#BlogLife682 - Nandos give new meaning to the word Lazy!

I think every bone and muscle in my body is shattered. The pedicure and triple massage was delightful though.

He was very friendly and thorough, during the scrub and cream feet and leg massage and wasn't too rough but my body started stiffening up and now it's a lil tender.

Oh oops, I was wrong about Popeyes opening today, ha, it's tomorrow so hopefully at some point I will try out the cheese and egg muffin thingy majiggy, unless it's only served in the mornings, we shall see.

No sign of the lip balms yet, the tweezers haven't been despatched either, although I don't know if today's Postie has come and gone as it's only 2pm and yesterday I think he came at 3pm...

I feel really skittish around that barking dog/s still so I decided to crank up the music, it's giving me so much stress but even though I'm hurting my poor eardrums I didn't hear it bark/pseudo chase me.

Everyone seems to be mumbling today or maybe my ears have given up. When I went to get the veggy pakoras there wasn't much left and this was at 10.30am.

Wow they are popular! I was trying to ask him what time they made them and he just mumbled something I couldn't understand so I left it and just bought the remainder ha.

I split it with Mama and asked for the dip and maybe he gave me the remainder because there was about 5 or 6 in the bag lol.

But she loves it so will enjoy it or freeze it for another time. I also got some ladoos, gulabs for a nice dessert later.

Now onto the title. I don't think Mama has been to my local branch before, her one she said were very kind and accommodating to her needs.

Mine was a whole rude disaster area. I think the price was about £22 and I treated her because she, like me, isn't feeling the greatest.

Anyway, I ordered a grilled chicken pitta and a fanta, £8 for a small meal and a whopping £4 for the drink with free refills.

She wanted spicy rice, broccoli and wings so that must have been about £12.

I feel sorry that she couldn't enjoy her usual hot drink because there was a limited selection, ice tea and soft drinks.

We sat down, the waitress handed us one measly menu and said we had to come to the front to order.

Ummm are we at a drive through? Loads of waiters milling about and you can't take an order and bring drinks?

Ick! So we left our belongings vulnerable to thieves and traipsed to the front, at this point, we are both, famished and dead on our feet.

Then they want the bloody table number. We go back, find it out and then wait and wait.

She then directs us, vaguely pointing to a direction, the drinks are help yourself, somewhere over there.

That's my snapping point because I see nowhere that could be a drinks station so I bring the empty glasses back to the table, doing their crappy job for them.

And I start cursing because I'm frustrated and the pains building.

Mama mia actually discovered it and at that point, I wanted to punch all the staff in the face for being unfriendly, unhelpful and just LAZY!!!

Fast forward about 10-15 minutes later, where small portions arrive as seen on my Twitter @SleeplessScrib1.

The food was barely warm, the chicken was tough and overcooked, the lemon and herb marinade was tasty.

But I ate a quarter and left the rest, it did not appeal and was not worth the price.

If they continue with the shoddy service they will not survive at all.

I do not recommend them. I would rather the simple but warm cafe, which offers a complete service and the food is piping hot, even though the place is always packed!!

Nandos was more than half empty. Yet they couldn't be bothered to heat up the food?

They were prioritising home delivery orders instead of the restaurant ones.

I couldn't hate them more, if I tried!!! Disgusting!! I will not be returning!

I came home and straight away ordered my sushi, the guy was mumbling but because he was out of the ramune drinks, he gave me a complimentary cheesecake thingy.

It looks like a small pancake, I would have given it to Mama, she loves that kinda thing and I'm such a dope.

I forgot to walk with the bag with all her snacks ughhh. I really want the drinks but I don't have the energy to pop it open.

I'll probably leave the sushi for tomorrow and have the pakoras instead, they are better fresh.

I still find it insane that they sell out that quickly and don't make several batches, only one.

It is better fresh but aren't they cutting their profits and disappointing customers?

Maybe people don't buy the pakoras that much but rather the vast array of desserts?

Mama gave me some chicken samosas and maybe pasta I think.

Oops forgot to add this bit, I was waiting for them to come around and ask if we needed anything or how the meal was?

Never ever happened, they couldn't care less! I would have given them a piece of my mind, how do you like being served cold food???

Oh and there wasn't cutlery or napkins on the table either, Yeesh, why even have staff, if the customer does it all themselves??

Fetch this and that, wonderful for anyone ill, entering the establishment, wanting a rest and then finding out, you serve your bloody self with cold food!!!

#BlogLife661 - Fiverr - Cheap by name and nature

I can finally exhale now that the blog has had it's final alterations. I responded to an advert on Fiverr, a marketplace for humans selling web services.

This particular person had glowing reviews and was responsive so I thought great, the price was £32.74 altogether.

I wanted an image replacement on the theme/template, whatever you want to call it.

I wanted the title and description to have a clear colour and be readable to visitors.

I wanted the side bar menus to be a darker colour so that no-one had to squint anymore to peruse them.

I have no coding knowledge but I've looked certain things up beforehand and it all seems easy enough to accomplish for someone skilled in that area.

I'm glad that Paypal payments were an option. I rarely use my card if I can help it.

I explained my needs and the person had 24 hours to complete these simple changes.

If it's me, as soon as I am paid, I would get started and get enthusiastic about a project and give it my all, and then some.

They waited until close to the deadline, just under an hour and a half, while I was freaking out and stressing that I had wasted my money.

I feel they did the absolute bare minimum and called it accomplished.

I would be thoroughly ashamed of myself, if that was me. Where is your pride in your work??

I wasn't happy so I requested that the title and description be legible, which seemed self explanatory really.

Plus the fact that I paid extra! That was more or less completed but I'm not entirely satisfied.

I wanted the title to be in a different font style and the popular posts to be in a darker shade but for now I'm done.

However the whole experience was so draining, making that person an admin on my blog and giving them permission to do what needed to be done.

As someone that doesn't like to relinquish control, it was tough and aggravating to wait and wait and wait.

Unfortunately instead of being able to relax and smile that, the blog was finally in the hands of a professional, I felt sick to my stomach and foolish that I had handed money over to a stranger, that treated me as an afterthought.

I didn't feel valued. I felt like I had to babysit them. I had to keep checking the front page of the blog and seeing no progress made.

On the plus side, the picture fits my insomnia theme and that is why I chose it, similar to my twitter image.

They did do the work I commissioned for them and I feel better about my homepage but I can't escape this disgusted feeling..

Of being promised an ethical person and being a delivered a charlatan. I know that sounds harsh, when I'm partially satisfied but the stress was unbearable.

And what really sickened me was that the person at first gave themselves kudos, with a pat on the back, contribution note on my blog, without my permission and when the work was hastily unfinished. Ick!!

They subsequently removed it themselves but that just annoyed me even more. Doing the least amount of work and slapping yourself on the back, giving yourself praise? Yuck!

I love the colour purple and I didn't have to compromise and choose a modern cold theme, which most do and good for them but I find them sterile.

My personal blog I want to be warm and inviting. I want us to be cosy, while we chat and read and share.

I forgot actually that I wanted to have slimmer sides and for the blog to take up most of the page but I can live with it, as it is now.

Would I recommend Fiverr or the worker? No. You have one chance to make a first impression.

If you can't be bothered to make your mark and stand out and work hard to deliver outstanding results, then I can't respect you, sorry. 

You've lost my business and any hope for a glowing review.

#BlogLife420 - Beat the clock with Ocado Zoom?

Ooh the update says it's 3 minutes away, not bad for a last minute, hour order. (10ish minutes in reality).

It's funny this service reminds me of the timed pizza orders, where they had to arrive within a certain time, or your meal was free and you silently wished they were late haha!!

The snows finally all melted away and it's been drizzling all morning.

It's still very cold, the thermostat room temperature was 16 degrees again.

I'm not feeling the best today and I needed to do a mini shop, as I'll be away Friday and was running low on a few essentials.

Ocado had sent me this offer for 30% off and free delivery for this zoom experience.

It's like a top up convenience shop that can be delivered supposedly at the quickest in an hour and so forth.

I know one of the delivery slots was £2.50, not sure what the hour slot was as I didn't pay for it, with the supplied offer codes.

I saved £15 so I'm pleased with that discount as otherwise I would have had to do a full shop and probably would have spent about £40-£50 instead of the £30, scratch that, it was actually £29.75 ha.

I just checked my email receipt. I basically got everything I needed, aside from the soup.

There was some in stock and I don't know if it's because my stomach is delicate but I wanted plain soup and all they had was chicken and noodles/vegetables and I feel like I literally wouldn't be able to swallow that and not feel sicky.

As the queasiness was hitting me pretty hard today for whatever reason. I don't know what sets it off, some days are fine and others just really bad.

I'm surprised they had the Shloer Rose in stock, that's just sparkling grape juice but at a higher quality so we always used to purchase that for special events or treats.

It's non alcoholic, so safe for everyone to drink but it's seems rare to find these days and I just fancied it.

I also saw Virtue Clean drinks, the lemon and lime was £1.10 on offer, it's usually £1.65.

The Virtue berries was £1.65. Hmm I just saw that it had the label "energy" attached to it and that usually means caffeine, please please please, don't have that.

Hmm according to googly woogly (that's just fun to say). It contains "natural caffeine" I'm not sure what the hell that is.

It's all in the taste though and I'll chuck it out if it's disgusting. I would have packed it but honestly at this point I am dreading holding all the bags for the lazy-refuse-to-get-out-and-help cab drivers.

There's my laptop bag with my laptop included obviously, my handbag, my overnight bag with clothes and chargers, electric toothbrush, face brush, makeup, creams..

And lastly my treat bag, with the excess fish I got from the supermarket and chocolates, cakes, pretzels for the family.

My hands hurt so badly trying to lift just one of those bags, let alone several and I have to walk from my door to the cab, where usually they park a lil further away from my house. Ugh!!!

I was shopping in a hurry so I just added things really quickly. Another nice surprise was that they do sandwiches.

I guess because it's an express service and no chance they will go off, they can do that, there was a meal day offer, add a snack and drink for 50p but I didn't see the link to that and I just wanted to hurry and get it delivered for the morning.

Oh you might wonder why I don't like caffeine? The stimulant in coffee/tea designed to keep you awake/alert??

I'm constantly trying to nap for one, I already have difficulty sleeping, that's not something I need in my life.

Secondly, every time I have it, I get the urge to vomit. I'm already sensitive so no thanks but to avoid wasting money, I shall try it.

To be fair, the sicky feeling has passed but it can just pop up randomly.

I have the 2 chicken samosas in front of me but not appetite to consume them. I'm just going to randomly sip my Shloer, yep opened it easily already, (thank heavens).

Ha the Amazon review I wrote about the heated blankie was published in full, astonishingly and the seller has already been in touch today, to troubleshoot and probably hopes I amend my trashy review.

10 minutes to heat up, my foot!!! More like all day!! I'm not sure I can be bothered to respond at the moment.

Plus Easy Fundraising replied to my comment in which they asked, why are you uninstalling the add on?

I simply stated....... "It doesn't work!!" That's fairly harsh I know but I wasn't in the mood to tread lightly.

They want me to elaborate but what more can I say?? That's fairly self explanatory.

I've tried it in several stores, Ebay, Ocado, Amazon I think as well, not sure if there were others but enough is enough.

I want something simple that actually does what it's supposed too. If I have to contact support, that's just bad service!

Oops forgot to add, there is live tracking but all it said was that it was running on time.

It was only when it was a few minutes away that it moved and it said oh it's running a few minutes behind.

Before that it just said we are preparing your order, which isn't really helpful.

I think I did get emails though to say it was despatched, I was just looking at the live tracking though, convinced it would give me all the information I needed.

#BlogLife419 - Amazon's faulty blankie saga

Yesterday I received the heated blankie £46 that I bought from Amazon and I was so relieved and pleased that I didn't think about what I would do if it turned out to be defective.

It came around 5pmish after the live tracking coming and going. I excitedly unpacked it and switched it on.

Only one side is fleeced and it's stiffer than I would have liked but the cord is extra long.

I never sleep at night with these things on, just take a daytime nap for safety reasons.

Most have the auto switch off but you always hear horror stories about them overheating and causing fires so I'm very careful and even before I bought one, people were trying to talk me out of it.

But cold is cold and my bones cannot get warm, with the warm clothes and the heating on, I'm still frozen.

The top setting on the control is supposed to be for the temperature and the bottom one for the duration, 1-9 hours but I think it automatically turns off after 3 hours as a precaution, which is fine.

I set it to the maximum heat and timer and waited and waited and waited.

Bits of the blankie wasn't at all warm. There was slight low warmth, in certain areas but then it came off, then on, then off and so forth.

I thought I was doing something wrong so I watched an Amazon video and nope, I was correct but it was just broken.

Maybe for some reason it was stuck on the lower warmth actions but it doesn't explain why it randomly goes off after a few minutes.

If you go on Amazon's live chat, there's no option to type, just automated non helpful responses.

If you try the phone service, it's another bot. The only way to get a human was to rant on Twitter and they just fobbed me off saying return it.

I can't do that. It's too damn excruciating to hold anything, let alone a huge box, all the way to the bus stop and then walk into the market and then queue up at the Post Office......

Nope!!! I don't even want to return it, as it gives the barest minimum of removing the chill and I have been struggling in this weather to function at all.

I really just want to stay in bed and not get up but I would start to get really depressed if I did that.

When I purchase things, I expect them to work 100%. I don't expect to have problems.

My legs and hands are ice cold. Ugh I can't be bothered to stress about this anymore.

Maybe I'll win a blankie or there'll be a voucher giveaway I can enter.

The only saving grace is that I wrote a scathing review on Amazon and that will prevent some other poor soul in buying this colossal piece of crap!!!

I wonder if they will even print my unflattering review...

#BlogLife329 - Give me your soul, but don't question it!

Today I finally got the answers I was looking for to tackle a personal problem after I gently enquired what I had to do next.

In the rudest possible way, the person implied I was not being straight forward and hiding things and that I should stop wasting their time and give what was asked quickly.

It's too late to respond tonight so I will deal with it tomorrow morning.

All I wanted to know is, what the situation was and how I could assist but it's like they were exasperated when they didn't even clarify it in the first place. Grr

Nobody here is psychic and knows everything instantly. Transparency would just be nice is all. I want to close this chapter too.

I spent the morning holding waiting on customer service to clarify it all and I just took a deep breath to calm my temper as they asked me to repeat the same thing.

Give what I already have before a dozen times over. Ugh. Am I dealing with idiots?

To give her credit though, she was actually nice and helpful, even though, it's repetitive.

I'm just hoping that I am now done. I filled in the form, yet again and put in the extra request, plus just added a note.

I don't see what is left. I have complied completely. What made me laugh was she didn't even ask if I minded, just said stay on the line and take part in a feedback survey ha!!

After all that time faffing about? I just hung up lol. Purlease, you wasted my entire morning, you think I have time to answer moronic questions.

You are incompetent, let's just leave it at that. If it were me. I would look through it all, cross things off a checklist and say ok just to clarify, email me this and you are done.