Rip-off of The Single Traveller

I desperately felt I needed a holiday so off to the travel agent I had used last year, and explained all I wanted was a simple holiday for a week anywhere on a half board basis under £300, which I felt was reasonable, because with all the problems of the world surely holidays would not be expensive out of season in particular when the same travel agent had found me a nice hotel on the beach in Alanya last year for much less without to much effort.

We spent a good 2 hours trying top find a similar holiday but then I finally realised that supplements of up to £100 pound for me as a single were being added to the cost, which does not make sense when there appears to be lots of cheap packages that nobody else is taking up & that most countries other than Britain charge by the room rather than the number in it.

In the end I gave up and went searching on the internet, great there were loads of holidays with all the places I could want to go until I entered the fact I was single, then up the price went again.

Next I thought that I would try the singles holidays sites because surely they would have holidays at reasonable costs for the likes of me.

Sadly yet again the holidays were way out of my reach although some seemed to have interesting sections so you could get over the difficulties of being on your own & arrange to communicate with other like minded people before the holiday commenced so you would not feel so lonely.

In desperation because its only another week before my holidays commence,although could it be that the fact it is friday 13th have anything to do with my dilemma, off to the travel agent again. Amanda who had been very helpful previously now told me that she was busy, so I was dealt with by her college who frantically tried to find me this elusive holiday, sadly with no succes unless I could up the limit to £350 plus for a 3 star hotel in a back street. I therefore gave up the chase & sadly left the shop.

But down the precinct I suddenly thought I would try another travel agent & went in to speak to Dawn who had always been pleasant & obliging, so I explained my dilemma to her and she was great and also instructed her college who was yet another Amanda to help out, because fortunately there were no other people waiting to be served.

Dawn quickly found the only holiday I had been offerred previously which I explained did not really suit my needs, then fantastic, Amanda found 2 others that seemed to fit the bill. Unfortunatley the first could not be found either on the Gazetter or anywhere on the internet so I declined, then she found another all inclusive in a 5 star hotel in Alanya, well done Amanda. We checked it out and there were reasonable reports on Tripadvisor and the price was a very reasonable £350 but the tour company was one I had never heard of called Goldtrail so I said I would have a think and get back to them.

Having thought I have decided first thing today I will go in and book because otherwise I will end up as I did earlier this year at somewhere in England where it will be cold & damp as in my picture of Scarborough in August this year shows.

Well if anyone out there is reading this and can suggest a better idea for my holiday problems for the remaining week I have before the end of the year please let me know, or if there is someone who will start a pressure group for us hard done to singles please let me know.

If you continue to follow this post I promise to tell whether I managed to book & whether it is a bargain or a total disaster

Wednesday evening, sad news I rang to book the holiday and its gone spoke to Dawn & we will try again at weekend

6 Oct 2006

Well done Dawn and Amanda today I went looking for another holiday, thinking there would be no more success, surprise surprise, Dawn and Amanda managed to find me an inexpensive holiday in the resort of Sidari Corfu, I realise that it is only self-catering but at a price of £170 for a week in a nice quiet complex I don't think I could have done any better. Now all I have to do is sort out my clothes and get some money.

I will provide an update on my holiday when I return.

Big Feet No Trainers

I have been trying to buy trainers for the last 3 weeks, I have size 11 feet that are very broad, my last pair of comfortable trainers are falling apart, plus I have 2 other pairs that are fashionable but make my feet ache if I wear them

Why do people like me have such problems trying to find shoes & trainers to fit, when I go in shops I try to make the choice as wide as possible, with no specific brand or type, to increase my chances of finding a new pair, because I have known this problem in relation to shoes all through my 59 years. What do young people with big feet do? are there shops that deal with people like me?

Also why are they so suprised when as I did in desperation find a pair that seemed okay, but later caused my feet to ache? so then back to the store for a another type or refund only to find they have nothing else that fits and "sorry we dont do refunds only credit notes" so I now have a credit note in a shop that sells nothing I want.

Are there shoe shops out there that have staff who are knowledgeable about their product and also cater for us "Odd sizes" because I feel that most of us bigger people just resign ourselves to struggle.

What about a pressure group to change the world for us bigger sizes , maybe we should picket the big manufacturers even create Blogs to raise the issue.

Proms in The Park Manchester 2006

Well the first Blog has gone out so thought I would try another whilst I have your attention so here goes.


This year I and 2 friends decided we would go to Proms in The Park for the experiance of A Lifetime, because we had been watching Last Night of The Proms on TV for years.


Because 2 of us have mobility problems we arrived early to find a suitable place to camp with our table, chairs, food kettle stove etc. The weather was ideal although we had come prepared for a soaking as there had been last year

We checked the platform erected for people with mobility problems which was well placed, sadly the toilets were a quarter of a mile away at the top of a hill, so thinking of our bladders and the time and energy that would be involved we decided to move up the hill to the back for a better view which worked very well the time was now appox 6pm.

The sound was clear & not to intrusive, what it was like at the front I can't imagine, so we settled down for an evenings entertainment, which generally was very good, although, the low point was half an hour of adverts for National Savings and the fact that there were hundreds of people queuing for the toilets ( I think there were about 8 for 10,000 people) but being disabled has its advantages at least they let us use ours.

I was suprised because there did not appear to be that many people at the event early on but as it got darker more arrived including a young couple who decide the best position to watch the entertainment was lay on the floor which i imagine was quite cold, their situation was made worse by the fact that it was now quite dark and people did not appear to of considered that there may be Promenaders so low on the ground.

We finally reached the part we had waited all night for the singing, I was suprised because although the people at the front were singing their hearts out, from about a third back of the crowd it was distinctly quiet and our little groups singing & clapping did not seem to make up for the silent majority ( what on earth were they there for if not to join in).

Eventually we sadly reached the end but just before that 2 of our group me being one needed the toilet which worked out very well because just as we finished our visit to the toilet the fireworks went off at the back of the hall where most of the audience could not see them, so I have include a couple of photos for you to admire.

The evening was a great success & we plan another visit next year well done BBC

Frightening New Experiance of Blogging

Well hello out there in the blogging world, I have consulted The Rough Guide to Blogging, looked at some blogging sites, have talked to some friends, thanks again to Alan, Brian and Andy, so now this is the start of my great new adventure in the blogging world.

I hope this blog will be interesting to you all out there, including sharing the exciting plans for my approaching retirement,as well as my thoughts about my day-to-day life experiences.

Included will be some of my photos past & present with a particular interest of mine in sunrises And sunsets.

It is my hope that the blog will be funny and interesting to anybody reading it.

Please feel free to make any comments, constructive criticism will be welcome

Bloggs to come include

Proms in the Park Manchester 2006,

Why I am having problems obtaining Which best buys

My forthcoming holiday adventures,

Plans for my 60th birthday (honest they are more interesting than you think)

10 October 2006

Last week I was asked if I was willing to be interviewed for one of the local radio stations Tower FM as I am a user of Bury Shopmpbility & have been for the last 10 years.

Of course I said yes this is all part of my new adventure, unfortunately I have managed to contact a nasty virus which has taken its toll so reluctantly I had to cancel my chance of stardom
yet again

Despite all this last night went to a meeting about vandalism by local youths in the area, most of the night had no positive outcome, but then when i objected about a council member of staff being nieve when she felt it would be a good idea for local residents to ask for names & addresses of the vandals, it was a police officer who actually said it needed the problems to be traced to their roots & thqat he intended to start asking for car registration numbers & any other information as well as videoing the offenders then visiting them at home to discuss what their parents were going to do to help resolve the matter, I felt that was a small victory for common sense, lets hope it happens.

Wednesday 11th October

Decided against commonsense to go to work today although I still was not recovered, I took medication to help me keep going, the problem is at work that my voice got worse as the day progressed, which is not much use when your primary role is to answer the phone.

Got home to relax and watch the soaps, was greeted by elderly neighbour wanting help because the TV was not working neither was her phone also the doorbell was not working, said would go and check my flat first, did this at first everything seemed okay, until noticed that was no light on the video television or DVD, so decided to check out why. Remembered I had lent my test lamp to a mate, my neon tester would not work and the battery had gone in my meter. Borrowed battery from my smoke alarm, checked fuses all had gone, rang mate who brought fuses, replaced all fuses plugged in DVD which caused loud bang, checked cables found aerial lead was beyond repair. TV and video still not working.

Remembered house contents insurance with Egg, tried the phone to find that didn't work either luckily I still have my old one so changed it for that, rang claims department, told cannot make a claim until tomorrow morning so much for 24-hour service. (Should have said that going into the TV withdrawal process)

I thought never mind I will listen to the radio or CD, switched on system surprise surprise, that had given up the ghost as well, after a lot of effort I finally found out that it was the amplifier that did not work.

At this point decided to go and see my neighbour, her TV & digi box were not working neither was her phone or intecom on the door, luckily her son was coming next day so said ask him to contact to the insurance company, said I would ring about the phone and inform her son later this evening.

Then spent another hour getting my old amplifier out and connecting it up, I could now listen to a CD, but then I realised that I had not eaten, so prepared snack.

I then rang my son and told him what a brilliant day I had had.

Finally totally exhausted, full of my virus I decided to go to bed, picked up my glasses and the lens fell out. What a great end to a fantastic day.

Thursday the 12th

I woke up still full of flu, so rang work and explained also that I needed to sort out my insurance claim.

Rang Egg spoke to young man who said somebody would ring me back, explained I am on holiday from tomorrow evening.

Rang TV man explained problems, he was very helpful but unable to assist in the short-term.

Rang Lawrence my magic computer expert, who said bring computer he would give me a swift answer, took computer, within half an hour he rang back to say it was the lead total cost an amazing £5 so went and collected it, connected it up and it works. Only problem broadband would not work, so rang Lawrence again absolutely brilliant advice so now back on Internet. Thanks very much Lawrence.


Then spent next two hours trying to sort out my three neighbours telephones with little success.

I forgot to say that I had managed to get an appointment to see my GP later today so will find out whether or not I am going away on holiday.

Next had phone call from Egg, they want to sort out claim but not until tomorrow at 11am, explained I am going on holiday, did not seem to make much differance

Friday 13th October 2006

Today I had an interview by telephone with my insurance company, what I found a bit worrying was that they asked me to tell the story twice which for a TOG is a big order in particular when we struggle to remember what we did five minutes ago. Anyway the good news is that they have accepted the claim and when I returned from holiday I will be able to sort out my TV etc.

Well at long last I will soon be on holiday, but after packing the traffic reports said there were problems on the motorway, so I decided to leave early for my friends Tom & Wendy, who were taking me to the airport. I have decided to start a new post to tell you all of my adventures in Corfu.

So please all you readers out there, now please go and have a look at my new post entitled A Lonely TOGS Adventures in Corfu.

5 November 2006

Having just finished my last post I thought I would have a quick look at a Blog my friend and advisor Brian had suggestewd namely that of the 43 bus
( http://the43.blogspot.com/2006/10/how-it-was.html ) sorry I would insert a link in its proper place but still having problems doing this.

I really enjoyed this, such a change to some of the very strange Blogs I have come across so far, even when looking at the Blog awards.

Have suddlenly realised, it is 6.45 and I am getting cold because the heating has not come on, so now need to decide with all this excitement do I go back to bed and try to sleep, or get up dressed then go for my sunday paper, wait for the next exciting episode, in a Togs new adventure