Parking Ticket in Cheltemham!

Posted by: u5227470736789439 on 28 June 2006

Dear Friends,

I had the most lovely day today! I took my Polish collegue and friend Pawel, to a Government Office in Cheltenham to help him get his NI details sorted out properly - at long last, and a rather long and silly story, but never mind. I parked right outside the Borough Council Offices and paid my extortionate parking fee. I then took Pawel up to an office a couple of streets away, as he was completely lost in the splendours of the place. Then walked back down the Promenade and got a coffee at Cafe Rouge, sitting outside, just chilling with a cigarette in the gentle breese and pleasant sunshine, and only minutes later he turned up beaming - all problemes solved. Good... Another coffee... Back to the car where there was now a nice £30 fine stuck on the windscreen. Presumably they are not quite used to seventeen year old Volvo 240s spoiling the view, but this was just a bit galling!

I went straight into the Council Offices with both my still current parking chit, and the window sticker, and asked to whom I should speak. They are so nice and polite in Cheltenham. What a nice place. Almost as good as Hereford! I was directed to another office and the whole thing was summarily sorted out. I shall receive a letter of apology shortly, apparently, which I consider a total waste of public money!

Then, as work was still two and half hours away, we decamped to the Plough Inn at Broadheath, right next to the Elgar Birthplace Museum, and had a really nice lunch of Beef in Ale, new potatoes, and veg. Very nice plain English food, which was the point! Pawel wanted something of a decent sized portion, simple, and good, but most especially English. I thoroughly recomend the place unless you want airs and graces with it. It is plain country pub which does a splendid lunch or evening meal. This was accompanied by two pints each of Abbot Ale, which I think anyone will agree was the perfect set-up for a 2-10 pm shift. Yes we got on very well with the work, but poor Jarek wondered why we were in such a good mood!

To admit to going to the pub before work, would lead to some folks not seeing the funny side. In the rules it is a sacking offense, but life is about sport in moderation methinks. A grand, if simple day out!

All the best from Fredrik
Posted on: 28 June 2006 by u5227470736789439
Post Script:

I was wondering when the last time I was in Cheltemham was, and it came back to me!

Sitting next to Mrs Parvo Berglund, while her husband led the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in Schubert's Tragic Symphony and a Schostakovitch one, as a guest of the Orchestra, right in a really fine seat in the Town Hall. [Couple of pints in the green room at the interval, and a bass lesson between the rehearsal and the concert, because the first bass was my teacher]! An occasion not to forget, as not knowing who she was, I said I could hardly imagine it better played at the end! Then her son introduced me and we laughed and laughed! That must have been in 1998!

Well where does the time go?

Fredrik
Posted on: 29 June 2006 by Jono 13
quote:
Originally posted by Fredrik_Fiske:

Well where does the time go?

Fredrik


Who knows? But while you were enjoying Schubert we were getting our heads around parenthood for the first time, and now our daughter has just celebrated her 8th birthday.

Jono
Posted on: 29 June 2006 by u5227470736789439
Dear Jono,

That is nice!

Among all the unintended stuff that has been flying round lately, yesterday the postman brought good news in the form of a letter from the Revenue informing me that I shall get my overpaid tax back in the next few days.

No, this does not imply any gramophone upgrading, as I cannot fault the way my venerable set just plays the music so unobtrusively that the very thought had evapourated already, but it will mean my forced moving to a new flat will be possible, whithout the usual strain of wondering how so many expenses can all be met in a few days!

That enforced saving, which caused real hardship, actually, will have a silver lining now.

That day I was in the Town Hall, I was given one of the artist's rooms for a bass lesson, and I was preparing the Scherzo from Beethoven's Fifth for an audition, which was a strange thing to do between the rehearsal and concert. I attanded the rehearsal of course, but what was funny was that Berglund enquired who was playing in the room two down from his! Apparently he thought it was splendid!

The sad thing was that I am terribly nervous of the audition situation, and I later messed it up badly, even to the point where I drew preceedings to a halt, and apologised. Nerves are a bad thing, and yet I never was nervous in the rehearsal or concert situation, but playing to an expert listening to me, rather than the team I was part of, always destroyed my address. In the freelance situation I was unflappable, and known as both a nice player, and also fine at keeping going if something went wrong.

Pure psychology I am sure, and I never understood why I was so useless as soon as I feared anyone was listening to me rather than the team.

ATB from Fredrik
Posted on: 30 June 2006 by Tam
Dear Fredrik,

When I lived in that area the Bournemouth were my 'local' orchestra, and very fine they were (also it meant that I got to hear Marin Alsop fairly often).

Sorry to hear about your parking woes, but given the zealotry of the ones around here, I can well believe it, as I can the council.

regards, Tam
Posted on: 11 July 2006 by u5227470736789439
Dear Friends,

The letter giving me the information that my appeal against the parking ticket had been upheld came yesterday. That was nice, and goodness knows how much it cost the public purse, your money and mine in reality, to send and administer this. If the warden or wrdens concerned were competent, then it would never have arrisen, of course! But we still pay one way or the other.

ATB from Fredrik
Posted on: 12 July 2006 by BigH47
You will be "pleased" to know that ministers are unhappy with the parking warden/police parking ticket setup. Some thing like 20% of tickets are appealled succesfully. What is that cost?

More here

H