Entry tags:
Where did that go...?
it's back to work on Tuesday, but I do feel I've had a break. We've had some nice walks - and some not so nice ones, but I'm not going to dwell on that. I've done most of the household jobs I wanted to (windows and toilet door still to do). And I've played almost to the end of FF9 and watched a LOT of Lucifer.
Daughter came round yesterday with her scan pictures. Apparently, she's 6 weeks further along than she thought, so new grandson (another boy - oh, well) is due in January rather than March. Of course, what's important is a happy, healthy baby. Even if he's going to be raised a Blue, poor kid.
While we were out on Thursday, my mother rang asking if I was in work. 'No,' I said. Could they come round? They needed something printing out. 'No, I can't print at home and anyway, we're out.' Damn.
Turns out they need certificates to prove they've had all their vaccinations before they can go to Canada. The NHS will post letters to them but it takes up to 7 working days and they fly out next Thursday. They were asked in October if they were fully vaccinated but nobody said they needed that in writing until my stepdad's cousin rang on Tuesday to tell them. Hence the tailspin. Not sure why they waited until Thursday to try to sort it... Anyway, they went to the travel agent who refused to do it because it had too much personal information on. I mean - they print it while my parents are there, fold it and hand it over... Right...?
So, I did the 'right' thing of not abandoning our walk (for which I got zero credit but if I had turned us round and met them at home I would have heard about it constantly for the next 50 years - but not dwelling on stuff...) and arranged for them to come on Friday. 'We'll book a taxi for 8.30am and be with you about 9am.' WTF - I'm on leave!!! But I am always at least awake by then, so I let that go.
They duly turned up a bit before 9am, when I was just finishing my exercises and the Great Fight with the NHS Website began. It was ridiculously difficult to find a way of creating a certificate that didn't mean a) using the app (they don't have a smartphone), b) avoiding accidentally doing it for myself, c) going down the letter-printing route, but I got there in the end by randomly spotting a link. Went through the process for my mother, including getting a code sent to her mobile phone (NO idea what would have happened if she didn't at least have that), and a PDF of the certificate arrived in my inbox.
When I was hunting around the website for SOME kind of help, the husband offered me the use of his laptop. Mine is provided by work and is just over 3 years old. His is a hand-me-down from our son who has had about three others since - no idea how old it is but it's well into double figures. It works for him but he thought the problems I was having were about the speed of the machine, which they weren't. I explained that the problem was a lack of communication between my brain and the website, which wouldn't be solved by using a different machine, but he took it that I was 'not listening' and 'rejecting his suggestion because that would mean he was right and I was wrong'. No, no, NO!!! But I'm not dwelling...
So, with mother's done, we turn to stepfather's. I cannot - and I mean CANNOT - find the right link. It's just not there. 'Do you have a 'back' button? Have you used that?' from the husband. This is his one piece of computer knowledge. That I told him. Yes, I've used the back button but it's taken me to the front page NOT the one with the option to email it. After hunting in vain and filling in some form that wanted to send the letter in an alternative format but didn't offer the email option, I suggested my mother ring 119 and seeing if they could do it.
That was a whole trauma in itself, going through the automated menus before she could actually speak to a PERSON, then having to ring her GP to confirm her mobile number, THEN calling 119 again and getting to the point where they sent the code to her mobile at which point she accidentally ended the call trying to get the code (which I would have done), and having to call again. Meanwhile, I continued to fight with the website because I couldn't understand how I'd got through the process once but stalled the second time. And randomly (I thought), I was suddenly presented with the option to email!!! So, mother rang off and we got a new code and the PDF. O_o
However long it took you to read all that (and well done if you did get through it all!), it took about 5 times as long in real life, with my stepfather muttering 'Oh, God' in an unhelpful way at every stumbling block.
They had already arranged with the hotel they're staying at on Wednesday night for them to print the things out, so they are going to ring me when they get to the hotel and I'll email the certificates over, and they will finally get to Canada! They were originally supposed to go for Christmas 2019 but then my stepfather had problems with his heart and was advised against it. They rescheduled for 2020 but then Covid hit (that particular irony has only just hit me :D). They rescheduled again last year but it was cancelled. So, the Canada Saga has been a Thing in itself.
When I reflected on this and why it apparently worked just randomly, I thought there was probably some sort of caching/ refreshing thing going on with the website. I mean, it must get hammered by thousands of users at any one moment. In which case, it might well have been helpful to use the husband's laptop for the second certificate. Not because he was 'right' about the reason for the problem but because it would have been a 'new' use of the website. But he didn't make the offer at the right moment and I would still have heard the words rather than thinking of other options.
Yes, he's right in so far as I believe my way is usually a better way - and sometimes it is. Most often, though, his understanding of the problem isn't right, but me explaining (usually multiple times because HE isn't listening - but not going to dwell...) means we end up going in circles.
Our walk home last night is an example. I thought we had agreed a route but then he suggested taking the more direct (and steeper) route. When I said I wasn't sure, I was told he was only thinking of me and I wasn't listening to him. Listening and agreeing are two different things!!! In fact, the fact that I am disagreeing means I've listened enough to understand what you're saying and have a different opinion about it!!! Anyway, we were both in bad tempers by this point and I took the most direct route - admittedly because I wanted to be able to say 'I told you so' at the end. And it wasn't better in terms of effort - but it wasn't worse and it was definitely quicker.
So, I have two 'you definitely had a point about x' things to say to him. Except that it will probably turn into another cycle of 'you're not listening', 'yes I am but you're not hearing MY point', 'you're not listening'. Because that's us :D And at 36 years in, it's not likely to change any time soon.
And now I need to get on with this day. See you next week, DW!
Daughter came round yesterday with her scan pictures. Apparently, she's 6 weeks further along than she thought, so new grandson (another boy - oh, well) is due in January rather than March. Of course, what's important is a happy, healthy baby. Even if he's going to be raised a Blue, poor kid.
While we were out on Thursday, my mother rang asking if I was in work. 'No,' I said. Could they come round? They needed something printing out. 'No, I can't print at home and anyway, we're out.' Damn.
Turns out they need certificates to prove they've had all their vaccinations before they can go to Canada. The NHS will post letters to them but it takes up to 7 working days and they fly out next Thursday. They were asked in October if they were fully vaccinated but nobody said they needed that in writing until my stepdad's cousin rang on Tuesday to tell them. Hence the tailspin. Not sure why they waited until Thursday to try to sort it... Anyway, they went to the travel agent who refused to do it because it had too much personal information on. I mean - they print it while my parents are there, fold it and hand it over... Right...?
So, I did the 'right' thing of not abandoning our walk (for which I got zero credit but if I had turned us round and met them at home I would have heard about it constantly for the next 50 years - but not dwelling on stuff...) and arranged for them to come on Friday. 'We'll book a taxi for 8.30am and be with you about 9am.' WTF - I'm on leave!!! But I am always at least awake by then, so I let that go.
They duly turned up a bit before 9am, when I was just finishing my exercises and the Great Fight with the NHS Website began. It was ridiculously difficult to find a way of creating a certificate that didn't mean a) using the app (they don't have a smartphone), b) avoiding accidentally doing it for myself, c) going down the letter-printing route, but I got there in the end by randomly spotting a link. Went through the process for my mother, including getting a code sent to her mobile phone (NO idea what would have happened if she didn't at least have that), and a PDF of the certificate arrived in my inbox.
When I was hunting around the website for SOME kind of help, the husband offered me the use of his laptop. Mine is provided by work and is just over 3 years old. His is a hand-me-down from our son who has had about three others since - no idea how old it is but it's well into double figures. It works for him but he thought the problems I was having were about the speed of the machine, which they weren't. I explained that the problem was a lack of communication between my brain and the website, which wouldn't be solved by using a different machine, but he took it that I was 'not listening' and 'rejecting his suggestion because that would mean he was right and I was wrong'. No, no, NO!!! But I'm not dwelling...
So, with mother's done, we turn to stepfather's. I cannot - and I mean CANNOT - find the right link. It's just not there. 'Do you have a 'back' button? Have you used that?' from the husband. This is his one piece of computer knowledge. That I told him. Yes, I've used the back button but it's taken me to the front page NOT the one with the option to email it. After hunting in vain and filling in some form that wanted to send the letter in an alternative format but didn't offer the email option, I suggested my mother ring 119 and seeing if they could do it.
That was a whole trauma in itself, going through the automated menus before she could actually speak to a PERSON, then having to ring her GP to confirm her mobile number, THEN calling 119 again and getting to the point where they sent the code to her mobile at which point she accidentally ended the call trying to get the code (which I would have done), and having to call again. Meanwhile, I continued to fight with the website because I couldn't understand how I'd got through the process once but stalled the second time. And randomly (I thought), I was suddenly presented with the option to email!!! So, mother rang off and we got a new code and the PDF. O_o
However long it took you to read all that (and well done if you did get through it all!), it took about 5 times as long in real life, with my stepfather muttering 'Oh, God' in an unhelpful way at every stumbling block.
They had already arranged with the hotel they're staying at on Wednesday night for them to print the things out, so they are going to ring me when they get to the hotel and I'll email the certificates over, and they will finally get to Canada! They were originally supposed to go for Christmas 2019 but then my stepfather had problems with his heart and was advised against it. They rescheduled for 2020 but then Covid hit (that particular irony has only just hit me :D). They rescheduled again last year but it was cancelled. So, the Canada Saga has been a Thing in itself.
When I reflected on this and why it apparently worked just randomly, I thought there was probably some sort of caching/ refreshing thing going on with the website. I mean, it must get hammered by thousands of users at any one moment. In which case, it might well have been helpful to use the husband's laptop for the second certificate. Not because he was 'right' about the reason for the problem but because it would have been a 'new' use of the website. But he didn't make the offer at the right moment and I would still have heard the words rather than thinking of other options.
Yes, he's right in so far as I believe my way is usually a better way - and sometimes it is. Most often, though, his understanding of the problem isn't right, but me explaining (usually multiple times because HE isn't listening - but not going to dwell...) means we end up going in circles.
Our walk home last night is an example. I thought we had agreed a route but then he suggested taking the more direct (and steeper) route. When I said I wasn't sure, I was told he was only thinking of me and I wasn't listening to him. Listening and agreeing are two different things!!! In fact, the fact that I am disagreeing means I've listened enough to understand what you're saying and have a different opinion about it!!! Anyway, we were both in bad tempers by this point and I took the most direct route - admittedly because I wanted to be able to say 'I told you so' at the end. And it wasn't better in terms of effort - but it wasn't worse and it was definitely quicker.
So, I have two 'you definitely had a point about x' things to say to him. Except that it will probably turn into another cycle of 'you're not listening', 'yes I am but you're not hearing MY point', 'you're not listening'. Because that's us :D And at 36 years in, it's not likely to change any time soon.
And now I need to get on with this day. See you next week, DW!