IS THIS WHAT MAKES GREAT BRITIAN?

This is what my favourite cosmologist/scientist and amazingly gorgeous hot tottie Prof Brian Cox  said on TV recently "British science is disproportionally represented amongst the worlds’ best.  With 1% of the worlds’ population and 3% of the worlds’  investment, we produce 15% of the worlds’  most influential scientific papers."   Not to forget that the world wide web was invented (if that is the right term) by Tim Berners Lee - another Brit.  BOOM.

Just as well that we are good at something, because our communication companies are rubbish.  They  seem to be incapable of grasping the simple concept of customer service.  Take Vodafone as a good example.  Now I'm not a great mobile 'phone user but when I do use it I think that a pre-requisite is to have a good signal.  Not rocket science is it? This is where I got myself into some difficulty. 

Long story, they always are with me, but I make no apology.  At 73 I have to start at the beginning and continue on to the end otherwise I lose the thread!  Trust me, it will happen to you too. 

In 2008 we decided to try out a dongle for our sales team. I can't remember why but at that time Vodafone could not understand the need for a business to sign up for a dongle and insisted that someone go to their office in Boston to sign a contract.  I volunteered, signed up, the dongle turned out to be useless, the signal strength was (at best) spasmodic, we threw it in the trash and marked it up to experience!  Unfortunately no-one thought to cancel the contract! Big mistake. 

Move forward to 2011.  I had my 'phone stolen whilst on holiday, contacted my office, asked them to inform my mobile 'phone company and order me another one.  Instead of ringing O2, who I was contracted to and happy with, they 'phoned Vodafone. who I was also contracted to and was not happy with. You can't even begin to imagine the complications this caused.

Every now and then I would grumble, but in the house I usually use my landline - so not too much of a problem.  But things move on and everyone now prefers to call on my mobile and it has, quite frankly, become a pain in the backside.  So I asked my daughter (who is technically savvy) to look into dropping Vodafone and signing me up to O2 again without changing my number. 

Ah! problem.  The Vodafone contract expires next July.  "But she doesn't get a signal, how can she have a contract?" "But she has had the contract since 2008 without complaining".  Try explaining that!

My daughter told the full sorry story to customer service and the technical departments on several continents over two full days.  She said I was now getting older and needed a 'phone that worked.  Their solution was to offer a booster, "but there is no signal in the whole area, plus she have no broadband".  They offered to send a new sim card!  "but, how will this work when your own web site states there is no signal in the area?"

She was pushed around the world from Customer Services to Technical who both said the other would be able to deal with it.  She must have been on the 'phone and "live chat" for hours before we finally caved in.  

I am now signed up to O2 with a new number.  Although,,,,,,the O2 sim card hasn't arrive yet, but the first months invoice has!  Ever think that some days it would be better to have stayed in bed?

 

 

MY HERO X 2

Two news items caught my eye on Breakfast TV this morning. They were both inspirational and filled me full of hope for the human race.

The first was a story about homeless children who go to Quintin Kynaston School in north London. The Headteacher, Jo Shuter, is so concerned about them that she is fundraising to raise £2,000,000 to provide them with a proper home. She doesn't want it to be a hostel, but a place where they will have space and naturing care. She has 17 children who are officially homeless and another 20 who she says "sofa surf". And they are a few among many. It's estimated that there are 75,000 homeless children currently in education.

A boy and a girl in the "homeless" catagory were interviewed. They are both in 6th form, want to go on to further eduction, were articulate and are obviously intelligent. The boy was thrown out of his home by his mother in the middle of winter a couple of years ago. He lived rough for a while and now lives in hostels which he describes as filthy. The girl didn't explain her homelessness but said she was very sad that her friends could go home to their families whereas she is on her own and has no-one to look after her.

During all this trauma they both continued their schooling which was a stable constant in their chaotic lives. And their one bit of luck is that they go to a school that cares and wants to change things.

Good luck to you Jo Shuter, you are one of lifes unsung heros. In this world of cynicism and "what's in it for me" it's inspirational to think there are still people like you. We need more.

The second news item also focused on education. It was an interview with Prof. Brian Cox the eminent astro physicist who is currently working on the Large Hadron Collider in Cern. No slouch. He said that in a poll of 3000 parents science was seen only as an option for brighter students.

He claims that you don't have to be a genius to be a scientist. Science isn't only goggles and bunsen burners, it's curiosity about how life started and how will it end, wondering if we live on the only inhabited planet, etc. The why, who, when, questions. All it takes is enthusiasm, passion and practice. Like practicing the piano it takes repetition and dedication. Yeh, right! He then blew my mind away when he said that he only achieved a Grade D in maths in his A Levels! What!!!!

He recommends that students interested in science should visit the Big Bang Fair which is travelling around the country starting 10th March.

As a "taster" here he is talking about the end of the world. Note: remind me never to get in a car with him when he's in the driving seat. Mind you, it would be a different matter if he was in the back seat!




He is a complete nutter and an amazing man. I highly recommend that you watch more of his stuff on youtube, especially his story about being a rock god. Wonderful. What a great communicator.

The thing that I believe Jo Shuter and Brian Cox have in common is that neither have been constrained by conventional thinking. They don't accept that something is impossible, they just go on and do it anyway. God bless you both.