The editor offers caustic criticism over the fridge freezer saga, suggesting the new householder role has led me astray into consumerism ... he has a point, though other readers may be keen for the resolution of the sorry tale ... and please rest assured that daily life is the grist for the mill and Patience, Compassion and Simplicity have to be practised in every situation, as pointed out in Jack Kornfield's book "After the Ecstasy, the Laundry", a great contemporary take on Buddhism ...
So, after pondering on accepting the demise of customer service, a last gasp appeal to the retailer, via email, elicits a positive response ... an invitation to visit the shop to select an appliance more suited to my needs for peace and quiet (and soft ice cream) ... the noisy Hotpoint one to be returned in part exchange .... another trip to the city and an amusing interlude as the contact person in the kitchen department turns out to work for Samsung .... presumably free labour for the retailer and trying to be objective, whilst steering the conversation to the merits of, yes you guessed it, Samsung and its superior technology ... with which I have no quibble, having used their tablets for a while, but the price was rather high and a Siemens appliance appealed ... confirmed by the "colleague" who had to close the sale (an extra £70 the price for peace and quiet and soft ice cream) ... finally customer service recognises that whilst the customer is not always right, they are always the customer ... and John Lewis is the winner of the plaudits in case you hadn't guessed ...
Meanwhile, having fecklessly booked a flight to Faro for a fortnight tomorrow, new waterproof kit is needed, since February is a relatively wet month in Spain, so the return trip is via Durham and the very keen folks at Cotswolds, who tend to be extreme mountain types and liable to recommend high end equipment as well as keen to tell you about their latest expeditions .. still, wet feet are to be avoided if at all possible, so investments are needed ...
As for reading material, Krishnamurti's last journal has been deep early reading (and his dialogues with David Bohm compelling viewing), Victoria Hislop's "The Thread" may have suffered in comparison to Margaret Attwoods wonderful "Alias Grace", though enjoyable enough ... and Elisabeth Gilbert's "The Signature of All Things" restores some depth ... filling up the reading reservoir before the trip, when books are considered excess baggage when everything has to be carried in the rucksack ...
No comments:
Post a Comment