Roadworks and Repairs

I'd been to Morrison's at Elder Gate in Milton Keynes yesterday morning. When I came back I came through the Four Bridges roundabout near Eaglestone and noticed that there were traffic cones around Chaffron Way. It was only when I swung round into Saxon Street that I noticed a vast puddle of water. It seems there is a leak in the water system on a regular basis at that point. You need to slow down when approaching as it can be quite dangerous and you risk going into a sort of aqua-plane which might mean you would swerve across the road. There was a car on my tail. It was too close for comfort.  There is a bus stop within yards of the roundabout and you have to be careful if there is a bus pulled in to disgorge passengers or pick some up. It's a good idea to wait to see if the bus is going to pull out into the road again as it draws away. The car behind me was eager to speed on past, expecting me to do the same without heeding the bus. It is actually a 40 M.P.H. zone along that stretch of road, but I don't think some people realise this. There has been a digital display set up at the side of the road which warns you to 'Slow Down,' and you get a smiley face if you are obeying the correct speed. At the moment this device has been removed, but the pole it is fitted to is still in place. Yesterday when I came back from Sainsbury's I couldn't drive onto the slip road which is on the left-hand side of the road. It was blocked by a string of orange cones. On the way out I saw a lorry parked in Harrier Drive which had lengths of metal of some sort on the back. On closer inspection I noticed they were lamp posts. I think the workmen are replacing the lamp posts along Saxon Street. I have an idea they are putting in more efficient L.E.D. lamps.

There's paint around some of the worst potholes around Eaglestone.  Is it a sign that the Council intends reparing these holes? But are they going to deal with some of the really bad holes, particularly as you come into the estate from Saxon Street? Also, going around Golden Drive, there are some really bad holes, especially the speed bumps. Is it a wonder that we have to spend out a considerable amount having the suspension on the car fixed so many times? It may be fine in the summer months, but come the winter, when there is frost on the ground, when ice gets into these crevices in the road-surface. As it expands, it breaks up the road surface even more, and gets worse as the winter progresses, freeze/thaw, until the road surface just disintegrates. 

Annoying Phone Calls

I'm sitting at home, either writing or attempting to write, or I'm reading or watching television. The telephone rings. As it is, we don't get many telephone calls. I go to answer it. Sometimes there's nobody on the end of the line. I say 'hello' or 'yes' when I answer, but when it's just nothing, or if it is anything, it's just a strange electrical 'burr' noise or a sort of humming sound. What is the point? If it's a cold call, for P.P.I. (payment protection insurance. They will say you could be owed thousands of pounds. But that's another story.) Or they say that your Windows computer is at risk. It needs up-dating or something. Which is crazy as this is a Macintosh. They will speak in an incoherent foreign accent and say they're from the Microsoft something-or-other. Which I know full well is a lie. It's a scam. I do watch television consumer programmes which often mention such scams. They think you'll hand over your bank details and believe every word they say. I'm not that stupid, thanks all the same.

The other week I got a telephone call telling me I could claim thousands of pounds for an injury I received after our car accident. I tell them I haven't had a car accident. They say we put in an insurance claim for the damage that was done to the car when we ran into a pot-hole almost exactly a year ago. I say that was correct. I just don't like this and ask how on earth they got our details. It must have been passed on to another 'body' who are little more than sort of ambulance-chasers. I wasn't injured in the incident with the pot-hole. It set off an alarm in the car which had something to do with the E.S.P. (Electronic Stability Programme) and we didn't get repaired for a long time because it was going to cost £350 for the excess on the insurance. Anyway, they said to me that I could claim quite a hefty amount, well in excess of £1000. As I was a passenger in the car. I told them I didn't receive any sort of injury. Perhaps it was rather a nasty jolt, but I wasn't hurt in any way. Did I need any sort of treatment? Did I take paracetamol or any other medication for my injury? Up to six weeks or more after the accident? I told them, no, I didn't. I wasn't convinced that this was real, I was concerned that the whole thing was a scam, so they said they'd ring back to confirm this. They continued to attempt to get me to virtually lie so I could claim the compensation I was owed. But I wasn't convinced. I had most definitely had not been injured during the incident (I wouldn't call it an 'accident' as no other vehicle was involved. The car was damaged and we eventually got the thing repaired, which was back in November.) I wouldn't lie to get any sort of compensation as I wasn't injured. So I wound up the conversation and ended the call. I am now more than ever convinced that they wanted me to tell a lie and get the money so that someone got a cut of the insurance claim, possibly a solicitor or other legal institution. If that is really the case, it's disgraceful that there are people 'out there' who are quite happy to let people lie for them just so they can line their own pockets. In the end all it is doing is putting the cost of insurance premiums up quite considerably.

On a slightly different subject, the MacBook Air has decided to open. Why on earth it has been playing silly games with me I have no idea. I think it may be something to do with the battery, but I'm not sure. It does seem to get quite hot as it charges. This means that I can get on with transferring my writing to word processing. I have learnt to keep saving what I've written onto the external hard drive which I have. I'm not going to loose all that work because of some sort of technical glitch.

Road Re-Surfacing Chaos

We wanted to go for a swim at D.W. Fitness on Tuesday. Having picked up Carol from the Academy at 4.45 we drove towards M.K. Stadium (the gym is within the precincts of the stadium.) but we first got caught up in heavy traffic, caused by re-surfacing work on some of the Milton Keynes grid roads. There was a long tailback from the roundabout just beyond Oldbrook and then we had to put petrol in the car at the Shell station in Grafton Street. There was further traffic chaos as we neared the stadium and by the time we drove into the precincts of the stadium near the McDonalds and K.F.C. restaurants it was clear that there was going to be something going on within the stadium, no doubt a football or similar event so we decided it wasn't such a good idea to go to the gym after all, as it was likely to be difficult to get out when we wanted to leave so we thought it best to just go home and forget it altogether. Mind you, it's probably be a good idea to just grin and bear all the inconvenience of the re-surfacing of the roads around here, because there are paces where the condition of the road surface leave a great deal to be desired. They have patched up some of the road around Eaglestone, and in particular the gaping chasm that you encounter when you drive in from Saxon Street. It's a wonder that more people don't try and claim some sort of compensation from the local council because all the pot-holes must cause a great deal of wear and tear on cars as they drive over them.

We had another go at a visit to D.W. Fitness, but this time it was very crowded. The changing room was over-flowing and by the time we got into the pool there was a children's swimming lesson going on. A lot of noise from that. Then the jacuzzi was full up. The thought occurred that at such times as this they should have opened the second spa pool, which was closed and with the cover on. It may have been out of order or they hadn't done a water test before allowing people to use it. Also there were a lot of people taking over the pool. I sat in the hot room for a while but even that was over-crowded. We didn't stay too long and left after barely 45 minutes. Unfortunate timing for our visit.