Absolutely Nothing to do with Knitting.

Yesterday I had a day off. What a thing. I love this time of year and I try and make the most of it when I get the chance so I decided to go for a walk.

Before I even had a chance to get up and going June rang me telling me that the lovely Adam from Coats had rung with a problem. Now, last week, before I made the order for this lovely load of Patons:

I had to pay for our last load of yarn. I decided to pay on my credit card (I want a brilliant rating just in case things go awry when we hopefully one day move). I cleared the credit card and gave Coats the details. They put the payment through but because they are a European company, the lovely Adam slipped and pressed the Euro key (that's how it happened in my head anyway - I've no idea how they actually do payments, I doubt it's with a chip and pin machine...). Anyway, obviously, £980 is different to €980. €980 at the time we paid was £817(ish). So. The lovely Adam realised his mistake about half an hour later and gave us a full refund. He then tried to take the money back but the card was declining. He rang me at that point to say what had happened and I said that when this sort of thing has happened before it just takes a few days for the money to get back in our account (they take it quick enough!) and to try on the Friday. I rang my credit card company just to confirm that in my head and they agreed. So the lovely Adam said he'd try again on Friday. Brill! I thought...

I got this phone call from June saying that Adam needed to speak to me. So I rang him and he didn't answer. Rang again. No answer. Rang a different number and got the wonderful Waseem who told me that they still couldn't get it to go through. So I rang the credit card company ready to shout but it appears that in the half an hour between taking the money and refunding the money, the exchange rate had changed as to make £817 into £766!!! That's £50 difference! Those bloody bankers. Wanky bankers. 

Anyway, so I rang the wonderful Waseem again to explain and he was incredulous. How can you work in accounts and not know that the markets change second by second? He was a bit snotty with me so I told him off and then he was apologetic. Good and wonderful Waseem. Anyway, I had to ring back to the credit card company to get proof for wonderful Waseem that the exchange rates can and do change that dramatically within half and hour and then he gave me a refund. 

Now, remind me again why I was telling you in so much detail about that? This is like when I talk and lose my thread but it's taken nearly an hour to write that what with customers and people ringing so I'll be blown if I'm deleting it! 

As an aside, I asked Jem, my Coats rep what the lovely Adam was like and she told me that he was married with kids. But now she realises that he's a new kid on the block and not who she thought he was. So she's going on a spy mission to find out what he's like. Maybe if he's young, rich, single and eligible I could chat him up by always paying my account on time. Seriously though, a man that works in a yarn company and isn't middle age with a pot belly? Boom! Well, anyway, let's cross our fingers. The wonderful Waseem is definitely married with a kid and his nickname is 'Was' which sounds like what I imagine Craig Charles would call a wee. So I'm over the wonderful Waseem. 

Right, so I sorted that out and then I went on a walk. I discovered a whole new part of the Arboretum which I was thrilled about but I realised that I didn't actually know that the Arboretum existed until I was about 14 and somebody took me to Gay Pride (and got me mighty drunk *cough* Matt *cough*). 

Then I went to that marvellous book shop up the top of our bit of Mansfield Road and discovered not one, not two, not three, four or five, but SIX whole books about knitting! Six! Aren't we the lucky ones? If you've never been in, this book shop is a bloody wonder. It's like something that would be written about in the Guardian. You walk in and it's quiet and warm which is brilliant - floor to ceiling books like something out of Beauty and the Beast. Then you walk up the stairs, crammed into yourself because the right hand side of the stairs is covered in book shelves covered in books. Then you get to the landing and there are three or four rooms - the walls covered in books, the centre of the rooms filled with freestanding bookshelves, floor to ceiling, covered in books. Somehow I knew where the knitting books were (I've been in a few times a few years ago) and I managed to get straight there. For the record, it's up one set of stairs, turn to your left and it's the room at the very end, on a book shelf in the middle. There's more books on bloody bobbin lace than there is on knitting - at the moment anyway. I remember being spoilt for choice. Don't get the impression that the landing isn't.... covered in books. Because it is. And the next set of stairs and I don't doubt the landing there and all of the rooms would be covered in books. It's incredible. A good starting point for some sort of story if you could say anything about it apart from the fact that it was bloody covered in books. 

Anyway, I bought four books - two Margaret Meads because I remember learning about her but not being able to find the books, one about American marketing and how it's taking over the UK because I plan to take over the world with Knit Nottingham one day (Knit Nebraska anybody???) and the Wind in the Willows for Seb because I've never read it and I think that he should. I'll read it before he does though. All for £6!!! Bloody brilliant. 

Wow - this is getting long isn't it? And I haven't even talked about knitting. I'll keep it short and sweet. I went to the shop and June made me a cup of tea, I went to the haberdashery in the market and bought some beautiful buttons, to Sharmas to lust over material and settle for three metres of black cotton (£3 a metre - bloody bargain!), back to the haberdashery to get some shirring elastic for my idea for my three metres, to the bank, to Starbucks, to the Post Office where I arrange to meet Marsh Marsh and bump into Verity and the baby. We four headed over to Jam Cafe where we stayed, drinking elderflower juice until we got kicked out at six. Town is really very beautiful at that time of night at this time of year. Sparkling. I love this time of year. 

I knitted in the evening. 

Right, I don't know where I thought this blog was going to go but it's completely un-shop-related and I don't care, I've got a knitting related thing for tomorrow. I promise. 

Love Eleanor.