A changed Man !

Sometime ago one our village people I.. (Scottish - with a love of all things furry) left to make his fortune back in the UK - well Scotland to be accurate. Despite various promises to visit us - he has so far not returned. But now I can reveal why - he has undergone serious surgery of the wallet and had a makeover. I cannot remember in all the time he was hear ever seen him in a suit, shirt and tie

Does anyone actually recognise him ? - all of this to convince the unsuspecting British public that he is a man to be trusted with their financial affairs, at his new accountancy practice. And if you are such a person then you find all the information at http://www.nairnca.co.uk . Anyhow he may well in in our midst in the near future - but will we recognise him ?

As anyone you has driven in Latvia, you will be aware that the vast bulk of the roads are holes surrounded by tarmac. Well this weekend saw another hole appear at the junction of Elizabetes iela and Valdemara iela. But quick as a flash and in the middle of the night the workmen appeared and - made the hole bigger ! - but then on Sunday they filled the hole in again, and then left a number of signs indicating that there was a lack of tarmac covering the whole. The end result of this brilliant piece of work, was that on Monday morning the three lanes of traffic in one direction, and the four lanes of traffic in the other, was reduced to one lane in either direction - resulting in absolute chaos in early morning rush hour. Perhaps in the near future said workmen will once again return with an allotment of tarmac and cover the whole - but I would not hold my breath.

I have mentioned in the past the bureaucracy that creeps into every day life - however it is worth saying that it is dramatically improved over bygone days. Last week however reminded of the good old days. In an effort to improve my Internet speed ( principally to be able to watch live uk tv) I had to go and visit the office of my provider IZZI, which is located in the nether regions of Riga. Why did I have to visit ? - so that I could sign a handwritten contract for an improved service ( 2MB's) - at an exorbitant charge when compared with Lattelecom charges for similar service. Having done all of this, when I returned home I found that the service speed had not been increased, and so a phone call to the their non-customer service department, finally resulted in getting the new service activated. I was also advised that as of 2nd February they had reduced the price of my new service substantially (reduced to 1/4 off the original sum) - BUT - I had to go back to the offices and sign a new contract !!!!!!!

So this morning off I went, only to discover that they were also offering a 10MB service, so what is a man to do ? - I signed up for the new 10MB service for the princely sum of Lv 19.50 per month. Within 1 hour of returning to the office a call came in from the man from IZZI to advise me that they could not provide the 10MB service to my apartment, AND I would have to go back to their office to sign another NEW agreement to get my original 2MB service at the NEW rate of Lv 9.50 per month.

So if anyone from IZZI ( pronounced EASY - but is anything but) ever reads this blog your customer service sucks - why in G...s name if you are an Internet company do I have to visit your offices to sign a contract ???? and WHY do you only have one person in your customer care reception ?? and WHY oh WHY do they have to hand write the contract - do you not have a computer system ???

So to anyone considering installing an Internet connection - avoid IZZI like the plague - unfortunately in my case I have no option.

The only good news is that my Internet streaming of UK TV channels works like a dream.

Wow - now that feels better !!!

I will refrain from discussing the Rugby events of the weekend - suffice to say Ireland better watch out next weekend.

Finally if anyone knows where in Latvia we could obtain a good second hand, industrial stainless steel double sink - let me know - as we need one for the new Zvannieki kitchen.