Just a few things to waffle about before the England v Wales match kicks off. I traipsed into Leeds this morning for a tutorial on my Relational Databases project. Definitely worthwhile. Every time I go for one of these things, I come out feeling all positive and great. Then I realise how much stuff I have to do, regardless of how easy it is, and I **** myself.
Excuse me while I wipe.
Miniature highlight of the day, though, was on the way back. To go to Leeds, I tend to park at Pudsey (free) and get the train from there. It’s easier than driving and cheaper than parking at the extortionate prices they charge in the city.
I got off the train on the way back and there was a little lad – can’t have been more than 2-3 years old – with his dad on the footbridge over the tracks. The kid was obviously fascinated with the train. As it pulled out of the station towards the bridge, the driver tooted the horn and waved at the bridge. You should have seen the lad’s face! Aaaaaw!
I had a little struggle at Morrisons on the way home. Rattled round and got my shopping (far too much fruit juice, some chocolate cake for Sharon’s birthday do tonight and some kitty treats). Straight for the “baskets only” queue and handed over my VISA card.
Guy at the till slots it into the chip and pin machine (though I don’t use that yet – next card will have it, I believe) and we wait. And wait. And wait.
After about a minute, it comes back as “declined”. Hmmm. I used it to buy my train ticket about 3 hours earlier. The chap at the till was all for telling me to leave – no offers to try it again or anything. But I told him to, so he did. This time it worked, no problem.
So I hold the queue up and look like a crim with a dodgy card. Upon getting home, I checked my receipts including the one for the failed transaction. The one with “Switch” emblazoned on it. The daft prick had pressed the wrong button on the till, trying to send the card through as a Switch when it’s a VISA. No wonder it bounced it.
Given that he looked at both receipts before returning the card, and got it right second time, you’d think he’d known what he’d done. A small apology wouldn’t have gone amiss.
Grr.
I’ve used my mums Switch card in the past, in a very similar way… getting her money from a cash point, and then got it mixed up with my own (we’re at the same bank) and paid for my petrol before I realised I’d used her card… and my signiture is very different from hers!
That’s nothing. I paid for some stuff at the Jackson’s opposite Bradford Uni with my card once. Handed the woman the card, she looked at it, swiped it and gave me the reciept to sign. She then held my signature up against the one one the card and handed it back to me and let me leave with my goods.
Only then as I was putting the card back in my wallet did I realise that it was Lydia’s card I had just used. She had compared signatures, and everything and mine liiks nothing like Lydia’s.
It pissed me off as anyone could have passed over my card and signed Fred Flintstone. I was going to complain but then it struck me that I had probably just commited fraud.
Goes to show you that the Morrisons bloke like this woman, probably was just on auto pilot with no actual idea of what they were doing.
At least this chip and pin thing leaves it up to us to mess up 🙂