On a day of utmost frustration -- what's that, dear reader? You figured those days were behind us? -- I'll begin with an amusement. An oddity landed on my group's desk today, requiring someone who could speak French, of all things. Immediately, all head's turned to the Canadian, forcing me to throw up my hands and admit that, no, not all Canadians can speak even passable French.
This, of course, reminded me of my "Newfie French" story, which, incidentally, has received more than a few laughs over here -- poor sods. (For those of you who're tired of it, the next paragraph may be of more interest to you.) I grew up in Newfoundland, taking French as a subject all the way through grade school -- not immersion, mind you; that was much rarer in my day. When the family moved to New Brunswick, I was about to go into my last year of high school, and that summer I went to my future guidance counselor for advice on the subjects I should take. When we got to French classes -- and I'll paraphrase here for effect -- he said that my Newfie French wouldn't cut it in Canada's only officially bilingual province; now there was no malice in it, but he was firm. Incidentally, two of the courses I did take, Typing and Computer Science, helped me immeasurably in the coming years, and it was the former much more so than the latter, if you can believe it. (Although, to this day, I can't hear "Use your time wisely" without thinking of my CS teacher; Mr. Fraser, was his name, I believe.)
One final tangent -- yes, this could really be classified as a series of tangents -- I did test in the 95th percentile -- and you're better off asking Wikipedia what that means; I was rubbish at Stats too (I love writing that so much more than "sucked" or "crap") despite taking it long after my French lessons were done -- for the aptitude to learn languages a few years ago. Shows ya what those tests are worth. ;-)
And now, on to the frustration of the day. You may recall that we were worried about ensuring that there were sufficient funds in the proper account when the rent came due. Turns out we forgot a key point in the many briefings we got: that's supposed to be taken care of by the liaison office here, with an appropriate amount (read: cost of living over here accounted for) deducted from my salary before we ever see it over here. I say "supposed to" very deliberately, because we found out today that the standing order surrounding that transfer was never processed by Barclays. (Note that this is separate from the standing order to transfer the funds from our account to the landlord's account, which is all ready to fire at the end of the month, and a big part of the reason for our subsequent panic.)
Anyway, by the end of the day, we received the good news that the second standing order had been processed, but there were a good many hours in between where we were frantically writing our banker back in Canada about increasing our daily withdrawal limit, envisioning many trips for cash in the hopes of having enough in the Barclays account by the end of the week. (Remember: our massive cheques are still in electronic limbo right now, out of our Canadian account and firmly mired in this God forsaken 'negotiation' process they have over here.) Combined with our hotel booking problems -- try to book a hotel in London with a Canadian credit card and you'll be asked to produce identity documents or have the reservation cancelled -- this week has left me feeling at best, unwanted, and at worst... Well, I won't use the 'T' word, but you know what I mean. We are still literally worth nothing in this country, and it's just so upsetting. Especially when we find out today that a wire transfer -- which takes a week to set-up, and so was of no use regarding our rent problem -- would've had the funds in our Barclays account in no time (according to someone who's just recently come over and has had that experience).
I need a vacation. Luckily, one's on the horizon, and I'm hoping to treat you all to some blog posts on location. Stay tuned!
Showing posts with label banking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label banking. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Friday, August 7, 2009
More lessons
Our air shipment arrived this afternoon. The movers were very friendly -- noticing a pattern yet? -- and the six boxes were out of their truck in no time. Tea's very happy to have her iMac back, as I'm sure you can imagine.
Then it was off to the bank to try to resolve a snag we've run into. We deposited a cheque from our Canadian account into our UK Barclays account early in the week; the latter is tied to what they call a standing order, and it's how our rent will be paid. (Incidentally, we filed that order with our letting agent, not our landlord -- this really is a different world.) About mid-week we got some mail from Barclays saying that the negotiation we'd submitted -- that's what they call the process for depositing foreign currency -- could take up to six weeks to clear! Suddenly bouncing our second month's rent payment was a very real possibility!
A coworker suggested that we might have better luck at a larger Barclays branch. This rang true for us, as the chap who helped us at the smaller branch, while very nice -- which was really odd, by the way, as most of the Barclays folks we've dealt with act as though they're doing us a favour by letting us bank there -- behaved as though he hardly ever did these negotiations. So, once the movers left, it was off to the larger Barclays branch to deposit another large cheque. (No, to answer that question that's hanging in the air now, we most definitely cannot keep doing this, if this attempt also fails.)
I guess now is as good a time as any to qualify my earlier gushing about this country's progressive use of the 'net: banking is well behind here. You have to deal with a cashier -- they don't call them tellers, which I actually prefer (although ATM is horrid) -- for just about everything: most of the bank machines (which they call cash points here) that I've seen literally say "Money Out" on them; you can only withdraw funds from them or check your balance... even top up your mobile minutes, if you'd like. The one "Money In" machine I saw in this branch required paper deposit slips; there was no place for your bank card.
And in case you thought that the "up to six weeks" was an anomaly -- which, of course, we are sort of hoping it is -- one of our claims was recently reimbursed in pounds (the details of why aren't important) and when we deposited that cheque -- from a Barclays account, mind -- into our Barclays account today, we were told that it will probably take three business days to clear. It's the same bloody bank! You just have to shake your head. Oh well, here's hopin' that the Canadian cheque we deposited today clears well before the first one.
As the title of this post implies, the 'learning opportunities' abound. :-) I'll continue with the appliances: our super snazzy dryer has a water reservoir. We didn't really give this much thought, and Tea's busy doing the second or third load of laundry the other night when the dryer starts to beep. As she did with the microwave and the induction cook-top, she immediately reached for the manual. Shortly afterwards, I hear her exclaim, to the tune of yet more beeping, "It's full of water! What more could it want?" :-) Oddly enough, the beeping stopped once we emptied the reservoir. :-) It's strange: the dryer doesn't vent to the outside, which is great for making a nice hot room (just off the kitchen) for getting the wrinkles out of hanging clothes.
Not to be outdone, I committed the stupidest act in memory -- forget recent -- this afternoon. Unsatisfied with almost melting Tea's hairdryer, which was actually quite scary, truth be told -- "Sure; it'll be fine. It says 250 VAC on the side." Ah, no, that bright red glow out the back of it is a bad, bad sign -- yes folks, unsatisfied with that darling moment, I plugged my newly-arrived shuttle (i.e., computer) in before flipping the little red switch on the back of the power supply from 150 to 230, at which point I could've sworn I was shot. The black streak out the back of it on the pearly white desk, and the accompanying burnt metal smell cued me to what actually happened: best case, I fried my power supply; worst, and most likely, case, I fried the power supply, the motherboard, and everything attached to it. Bravo, Jae, bravo indeed.
The shame I feel now, recalling it, can only be topped by that which I feel when recalling how I reacted to said event: to say that I behaved like an enraged orangutan, jumping around screaming a blue streak at the top of my lungs -- all the windows wide open; "Hi neighbours!" -- is to do a horrible disservice to ape-kind everywhere. A shameful, shameful display, to say the very least.
I wonder what tomorrow will bring! :-)
Update: Thursday, August 27: against all reason, my power supply sacrificed itself for the good of the motherboard. :-) I've just replaced the power supply, and I'm back in business, only $50 lighter (and very happy).
Then it was off to the bank to try to resolve a snag we've run into. We deposited a cheque from our Canadian account into our UK Barclays account early in the week; the latter is tied to what they call a standing order, and it's how our rent will be paid. (Incidentally, we filed that order with our letting agent, not our landlord -- this really is a different world.) About mid-week we got some mail from Barclays saying that the negotiation we'd submitted -- that's what they call the process for depositing foreign currency -- could take up to six weeks to clear! Suddenly bouncing our second month's rent payment was a very real possibility!
A coworker suggested that we might have better luck at a larger Barclays branch. This rang true for us, as the chap who helped us at the smaller branch, while very nice -- which was really odd, by the way, as most of the Barclays folks we've dealt with act as though they're doing us a favour by letting us bank there -- behaved as though he hardly ever did these negotiations. So, once the movers left, it was off to the larger Barclays branch to deposit another large cheque. (No, to answer that question that's hanging in the air now, we most definitely cannot keep doing this, if this attempt also fails.)
I guess now is as good a time as any to qualify my earlier gushing about this country's progressive use of the 'net: banking is well behind here. You have to deal with a cashier -- they don't call them tellers, which I actually prefer (although ATM is horrid) -- for just about everything: most of the bank machines (which they call cash points here) that I've seen literally say "Money Out" on them; you can only withdraw funds from them or check your balance... even top up your mobile minutes, if you'd like. The one "Money In" machine I saw in this branch required paper deposit slips; there was no place for your bank card.
And in case you thought that the "up to six weeks" was an anomaly -- which, of course, we are sort of hoping it is -- one of our claims was recently reimbursed in pounds (the details of why aren't important) and when we deposited that cheque -- from a Barclays account, mind -- into our Barclays account today, we were told that it will probably take three business days to clear. It's the same bloody bank! You just have to shake your head. Oh well, here's hopin' that the Canadian cheque we deposited today clears well before the first one.
As the title of this post implies, the 'learning opportunities' abound. :-) I'll continue with the appliances: our super snazzy dryer has a water reservoir. We didn't really give this much thought, and Tea's busy doing the second or third load of laundry the other night when the dryer starts to beep. As she did with the microwave and the induction cook-top, she immediately reached for the manual. Shortly afterwards, I hear her exclaim, to the tune of yet more beeping, "It's full of water! What more could it want?" :-) Oddly enough, the beeping stopped once we emptied the reservoir. :-) It's strange: the dryer doesn't vent to the outside, which is great for making a nice hot room (just off the kitchen) for getting the wrinkles out of hanging clothes.
Not to be outdone, I committed the stupidest act in memory -- forget recent -- this afternoon. Unsatisfied with almost melting Tea's hairdryer, which was actually quite scary, truth be told -- "Sure; it'll be fine. It says 250 VAC on the side." Ah, no, that bright red glow out the back of it is a bad, bad sign -- yes folks, unsatisfied with that darling moment, I plugged my newly-arrived shuttle (i.e., computer) in before flipping the little red switch on the back of the power supply from 150 to 230, at which point I could've sworn I was shot. The black streak out the back of it on the pearly white desk, and the accompanying burnt metal smell cued me to what actually happened: best case, I fried my power supply; worst, and most likely, case, I fried the power supply, the motherboard, and everything attached to it. Bravo, Jae, bravo indeed.
The shame I feel now, recalling it, can only be topped by that which I feel when recalling how I reacted to said event: to say that I behaved like an enraged orangutan, jumping around screaming a blue streak at the top of my lungs -- all the windows wide open; "Hi neighbours!" -- is to do a horrible disservice to ape-kind everywhere. A shameful, shameful display, to say the very least.
I wonder what tomorrow will bring! :-)
Update: Thursday, August 27: against all reason, my power supply sacrificed itself for the good of the motherboard. :-) I've just replaced the power supply, and I'm back in business, only $50 lighter (and very happy).
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Day 5
Pretty quiet day so far. We had an appointment at the bank this morning, and spent much of the rest of the day anticipating news regarding the approval of the tenancy agreement. Unfortunately, the business day is over here now, and it's just been confirmed that there's still no news. Tomorrow's our last business day here, so we're really hoping for good news in the morning.
High Street
After the bank appointment we went to the Suffolk Arms for a bit of lunch, and then wandered along Bath Street to High Street (and yet more shopping). We spent some time in Marks & Spencer -- which was so much bigger than the shop they had in St. John's for a bit, when I was a kid -- before descending upon what will surely be a favourite haunt of mine: Moss Books.
Our Moss Books purchases
At times I feared for my safety under those precarious precipices of tomes, but, truly, had anything happened, I would've died a happy man. I barely scratched the surface of their collection, and the combination of awe and walks down memory lane -- they have the largest collection of old TSR-era paperbacks that I've seen outside my parents' basement -- still has me shaking my head. I picked up a fantastic copy of Crime and Punishment, and Tea got Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food; the latter is a collection of simple, tasty recipes, and she's particularly excited about the wide range of curries therein.
I'm not sure when my allergies finally forced us out on the road again, but at that point we decided to head across to the street to Frankie & Benny's again, for a proper meal this time. (Tea was intrigued by the menu yesterday.) Tea had the Margherita pizza and I had the sausage and mash.
On the way back to the apartment, we stumbled upon a market of sorts in an alley. We'd been attracted by yelling that put me in the mind of some eastern European auction; sitting here now, I'm still not sure what that guy was selling -- no, Dubya, it wasn't sacks of random meat ;-) -- because the table across the way from him had all these bowls of random fruit, each for a pound! Tea got a bowl of cherries, looking very pleased with herself.
There's a smaller album associated with this day, and I'm gonna try something new: embedding a slideshow on this page. Let me know what you think.
UPDATE: We ordered Chinese food from Golden Mountain and played games -- Fluxx and Ticket To Ride -- 'til 1 a.m. this time. Definitely a pattern emerging.
High Street
After the bank appointment we went to the Suffolk Arms for a bit of lunch, and then wandered along Bath Street to High Street (and yet more shopping). We spent some time in Marks & Spencer -- which was so much bigger than the shop they had in St. John's for a bit, when I was a kid -- before descending upon what will surely be a favourite haunt of mine: Moss Books.
Our Moss Books purchases
At times I feared for my safety under those precarious precipices of tomes, but, truly, had anything happened, I would've died a happy man. I barely scratched the surface of their collection, and the combination of awe and walks down memory lane -- they have the largest collection of old TSR-era paperbacks that I've seen outside my parents' basement -- still has me shaking my head. I picked up a fantastic copy of Crime and Punishment, and Tea got Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food; the latter is a collection of simple, tasty recipes, and she's particularly excited about the wide range of curries therein.
I'm not sure when my allergies finally forced us out on the road again, but at that point we decided to head across to the street to Frankie & Benny's again, for a proper meal this time. (Tea was intrigued by the menu yesterday.) Tea had the Margherita pizza and I had the sausage and mash.
On the way back to the apartment, we stumbled upon a market of sorts in an alley. We'd been attracted by yelling that put me in the mind of some eastern European auction; sitting here now, I'm still not sure what that guy was selling -- no, Dubya, it wasn't sacks of random meat ;-) -- because the table across the way from him had all these bowls of random fruit, each for a pound! Tea got a bowl of cherries, looking very pleased with herself.There's a smaller album associated with this day, and I'm gonna try something new: embedding a slideshow on this page. Let me know what you think.
UPDATE: We ordered Chinese food from Golden Mountain and played games -- Fluxx and Ticket To Ride -- 'til 1 a.m. this time. Definitely a pattern emerging.
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