I proceeded to the counter - only to be told that actually there were only two tills for the three assistants, and a customer was in discussions in front of one. So I would have to wait until they were finished.

And so I lost my temper. He quickly moved the non-buying customer aside and then studied my receipt like it was in ancient Greek. So I lost my temper again.

Eventually I received a "refund" - well, can it be called a refund for a product you never even took delivery of? Don't know - but I do know I won't be going back to PC World again in a hurry.