The Whole Widget

I've just got off the phone from Marks & Spencer &More Card customer service and I am simply fuming.All I wanted to know was my account balance, but in order to do so I was asked such 'security' questions as:

What month does your car insurance come up for renewal?

and

What month does your home insurance come up for renewal?

Both of these questions were never asked of me during my application for the &More card so how were they supposed to use them for security, unless (shock horror) they just wanted to spam me with their own insurance products when the time comes for me to renew.Not only that, the man on the other end of the line wouldn't give me the balance on my card until he'd tried the old hard sell on card protection — that I had opted out of on application and had already told them I wasn't interested in on activating my card.To top it all, this was all being handled by an Indian call centre so I could hardly understand him and he could hardly understand me.Be warned, they might have a good interest free period on purchases, but their lack of online banking and automated phone systems has seriously put me off them. I think it's time to look for an alternative, and I've only been with them since November!

Whilst travelling to work to today I was subjected to the mindless drivel that someone was chatting to their friend about on the phone. On turning around to see why it was necessary to talk quite so loudly I noticed that they were in fact talking to themselves. My first assumption was that they had some mental health issues but on closer inspection I spotted a bluetooth headset.I can see the value of bluetooth headsets whilst driving a car but I can think of no rational reason to swan around in public with one on unless you want to appear like Nathan Barley, e.g. a tosser. Honestly all that happens when I see these people is I feel a little unnerved as I'm not convince that they aren't crazy.This is when I hit upon what I think could be a new hit TV quiz show. I call it ‘Gossip to Share or Community Care?’. My thinking is that it could be along the same format as ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’ but that a contestant is presented with a piece of video of someone appearing to talk to themselves and they must decide whether the person in the video is speaking on the phone or is speaking to their internal demons. Obviously the clips would get harder to guess as the monetary value increases a la ‘Millionaire’.This format seems perfectly suited to Endemol as this would give the viewers a taste of reality TV in the footage for the contestants to view and would also have the added bonus of making a spectacle out of those members of the public with mental health problems, e.g. Pete who won this years Big Brother.NOTE: The above post is intended to be taken with a huge pinch of salt.

Here is an example of the kind of quality workmanship that has become de regur at my place of work in recent times.The entrance hall had it's carpet replaced and it appears that someone forgot to order enough of the replacement carpet. Anyway the contractor arrived back the other day and quickly laid down the missing piece before disappearing. Can you spot the difference between the existing carpet and the new piece that was laid?

Unbelievable!I'm now beginning to think that they are going to leave it this way and argue that the difference is because it was designed to take more wear than the rest of the hall.I'll post an update if things change.