Waiting to go in

Swim, two lots of shopping, mow the lawn, a bit of work and catching up and finally wasted time trying to contact NPower. That was today. I was hoping to get to the allotment to strim the grass but that was thwarted by NPower's incomptence and downright apalling systems.

We've been having trouble ever since we switched Doreen's energy supplier some 18 months ago to a cheaper supplier. A catalogue of errors which we cannot get to the bottom of meaning she's spent far more on energy with NPower than she did with her previous supplier even though NPower were supposed to be cheaper.

The annoying aspect of it all is that there is no other way of contacting them easily except by phone. Three times yesterday. One, I was told they would ring back in more than 45 minutes - it took 2hrs, meantime I'd gone home. Doreen asked it they would call me, they wouldn't, saying I had to call them back. Which I did but got cut of after 10 minutes waiting. So I called again and was informed that the current waiting time was 18 to 25 minutes.

So I shot off another complaint and looked into contacting the Ombusdman to see how to complain. I know I have to exhaust the company's complaints procedure first, but you're restricted to 2000 characters on the website's complaint form! Try explaining a complicated issue in 2000 characters (not words!)

Anyway, stuck for a blip today so a shot of some bedding plants that have been sat on the outside table for a few days fitted the bill. The bright pink flowers brought some much needed colour to an otherwise dull, drab "June Gloom" of a day in Kent - the third in a row. It's nice in the west my Shropshire cousin tells me.