DATE: 12/09/2007 21:55:46 / MOOD: other

Well, after the food poisoning, I thought that I'd have a good run at enjoying myself for the rest of the week, but sadly circumstances have rather conspired against me. Having been incapacitated all weekend, I went to the pub on Monday afternoon and they promptly ran out of beer. I did my best with cider, but the damned stuff gves me indigestion - still, I managed to make it through to the end - fairly sober due to inexcessive consumption. I tried again on Tuesday, but the beer delivery arrived at the same time as I did and needed time to settle, so I was on the bloody cider again. I gave up and went home for a Chinese and cartoons on the laptop, which was alright, but hardly a big social evening.

I had lots of plans in place for today and got up nice and early. I was just about to go into the shower, when I got a call from my father, informing me that our cat (a very jolly companion of mine for many years and always foolishly affectionate towards me whenever I visited) had been killed in the road the night before. This has cast something of a pall over the whole day and I have stayed in for fear of embarrassing myself by bawling in public. I'm glad that I wasn't having to deal with this at work, but I'm very conscious that I'm not getting the rest and relaxation that I had planned upon. The whole reason that I had a week off, was because I was beginning to get short-tempered and snappy with eveyone after working too many hours over too long a time, but I fear that if my 'holiday' continues in this vein, I'll be borderline psychotic by the time that I get back.

I'm hoping that our syndicate at work will finally manage to win the lottery jackpot tonight and give me something to celebrate, but I'm also realistic enough to reckon that it's unlikely, so if anyone else out there has magic goodwill, please consider directing it at my next four days....

 

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DATE: 11/09/2007 01:34:56 / MOOD: other

Just to let people (anyone who might even be vaguely interested, really) know that I'm still knocking about and active on the web. I've been a bit quiet recently because I've been busy at work, working long long hours and having precious little time to do anything in the evenings. All of this should have been solved after Friday when I started a week's holiday, but unfortunately I woke up on Saturday morning with a pretty vicious case of food-poisoning. I've no idea what the catalyst was, but I spent most of the day in bed, writhing in agony and slipping in and out of scary or (even worse) tedious, work-related, fever-dreams. My only relief from the monotony was afforded by brief and spectacular (but by no means enjoyable) trips to the bathroom, followed by nail-biting games of "will he get back to bed before he passes out and needs an ambulance?". The careful sips of water, which were all I could manage, were scant defence against dehydration and it wasn't long before I was shouting at the goblins that were attempting to steal my knees. Around about 5.30pm, I felt sufficiently human to get up, shower, get dressed  and change my bedclothes, but I over-taxed my energy reserves and by 6.30, I was collapsed on my newly-changed bed snoring my head off again. Thus I remained for a further three hours, before I got up for a final time to find more drinking water and stare in a bewildered fashion from the window, until I gently took myself by the elbow and steered myself back to bed for the night. Not really much time for the internet, to be honest.

Yesterday (Sunday), I still felt like my stomach and kidneys had been drummed on by Keith Moon with a pair of claw hammers and I was somewhat weakened by not having eaten for 36 hours, so all I could manage was a feeble repose with a book and the occasional handful of dry Shreddies. I did try the internet later on, but it was all too big and difficult to be bothered with.

I have felt pretty much back to normal today and have been trying to catch up on all of my usual holiday activities: looking out of the window, looking at the washing-up, waiting for the post, ambling, looking out of the window again and, finally, catching up with the Crocs community. So, how is everyone?

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DATE: 20/08/2007 21:48:46 / MOOD: other

Oh dear. I'm afraid that I paid scant heed to all of the good advice posted about being careful with the whisky on Saturday. Hence I was offline all of yesterday as I tried desperately to work out what species I was supposed to be. I also spent a good deal of time cringing with terrible cold flushes of shame and regret as hazy recollections of what I had said and done slipped fleeting and wraith-like through my mind.

I think that I retained sufficient shreds of sense to get off here before I made too much of a fool of myself, but I'll apologise here and now if I managed to cause anyone offence, outrage or appalled head-shaking disbelief. It's not much of a defence, but I was in such a good mood that I failed to notice the frequency with which I was refilling and emptying my glass as I chatted happily (and increasingly witlessly) away.

Regrettably, my mad career carried me from here to e-Bay, where I boldly committed inadvisable sums of money to frivolous bids and now I am hoping desperately that someone in an even more deranged state will outbid me on enough of them to save me from complete penury. 

All-in-all, quite a successful blow-out, but not one I'll be hurrying to repeat anytime soon.

I was going to finish there, but as an interesting aside, I thought I'd let you know that I've just celebrated my reclaimed sobriety and clarity of mind by knocking the CD rack of the top of my desk. Apparently I have a lot more CDs than I thought. You really get a feel for the quantity of something when it is raining down around your ears...

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DATE: 18/08/2007 19:57:00 / MOOD: full of life

Firstly, let me say how much fun I've been having on this community website. It really has been fantastic to talk to all of you about so many different subjects (even with those all revolving around Crocs, there was still room for exposition).

I am really enjoying myself here, because it's great to have a channel for such easy and straightforward contact to so many cool people.

I'll admit that I'm not my creative best at the moment, but that's because I've rather wandered into the realms of whisky (wherein all things seem strange, yea, even unto a Saturday night). Nonetheless, whilst I may fall by the wayside, I hope that everyone will keep on chatting regularly enough to pick me up in due time. Bless you all!

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DATE: 17/08/2007 00:48:01 / MOOD: happy

Well, I am finally the owner of a pair of Crocs and I can contribute to the community here without feeling quite so much of a fraud anymore.

I actually ordered these from another website before Katy dealt with my case, so I haven't jumped the queue by being a moaning so-and-so, or anything, but even if this had been the case, I would have been entirely (if not unashamedly) unapologetic, because these things are great!

I cannot quite believe how comfortable the footbed is. It even took me a little time to get used to it, because I would set off walking and end up going faster than anticipated due to the secure fit and springiness. It is going to take me a while longer to get used to all the holes in the uppers (the traumatic after-effects of having a collander thrown at me as a child), but I am beginning to see where all the obvious passion displayed on here comes from. Does a slippery slope actually count as a slippery slope if you use your new Scutes as skis? 

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DATE: 14/08/2007 20:41:57 / MOOD: happy

Just to say that following my previous entry ("Extreme disappointment"), I received a very nice telephone call from Katy House, the Customer Experience Manager at FootShop. This came as rather a surprise to me, but a particularly pleasant one. She apologised nicely and went on to sort out the situation to my complete satisfaction. I was very pleased by the professional manner in which she took ownership of the case and the effort that she put into resolving matters, as well as being impressed by her obvious dedication to finding out how communications had broken down and preventing any such incidents in the future.

To be quite honest with you, she was so good that I felt rather churlish for having complained in the first place. So, for the record: I'm prepared to acknowledge that my initial experience was far from a commonplace one, that FootShop get things right most of the time and that they are pretty damned good at putting things right when they don't. They're certainly back in my good books. Thanks once again to Katy (or Katie - I'm afraid the spelling doesn't communicate over the phone) and to anyone and everyone who was involved in sorting things out.

To

 

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DATE: 10/08/2007 21:54:58 / MOOD: disappointed

I'm very sorry to throw a spanner into the works of all you happy Croc-ers out there, but I am not happy at all and I'd like to tell you why, in the hope that someone might understand my frustration.

Around the middle of July, I placed an order on this website for a pair of Scutes (black/black - the only option) in a size 12. I ordered these partially because I thought that they looked good, but mostly because I have been suffering from a persistent skin problem on the upper parts of my feet and I thought that something that allowed my feet air, whilst hiding the rash and being resistant to fungus and bacteria might be a very good idea. About 5 or 6 days later, I received a package from FootShop, which transpired to contain a pair of Athens rather than Scutes. These obviously would expose the tops of my feet and so were completely useless to me. I tried them on for size, however and found them a little small. I sent an e-mail to the returns department the asme day to explain the situation, but after several days without reply or acknowledgment I phoned up. The lady who answered told me that a pair of size 13 Scutes would be dispatched immediately to replace the incorrect delivery and that my postage would be refunded for returning the Athens. A week passed by without incident, so I rang up again and was told that size 13 Scutes were not available (the website had been showing them as 'in stock' from the day I first logged on until the day before this call). I did manage to get a postal return label out of it, but I was left without shoes or the money paid for them. According to the website, the item was now completely unavailable, so I rang up again and was told that a pair had been reserved for me, but deliveries only came every 28 days or so. I decided to wait, imagining that there might be a few days of September worth wearing them on.

Today I have received a letter giving me an (estimated, not guaranteed) delivery date of 15th November. This, apparently, is the result of "much work and deliberation with Crocs". Quite what anyone imagines that I will do with a pair of open-toed sandals in North Yorkshire in the middle of November, I don't know -perhaps throw them at a Polar Bear? - but I am absolutely appalled by the level of service that I have received. To get the order wrong, to lie to me about the availability of an alternative product (both by web and on the phone), to fail to send a retun label, to fail to notify me of subsequent non-availability (leaving me to ring back to find out for myself) and then to be incapable of fulfilling the order in any useful way whatsoever is simply dismal. I understand that there are problems with the supplier, but I had been under the impression that it is illegal for anyone to advertise goods for sale and to take orders on those goods, when the advertiser is unable to actually supply them. The rather delayed message seems to be that I can either have my money back (without interest or compensation), see if I can get something else (nothing I want), or hold on until the brilliantly-negotiated (but not guaranteed) delivery date. I haven't decided on a course of action yet, but I shall certainly not be recommending FootShop or any of its subsidiaries to anyone in the meantime - rather the opposite, in fact.  

 

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