richardbloomfield.ie

GoCar car sharing

A friend of mine was telling me about the GoCar Car Sharing service last night, and it sounds really good! It looks very similar to the City Car Club, which I was a member of when I lived in Edinburgh.

The basis behind the scheme is to allow you to rent a car for a couple of hours at a time. Owning and maintaining your own car for occasional use can be very expensive, and hiring a car by the day for a simple errand is a bit over-the-top. And so, this service lets you hire a car by the hour.

The cars are positioned around the city, and you can check online when they’re free, and book one for the time you need. Then swipe your smartcard at the car, and you’re away - and they automatically bill you for the time/distance you use at the end of the month.

It’s ideal for the odd trip to an out-of-town shopping mall, or for a visit to friends across town - and like I said, it’s much less expensive and hassle-free than owning your own car!

First ride of 2012

This morning I had my first cycle ride of the new year, and I feel fantastic. I had forgotten how invigorating it is to ride to work, and how much more alert and energetic I feel afterwards.

I live so near to work now that I’ve slipped into the habit of leaving the bike at home most days. When you add in all the time it takes to walk to the bike shed and unlock, and then re-lock at the other end, a bike ride only really saves me a couple of minutes. And the bonus when I walk is that I can listen to music - which is much too dangerous a practice when cycling on the Dublin roads!

However, I really must make the effort to use the bike more. I used to ride it every day, come rain or shine, but that’s fallen to about two days a week now.

Enthronement of new Arch Bishop

You are not alone in anticipating the upcoming enthronement of Michael Jackson as the new Arch Bishop of Dublin and Glendalough in Christ Church this Sunday. It’s human nature to be happy about this thriller event. It’ll be one day in your life when you feel you’ve just got to be there. It’s a tickets-only event, and I suspected they’ll all be gone too soon, but there might just be one more chance if you apply quickly to the cathedral office. And remember the time; the service starts at 4.00pm. Will you be there?

Adobe Price Con

I feel that I’ve been ripped off by Adobe.

I recently went on to the Adobe web site to upgrade my version of Photoshop Elements. I was attracted by a discount listed in the Adobe web store that would give me about 20% off the price. And so I went ahead and ordered the upgrade. However I didn’t notice at the time that I was being charged full price.

I contacted Adobe support to say that I had been overcharged, and the support rep I talked to even confirmed that the web store was showing a discount. But he said he would have to refer the issue up to his manager, and that they would be in contact.

I heard nothing for a couple of days, and then today got an email saying that my support call has been closed. They say that no discount exists, and that I’ve been charged the correct price. And wouldn’t you know it, if I check the store now, there’s no mention of the discount - and I didn’t keep any evidence of the discounted price.

And so I’ve been conned by a big corporation, and I can’t do anything about it.

Christ Church Girls' Choir Open Day

The Christ Church Cathedral Girls’ Choir is currently recruiting new members. The choir is open to any girl from sixth class to fifth year with a love of singing, regardless of their previous musical experience or religious background.

The choir meets on Tuesdays (5.00-6.45) and Wednesdays (4.45-6.45) during term time. The Girls’ Choir sings the service of evensong in the Cathedral every week. In addition, choir members are offered:

• individual singing lessons
• help to improve their sight-reading, aural and musicianship skills
• the opportunity to perform alongside the Cathedral Choir in services and concerts
• tours in Ireland and Europe
• the chance to work towards the Voice for Life Award Scheme, run by the Royal School of Church Music

Membership of the choir is free; tours and awards are subsidised by the Cathedral. New members should be enthusiastic and committed to the choir, and able to attend regularly on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Entry is by a short audition with the choir’s director, Rosemary Beecher Bryant.

Prospective members and their parents are invited to attend an open rehearsal and service on Wednesday 19th January 2011, at 4.45-7.00. The timetable of the evening is as follows:

4.45 Prospective members rehearse with the current choir upstairs in the Chapter House; parents are welcome to observe
5.00 The choir moves down to the Cathedral to rehearse with the Choral Scholars
5.45 Break
6.00 Evensong service
6.40 Parents’ question and answer session; opportunity to arrange auditions

If you would like to attend, please email Rosemary Beecher Bryant, or call 085 7424722 to book a place.

On the eleventh day of Christmas

It’s not even the end of the Christmas season, and already people are sick of it. They will gladly put up with a 3-month build up to Christmas Day, but before the turkey’s even cold on the plate they want to rip down the decorations and forget about the whole thing.

I can’t help but think that, if we didn’t start Christmas in september, then we might all be able to enjoy the full 12 days of Christmas, instead of just the first.

New Gloves

I’m still loving the new bike, but I’m still getting used to the new riding position - whereby I’m less upright than on the old bike. And because of it, I’m supporting more weight on my hands, which has caused a bit of pain in my palms and numbness in my fingers on longer rides.

So I read that new gloves might help relieve the pressure, and so ordered some Chiba Comfort Gel Mitts. I’ve been using them for about a week now, and the difference is huge. I haven’t done any long rides yet (about the longest so far was about 5km) this week, but I can tell that the new gloves are really helping. There’s no sign of numbness, and the pain in my palms is much reduced.

Of course I’ve also read that hand pain can also be caused by a badly adjusted bike seat, so I may have to talk to the folks in my local bike shop to get some advice on how to change it.

Utterly Pathetic and Crap (UPC)

Whenever anyone asks me about my experience of getting TV and Broadband from UPC, I always tell them one thing: the service is great if you just set it up and leave it, but if you try to change anything they will make an utter mess of it. And true to form, they’ve done it again.

A couple of months ago I switched my current account to a new bank, and as part of the switching process the old bank notifies every company that takes a direct debit from me of the new account details. Now for every other company I deal with this worked fine. They received the details, changed the direct debit mandate, and took payment from my new account. But not UPC it seems.

The usual April payment didn’t come out of my account, but I was reassured by a text message form UPC saying that a double payment would instead be taken from my account in May. So I naturally thought they have received the new account details, but hadn’t managed to set them up in time for the April billing cycle. And so I waited. But then I got another text message a couple of days ago saying that I need to update my Direct Debit details online. So I dutifully logon, and give them the same details as supplied about a month ago.

But then I get a phone call this morning from the UPC credit control department, demanding immediate payment over the phone. They say that there’s no Direct Debit set up on my account, and that they will not set it up until I pay not only the April payment, but the May payment too (which isn’t even due yet). I ask them to simply collect this money by Direct Debit as per their original text, but they refuse to do so, saying that they can only set up Direct Debit mandates for accounts that have a zero balance. And they refuse to acknowledge they they’ve messed up at all. In their eyes it’s all my fault that the April’s Direct Debit was rejected, and further that I should have been in touch to rectify the situation, despite the reassuring text message suggesting that it’s all in hand.

So anyway, I eventually agreed to settle the balance owed over the phone, and gave them my card details - only to be told that they don’t accept Visa Debit card. I must provide either a Credit Card or Laser card for payments over the phone. But they do tell me I can pay by Visa Debit online, although I should select ‘Laser’ when I make the payment - but this turns out to be a lie, as they don’t accept Visa Debit online either.

Halifax Ireland to close

The Royal Bank of Scotland (Ireland), and their retail division, Halifax, are radically restructuring their banking business over the next few months. Around 750 bank workers are losing their jobs in the republic as part of the changes.

The bank are also withdrawing entirely from retail banking, so that all customers of the Halifax will need to move their current accounts, savings accounts and credit cards to alternative banks by the end of May 2009. All branches of the Halifax will also close. Mortgage customers can maintain their home loan until it is paid off if they want, but no new loans will be offered.

Rothar

If you’re in the market for a second-hand bicycle, need some bike repair training, or even just need some space and tools to do some repairs, then Rothar is for you.

Situated on the Phibsborough Road D7, they are a community project that takes donated old bikes (as well as abandoned bikes from around the city) and renovates them in their workshop; selling them on second-hand at a very reasonable price.

I really love the concept, because it promotes recycling and reuse, sustainable transport, and community-based education.

I just wish my new bike would hurry up and arrive in the shop, so that I can donate my existing ride to the project.