rateyourmusic.com

☼☼ This is the place I go to to review music and to list all my CDs and records.

Pemco

I can't remember how they first got in touch with us, but the Pemco guy came round this afternoon to quote for some double-glazing. But it wasn't quite as simple as that. First of all a guy called to make the appointment and to give us a code number. Then another guy called to check that the appointment was okay. And then when the rep came round, he measured everything and sang his windows' praises, and then the trouble started. I ought to have guessed when he started asking me what I did for a living, and what M did for a living, that he was planning to stay for more than 10 minutes. Then all sorts of info about the guarantees and (aagh) financing.

We've been here before, with Amber, and then with Sharps. It's not possible for these people to come round and give you a quote. What they want is your signature. Oh, it's okay, they say, you've got plenty of time after you've signed to shop around if you want to, and cancel if you need to. But if you don't sign today, you won't get the special price! Ah, the magic price that is going to disappear if you don't sign today.

Pemco rep (nice guy, by the way, who didn't seem cut out for his hard-sell career) first quotes me £4000, but says if we sign, agree to the financing, and agree to one of three special dates for the installation (he goes through the charade of phoning his boss to get these dates and to find out what our discount might be) they can do the job for £3000.

Why do some firms choose this method of selling? Why can't they just give a quote? Am I really supposed to believe that now that I've thrown the rep out they'll refuse to do the job for £3000? Yeah, right.

p.s. We have had work done by both Amber and Sharps, having gone through one of these hard-sell sessions, been persuaded, and signed on the dotted line. Both did adequate work, but not so good that it justifies the prices they charge. And in both cases we got a special deal for using their financing, changed our minds about the loans and paid the lower price in cash.

Moor Hall Hotel

☼ My wife has just returned from an excellent weekend at Moor Hall Hotel in Sutton Coldfield, where £88 per night gets you a beautiful quiet location, an excellent breakfast and dinner, and full use of the gym, sauna and pool. Her only quibble was that the room was a little small, and looked smaller because of all the too-large furniture stuffed into it.

Restaurant 182

☼ There for lunch with M this afternoon. It's a great location, so I wonder why it's changed names so often over the years. In this latest incarnation it serves "English cuisine", and we were pretty impressed. The soup and the mussels were fine, and so were the chicken and the liver. M raved about the sauce on the chicken! Lunchtime price: £9 per head plus drinks. The only real quibble is that when M asked for a glass of red wine she was brought a large glass, price £4.35.

Lido di Jesolo

☼☼ We're thinking about our summer holidays, and one day we'd like to go back to Lido di Jesolo, a great Italian resort on the Adriatic. The main feature is the infinite beach, but there's also good food and nightlife, and Venice is very close.

This page gives a good overview.

Cadbury's Brunch Bar

☼☼ We've been eating these for years, especially the raisin variety, and they've established themselves as the family's favourite sweet snack.

They sell for around £1.40 (per box of 6) in most supermarkets, which is a bit steep, but most pound shops sell them for... a pound. So when I'm in Poundland I stock up.

Peugeot 308

The 308 appeared last year. I bought my 307 in February and at that time there was almost no mention of the new model. When I mentioned it to the dealer he said it wouldn't be out till this year, so it smacks of desperation that it was raced out into showrooms pdq.

I don't know whether it's a good car, but I like my 307 and I wish Peugeot well. The first pictures I saw of the 308 looked great, but the marketing photos they've been using for their UK advertising campaign are rubbish. The car looks like a black lump almost indistinguishable from the 307.