gibberish

My mates John Cooke and Doug Cook did this very good ad in a sector that is not renowned for it.

It really caught my eye in The Scotsman on Saturday. Really very, very good.

Regular readers of my blog will be aware of my relationship with Sky (yes, box 14 is still working - before you ask).

So I am low on sympathy for their order to write down £343 million in an enforced sale of its aggressive build up of shareholding in ITV by the Competition Commision.

ITV has its problems but, you know what,  we need them more than we need a Sky monopoly.

Back off dog breath.

Regular readers of this blog will be aware of the problems we are having with Sky+.

We had our 12th box installed this morning (A Thomson box) and guess what…Yup, it ain’t working properly.

Back in the ancient mists of time (December 2006) we started our farcical Sky + career with a succession of Thomson boxes, some new, some reconditioned.

But as the guys who came to fit them, on a regular basis told us it’s well known that Samsung TV’s don’t work with Thomson boxes and we needed to have Amstrads.

Everybody at Sky was in denial about this when we passed that information on.

However, they crumbled under our pressure and began fitting a succession of Amstrad boxes (both new and reconditioned), however 7 Amstrads later we had Thomson number 4 fitted this morning.

It lasted an hour.

So, Jeana phoned Sky again and got onto the Head of Technical Services who came clean and admitted Sky have just realised that Samsung TVs and both Amstrad and Thomson boxes are incompatible.  He informed us that the only ones that work are Pace boxes.

“Oh right, well we’ll have a year’s refund and a Pace box then.”

“Hmmm, can’t do that. We don’t have a system that can be sure of laying its hands on a Pace box. And you’ll need to speak to someone in Dunfermline about the refund. They’ll call you back.”

(They haven’t of course.)

“What? The world’s biggest TV conglomerate can’t lay its hands on a Pace box?” Jeana questioned in a state of some disbelief.

“That’s right, but there is a solution.”

Wait for it. This is spectacular.

“You sell your Sky box on ebay.” Says the Head of Sky Technology.

“ebay?”

“Yes, ebay.”

“Then you buy a Pace box with the money you made from the sale of the Sky box from ebay as well.”

“And then what?”

“You instal the new box (well secondhand) that you bought from ebay and hopefully it works.”

“Hopefully”

“Yes, hopefully.”

“Is that a guarantee?”

“Hopefully.”

Well, dear Samsung owning reader with technical issues.

What do you reckon.

Several hours later we called Sky again as the couldn’t be arsed calling us and we’re getting box 13 fitted on Monday.  It may be an Amstrad (if so we’ll soon be onto box 14) or a Pace (they couldn’t tell which) but it won’t be a Thomson ” ‘cos they definitely don’t work with Samsungs” the guy said

At the Tods Murray do I was at on Wednesday the auctioneer was the Fifer, Willie Allan. Superb guy and the best I have ever seen in action. And he’s a teacher from Methil mixing it up with the toffs. Good on ya Willie.

After calling one of the aforementioned toffs a “gippo” he taunted Gregor Townshend by saying he “Couldn’t kick a sailor off his sister.”

The quote of the year so far…

Tom (12) made a presentation to Jeana and I about investing my hard earned cash into a dotcom venture.  He believes he can take £10 a month off me.  Give me £15 back and make a profit by buying and selling on ebay.

I’m all for entrepreneurialism.

He did a post-den interview into the grip of his putter (a surrogate microphone) claiming he had been to hell and back facing the hardline dragons.

I shall keep you posted of course.

This beauty.  A twentieth (late 20th) century classic is available for purchase for only £963.45.  It’s Mot’d for the best part of a year and has 4 months road tax on it.  It’s a humdinger.  120 miles to the gallon or thereabouts.  Built in 1989 by Germans.  When they were good at that sort of thing.  There is less than 3lbs of rust on it.  It never breaks down - except when you put diesil in it.  Which I have only done twice.