101 Things/1001 Days

Went to the new Apollo cinema in Carmarthen on the 9th of May, to be fair to them they had only opened a few days earlier and it was busy but that really is no excuse. I experienced such poor customer service that I just had to contact the cinema to complain.

Sent: 10 May 2010 14:13

I would like to make a complaint about the poor service at the Apollo Cinema in Carmarthen.

I was there last night in a queue when the girl serving just left the counter, she gave no explanation or apology – this would have been about 19:25, I waited a few minutes in the hope that maybe she needed to get change for the till. After waiting about 5 minutes I went to speak to the gentleman who was checking tickets and explained that there was a queue of people waiting to be served and no member of staff. He told me that everyone who was available was serving – no mention of what happened to the girl who had originally been behind the counter.

I was then told that the only thing I could do would be to join another queue. All the other queues were just as busy as the one I was at the front of so I had to leave – this is poor customer service and I hope that you will at least have the decency to reply to this complaint.

On the 14th May I had an email from Tom Lock the manager which seemed really positive and a good result for me with four guest passes.

Date: Fri, 14 May 2010 02:39:47 +0100

Dear Mr Whatley

I would like to apologise profusely for your experience in our cinema. Customer service is the most important aspect of any business and we at Apollo Cinemas pride ourselves on this. To see that we have not provided the excellent standards to all of our customers is very disappointing to me.

I would like to offer you some guest passes for four people to come and watch a film of your choice with no charge. I hope that this time you would experience much better customer service than that you received this week.

If you would like to e-mail your address, I will mail the passes to you.

We rely on customer feedback to improve our service; I will ensure this situation does not repeat itself.

I look forward to seeing you.

Tom Lock
Manager

I replied with my address and heard nothing more from them regarding my four guest passes and nothing turned up in the post. I did give them two weeks but when they had still not turned up at the start of June I resent an email. To cut a long story short was told that they had been sent out but they would send me two guest passes. On 3rd June a letter arrives from Apollo cinema with four guest passes (the envelope was addressed to me but the letter was for someone called Kate and was signed by the manger!!!)

So a good result in four free passes, used one last night and the customer service is still not ideal.

Way back when I created my list I decided to watch a load of films and the top 100 films from the British Film Institute was one of my aims. I did not realise just how time consuming this would be and part of the reason I decided to take out a Lovefilm subscription – and for the last couple of months have been working on watching the remaining films from the BFI list and am glad to be able to say I have watched every single one of these films, watching the last one this morning.

I have seen films that I would never have considered watching in the past and I have also seen films that I would never consider watching again. Will now be looking to complete the top 100 American Film Institute films!!

I finally completed this at the start of June when I spent a few hours on the beach playing in the sand, I did not have a bucket or spade so it was more of a mound than a sand castle but it was great fun trying to get the moat filled with water.

In trying to get my finances in order I had decided ages ago that I really should keep an eye on what I actually spend my money on in a month as in the past I have always thought as long as my account never goes into the red there is nothing to worry about. However that is a very foolish view to have on things. One of my friends has taken the whole thing completely overboard as far as I am concerned by keeping a note book and listing everything that he has bought on a daily basis. I do not have the patience to do that but have for the last few months been able to forecast my expenditure for the month and have been able to identify areas that I could make improvements on.

I am now able to have a good idea of where my money goes each month and am able to put money aside for savings.

Finally able to cross this off my list as on Good Friday I ventured up to Aberystwyth and travelled on the Vale of Rheidol Railway which operates a service from Aberystwyth to Devil’s Bridge. The journey itself takes about an hour travelling the 11¾ miles and the views can be quite fantastic if the weather is good. The carriages are what I would call basic, they have first, second and third class carriages the third class carriages are fitted out with wooden benches and have no windows great to enjoy the great outdoors but you would need to watch the weather. Second class you enjoy a little more comfort with padded seats, I can only assume first class is better but you do have pay extra for that privilege.

On the subject of price it costs £10 for a single and £13.50 for an adult return, The train waits at its destination for one hour before returning and as they only run limited services it is always best to check the times of your return journey beforehand. I had already decided to spend the day at Devil’s Bridge so had four and a half hours to kill waiting for the last train of the day.

Well little did I realise back on the 1st April 2006 that 1001 days would pass so quickly and here we are the deadline past a few hours ago now and I have been going though a few things. I know when I compiled this list of 101 things (well I never got around to listing the full 101 things) that it was not going to be easy in fact there would have been little point in making a list of things to do that was simple and easy to archive – so I will not be bashing myself over the head for not completing this list. It does however show me that maybe I need to look more at how my time is spent and whether this could be better used.

Completed
10. Eat a fruit I have never tried before.
11. Do a car boot sale.
25. Go out to Worms Head off Rhosilli
29. Read The Chronicles of Narnia
34. Visit Dublin
35. Visit the National Botanical Gardens of Wales
37. Change my car to a newer model.
41. Create at least 50 handmade cards.[20/50]
42. Sort out all my photos and put them in to albums
46. A night out in Cardiff/Swansea
49. Visit Llyn Y Fan Fach
54. Upgrade/change my computer
58. Complete EDCL Level 3 Word course
63. Create a sub site for this project.
64. Buy an expensive ice cream
69. Complete EDCL Level 3 Access course
70. Complete EDCL Level 3 Powerpoint course
77. Visit a continental market
79. Visit Llyn Llech Owain country park
82. Buy a Welsh rugby shirt
85. Complete my Quantum Leap dvd collection
92. Complete my Stargate SG-1 dvd collection

Listed below are those tasks I failed to complete within the 1001 day target, those tasks with an (*) means that they are partial completed

Uncompleted
1. To watch all of the AFI top 100 films.[32/100](*)
2. To watch all of the BFI top 100 films.[30/100](*)
3. To watch all of the IMDB top 250 films.[81/250](*)
4. Visit and take a trip on the London Eye.
5. Make a list of my top 100 favourite films.(*)
6. Own at least 50 of the films in my top 100 list on DVD.
7. Release a message in a bottle.
8. Write three letters of complaint relating to poor customer service.
9. Write three letters of thanks relating to good customer service.
12. Leave a 100% tip.
13. Paint a self-portrait.
14. Make a will.
15. Go on a camping weekend.
16. Save a pound a day for 1001 days
17. Visit New York
18. Go and see a play.
19. Go to a concert.
20. Have a ski lesson
21. Do something for charity.
22. Spend a week without using a computer.
23. Move out of my bedsit.
24. Visit Blackpool
26. Treat my family to a meal
27. Make a list of my 100 favourite songs(*)
28. Climb a mountain
30. Get up early one day (5.30am) and go for a jog
31. Eat 5 potions of fruit and veg each day for 2 weeks
32. Take a photo every day for a month
33. Write a story
36. Watch a rugby game at the Millennium Stadium
38. Fly a kite
39. Get the life history section of my site up to date.
40. Customise a t-shirt
43. Tidy my wardrobe, declutter and send it off to charity
44. Visit an online friend who I have never met.
45. Fast for 72 hours
47. Go paintballing
48. Visit Cauldy Island
50. Take a walk around Llyn Brianna reservoir
51. Paint a picture
52. Dye my hair a different colour
53. Repay the money my mother loaned me back in 1999
55. Create a photo dvd with music.
56. Chart my progress using my web site
57. Build a sandcastle
59. Keep a daily tally on my expenditure on a spreadsheet for a month
60. Cycle for more than 10 miles
61. Learn to knit
62. Get at least one of my photos published
65. Create a recipe book
66. Cook at least ten things I have never cooked before
67. Unveil project “cariad”
68. Complete EDCL Level 3 Excel course
71. Visit a zoo/wildlife park
72. Buy a bagful of pick and mix sweets
73. Watch the sun rise or set
74. Make Turkish Delight
75. Make homemade rissoles
76. Take a trip on a steam engine
77. Send the two vidoes I owe to Marie
78. Attend a beer festival
80. Go for a picnic
81. Throw a penny into a wishing well and make a wish
83. Create a time capsule and bury it
84. Make candyfloss
86. Complete 5 photographic projects
87. Stop drinking caffeinated soft drinks for 1 month
88. Stay awake for 48 consecutive hours
89. Drink at least 2.5 pints of water a day for at least a week.
90. Lose enough weight to be healthy and happy.
91. Visit at least five National Trust properties[2/5](*)
93. – 101. Undecided Tasks

There are things in the uncompleted list that I should do my best to complete not because I have to but because I should. So I will carry on with the project until the end of March 2009.

I originally started making my own cards after working out that I was no good at calligraphy and after buying so much craft materials I wanted to ensure that they were not wasted and that I was actually making handmade cards for my friends and family. The first card I made was no doubt not wanted and thinking back I really don’t know why I wasted my time making it but I did and since then I have gone on to make many more, with friends especially eager to see what sort of card they will get off me.

Originally I had decided not to count cards I had made for Christmas but after careful consideration I have decided that these cards were also handmade so need to be counted. I have noted counted any that I would consider as “mass produced” cards which involved me using the same design more than once. If I had not counted the cards made at Christmas time I would not be able to complete this task as there are only so many occasions that I can make cards for – I have been lucky in that I got the chance to make two engagement cards. I was going to post a selection of cards here but don’t really have the time so if anyone wants to take a look at some of the cards I have made are more then welcome to check out the link below.

Handcrafted cards

So with well over 50 hand made cards this task has been completed.

For years my old photos have been stored in a bag on top of my wardrobe in no real order so this was something I had been meaning to do for ages, I had bought the albums and they had just been waiting for me to finally fill them up. Got help with this of one of my friends who is a little better at organising such things so armed with my bag of photos and the photo albums we sorted out the photos into years and started filling the albums. I had not realised just how many photos I had taken with my old camera and the different formats that were used – trying to get those landscape photos into the albums was tricky!

All the new photos I take are digital and are stored on the computer so this is one task crossed off my list.

I remember watching the original film with Kurt Russell and watched the series when it started on television and soon the two just seemed to merger into one. Like any series there were good episodes and there were bad. I was forced into getting the DVD’s as terrestrial television was constantly changing the time slots for the shows which meant I missed them. Richard Dean Anderson was great as Colonel Jack O’Neill and personally I felt that the series lost something when he decided to take a less active role from season eight I was even more disturbed when they introduced Ben Browder followed shortly by his Farscape co star Claudia Black as I had found Farscape to be a rather odd series. I must be one of the only fans to be happy that Stargate SG1 has ended, it also means I have completed another of my goals.

After my trusty Ford Escort had to have over £350 worth of work to pass its MOT back in April I knew that the time had come to cut my losses and change the car. With no real idea of what car I wanted I began to canvas the opinions of my friends and work colleagues about different cars. I was eventually put off getting another Ford, the parts maybe cheap and easy to obtain but there was always the shadow of corrosion – especially with any that were within my price range. I toyed with the idea of getting a Volkswagon as they have a good reputation and seem to hold their price – and that was the problem the only ones that I could find within my budget were basic models. In the end I decided on a Peugeot, either the 206 or the 307 and could find very few of either model around here so searched a little further afield and eventually traveled down to Bristol for the day to check out a few garages. I had prepared a list of garages that had cars I wanted to look at and it was at a garage next door that I found the car I was going to end up with.

The car had only just arrived and had not been cleaned up but I liked the colour and some negotiating with the price made that look a little more attractive as well. Had a look around a few other local garages but I knew that any other car I saw would have to be really good to get me to change my mind, so on the way back to the garage I called my insurance company to check how much the insurance would be before returning to the garage to do the deal. I should thank Andrew for his help in the negotiating and for deflecting the salesman patter off of me as we went around all these garages. (I asked him to pretend that it was him who was looking for a car and not me – this gave me the chance to listen and look)