Gunpowder, Treason and Crepes

[CointreauVersial]

Here we are again.....

Rosebag, hope your dinner party is a triumph! Food sounds lovely...

Molly, that's brilliant bout getting back in the saddle after a gap. v good fun, thanks BTM.

Rose, enjoy

I have a quick question about the 16-25 railcard (dull, I know...). We got DD1's from the station, and what she was given, it transpires, is only a photocard, and she should have had another card with the expiry date on it. We weren't given this at all, all we have is the receipt and part of the application form with the expiry date on it (which has no cut out part, and is just a long part of the leaflet). DD1 was nearly fined on Friday as she was told the photocard on its own is not valid (she got hysterical and cried ) and that she must have had another card. All the photos of the blasted card that I can see on the website and on the leaflet itself, don't have a photocard and a separate card, but one, err, railcard, incorporating the photo. She is going to have to go back to the station and argue this out, isn't she?

My question was, if your DC have this railcard, do they have one railcard, or a separate railcard and photocard?

www.16-25railcard.co.uk/help/railcard-terms-conditions/

According to this, ones bought online incorporate the photo so it is all one. but if you buy it at a station, there will be two (which makes sense as photo not stored digitally so they cannot roll it out again next year I guess).

The paper (non photo one with expiry date on) bit that dd has looks, if I remember, quite like a normal train ticket - mentioning in case it is possible your dd stuck it in her purse? It is fairly straightforward to get replacements if it cannot be sorted (dd has had to do this several times ).

What lalsy said...
Ds1 has one bought online - all in one card.

One card bought online also.

Ooh add me to secret Santa please

Secret Santa:
Rudy
BTM
Hatty
Auriga
Molly
MI
Lalsy
Rose
BD
QQ
Beachy
Herbs
MrsSchadenfreude
Addle
MontserratCaballe
NUFC
CremolaFoam

Thanks, Lalsy and QQ. We definitely weren't given a ticket type document - we have filed away everything we were given, and neither DD nor I remember there being anything else. She is going to go to Waterloo today to argue the toss.

Lurking re info about young persons rail card as DS2 is registering for his UNI open days and I can see us racking up the fares….

Dinner party went fine, I think. Quite chilled and enjoyable once I got the domestic shite out of the way. Am definitely filing the mushroom deconstructed pie recipe away for future use. Thinking I could do a meat version by adding braised steak…yum.

Molly great stuff re getting on the bike. Giving me a bit of courage to get out my shiny, new and as yet unused bike, festering in the garage in Sussex. Isn't it terrible what low confidence does for a person?

I am now off for a cafe meeting with ConS…feeling a bit tired and rough this morning. He's buying. Lets hope the creative juices start flowing. Happy Monday crepeys.

Hi Rose,
Glad to hear of your entertaining success!
Re railcards, I ended up buying 2 different sorts for the great Uni Open Day Tour. Ds1 has a 16-25 one which he can use for travelling alone but I also bought one called Two Together which gave us both me and ds discounted tickets when we travelled together. It was £30 I think but we got huge savings when we trekked north to Leeds etc. If you plan to go with him to these things probably worth getting one of those... but it has to be the same two people each time iyswim (so dh couldn't use it).

Can I join the Secret Santa?

Secret Santa:
Rudy
BTM
Hatty
Auriga
Molly
MI
Lalsy
Rose
BD
QQ
Beachy
Herbs
MrsSchadenfreude
Addle
MontserratCaballe
NUFC
CremolaFoam
wilbur

Also, did I see there is an Xmas meet up planned on 5th Dec? Count me in please if there is!

Wow - it seems everyone is uber busy on this thread with new bathrooms, 6th form decision and teaching-related courses. Nice to know our crepiness has not slowed anyone down .

I had a part good, part frustrating weekend. The good bit was getting some stuff done in the garden, including planting two lovely white rhodedendrons (please don't die) and a bunch of bulbs which gives me something to look forward to in the spring . We also managed to sort out a tablet to TV link which means I can now watch itv player (for some reason not listed as part of our brand new smart tv, grr) and catch up on Downton and US Netflix which is much better than UK version. Quality a bit pants, but it's ok. Frustrating bit was that dd accidentally smashed ds1's brand new phone which we had just got as part of a good value Tesco contract which we can't get out of, so have to either get phone repaired for £50, which I worry will never really work properly, or buy a new one. As whole point of contract was to get free phone - just a basic Motorola entry-level smart phone - I am about having to shell out. There is really no spare cash here at all at the moment and I've been massively economising, and now I have to spend the money I've saved on replacing the phone or paying the £75 excess on the insurance. Plus dd's very old hand me down phone is also giving up the ghost and won't charge most of the time so she will need something new soon and dh and I are all out of hand-me-downs. Aaargh. Was thinking of looking on ebay for 2nd hand half-decent phones - do you think that just means I would be buying stolen goods?

MI - I got your text re crumblymag, will send you some suggestions later today.

Definitely railcard up before Uni open days....also for those going to Warwick there is a special cheap and slow line called something like Going Round the Houses. You have to watch everyone else get on fast modern trains though while you stand there with a big red arrow labelled Cheapskate on your head.

Lalsy

Lalsy - I know that train - it's the one from Marylebone, isn't it? It stops at Leamington as well, which is great for when your 2nd year Warwick student decides they want to live in a leafy spa town.

Rose, maybe I could bring my lady bike over on the train and we could have a jaunt together?

Don't knock that train - cheapest way for me to get from Brum to London in relative comfort and without taking years (it is actually relative quick compared to other lines....)

I too am re bike ride....

I have quite fond memories of Leamington Spa railway station and used to know it well. DSis and I frequently went to Birmingham on the train for the shopping (I bought my wedding dress in Rackham's). And I still have the odd blanket bought from the market in the Bullring - not in use I might add.

The sun has just come out after a morning of fog. I hope there wasn't fog down south and that MI got off ok.

NU, the sun has obviously gorn up north - it's miserable and grey here now. At least it was sunny for the kids doing bikeablity.

Wilbur, have you tried Ineedamobile? DD got hers at a decent price and no problems so far. Is it an iphone 4 screen that has smashed? I think you can DIY some (if you dare!)

No - it's a Motorola (doubt I will ever spring for an iPhone for the kids, given their track record in breaking things) and not sure you can buy the screen, you have to send it off. Dh tried to fix the broken screen of ds1's old Nintendo DS a couple of months ago, but it was beyond him, despite all the nerds online saying it was easy. Will have a look at ineedamobile, thanks, although it looks like it's all quite high end stuff. I just need a very basic smartphone for ds, and any old phone that phones and texts for dd as she's only in Y7 and smartphones are not permitted chez nous until dcs have looked after a phone for at least a year. Ds1 had done really well with that and then it all went tits up this summer when he started carrying it around a lot more - first one went in the swimming pool and 2nd one left on top of dd's cardi on the car seat, so when she pulled her cardi out.... Deep, deep sigh.

Yes, hope MI is on her way!

Non-smart phones are cheap as chips at least! You could try your local dodgy phone-booth shop to get the screen done?!

Hi laydeez !
Rose that sounds like a wonderful day. Glad it went well.
Lalsy - you made me spurt my tea

Just back from work which is still demented. Also managed to pick up an ear infection somehow so I have the sound of the whooshing sea in one ear, and a high pitch white noise thing going on in the other. I was at a meeting this morning and about half way through I realised I hadn't picked up on anything. Truly Crepey.

Hope MI got away safely.
Are there rules for the SS Rudy?
£5 , no specific shop or anything.?

I have had to provide a picture of myself as a child ( Xmas themed) for an hilarious work advent thingy.
I am sending in a surly child with droopy wool tights gusset grumpily being dragged to Synagogue . I have a velvet dress and patent shoes and it is 1970 and I am most displeased

Wilbur just had a thoght: we are upgrading phone at Xmas and will have a Samsung galaxy ace going spare. I suspect you can't wait that long but if you'd like it , you're welcome to it.
I'm giving dd my iPhone 4 completely stripped down so she can just buy a sim for it. Ian going to get something else - perhaps a bigger screened thing as I do so much surfing Pinterest on it