Monthly Archives: March 2023

Composing, Cliches and Searching for Subjects

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I’m back at work and being creative. If you can call poetry “work” and if you can call my work “creative”. mainly I just feed off the work of other people and potter about in the middle of a shared cloud of words.

Spring is coming, flowers are coming out and trees are gently unfolding their blossom. It is a time of cliche for all writers of Japanese style poetry. That blossom will blow across grass and wet tarmac, will be picked up on shoes, will be trodden into oblivion and will fall into bad company as all the cliches come out to play. I can’t help it. I have a limited number of experiences to draw on, being a non-mobile urban poet.

Litter, discarded shoes and magpies make up a lot of my world. Delivery vans, memories and ragged gardens all play their part. I should probably go back to sitting in car parks and watching people pass by.

In an effort to return to previous times I have returned to composing on paper and copying to the computer. It’s a shame because I was just getting used to composing on the screen. However, needs must, and if the price of writing more is that I have to do more copy typing, that is the price I will pay. At the moment I don’t have much choice.

Last month was the first one in years where I submitted nothing and that clearly can’t go on. To write well, you have to start by writing something. Similarly, if you want ideas, you have to start writing, as it’s well established that the more ideas you use, the more you will have. I suppose that they will eventually dry up, but that’s a mawkish reflection for another day.

(Sorry, wrote this yesterday and went to bed before posting – more to follow today.)

It’s Monday and I’m Back to Work

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I’m not sure if I mentioned the customer who contacted us last week. We had sent him a refund after he had waited for his parcel and opened a case on eBay. Despite their assertion they were making allowances for the delays caused by Royal Mail disruption, they haven’t been particularly flexible and we have refunded around £1,000 to date. Fortunately, this customer , having had his medallion, was an honest man and emailed to ask how to pay. This was particularly welcome as it restores my faith in customers. He was American and, though it pains me to admit it, Americans are, in general, more honest than the average European.

We had a real classic this afternoon. Two months ago we had a customer order a medallion and then, just after we had posted it, ask to cancel as he hadn’t read the details properly. We told him that he could return it for a refund, and he did that. He returned it and had a full refund. I would have refused to refund the postage but the owner doesn’t like to quibble and stood the loss of the postage (which was actually the fault of the purchaser, who didn’t read the details properly.

Late this afternoon we had an email from the customer telling us he had been checking on his recent transactions and he has not received his medallion. He either wants the medallion or a refund. He’s out of luck, because we have, as I said, already refunded him. This what happens when you give good customer service.

He has now had an email telling him what the situation is. Hopefully this will jog his memory and he will leave us alone. Sometimes these things happen.

Currently we are waiting for snow, ice, frost, rain or just a coldish spell. What ever it is, we are on the edge of it and the weather forecasters aren’t very precise about what to expect. I have the cover on my windscreen and a hot water bottle ready for bed.

Old Breakfast, New Trousers?

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It is Sunday breakfast time and the dress code is relaxed. In other words, I haven’t put my trousers on yet. My balance improves as I move around and I find that optimal time for putting on trousers is about half an hour after getting up. In addition, I need to measure them to check the size of a pair of new trousers. You would think that i was easy enough to buy new trousers in he digital age, jus press a button and reorder the ones you had last time. Or the ones you had last time with (possibly) a slightly larger waist. But no, there are always new styles and gaps in the old range. Nothing is simple these days. The current set I am examining have the same size waist as my old ones but the legs are an inch longer and the pockets are almost impossible to unbutton. As the old trousers had legs that were slightly too long, and I have arthritic fingers, neither variation is ideal.

I am now going to put my trousers on and start making breakfast as I can hear Julia moving about. Sunday breakfast usually involves a frying pan and the use of trousers in this scenario makes a great deal of sense.

It will be our healthy vegetarian option with bacon and black pudding garnish. We have some leftover black pudding which is hovering on the edge of perdition and if you have that, you may as well decorate with bacon. Scrambled eggs, toast, tomatoes, beans and mushrooms complete the meal. We have some big mushrooms so I am going to slice them and do them in the frying pans which puts the dark lines on things. There is a chance this breakfast could look quite good, which is more than you can say for the cook.

McDonald’s Breakfast

 

Old Age and Brainpower

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As usual, there is much to write about, and, as usual, I’ve forgotten most of it.

I know there was something interesting to tell you, and a few other things that weren’t quite so riveting. Ah well, they say the first two signs of old age are poor memory and . . .

. . . I’m sure I’ll remember the other.

Sorry, it’s an old joke, but I have nothing better to offer.

I’ve just been reading a book on how to write poetry, It should have been subtitled “Or why self-publishing is dangerous“. It enables people who have lots of confidence, a few published poems and a couple of college courses to write books about how to write mediocre poetry. I can write mediocre poetry, I was hoping to read about how to write good stuff. There are always a few pointers you can pick up from a book like this but t is irksome to pay money for mediocrity.

I also bought a book of monostich poetry. Well, you have to keep learning, don’t you. 50 poems, each of one line. It cost 49p, so it wasn’t a fortune. On the other hand, it did highlight the perils of one-line poetry. There’s a type of haiku, which is often called a monostich or a monoku. One term is imprecise and the other is probably grammatically offensive to scholars of Japanese, but it’s all we have, unless you prefer “haiku written in one line”. I thought I’d have a look at it in more detail. It’s never too late to learn something new, even if it is that one line poetry is often a let down.

I just remembered one of the things I was going to say. A quiz question last night  (final round of Pointless) wanted three obscure publications of the Bronte sisters. I said Villette, Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. I’m always worried about Villette because I wonder if I’m confusing it with the novel by Churchill, or Disraeli. However, I was correct – Villette and Agnes Grey were both pointless answers. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is slightly better known. I did know there was another less known one but couldn’t remember it. It is Shirley.

Churchill’s novel is Savrola. Disraeli wrote Vivian Grey and Sybil – close but not quite the same.

My point? I know the names of most of the Bronte novels, but have only ever read Jane Eyre, which convinced me never to read another. I have never even picked up Churchill’s novel or any by Disraeli. This highlights the difference between knowledge (which I have) and education, which I do not. So I  bought The Canterbury Tales for my Kindle. You know where you are with Chaucer, even if you don’t know all the words. I will never be as well read as Derrick Knight, but I still have time to expand my mind.

Jewels Amongst Customers

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After yesterday’s rant, it seems only fair to report that we had an email from a satisfied customer today. He was impressed with the quality of packing and the speed of the service. Sometimes we do get it right. We get positive feedback via eBay all the time but much of it is meaningless. It’s all part of the artificial “have a nice day” culture we have imported from the USA.

Along with Pollyanna and cosmetic dentistry, it has never caught on in Europe and reference to Wikipedia reveals that I’m not the only one who has negative feelings about the use of the phrase.

I had to laugh as I researched it. As with so many “new” “Americanisms” it comes from the UK, and is first recorded in 1205 and was frequently used by Chaucer in the 14th Century. However, there are many things in Chaucer that wouldn’t fit in the 21st Century, so that is not necessarily a recommendation.  It’s amazing how many things turn out to be our fault.

Anyway – feedback on eBay is such that any average service (such as putting a properly described item in an envelope and sending it by post after taking money for it) is described as “positive”. Surely it is what you should expect and is more properly described as “normal”, “average” or (in modern eBay usage) “neutral”.

It is always nice to get a message from a happy customer, despite us just doing our job.

Then we had an email from a customer who we had refunded last week, much against our wishes, but he insisted instead of waiting. He told us the item had arrived and that he would like to pay for it. This is unusual. Normally they just keep it and ignore us.

The payment came in just before the end of the day. He is American, by the way. When I do the emails tomorrow morning, would it be hypocritical of me to thank him and tell him to have a nice day?

Another 15 minute Post

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We had to refund £250 at the end of last week and £350 this morning. One of the packages is stuck in customs in Italy, and for the last three weeks has been within 20 miles of its final destination but he customer has been complaining and eBay has refunded him despite the recent difficulties and the obvious looming problem. Yes, it will be delivered soon, so the Royal Mail insurance won’t pay out, the customer will “forget” to pay and eBay will wash their hands of us.

It’s he same story for our Malaysian parcels – they have been in the UK as part of the massive backlog from the cyber attack, and is still showing as in transit – one parcel being in Milton Keynes and the other slightly further along the chain. But these are exceptional times and as we can prove they are on the way I don’t see why we should suffer. Yes, it’s irritating for the customers, but in the end i’s not our fault. Patience would not hurt.

However, things are a little different this time as I am recording all the details so we can chase up the issues with the local police. I doubt it will help, but it’s worth a try. I’m fed up with people pulling this one, and thinking we are too stupid to spot it. It’s usually too small a sum to be worth chasing up but in this case they are big enough to warrant taking time over following up.

We have another one active at the moment too –  and he wrote to tell us that he has had two parcels through from the USA recently so doesn’t understand why his parcel from us hasn’t got there. Let’s see . . .

Royal Mail is targeted by Russian criminals for a cyber  attack and their woeful lack of cyber security is exposed. They make heavy weather of the recovery. We have mail in the system and  can’t do anything about i. Meanwhile, a totally different country, with no problems, is able to process its mail efficiently. Apart froma customer who is clearly unable to process logical thoughts, tghe two things have nothing in common.

Pah! Is all I can say.

Eighteen minutes – not too bad . . .

Magical Worlds Stamps

One of Life’s Downs

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ll lives have ups and downs, and yesterday was, I admit, a down. I did not submit a single piece during the month of February. The fault lies with me being lazy and disorganised. I’m not happy that I allowed it to happen but I’m finding it remarkably easy to bounce back. I am, after all, accustomed to being lazy and disorganised, and experience shows that I will gain nothing from being dramatic about it.

Last month is over. Next month is a whole new month, and there are at least six opportunities, probably more if I start looking. I have been getting into a rut lately so it’s probably good to have a shake up.

This month I don’t have a presentation to give at the Numismatic Society,so I have no excuses for not getting on with writing.

For now, however, I have washed up, eaten breakfast and watched |TV – my normal sort of Wednesday morning. Julia is off to lunch with friends soon and I will be accompanying as chauffeur. Not sure hat I’ll be doing for lunch but this afternoon I will be doing some planning and writing, followed by preparing tea and doing a little more writing and some TV viewing. It’s not a punishing routine, but I thought I’d work my way into it gently.

The forsythia has started to flower, and I can see a mass of yellow from my seat. As today is the first day of meteorological Spring, it’s a good day to see it. Poetry today is going to feature blossom quite heavily (it’s one of the penalties of writing nature poetry – it’s easy to find a cliched subject). I ill have to try to find a new way to write about it.

Time to go now. I will be back later to report on progress. The picture is one from stock, and a little optimistic.