mushroom

The Union Flag...

2011-10-24T08:06:00.000-07:00

Get treated like royalty in one of Cheshire’s most stately mansions....

proundly boasts the website of the hotel I stayed at this weekend......

When I scolded the duty manager that their Union flag was upside down, she said that several guests had also advised of the mistake in recent months.

I think in the next year or so the hotel should give some thought to correcting their elemenatry gaffe.

Three hundred years ago they would have been treated by Royalty and got banged up in the Tower of London.........!

Am I a Virgin – No, not yet….!

2011-09-28T02:52:00.000-07:00

Excited at the promise of ultra high speed broadband at my office at home, I checked on the Virgin Media website that their service was available at my address.
I then visited the Virgin Media shop in Bedford where the assistant answered my technical queries.
I asked if there really was cable in my road as there was no tell-tale scar in the pavement where cable had been laid.

She assured me that there was and indeed according to her computer, several residents had already taken up the service.

Good enough for me.

Upon returning home, I telephoned Virgin Media and ordered a high-end package costing almost £100 per month and forked out £150 for the hardware.

The sales girl assured me that there was cable in our road and according to her computer several residents had already taken up the service

I was given an installation date of 16th June.

I then spent 3 hours trying to cancel my telephone and broadband service with BT.
Not easy when you keep getting shunted from one department to another.

On the 13th June I had a tatty note pushed through my front door from Virgin stating that my order was cancelled, as there was no cable in my road.

Disappointed, but not totally surprised, I called the number on the letter and was asked if I wanted a refund. In my finest sarcastic voice I said no - you go and have a few beers on my account!

An email to the person that took my order and payment remains unanswered and the telephone number that she gave me is never answered.

The shop manager in Bedford was less than helpful. I put it to him that the very least he should do is to have the Virgin database amended so that our postcode is removed to save other residents in Wellingborough falling in to the same trap.

The manager said that it was not his job to do that and in any case, it would take at least six months to filter through.

I then had to go cap in hand back to BT and explain, and to try and get reconnected

Not easy when you keep getting shunted from one department to another.

The sympathetic BT girl said that it happens all the time and promised that I would be reconnected with no loss of service.

On the 1st of July I was incensed to learn that my home telephone number and broadband service was disconnected.

I then spend 3 hours talking to BT to find out what had gone disastrously wrong.

Not easy when you keep getting shunted from one department to another.

Apparently, the residential team at BT do not talk to their Business team who looked after my broadband account.

I am now without any service whatsoever at home until at least the 13th July and I am losing the telephone number that I have had for 24 years.

Mushroom Components is now placing funds at my solicitors disposal so that they my claim appropriate damages from Virgin Media for my loss of earnings and vexation.

As of today’s date, the Virgin Media website still proclaims that their cable service is available at my address and proudly boasts “Virgin Media – a more exciting place to live!”

6th July Update

Virgin website at last updated to show that fibre-optic is not available at my address although it is available at all other houses in my street.

BT are going to charge me £99 to reconnect my telephone line

July 10th Update

My neighbours have had a mailshot from Virgin Media soliciting Hi-Speed Broadband & TV

Letter sent to Virgin Media giving them 14 days to pay our expenses plus £99 for BT reconnection or face County Court Summons

October 24th Update

Virgin Media summoned to appear at Bedford County Court on December 6th to defend my claim.

Premium Bonds - Auf wiedersehen pet or what?

2010-03-02T08:10:00.000-08:00

The Great British sell-off is continuing unabated.

I telephoned the sales desk of the National Savings organization recently regarding the purchase of Premium Bonds.

In my view the agent was rude and unhelpful in the extreme.

When I told him that it was inappropriate for a government employee to talk as he was he explained that he was paid by Siemens - the German Electronics conglomerate.

A little know fact is that the government has sub-contracted part of the Premium Bond operation to the Germans.

Since Thatcher started flogging off to Joe Public that what they already owned - many of our Great British companies are now in Foreign mits.

Utility companies to the French, the high end Royal Mail to TNT, UK Mail, TNT and DHL, Manchester United and other great clubs are all in foreign hands.

Mushroom Components is at least remaining in British hands - that is until I retire - then I am out of here on the next available Lufthansa flight!

Companies House - ideal for those with low blood pressure

2010-02-11T02:27:00.000-08:00

New web filing software is a disaster.

Each year, all companies in the UK have to file an Annual return confirming details of Directors, Registered Offices, shareholders and other relevant information.

In recent years we have done this via the internet and it has been relatively straightforward.

Until today! Apparently legislation has been changed (no doubt by the parasites in Brussels!) More info is needed.

After spending almost an hour of my valuable selling time wrestling with their new software, in desperation I phoned the help desk (premium rate number!).

I was talked through various stages of the procedure until various red error messages appeared.

I said to the girl on the phone - "that's as far as we got".

To which she replied "Ah - there's a glitch in our new software - you need to do this to continue"

I was incandescent - and reached for my blood pressure tablets.

Just another example of the public sector living in dreamworld - Companies like Mushroom Components have to be mega efficient otherwise we go down the plughole. We don't have large reserves of cash to fall back on and we wont get bailed out by the public like the Bankers.

Come on Companies House - get it fixed!

Want to be taken for a ride?

2010-02-05T01:59:00.000-08:00

My first train ride for many years on our once great railway was more than I bargained for.

My wife had taken the car to Leicester in the afternoon and rather than ask her to come back to the office during the rush hour to collect me, I decided to catch the train from Bedford to our home in Wellingborough.

The timetable said that the 22 mile journey only took about 14 minutes so I arranged to be met at the station around 5.15pm

The smart new train arrived at Bedford on time and I was immediately impressed by its cleanliness and modern appearance. It gathered pace after leaving Bedford and shortly must have been travelling at 100mph.

Sadly - within a few minuites it ground to a halt.

After 10 minutes we were advised over the trains intercom that we were in a queue caused by signal failures.

Another 20 minutes went past and I thought that being marooned on the Orient Express or the Blue Train is one thing but being cut off from the world on the 5.07 from Bedford to Nottingham is quite different.

I decided to explore - and wonder of wonders - in the rear carriage - there was a bar.

Two pints of Guiness later I was past caring as to what time I would arrive home - my only fear was that John the bartender would run out of Guiness before we were rescued.

An hour after we stopped - the Tannoy crackled into life again and we were told that we were now moving onto the slow freight line.

The downside of doing this was that the platform at Wellingborough was only of sufficient length to accommodate the front of the train and therefore passengers - like moi - would be further imprisoned until the train reached Kettering - some 10 miles further north.

I learnt that the obvious maneuver at Wellingborough of disembarking the front passengers and then nudging the train forward a few yards thus allowing the rear passengers to get off was more than the train driver had authority for.

Such a risky operation need the written permission of the Fat Controller and the Fat Controller does not like to be disturbed after 5.00pm.

My very irate wife was then obliged to fight her way through the traffic to Kettering - by which time I had imbibed two more of Johns pints of Guiness.

I arrived home at 8.00pm - having taken 4 hours to travel 24 miles from my office.

I look forward very much to my next train journey - possibly in fifteen years time.!

BNP Wives - an insight

2010-01-28T08:12:00.000-08:00

I watched an interesting documentary on the telly recently.

It followed the lives of a number of women whose partners were activists for the British National Party.

It was extraordinary that one of the ladies - very patriotic and British to the core, did not know the correct way to fly our Union flag.

I found it very sad that another lady - clearly well educated and middle class, was persuaded by her husband not to use an Afro-Caribbean midwife for the birth of her children.

I wonder what his reaction would be if he was involved in a serious road accident and the paramedics came from Jamaica?

I guess thats what make Britain Great - that folks of all different colours, religion and political persuassions can all muddle along together.

No Parking! - No Problem!

2010-01-27T10:06:00.000-08:00

Car drivers in Bedford are in for a treat. No more need to pay to use the public car parks.

Dumping your car where you please is no longer just a perk for the legit invalid blue sticker badge holder (or one you buy on eBay!)

The upholders of the Queens law and other local officials are turning a blind eye to parking offenders.

On most streets - especially those with double yellow lines, cars are parked covering most of the pavement.

Who needs pavements? - nobody walks these days anyway.

Gone are the days when a traffic warden was permanently camped outside my old shop waiting to pounce with a parking ticket as soon as I drove up.

Well done Chief Constable for modern thinking - I trust we are also now just giving our local crooks a clip round the ear?

Football - its a wind-up!

2010-01-27T07:45:00.000-08:00

With the English football team targetting to emulate the great Bobby Moores 1966 team in South Africa this summer - the domestic scene looks bleak.

As we learn today that Crystal Palace is yet another club in the hands of Administrators, the High Court in London have shortly to deal with winding up orders served on Portsmouth, Cardiff, Accrington Stanley (who are they?) Redditch, Chester and Darlington to name but a few.

Who's to blame for the financial collapse in our national game?

The buck must stop with the Club's board - in most cases living in a dream world way beyond their means - paying ludicrous wages to young kids hoping success on the field will follow.

Listening to the demands of the fans who believe that the club can spend their way of of trouble or buy success.

Until recently, money from the top of the football pyramid would flow down through the leagues in transfer fees as the big clubs bought players from within the UK. That rarely happens now. The top clubs with money to burn invariably spend on imported or proven players. Thus we have a few fabulously wealthy clubs and the majority up to their necks in debt to the banks.

What's to be done?

1] FIFA and the other world bodies must consider wage caps and restrictions on imported players.

2] Clubs finances have to be transparent and the Football authorities have to control the sale of our league clubs to overseas speculators. Manchester United - arguably the most famous club on the planet is now hundreds of millions of pounds in debt since the Glazer family got their paws on it.

3] Directors of clubs entering admistration must not be allowed to own or control further clubs.

4] Break the SKY TV monopoly

Football league clubs could do well to follow the example of long service manager Dario Gradi's and Chairman John Bowler's club - Crewe Alexandra - the club that I have supported for over 50 years . The club has survived by developing home grown talent and selling on - Dean Ashton, Nicky Maynard and Luke Varney in recent seasons to name a few of the many.

Action is need now if we are to save our National Game.

Dario and me

Plumbers - tapping into my bank balance

2010-01-27T00:56:00.000-08:00

We have recently instructed four central heating companies to diagnose and quote for the repair of our home central heating system.

Guess what....we got four different answers!

And charges ranged from £30 to a whopping £65 per hour......thats more than my accountant and the bloke that services the Porsche charge!

Northern Rock Bank - the gravy train rumbles on!

2009-01-22T04:34:00.000-08:00

Just weeks after being bailed out by the British tax payer to the tune of billions of pounds, the Northern Rock are paying most of their staff a 10% bonus.

At the time when unemployment is rocketing towards 3 million and many more are facing pay cuts or short time working - the bonus is breathtaking in its arrogance.

Folk are right when they say "once a banker, always a banker!"

Gordon Brown and Margaret Thatcher

2008-10-16T06:57:00.000-07:00

What have they got in common!

Actually - not a lot.....but after a short while in office they were both loathed by the good folk of the UK and on their way out!

But - in 1982 and in the nick of time along came the Falkand's War victory which kept Maggie in power for another 8 years.

And history of a sort is repeating itself....the Worlds Bankers are hanging on Gordons every word.

You never know - he might just win the next general election!

RYANAIR - Squeezing the punters

2008-10-16T05:12:00.000-07:00

I watched no-frills cheapo airline Ryanair's Chief Executive Mr Michael O'Leary on BBC Television's "Watchdog" program this week.

The arrogance of Mr O'Leary was nothing short of breathtaking.

I have now joined the army of his ex passengers who can't wait for Ryanair to go pear shaped!

Investing in Iceland Banks

2008-10-16T03:10:00.000-07:00

British local Councils and Charity organizations have admitted to putting almost 1 Billion UK pounds of taxpayers hard earned cash at risk by gambling on higher interest returns in Icelandic Banks.

Captain Mushroom smells a smell that makes doggy doo-doo smell like a Paris perfume house.

The finance chiefs of Councils throughout the UK did not wake up one morning and suddenly decide to invest in Iceland - I believe that they were told to.

Somewhere in the world, probably lounging on a $10 million luxury yachts are the salesmen that sold the idea of Icelandic Banking to our gullible local authorities.

I smell huge commission cheques and double dealing but I suspect that the real truth will not bear close scrutiny.

Questions I ask.

1] Why did Local Councils who claim to be struggling to fund their parasite staff 's indexed linked pension schemes have the wherewithal to stash millions of our cash away and then tie it up on three year terms? Shouldn't these same Councils be improving local services including social housing, street cleaning , the Police & Hospitals?

2] What the hell are Charities doing the same for? My concept of Charities is that good generous townsfolk give what they can afford to help the poor and needy and the Charities then shovel the cash out to these folk all over the World.

3] Where is our cash now?

Where else in the world has our cash been put - please don't tell me Chile or Cuba or Outer Mongolia....for God's sake why not put our cash in British Banks - is that too much to ask?

I hope that when the dust finally settles on the Icelandic Banks problems that full inquiries will be held and the incompetents made to pay!

TESCO's - who's kidding who?

2008-09-18T06:23:00.000-07:00

Tesco's latest wheeze is to tell customers that they are "helping them to spend less every day"

They must be joking.

What Tesco's want is for punters to spend every penny that they have in their purse.....and it wont be long before they put plastic buckets by the exits doors telling folk to lob their loose change in!

Global Financial Meltdown

2008-09-17T07:32:00.000-07:00

The worlds financial markets have been reeling from the collapse of major companies this week.

I can't get my head round a situation where on Monday a company is worth many billions of dollars and the very next day its filing for bankruptcy.

That smacks of the level of gross ineptitude that only governments are capable of.

Major World Banks, Insurance companies and Airlines have all called in the liquidators this week.

I find it bizarre that the very same bankers who, with an eye to their big fat greedy bonuses running into millions of dollars, recklessly give away fortunes to the sub-prime mortgage market, yet a scientist who is developing a life saving piece of kit struggles to get bank funding of just a few thousand dollars.

The underlying theme to all this is Greed and Incompetence and the "old boys network"

One airline boss appeared on TV this week in the wake of his companies collapse leaving thousands of angry fare paying passengers stranded around the world blaming the oil price, the credit crunch and everything else he could think of.

Not once did I hear him own up and admit that his company failed because of his incompetence.

I am cheered by the thought that bank managers terrified by the distinct possibility of losing their jobs and fat cat pensions, are feeling the same stress's and strains that small businessmen feel everyday of the lives.

Offshore Call Centres in India

2008-08-26T06:23:00.000-07:00

I wonder how much money companies who make UK staff redundant in favour of call centers in India actually think they are saving.

Let us imagine that a company saves 500 jobs in the UK at say, £20,000 per employee difference in salary.

That's a maximum of £10 million saved per year.

Add back into that the cost of training in India plus the telecom equipment re-routing on-cost.

Take out the hidden cost of customers that say - "I love India and the Indian people but I want my service provider to have UK staff understanding the British way of doing things "- and get up and leave.

Are the managers of the already fabulously wealthy companies that move their first-line service centers offshore doing the right thing just to save a measly few quid a year?

Supermarket Car Parks

2008-08-26T06:19:00.000-07:00

I am convinced that millions of gallons of petrol are wasted each year driving in and out of the car parks at out of town shopping malls and filling stations.

Instead of a simple entry exit system using the minimum of distance, it occurs to me that the architects have dipped a hedgehog in ink and just let it wander aimlessly around the drawing board in order to design the car park layout as lengthy and as complicated as possible.

Aircraft Black Box's

2008-08-26T03:47:00.000-07:00

After the tragedy at Madrid Airport this month I ask why are civil aircraft still carrying in-flight data and cockpit voice recorders - the so called Black Box's (actually they are bright yellow!)

Surely in this technological age we can transmit many channels of data in real-time from the aircraft via satellite or whatever to a remote monitoring station.

As it is we monitor just a few aircraft parameters and record them on little more than audio tape just like our old reel-to-reel tape recorders.

In the event of an accident, the data recorders are searched for, not always easy if the crash is mid ocean.

SAGE SOFTWARE RIP OFF

2008-08-06T03:58:00.000-07:00

Mushroom Components has been using Sage Line 50 software for 8 years.

Today we spoke to their technical support team about a very simple problem which could have been answered by them in about 30 seconds.

They wanted £650 YES - thats SIX HUNDRED & FIFTY pounds before they would speak to us....

Is that a RIP OFF or what??

ICSource and feedback

2008-08-04T03:09:00.000-07:00

I am amazed to read in ICsource's comments section that Innovative Components Specialists in Florida has been burnt by Cheaper Electronics Inc of New York.

There are almost 20 - YES TWENTY pieces of bad feedback about Cheaper Electronics on the ICsource web site - yet companies are still giving them credit terms.

Those that do in my opinion are wholly irresponsible, naive, and deserve all they get.

As my old sales manager Bill Clinker was always telling us...." an order aint an order untill its been shipped and paid for!"

Politicians - the Good the Bad & the Ugly

2008-07-30T11:31:00.000-07:00

I have a thing about politicians....have you noticed that just before election time, they come creeping round to your house to try to persuade you to vote for them.

The candidate that tells me that he is a lying cheating evil scheming crook that just wants his share of the gravy train - gets my vote - at least he's honest!

Who was it that said - failed businessmen become consultants and failed consultants become politicians?

Motorists, speed cameras & technology

2008-07-30T10:19:00.000-07:00

Great Britain is the most watched Country in the World....everywhere one looks there is someone or something watching you.

Friends in London have told me that whenever they have been burgled it's just not worth reporting the matter to the Police as all they do is give you a crime number for insurance purposes - but accidentally put ONE wheel in one of Red Ken's or (Boris's if you prefer) precious Bus Lanes - there's a 100 quid fixed penalty notice on its way to you within microseconds - cos you've been zapped on one of London's 17410348709187032874789 cameras.

I find it bizarre that a respectable law abiding motorist can lose his driving licence - his job - his home all because in any three year period he falls slightly foul of the Governments armchair policing policy of using Speed Cameras to catch speeding motorists driving at one or two miles an hour over the speed limit.

Every year hundreds of millions of pounds are raked in by the Government in speeding fines.

Every day we all witness examples of dangerous driving - that Police or the speed cameras don't see.

We have the technology available that as soon as a motorist sees any unacceptable or dangerous driving, a button can be pressed on his dashboard to record the event with the on-board digital camera and transmit the event immediately to the Police.

Have you also noticed that the Authorities have now got mobile detector vans to ensure that vehicles are displayed a valid road tax disc?

Surely the sensible way forward is that vehicles cannot be driven unless smart cards are inserted in a reader validating insurance, road tax and the drivers licence at the same time monitoring his breath to ensure he / she is sober.

The technology is here now - lets go for it!

We are all getting older

2008-07-30T10:09:00.000-07:00

The recent death of marketing Guru Evan Steadman reminded me that we are all getting older.

Over the years I have lost contact with buddies that I grew up with.....

I would very much like to make contact again before we all croak it:-

Dick Broome - emigrated to Australia in 1967
Chris Crowther - my flying instructor Biggin Hill 1966
Bill Clinker - ex Athena - last seen 1979
Dick Williams - ex Distronic - last seen 1990
Bob Pearson - ex Mushroom - last seen 1991
Terry Roeves - ex MCP & Zetex - last seen 1995
Any salesman from Solidev Ltd - 1968
Ian Buxton - ex HRS - last seen 1988
The 2000 girls at Texas Instruments Bedford -1965 - I may not have loved you all - but I loved as many as I could!

If anyone knows the whereabouts of the any of the above - please let them know how to contact me.

John Cuss - the Man who never was!

2008-07-30T03:01:00.000-07:00

We are approaching the anniversary of life changing events that took place in 1978.

I had established an Electronic Component Distributor in 1973 and had rapidly grown and had franchises with major manufacturers such as Sprague, Thompson, Augat and Alco.

Out of the blue, Mr Albert Winter from the Company's accountants McIntyre Hudson in Bedford introduced "John Cuss" to the company as a man of substance and good standing and one that could be thoroughly recommended and suggested that he should become involved with the company.

After several meetings, Mr Cuss was brought into the company.

The company went from strength to strength and after a few months Mr Vaughan & his wife went on holiday to Spain.

Mr Cuss immediately swung his well rehearsed plan into action....

Most of the staff were dismissed, the locks on the warehouse were changed, the company vehicles were taken as was the companies twin engined Piper Seneca aircraft

The Barclays bank account mandate was forged and the account run up to the overdraft limit and cleaned out.

It transpired that "Mr Cuss" was a professional con-man with a string of previous convictions who spent many years in prison and indeed John Cuss was not even his real name.

The company was dissolved owing thousands of pounds to creditors and Mr Cuss went to prison again for six years (which included time for other offences) leaving a string of wrecked companies and at least one company owner who committed suicide.

Mr Albert Winter left McIntyre Hudson's who never even had the balls to put their hands up to their negligence. Eventually they made a derisory payment whilst still trying to squirm their way out of any liability.

As one of the lads from the Fraud Squad at Scotland Yard remarked - give me an honest burglar any day - the REAL crooks are accountants & solicitors as they know how to get away with it!

The story frequently made front page news in local newspaper "Bedfordshire on Sunday"

Heide and I were left with two young children - no money - a mortgage and school fees to pay - but that's another story.......

£1000 Reward for information

2008-07-30T02:13:00.001-07:00

Paul Vaughan my fearless leader from Mushroom Components tells me that on the afternoon of Sunday 27th July, one of the company vans was broken into while parked in the Embankment Bedford.

The thieves made off with a TomTom 720 SatNav and about £50 in cash as well as having caused damage estimated to be £1000 to the van.

The Bedford Police responded quickly and have several fingerprints now on file.

There is a an alarming rise in thefts of SatNavs to fund drug habits.

I say to the Government.....

£5 billion a year is spent of class A drugs....largely from the proceeds of petty crime.

Either a] give the drugs away free or b] anyone caught selling / dealing / using should be deported or put down so that these parasites no longer pose a threat or a drain on society.

Paul Vaughan has offered to put up £1000 of his own cash for information leading to the successful arrest and conviction of the culprits.

Post Offices in Kempston

2008-07-30T01:57:00.000-07:00

Mushroom Components headquarters is in Kempston a town 50 miles north of London with a population of about 25000 served by just two post offices.

One has ample parking, but has only one serving counter - the other has many assistants - but no parking - just what you need when you are trying to post 20 parcels!

I say to the Royal Mail - sort this out now....and stop the eBayers hogging the only counter at the Springfield Road Post Office.

Every year the postal charges go North and the service goes South.