What do you eat that people say "ew that's weird" when they hear it?
The other day I asked T if we had any peanut butter. This is a strange request from me because I tend to like quite bland food (although recently I have really taken to much stronger flavours). He asked me why I wanted peanut butter and my response was - "to put on my cereal".
It seemed quite normal to me. You see, one summer when I was on camp we ran out of milk at breakfast and the girl sat beside me decided to eat peanut butter with her cornflakes and banana and whereas everyone else looked on in disgust I thought I'd try it. So I put a dollop of peanut butter on the side of my bowl, filled it with cornflakes and sliced banana and with each mouthful I'd take a slice of banana, some flakes and a small bit of butter. It was a bit dry but oh so yummy! That was actually my first experience of peanut butter (we never had things like that when I was little - we didn't even have chocolate spread!)
So, I was quite peturbed the other day when we didn't have any peanut butter and made T buy us some yesterday. I made him try peanut butter cornflakes this morning and he still thinks it's weird hehe. Oh well - I guess I'm alone in this.
So, am I the only one with a weird food choice?
Thursday, 6 November 2008
Sunday, 2 November 2008
Rant
Ok - so since I've decided to write just what I think I'm going to do something I've never really done before on m blog - I'm going to tell you all about how annoying some of the tourists are that come into my workplace.
Now, I'm not going to be cruel - on the whole I love my job and the people I serve - but just occasionally I get riled up beyond belief at how much they expect us to be able to do. Seriously, when we say there is no way we can do something, why do people still insist that not only is there something we can do about it but that we MUST do it.
Yesterday, for example, I had an Italian lady and her teenage son come in asking for accommodation. We have two options for people wanting accommodation - we have a guide with all of the accommodation providers we work with listed in it, complete with map references and everything you'd need to find a place or we can find a place for people based on their specifications and charge a £5 booking fee for the time we take doing it and take a 10% deposit from the accommodation provider (because they get the business through us). Make sense so far? So, I am talking to this lady and she is saying she wants a twin room for £40 max. You're lucky to even get a single room for that price, especially when you come in the day you want the accommodation for. So I explain to her that the bare minimum for a twin room would be £50 IF she had booked weeks ago but as she wanted it today there would be limited availability and it would be more expensive. I know these things - I book accommodation for people every single day. This is why we have the service, it takes the stress away from people who do not know the area. And most people are happy to have someone who knows the area to book somewhere for them. But not this lady - she was insistent that she wanted one for £50 max now and no more.
I spent 45 minutes with this lady, ringing every single provider I could think of. There was nothing for less than £60. She insisted I ring the youth hostel, which I did, and they had a twin room for just short of £60 for one of the nights she wanted to stay but not the other. Seriously - if the youth hostel is charging that much per night then you really won't get anywhere cheaper. But still she would not believe me. Eventually I found a room - a family room that would normally go for £75 but out of sheer desperation I managed to meet a compromise with the guest house that if I didn't take the 10% deposit she would give them it for £60. That's £15 off and yet the lady still complained that it was 20 minutes away by bus (a direct bus route I might add) because she wanted to be closer to the city. OMG can I just say that at this point I felt like walking away.
Eventually she took it. And she left. And I told my manager. He said next time if someone gets like that I should just give them the guide and tell them if they think they can find somewhere cheaper then they can do it themselves. Sounds rude doesn't it? But seriously - I don't have 45 minutes to spare on a busy Saturday afternoon when the customer is just being stubborn.
It's not just people like this lady either - you get the other side of the coin too. You'll get people come in who think they know more than we do. Fair enough, we don't know everything and we readily admit that. We don't mind people giving us advice and helping us out, seriously we don't. What annoys us is when customers in the queue hear half of the conversation, decide they know more than us and shout across the line that we have got it wrong and the person we are helping should do this and that rather than what we have suggested. To which, I have discovered, you just have to turn round, smile sweetly, and say "yes they COULD do that IF..." and fill in the blank with whatever reason you have already discovered to not suggest such a thing to them. It may be that we have been told the place is closed that day or that the customer we are helping has told us they aren't interested in such and such. We spend day in and day out dealing with such requests - we know what we are talking about. Like I say - I have no issue with people suggesting things and sometimes people have good ideas - it is when they butt in and say things we have already thought about because they haven't heard the whole conversation. It just seems so rude.
So we have the people who think we can work miracles and find them cheap accommodation (which is impossible where I live anyway) 2 hours before they want it (why oh why do people leave it to the last minute?) and then we have the opposite side of things when people come in and assume we are useless. We also have the people who think we are ripping them off by asking for 30p for a city map. I know there are free maps in othe cities but we don't get as much funding as other cities because they know tourists will come whether they fund the service or not. We don't have the money to provide maps free to everyone. And besides - free maps are usually cheaply made - ours are glossy, colour coded maps with every single street marked on them and all the one way systems marked down. And it's only 30p - if you can't afford 30p in this town you really can't afford to be here.
So there you go - my gripes about work. I still love it - 95% of the time it is fantastic. But occasionally, just occasionally, you get some really annoying people who test you to the limit. And sometimes you just need to rant!
Now, I'm not going to be cruel - on the whole I love my job and the people I serve - but just occasionally I get riled up beyond belief at how much they expect us to be able to do. Seriously, when we say there is no way we can do something, why do people still insist that not only is there something we can do about it but that we MUST do it.
Yesterday, for example, I had an Italian lady and her teenage son come in asking for accommodation. We have two options for people wanting accommodation - we have a guide with all of the accommodation providers we work with listed in it, complete with map references and everything you'd need to find a place or we can find a place for people based on their specifications and charge a £5 booking fee for the time we take doing it and take a 10% deposit from the accommodation provider (because they get the business through us). Make sense so far? So, I am talking to this lady and she is saying she wants a twin room for £40 max. You're lucky to even get a single room for that price, especially when you come in the day you want the accommodation for. So I explain to her that the bare minimum for a twin room would be £50 IF she had booked weeks ago but as she wanted it today there would be limited availability and it would be more expensive. I know these things - I book accommodation for people every single day. This is why we have the service, it takes the stress away from people who do not know the area. And most people are happy to have someone who knows the area to book somewhere for them. But not this lady - she was insistent that she wanted one for £50 max now and no more.
I spent 45 minutes with this lady, ringing every single provider I could think of. There was nothing for less than £60. She insisted I ring the youth hostel, which I did, and they had a twin room for just short of £60 for one of the nights she wanted to stay but not the other. Seriously - if the youth hostel is charging that much per night then you really won't get anywhere cheaper. But still she would not believe me. Eventually I found a room - a family room that would normally go for £75 but out of sheer desperation I managed to meet a compromise with the guest house that if I didn't take the 10% deposit she would give them it for £60. That's £15 off and yet the lady still complained that it was 20 minutes away by bus (a direct bus route I might add) because she wanted to be closer to the city. OMG can I just say that at this point I felt like walking away.
Eventually she took it. And she left. And I told my manager. He said next time if someone gets like that I should just give them the guide and tell them if they think they can find somewhere cheaper then they can do it themselves. Sounds rude doesn't it? But seriously - I don't have 45 minutes to spare on a busy Saturday afternoon when the customer is just being stubborn.
It's not just people like this lady either - you get the other side of the coin too. You'll get people come in who think they know more than we do. Fair enough, we don't know everything and we readily admit that. We don't mind people giving us advice and helping us out, seriously we don't. What annoys us is when customers in the queue hear half of the conversation, decide they know more than us and shout across the line that we have got it wrong and the person we are helping should do this and that rather than what we have suggested. To which, I have discovered, you just have to turn round, smile sweetly, and say "yes they COULD do that IF..." and fill in the blank with whatever reason you have already discovered to not suggest such a thing to them. It may be that we have been told the place is closed that day or that the customer we are helping has told us they aren't interested in such and such. We spend day in and day out dealing with such requests - we know what we are talking about. Like I say - I have no issue with people suggesting things and sometimes people have good ideas - it is when they butt in and say things we have already thought about because they haven't heard the whole conversation. It just seems so rude.
So we have the people who think we can work miracles and find them cheap accommodation (which is impossible where I live anyway) 2 hours before they want it (why oh why do people leave it to the last minute?) and then we have the opposite side of things when people come in and assume we are useless. We also have the people who think we are ripping them off by asking for 30p for a city map. I know there are free maps in othe cities but we don't get as much funding as other cities because they know tourists will come whether they fund the service or not. We don't have the money to provide maps free to everyone. And besides - free maps are usually cheaply made - ours are glossy, colour coded maps with every single street marked on them and all the one way systems marked down. And it's only 30p - if you can't afford 30p in this town you really can't afford to be here.
So there you go - my gripes about work. I still love it - 95% of the time it is fantastic. But occasionally, just occasionally, you get some really annoying people who test you to the limit. And sometimes you just need to rant!
Thursday, 30 October 2008
Random Thoughts
Thanks to all of you for adding your comments to my last post - I don't think I've ever received so many comments on one thing before and can I say it's gone to my head - I'm becoming a comment whore!!
I find it quite amusing that so many people responded to one of my random thoughts (and also quite glad to find I'm not alone in my hatred of horror - especially as T spends yet another night watching Dead Set... not so much scary as gruesome! *sighs*)
It also got me thinking - maybe I should write more of these random thoughts down as you obviously all enjoyed the last post more than my usual blatherings - which, may I say, I usually think about hard as to whether they would be interesting or not. Seems I misjudged you all - you're my kinda people - here for those little random thoughts that show we're actually more alike than we might think.
And may I take the time to tell you that my blog would be updated much more frequently if I were to type out a greater percentage of the thoughts I have each day - I just never did as I didn't think they were that interesting to others... usually they just make people laugh and shake their heads at how funny I am (in a weird way). Actually - T finds it funny in a haha funny way :o) I like that about him!
So what do you think? Can you cope with more of my ponderings and observations on life?
I find it quite amusing that so many people responded to one of my random thoughts (and also quite glad to find I'm not alone in my hatred of horror - especially as T spends yet another night watching Dead Set... not so much scary as gruesome! *sighs*)
It also got me thinking - maybe I should write more of these random thoughts down as you obviously all enjoyed the last post more than my usual blatherings - which, may I say, I usually think about hard as to whether they would be interesting or not. Seems I misjudged you all - you're my kinda people - here for those little random thoughts that show we're actually more alike than we might think.
And may I take the time to tell you that my blog would be updated much more frequently if I were to type out a greater percentage of the thoughts I have each day - I just never did as I didn't think they were that interesting to others... usually they just make people laugh and shake their heads at how funny I am (in a weird way). Actually - T finds it funny in a haha funny way :o) I like that about him!
So what do you think? Can you cope with more of my ponderings and observations on life?
Monday, 27 October 2008
Freak out!
Am I the only person who hates horror movies? They scare the hell out of me - quite literally. Heck, I can scare myself silly by watching things a million miles away from horror - I can't help it, my imagination is just too wild. It makes me a great writer - but means anything I can respond to by putting myself in the character's situation (which, btw, I do naturally) is either the greatest book/film/series ever or the one that will haunt my dreams for far too long.
Why am I telling you this, it seems a bit random, right? Well this weekend we watched a programme about our nation's favourite horror moments. T LOVES horror movies and I feel bad when he has to watch them alone - especially when he would love to watch one this weekend. But just watching the clips from these movies kinda freaked me out. I was doing so well and T was even impresed I'd watched 28 Days Later when at uni, but then we saw a clip from Ring - not THE Ring but the original Japanese version. Omg, the moment when the corpse crawled out of the tv scared me so much I couldn't walk down my hallway for fear she'd be there. I'm 24 for crying out loud - I shouldn't be so irrationaly scared by these things anymore. But I am.
Maybe it's in my genes. One of the first dates my parents went on was to watch The Exorcist. My mum was so freaked out that my Grandma had to get out of bed and turn all the lights on in the house for weeks every time my mum wanted the toilet during the night. I'm not quite that bad - but I will curl up next to T and I cannot help noticing every sound and flicker in the shadows. Silly, huh?
But it's not just horror that scares me - I get scared by episodes of Doctor Who and The Lost Room. Has anyone seen The Lost Room? The man in the room scared the crap out of me - when they saw him in the photo a shiver ran down my spine and all I could think of that night was the man. He wasn't even sinister in the show - but that didn't matter. And have you seen the episode of Doctor Who where the Angel statues come to life and chase you when you blink? Ack - I thought they were coming to get me.
Sometimes a creative and overactive imagination can be good - like I say I am never bored and I can easily knock up a story for a child if no books are available. But sometimes that same imagination can just creep me out. Do any of you have this problem... or am I just a freak?
Why am I telling you this, it seems a bit random, right? Well this weekend we watched a programme about our nation's favourite horror moments. T LOVES horror movies and I feel bad when he has to watch them alone - especially when he would love to watch one this weekend. But just watching the clips from these movies kinda freaked me out. I was doing so well and T was even impresed I'd watched 28 Days Later when at uni, but then we saw a clip from Ring - not THE Ring but the original Japanese version. Omg, the moment when the corpse crawled out of the tv scared me so much I couldn't walk down my hallway for fear she'd be there. I'm 24 for crying out loud - I shouldn't be so irrationaly scared by these things anymore. But I am.
Maybe it's in my genes. One of the first dates my parents went on was to watch The Exorcist. My mum was so freaked out that my Grandma had to get out of bed and turn all the lights on in the house for weeks every time my mum wanted the toilet during the night. I'm not quite that bad - but I will curl up next to T and I cannot help noticing every sound and flicker in the shadows. Silly, huh?
But it's not just horror that scares me - I get scared by episodes of Doctor Who and The Lost Room. Has anyone seen The Lost Room? The man in the room scared the crap out of me - when they saw him in the photo a shiver ran down my spine and all I could think of that night was the man. He wasn't even sinister in the show - but that didn't matter. And have you seen the episode of Doctor Who where the Angel statues come to life and chase you when you blink? Ack - I thought they were coming to get me.
Sometimes a creative and overactive imagination can be good - like I say I am never bored and I can easily knock up a story for a child if no books are available. But sometimes that same imagination can just creep me out. Do any of you have this problem... or am I just a freak?
Wednesday, 22 October 2008
Salon Rouge
T and I were offered the chance to go to a Moulin Rouge inspired club night on Saturday and as it was free and we were to be put on the guestlist (oh yes!!) we could hardly say no, now could we?
But of course we were told about it Thursday and so we had very little time to prepare (especially as I was working both Friday and Saturday and being the "lead" at work meant two later finishes - i.e. not really much time to shop!) In fact I bought my first ever red lipstick on Saturday during my lunch - and taking the advice of a lady shopper I bought a long-lasting one which looked lovely but would not come off and I had red lips for the rest of the day *blushes* - I should have figured that one out before trying it on in the shop!!
I wore the red dress I'd worn for T's sister's wedding and she leant me a black corset, feather boa and did my hair for me. She used to do modelling and always looks so perfect - I am quite jealous really because I haven't got a clue. She has said she will go shopping with me and teach me how to use make-up (yes I know I am 24 and I stil don't know how to use it properly). But with her help I looked good to go.
It took her almost an hour to do my curls though because believe it or not I have incredibly thick hair. Well, no, actually I have incredibly fine hair but there is so much of it. I was always told by hairdressers that I had a perfect combination and so many people have commented on how beautiful it is colourwise and quality wise - it's a real shame I don't actually know how to style it, huh?
T also got into the mood and got all dressed up - he even took his "cigar" with him. T used to smoke and loved a cigar on special occasions but he gave up a while back (for which I am very thankful). However when he found this snazzy fake cigar which has vapour in it he had to buy it. I tried it out of curiosity wondering how it worked - bleugh it tasted like a cigar smells - weird how it can just be vapour but have that taste.
So, just over and hour late we arrived at the scene (hey I had to eat, watch Strictly Come Dancing, shower, get changed and do my hair - I think I did well to get all that into less than 3 hours tee hee). Besides, we were on the guestlist - what did we care about being on time?! The bouncers on the door were lovely - very polite and we felt very welcomed into the whole thing. There were loads of people there, most dressed up - some more than others - and we found ourselves some drinks and then a place to perch ourselves to watch the entertainment.
No, that is NOT a pint of beer in my hand - it was a non-alcoholic cocktail - the one thing wrong with the whole night was the fact the cocktails didn't come in fancy glasses as was befitting such an event. The music fit, the dancing fit, the entertainment and company was perfect - just the glass was wrong and I'll forgive them for that!
Do you like my stocings btw? T bought me them. And the gloves were his mum's - I never did ask what she was doing with such a pair of gloves. The pearl bracelet and necklace were bot gifts from T (one for Christmas, the other for Valentine's). Did I mention that this weekend we also celebrated our 1 year anniversary - crazy to think it's only been a year!
Anyway, back to business. The entertainment was fantastic. The host - this wonderful "lady" *ahem* here was hilarious. We tried to get a picture with her but the girl taking our photo couldn't figure out our camera (I blame the drink) and so you can't actually see it is us.
She was accompanied by her two starlets who roamed the floor, getting people in the mood and generally having a good time. It really did feel like being taken by to 1920s Paris - people were there for a good time and nobody cared that we were dressed strangely or in provocative outfits - you knew you weren't going to be manhandled by drunken men - it just didn't happen that way.
I think the highlight of the whole evening was Empress Stah however - she was amazing and did things with her body I never knew a woman could do. To say I was overwhelmed by the ladies in the circus the other day and thought I'd never see their match was perhaps premature. This lady must have had thighs of steel - the act just went on forever!
(Did you spot the sailor?)
There was dancing between each of the acts - the first time T and I have danced together. T used to go to raves and loves to dance but I never enjoyed going out because everyone else would be drunk and I'd be all self-conscious and sober. It didn't matter that night, I was with the man I love and we were having fun. So we boogied on down until the next act, by which stage we were quite tired and decided to call it a night (although the party actually went on for another 2 hours!!)
Lady Carol sang some songs with her teensy, little guitar and gave us all her thoughts on being a lady "why do we worry about leaving lipstick marks on glasses - I like to leave mine on everyone's glass so I can claim it was mine and get free drinks," and "if you leave lipstick marks all over the place you can retrace your steps back home the next day - much cheaper than a taxi". Lol.
And so I leave you with a lasting impression of my smooth, sleek and handsome (he's mine ladies) man enjoying his last smoke of the evening.
Thursday, 16 October 2008
Circus
I've never been to the circus before. I've always wondered what it would be like. Last night I found out because thanks to our local Chinese takeaway and my work we managed to get 3 free tickets to the Chinese State Circus. So T and I took T's brother along as a 21st birthday treat (that we didn't pay for *blushes*) And it was amazing!
Seriously - the skill involved in what these people can do is incredible. We saw ladies spinning plates whilst doing all sorts of acrobatics (who else can keep 12 plates spinning whilst having another person stood on top of their heads!!), men doing all sorts of incredible flying leaps through hoops and off swinging bars, we even saw a lion dance :o) Then there was the contortionist who could rest her bottom on her head (ouch) and the man who balanced himself on ever so sharp poles. And let's not forget the man and woman flying around the room held aloft by silks! Amazing...
I wasn't quite so keen on the "narrator" - a man prancing around whilst a pre-recorded narrative was played - nor did I enjoy the man with swords (he seemed far too much like an energetic child playing warrior - although I am sure lots of skill actually goes into what he does). And the people who blatantly ignored the "please do not use cameras" message seriously got on my nerves (how rude). But all in all I had a wonderful evening.
I don't think I would like any other circus - freak shows and clowns just don't do it for me - but the skill that was shown last night just took my breath away. Even when the ladies didn't quite master all their tricks with the diabolo it was still a great piece to watch and I found myself clapping even harder to let them know it didnt matter - I still loved them!
I won't forget last night for a long time - if ever!
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For those of you who are following my private blog I have just put up a new message. Let me know if you want to be informed when I update or whether you'll just check yourself every now and then.
Seriously - the skill involved in what these people can do is incredible. We saw ladies spinning plates whilst doing all sorts of acrobatics (who else can keep 12 plates spinning whilst having another person stood on top of their heads!!), men doing all sorts of incredible flying leaps through hoops and off swinging bars, we even saw a lion dance :o) Then there was the contortionist who could rest her bottom on her head (ouch) and the man who balanced himself on ever so sharp poles. And let's not forget the man and woman flying around the room held aloft by silks! Amazing...
I wasn't quite so keen on the "narrator" - a man prancing around whilst a pre-recorded narrative was played - nor did I enjoy the man with swords (he seemed far too much like an energetic child playing warrior - although I am sure lots of skill actually goes into what he does). And the people who blatantly ignored the "please do not use cameras" message seriously got on my nerves (how rude). But all in all I had a wonderful evening.
I don't think I would like any other circus - freak shows and clowns just don't do it for me - but the skill that was shown last night just took my breath away. Even when the ladies didn't quite master all their tricks with the diabolo it was still a great piece to watch and I found myself clapping even harder to let them know it didnt matter - I still loved them!
I won't forget last night for a long time - if ever!
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For those of you who are following my private blog I have just put up a new message. Let me know if you want to be informed when I update or whether you'll just check yourself every now and then.
Sunday, 12 October 2008
No more than a list
I have been meaning to post something all week so that my previous two posts are not just hanging there. I am still in two minds about my private blog - there is a part of me that feels I need to write about what is going on but there is a part of me that says "why should you feel you have to hide it away?" I guess it is so hard because I am someone who goes all the way with the things I do and this just seems so half-hearted - I would normally either keep my mouth shut or be open with all those around me about it. It feels weird because I am writing it as a blog because I feel I want some support but I am actually shutting off that support by keeping it private. And having those last two posts at the top of my blog just keeps reminding me I have to work this out and as I cannot decide just yet I thought I'd better post something new here.
But I can't decide what to write about so I thought I would just write a list of updates for you all on what is happening chez Amanda!
But I can't decide what to write about so I thought I would just write a list of updates for you all on what is happening chez Amanda!
- I love my job. Seriously. I used to spend my weekends thinking about how I could get out of the work I did (because however much I loved care work it was so tiring I couldn't imagine doing it for the rest of my life). Now I just look forward to spending as much time as I can where I work. Especially as I have the opportunity to train as a tour guide for free and have the assistance of Russian and German speaking guides to help me improve my languages in a useful way - how cool!
- I also love my job because the people I work with are so lovely. I especially love the fact that we have a good laugh, especially when I say odd things (as I often do) or do something very "Amanda-like" (you gotta know me to know what I mean by this!) Anyway they genuinely care for each and every other person of the team. And as such they have offered T the chance to work as a casual member of staff until his new job finish all their checks on his health and references etc before letting him start.
- I even love my job when there are only two of us on the desk and I have to man it all by myself - it gives me a buzz that I am already trusted to do work to a high standard. Whoo!
- T and I joined a church last weekend. We have been thinking of doing this for ages but we just never got around to it. I miss the community part of it all and we both knew we needed something regular to kick us up the butts and get us remembering the make time for our spirituality. We were so happy to find the Unitarian church near to us where the people meet in a very open manner where the similarities the members have are more important than the differences, yet the differences are valued as a way to analyse one's own faith. The first service we went to was an evening service or silence, prayer and lighting candles. There were only 4 of us and the minister and it was so beautiful. We went to the morning service today and the minister (who used to be a professional jazz musician) played his bass for us :o)
- We also went to a Mind, Body and Soul show yesterday where we heard Lucinda Drayton singing, which reminded us of some of the first weekends we were together as a couple. It is almost our 1 year anniversary and we heard her play that first weekend when we moved from friendship to partners and it almost went disastrously wrong. I also got to meet an old friend who I have missed and didn't know would be there. I was suddenly wrapped in the biggest hug I've ever had - what a surprise!!
- T took me driving today - I am still terrified of driving so there were a few tears. But we had a good old giggle when the L plates when flying off the car and we had to turn around and run back along the road looking for it.
I think that's it for now - all in all good stuff. We are very blessed, despite the problems we're facing and we are so lucky to be reminded of all this.
Have a lovely week. xx
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