Chris Thompson   Chris Thompson on the internet

I thought I would do one more blog before bed (and boy, am I looking forward to bed after last night). Because I had a few friends round for drinks this evening, and, strangely, they were very complimentary about my phones. Which is an odd thing to be complimentary about, I think, but there you go.

At least they were complimentary about something. But it’s one of those things that just sort of caught me; made me smile. And so here I am, rambling about it.

I told them I was with BT. And that BT are pretty rubbish. But then I suppose when you live out in the middle of nowhere, most phone and broadband services will be pretty bad. Still, it was more the handsets that they liked; what, with their fancy (though unused) buttons, and a look about them that says: I do more than ring people. They are those fancy dect cordless phones.

They had never considered buying telephones online before, which is where I got my ones from. There is a phone shop in our local town, and it’s usually well-stocked, and pretty good for whatever you need. But the possibilities with online are limitless. You can browse tonnes of phones, and eventually find that extra special hub or handset.

Sometimes, they even throw in deals. Discounts on business and ADSL lease lines, and that sort of thing. And, of course, the big ones to look out for are internet deals, because there are so many bargains to be had that save you money. Certain UK ISP’s, like Zen, are often good for that.
But when I go into a shop… I don’t know. If there are no deals advertised, I don’t feel confident enough to ask for a discount or to haggle or barter. Which is why, often, online is the way forward – for me, at least.

At work today, our office was abuzz. For weeks now, we knew that today would be the main sprucing up day, the day of replacing, of cleaning, of freshening. But I don’t think anyone expected it to be as hectic as it was. Not only have we been changing things around, moving things, selling things, updating things. Needless to say it has been a hectic day. People have been running in and out, speeding around sorting things out and taking things from one place to another, and it has been difficult to find time to breathe, really. Some of the people I don’t think even work with us … they were brought in, I suppose, to help out, because someone cleverly anticipated the madness.

I think I can live with the madness, though. It was much needed. The fax machines have gone, and new models will be brought in to replace them.

The computers have gone, too, and they, will be replaced. Indeed, the computers were most in need of replacing. They were not only big and bulky, but incredibly slow; sometimes so slow that you couldn’t very easily run Word, or other such programs, without a tremendous amount of waiting around.

Our very dated phones have already been replaced by cordless phones that, in my opinion, are pretty swish.

Yes, everything has been updated, or changed, or replaced. The only thing that hasn’t are the desks and the shelves … even the folders, I think, are new. Most of the office equipment is new. And already, even though the revamping project isn’t complete just yet, it’s making a difference. It’s certainly a lot nicer working in an environment that isn’t painstakingly slow, or loud, or untidy.