Moleskine entry: August 5th, 2009

Lucozade Energy Challenge number three begins. It’s about 9pm at the time of writing, the plane is taxiing to the runway and we’re very nearly on our way.

The task this time round is white water rafting on the Zambezi river. First stop: Cape Town, South Africa. From there, onwards to Livingstone, in Zambia. After that? God knows.

Wherever we end up, I can not wait.

The challenge is different in oh so may ways from those that have gone before. First of all, this is the first challenge that we’ve had any official Lucozade presence with us. Sam and I both report into our respective agencies who, in turn, report into Lucozade/GSK. Their main contact there? A guy named Nick.

I first met Nick during the final stage of my interview process for the gig that I’m writing to you from now. An Aussie and all round nice chap, he’s a welcome addition to the team.

Speaking of ‘the team’ I’ve already mentioned Sam and I are back on the case, this time however we’ve been joined by four freshl graduates from Scotland. Kenny, James, Wullie and Stuart. All good lads and all, it would seem, on the trip of a lifetime. Our first video is already in the can and I think after a small amount of coaxing, they’ll be talking and playing up to the camera in no time at all. After all, the more personality and energy these guys have, the easier my job gets.

We’re flying over Brighton now, crossing the English Channel. At last my mind has found peace. I mentioned that this trip was different; we’ve had a longer gap between this and the the last. Ten days in fact.

Quite possibly the longest ten days of my professional life.

Jeebus.

A long time ago, I used to suffer from really, really bad insomnia.
Really bad.

Night after night I would lay awake, staring at the ceiling, waiting for the sandman to take me and yet night after night I’d be lucky if I scraped two maybe three hours at best.
Not good.

A few days of this is enough to drive anyone crazy, but this went on for months.

‘Jack‘ nailed it best when he said:

With insomnia, nothing’s real.
Everything is far away.
Everything is a copy, of a copy, of a copy.

My then partner, who no doubt was being kept awake by my incessant restlessness herself, was fantastically supportive and eventually, when it finally started to have a knock-on effect on my working life, she insisted that we sorted this out as – if my work was going wrong, then the next thing after that would no doubt be our relationship…

So.

First thing first – We took the TV out of the bedroom.

I know this seems like a no-brainer, but at that time I didn’t even think about it. I could quite happily sit on the bed, watching TV, (back in the days when I actually watched TV anyway), for ages… It had a built-in video player so on the nights when the insomnia was really bad I’d just stick some Blackadder on or something. Yeah, ‘cos that helped.

After that – Lavender

Lavender spray on my pillows. Lavender bubble bath before bedtime…
Just lots and lots of lavender.

Next – Kalms… or more specifically, Valerian

We found the latter while doing research into natural treatments for sleep troubles etc… I steadfastly refuse to take any form of sleeping tablets and herbal remedies are about as far as I’ll go. The only thing that we could find in the UK that had Valerian in it were these tablets called Kalms. Two of those before bed every night to ‘relieve worry, irritability and stress’ and you’re sorted. Well I say ‘sorted’, I’m not entirely sure if they helped that much, but everything was so gradual.

Finally, and this is one of the biggest things for me by far – Associations.

So what does that mean?

Well, I’ve already mentioned that I took the TV out of the bedroom to aid in my search for slumber. That helped a lot. Not only with not keeping me awake via mere distraction but what it also did was stop me from just sitting on the bed… i.e.: Sitting and not SLEEPING.

Let me explain, y’see – when you allow this to happen, your brain kinda gets used to your bed being just another chair, or a rather in this instance; a big flat sofa, (one for sitting on, not for sleeping).

Once I’d realised this I point-blankly refused to go to bed unless I was so so so so so so SO tired I was falling asleep on my feet. That way, by eliminating all other activities bar sleeping, (TV, Reading, Nintendo etc.), from the bed I managed to train myself associate that physical environment and situation with sleep. Brilliant.

Looking back, this was probably the best thing that I did to get over my insomnia. Obviously the other ideas and actions were also contributing factors… But really, learning to move my work and play away from my place of rest was without doubt the best thing I could’ve done.

You might’ve noticed that the name of this blog is ‘this is my happy place’…
That stems from a number of reasons – all of which resonate quite nicely with the kind of guy that I try to be – but one of those reasons actually relates quite nicely to the accompanying picture…

I like sleeping.

Having had it gone from my life for such a long time I now have the utmost respect for sleep as an activity… and dedicate proper time to it as often as needed.

This isn’t to say that I am lazy, not by any stretch. I just know when I need to rest.

Tying off with associations is a good way to bring this back to my inspiration for this post. I have this habit, when talking on the phone late at night, of falling to sleep mid-conversation.

I kid you not.

I must’ve lost count the amount of times I’ve woken up to find a phone in my hand wondering what the hell was going on. It makes me laugh every time it happens but the caller on the other end tends to get quite miffed. Heh.

Word to the wise – if we’re speaking late at night and I say:

‘Ok, cool. Just headed to bed, will call you back shortly…’

Just. Say. No.

The chances are I will fall asleep…

Night night.

WHY?!

Talk about a blinkin’ walled garden. Apparently the walls are coming down. Well blow me if that’s not about time. I wrote a piece (that I never published here but hacked it to pieces, updated it and edited the mobile parts of it together here for smstextnews) wayback in September detailing what a pain in the ass backside this was/is.

The piece (entitled ‘Think of the Children’) talked (well – the unpublished parts did anyway) about Jaiku and Twitter and how they can happily ‘co-exist’ within the industry… Hang on – Let me go get the quote:

I’m sorry if this is out of context – but you’ll get the idea:

The walled garden appproach that these services offer mean that interoperability between the competition* (*my definition of competition is anything that competes for my spare time – my Nintendo DS is competition for the book that I’m currently reading for example) is impossible.
Imagine if you will Yahoo Mail refusing to send your emails to a Hotmail (sorry – Windows Live) account and/or a Gmail account.. Ridiculous huh? But this is what is happening currently with MySpace/facebook.

.

The Operators/Carriers of this world have finally come round to the idea that interoperability is the way forward. A quick glance at any website proves this as I would imagine you’d be hard pushed to find a tariff that doesn’t include Xnetwork minutes. Of course, this has not always been the case… but, eventually they (the operators) sat up and listened.
This is what the social networking sites of today should be working towards..

.

I’m a big fan of the micro-blogging service known as Jaiku. But more so am I a fan of one of the co-founders – Jyri Engelstrom.
He believes [or at least I think he does] in complete and open syncronosity across such services..
This is evident not just through recurring themes on his blog but also whenever he is asked the question:

.

‘Which is better; Twitter or Jaiku?’

.

You would think that, if pressed, he would of course say ‘Jaiku’. He would have to! Right? Wrong.
No. Jyri is an evangelist of co-existence… What do I mean?
Twitter works. Jaiku works. Why shouldn’t they work together?
Why insist that the user must choose one or the other and not both?

.

Taking this theme and expanding on it… – Why can’t I send a message from my facebook to my friend’s myspace?
If I tag a photo on flickr why aren’t my bebo friends notified?
One day, I hope, this will be the case… much like, as mentioned, how Xnetwork minutes are now ‘as standard’…

So yeah – interoperability (or lack thereof) really hacks me off..

But hey – while we’re still on the subject of facebook (ish)…

Cont in Part 3…

(bit of a rant this one – bear with me)

Now… You may have your own opinions on VF (and their services) but for me personally, over the past ten years; having used Orange, o2 and 3 (never went near T-Mobile), I can honestly say that the level of customer service I’ve received from their agents has been second to none.

Customer service is something I believe in. It is paramount to any company which has any kind of customer-facing aspect. This through personal opinion but also from spending a good few years in the CS industry myself…

So. As you know my N95 died recently. The screen was kaput. No matter how much I took it apart and put it back together again…

…it was, for want of a better term, knackered.

What now? Well… Now I call Vodafone Customer Services…

(before I carry on – you guys need to understand that in the past whenever I’ve had any problem my handset VF have ensured that I have a replacement by the next working day. Good? Damn goo)d.

Ok… Are you sitting comfortably?
Then I’ll begin…
____________________________

06:04 – Our hero awakes to discover the screen on his N95 is flickering…

06:15 – N95 screen goes dead

06:20 – 1st Call to VF CS

“Hi there…”

The Dude explains the problem…

“Not a problem Mr Whatley, you are a highly valued customer, call back after 8am to speak to the right dept and we will get a replacement handset out to you first thing tomorrow…”
“Perfect, thank you very very much. VF CS are the best.”

All good….

…or so we thought!

08:34 – 2nd Call to VF CS

“Hello there!”

The Dude recounts the previous conversation…

“I’m dreadully sorry sir but we do not have any N95s in stock. We can either send you an envelope for you to send the phone back in for repair or you can take into a VF store who will send it off for you..

(after much to-ing and fro-ing)

“…Err, No. Thank you. I’d much rather wait until you have some in stock. The repair process takes weeks. I need a phone asap..”

Our hero ponders his predicament some more… what if he calls again?

08:57 – 3rd Call to VF CS

“Good morning!”

El Duderino once again explains the situation he has found himself in…

“I’m sorry Mr Whatley, we are unable to offer you a replacement handset as the N95 is not covered by our exchange policy..

“Pardon?!”

“I’m sorry Mr Whatley, we are unable to offer you a replacement handset as the N95 is not covered by our exchange policy..

“That’s not good enough, that’s completely different to everything else I’ve been told so far and I do need a phone sooner rather than later.

“Sorry Sir, you were misinformed. Your nearest store is in Slough…”

“Well, I am deeply disappointed with the level of service I have received today. Good bye.”

Surely this cannot be the end for the Dude of Whatley?! Surely he must be united with his phone soon?!

09:24 – 4th Call to VF CS

“Hello there, would you be able to put me through to your store in Slough please?”

“Of course Mr Whatley, just looking that up for you now. While I’m looking Sir, is there anything else I can assist you with today?”

“Ah yes, now that you mention it… How would I go about escalating a customer complaint? I’m slightly perturbed about the level of customer service I’ve received from you.. well.. not from You personally, but from the previous agents I’ve spoken with..”

“Well.. er.. yes. Of course sir, I am very sorry to hear that.. would you mind telling me the problem? I’ll make a note and make sure it gets passed to the relevant managers…

…the Dude does so, with gusto… ending with..

“…and of course I understand that none of this is your fault. I’m not screaming and shouting and I’m not a nasty customer. I’m just a nice man, who is a true evangelist of Vodafone, and ultimately VF’s CS, who needs a phone for his personal and professional life.”

“Well I’ll make sure that gets passed on Sir.. and if you hold the line for a second.. I’ll just speak to my manager…”

Holdeth the Dude.

“…Hello there Mr Whatley, we can get a replacement N95 out to you tomorrow.. is that ok with you Sir?”

_______________________________

Now. I MUST point out that CS agents Numbers 1 & 4 were both friendly and really helpful. The 4th one actually could not do enough for me… The 3rd one was my least favourite; she had made her mind up and was not about to try and help any more. Whereas the 2nd one just didn’t really know her stuff… Not her fault, just poor training/consistency.

THIS is the thing that annoys me the most. Yes all the CS staff have the same (if not then extremely similar) training and Yes there are rules and regulations that they must follow…
BUT I cannot help thinking that no matter what – when you get through – you are at the mercy of that particular agent…
i.e.: If that agent has had a shitty day, there’s a reasonably high chance that they’re not going to help you as much as they could.

I mentioned earlier that I have a history in the CS industry… the one thing that I learned from that was that if you scream and if you shout you will very rarely get what you want.
Be polite. State the facts. Do not blame the person who happens to have answered the call. It’s (probably) not their fault…
Which is exactly what I did come call 4. And, because of this, Call 4 delivered what I actually wanted from Call 1.
Another question I have to ask: “How many VF customers would’ve given up after Call 2?”

*shrug*

Anywhoo – as much as this demonstrates the holes that are within the VF CS staff it also demonstrates that you should persevere in the face of adversity! You are the customer and your money is valuable to the network operator.
As soon as they start taking your money for granted then you lose…

J.

PS – Incidentally – again, restoring my faith in VF – I posted the conversation part of this post on a mobile forum that I contribute to – within 24hrs a VF CS agent had logged into the forum and requested that I email the details into him so that it could be investigated further…. Even though the problem, as far as I was concerned, had been solved.

THAT demonstrates a keenness that I admire and as I said – has helped to restore my faith in the VF’s CS.
(which is the one thing that I shout about the most whenever I recommend a network to my friends)

……still here?

Cool.

Yep. Mission Impossible.

Jana’s friend has arrived and is on her way. One problem. We have her ticket. …

“Well that’s fine James..” – i hear you cry – “…just go and meet her at the Entrance!”

Ah ha – good one that. That’s what we thought.. But unfortunately the free coach from the station won’t bring her here without her ticket… So. Being the good friends that we are – we’re on the free bus to the station, to pick up said person, then get BACK on the free bus and head back into the beautiful Avalon that is The Glastonbury Festival…

…and on a final note. I’m really NOT looking forward to setting up ANOTHER tent here:

They didn’t.

So my buddy Jana and I just missioned it into Kingston to get some.. The time at posting is 1424 – we gotta be on the coach in an hour. First we gotta navigate the Kingston one way system, get home, pick ;up my stuff..

Go to Jana’s, pickup her stuff..

And then and ONLY then can we head BACK into Kingston to catch the coach to Glasters!

MISSION!

No really.

As do the people at Virgin Media.
Oh and BT too – they suck also.

Finally:

Things not to do when drunk:
Fall asleep on a night bus with a chocolate milkshake in your coat pocket.
When you wake up things will be very messy.

FACT.

Morning all – I am shattered.
Didn’t get much sleep last night and this morning I managed to oversleep.
Brilliant.
Then I get to the tube station only to discover that the travelcard on my Oyster has run out.
Brilliant.
Not only that but I also don’t get paid until tomorrow.
Excellent.
So I queue up to try and get it topped-up, half an hour later, my debit card fails.
Why? See previous point.
Fantastic.

What am I to do?

Well – at this point I had a good mind to turn around, go home, back to bed and sod the rest of the day off.
But no – I persevered – I managed to get through the barriers (just). Sneaky I know but I called my friend Alex to have a good moan and she insisted that I had no choice but to get myself to work (cheers Bongo, if you’re reading this).
So fifteen more mins later (when the tube finally turned up) I climb aboard a sardine tin-esque tube carriage…

..and off to work I went.

[EDIT: Just noticed the gormless looking dude over my right shoulder, on the bottom-left of the pic - brilliant - hahaha]

Note – my tube is NEVER that busy in the mornings.
What an absolute pain in the arse. GRRR!

Anywhoo – I’m at work now.
Ranting coming to an end.
Dunno what I’m gonna do about getting home yet – should be interesting.
Maybe I’ll work really late and sleep under my desk – that’s not a bad idea….

Oh – and on top of that – I’m moving house this weekend apparently.
Must start packing soon!

For this – I am truly sorry.

But in the meantime – here are something that have made me laugh!
)

First up!

Me…. In my ridiculously tiny sunglasses..

I’m actually thinking about taking them back and getting some bigger ones..
They just don’t seem big enough.. y’know?

NEXT:

I have a friend called Vicky.
She is lovely.
Beautiful, funny, intelligent, witty.. everso caring and considerate but also a teeny bit bonkers..
(which is probably why I love her like I do)…

Anywhoo – I stayed there a while back and in the morning she had to do her nails (as women do)…
So – I’m minding my own business and Vicky starts talking about her ‘monkey’.

“Your what?”

“I need my monkey to dry my nails…”

“EH?!”

Next thing I know out pops this thing:

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

You put your fingers on the Monkey’s ‘nanas and he blows air over your nails for you!
I don’t know why, but I found this absolutely hilarious.

Vicky just giggled away with me.. but it was just SO random..
Hahaha – I’m still smiling about it now.
In fact – have another pic!

Hehehe…

NEXT!

This is my friend Will.
Trying to use his new BBQ.

I think that’s all I need to say in regards to that one!
Hehehe…

In other news..
Here’s a picture of me and Alex’s Giant Ring..

I love Alex’s Ring.
Alex’s Ring loves me.
We were meant to be.
Don’t you think?

Also..
I don’t know why that pic is yellow.
But it is.
Maybe it’s leaking from my hair…
Who knows?

Moving on…

I saw this at my Mum’s house the other weekend.

HAHAHAHAHAH!
Apparently its a Duster… I just laughed so hard when I saw it.

HOW RANDOM?!
Hehehehee…

That very same weekend – while I was visiting friends and family on the Isle of Canvey I nipped round to see my mate Tony..
He asked me if I like his dishwasher…

He then burst into fits of laughter..
As did I.
Who buys a dishwasher TO KEEP FOOD IN?!
WHO?!

Hahaha…

Remember me in my *super-cool* Sunny-G’s?

Well…

- because they are SO super-cool -

…whenever I produce them, people just want to try them on!

So here – for your delectation – is a selection of random people wearing my sunglasses…

James, Anthony, Rebecca, Rich, Jim, Bastian, Al, Mark, Alio (feat. Jess) and Elaine..

…I salute you all!
Every single one of you!

Right then..
A couple more then I really must chip off to bed…

This is my mate Flashy blatantly abusing the law…

Hehe
..and while we’re on the subject of Flashy..

This is my friend Alio.
She’s a good girl.
But sometimes she likes to be silly in the middle of very important meetings…

..but, when not posing alongside Flashy’s backside, Ali Bongo likes hiding under blankets, drinking strawberry cider, listening to all sorts of ker-razy music and generally having fun taking amusing photos of herself, and others.
Check out her myspace in fact.. you’ll see what I mean!

..and I *think* ..that’s everything.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Quick update Lifewise:

I’m having a great time still..!

Been out clubbing not as much – but still having fun…

Kind of seeing someone at the moment – that’s all cool.
(and I think she’s probably going to read this so I can’t really go into TOO much detail – wink wink – nudge nudge – you know who you are)

Still working bloody hard.
Still loving my job.

If you’re still not sure about what I do -

“..simply text ‘Mobi Daily’ to 63333 for your FREE download…”

Then you’ll see..

Advert over..
..well – nearly:

Very soon – thanks to the lovely intelligent people at Mobizines – you’ll be able to read my blog ON YOUR MOBILE!
…
…
I KNOW!
HOW EXCITING IS THAT?!

Errr… yes – where was I?

Had a great night clubbing at the weekend with one of my new best mates Liv (she’s my hairdresser too – she’s wicked) – her fella runs this night at Isha in Kingston on the last Saturday of every month called Sugafem.
Playing some wicked funky house and some sexy dirty classics..

Lovin’ it…
Ended up going back to some dudes house where he had some decks – mixin’ it up styleeee…
Hehe..

I’m STILL rehearsing too by the way!
Five weeks now until Our Country’s Good goes up.
Looking forward to that – made some real proper progress with my character..
Most of my main scenes are one on one with another bloke, so the rest of the cast hasn’t really seen what I’m doing with it yet.. but I’m looking forward to showing him off as it were – I’m aiming for something a bit edgy.. a bit.. intimidating y’know?
(I’m playing Ketch Freeman if you know the play at all)

But yeah – the Director, Jess – has really kind of encouraged me to explore this (what seemed at first to be a small) role.. and has given me some great direction.
Got a real good working relationship there.. proper director/actor respect y’know?
I’m really happy with it… …all I’ve gotta do now is get off book!
EEEK!

Ahem…

This month also sees the start of rehearsals for The Nativity too.
I think I’ve got my first call this Sunday – so fingers crossed for that one.
I’m really looking forward to working on this – the Director has got quite a good vision it seems and there’s an energy about him that reminds me of a good friend of mine.. so yeah – should be good.

The weekend also gave cause for a celebration too!
One of my closest friends, Natalie, managed to drag herself out of the horrid clutches of all things Essex and moved herself (and her lovely li’l sis, Squiffy) to sunny Surbiton!
Which.. for those of you who DONT know.. is about 30mins on the bus from here!
WHICH.. for those of you who dont know.. is SO much better than 2hrs on the train from here!
So – big HOORAH for Nats!
(I’ll come visit you soon darlin’ – when you’re all settled in like)

*sigh*

I always intend to write such short blogs – but it never happens!
Dammit…

Ok – quick wrap up…

Thanks for reading!
Things to do for next time…

I must email Sarah Bennett.
I must call Victoria Jackson.
I must text Selina Forrest.
I must hug Ali Bongo.

Laters Potatas!

PS – I’m a bit of a cheat – I’ve done two of those things already..
Ah well!

Hehe.. ’til next time true believers..

I’m BORED with a capital ‘B’.

I’m dreaming of Thailand.

Work doesnt really seem important anymore. Its kind of wasting away into the ether. In the greater scheme of things, work really doesnt matter at all.

I’ve got SO much to do this week and its just not happening for me really.. cant bring myself to care about it y’know?

Its difficult.

I think I’m gonna start looking for another job. Something that I dont have to commit so much time to mentally y’know? Something that doesnt put so many demands on my time and my effort. I know work keeps the brain ticking over and stuff but there are plenty of other things I could be doing right now instead of this. I’m not enjoying the pressure. I want to walk away from it.

I’m only realising this as I’m typing it… Jeez. Thailand’s really changed me. Wow.

Watch this space I guess. I need to sit down and work things out tonight. Sort out what I’m going to do with my life and stuff. Heavy man.

I think a TEFL will be the way forward. I need to sort myself out money wise.. a second job might not be a bad idea. Just for the summer. Get some cash behind me.. Then I can think about buggering off somewhere else.

Hmm.. *ponders*

… … …

In other news – I got my Gurpa back! Well.. I havent got it back yet – but I will have! I didnt have time to pick it up when I landed at Heathrow the other day so I just left it.. Then yesterday I called them to see what the score was and they didnt have it.. GREAT I thought.. and THEN they called me back today to say they’d found it and they’d put it in the post for me asap. Brilliant! I cant take it on the plane but they’ll send it through the post! Hahahah..

Excellent.

So yeah – thats me updating my blog.

One more thing – I ate some chocolate today.

Only three tiny pieces. But now I have guilt..

(it did taste good though – YUMMO!)

Speak soon folks..