18/11/2008 by admin.

I went into Halfords in Wrexham this week to buy a bike. Enticed in by the ‘£20 worth of accessories free with every bike bought’ I was hoping to take my bike home with me, along with my free goodies. But that was not to be.

Apparently, presumably to make transportation easier, bikes delivered to Halfords from the manufacturer are not fully made up, they have to have the gears, brakes, wheels etc added instore. In the run up to Christmas they are of course getting more bike orders, and they haven’t got a stock of ready made up bikes and are having to make them up as the orders come in, with customers getting on average a three week wait. Haven’t they ever heard of preparation? You’d think that they would have anticipated the extra Christmas sales and got a load of the bikes made up ready.

I was told that I wouldn’t be able to have my bike until 12th December, and being as I’d set my heart on this particular bike I agreed. But…even though I was paying in full for the order they told me that I couldn’t have the £20 worth of free accessories because I wasn’t collecting the bike before the 22nd November. But I wanted to take the bike today I argued… it’s not my fault that you can’t put it together in time…

It wasn’t until we overheard another member of staff on the phone to an angry customer wanting to know why their bike wasn’t ready yet, and being placated by the words ‘Sorry for the delay, yes it will be after the special offer ends now but yes, OK, we’ll still let you have the free accessories’ that they relented and let me have the free goods.

So dear Halfords, I suggest that it’s not a good idea using special offers to lure people in if you can’t supply the goods - either honor the offer or take the signs down.

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22/10/2008 by admin.

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26/09/2008 by admin.

Take a look at this video of Wrexham back in the 1960s.

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22/09/2008 by admin.

My daughter started at Rainbows today (the ones before Brownies) and she loved it. I can still remember the words of my Girl Guide promise from all those years ago, ‘I promise that I will do my best, to do my duty…’ and so on. Happy memories. I’m glad she enjoyed it. being part of the Girl Guides encourages children to think for themselves and be independent. Not sure what I think of the sleepover idea though…she’s only five…

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22/09/2008 by admin.

“My Mother said to me, ‘If you are a soldier, you will become a general. If you are a monk, you will become the pope.’ Instead, I was a painter, and became Picasso.” Pablo Picasso

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22/09/2008 by admin.

Why shouldn’t you give a woman orange lilies? They may be very pretty but if you are superstitious you will know that they symbolise hatred – so not the ideal choice for a wedding bouquet. Better to go for white (these symbolise purity), yellow (happiness) or striped (pride).

Buying the right flowers can be a bit of a minefield. Some more to avoid are yellow carnations (rejection), marigolds (jealousy) and petunias (anger).

No wonder roses are so popular…

Visit the Wrexham Wedding Directory for more flower do’s and don’ts…

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22/05/2008 by admin.

I’m off to my Welsh class now. Welsh isn’t the easiest of languages to learn but I’m determined to stick at it so I’m off to Viv’s class in the Branching Out Group at St Giles School.

For anyone learning Welsh a great resource is the BBC website here. Hwyl fawr!

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19/04/2008 by admin.

Downshifting Week runs from Saturday 19th - Friday 25th April 2008 and aims to inspire individuals, companies, children and schools to live simpler, happier lives and be kinder to the environment at the same time. Suggestions include very practical ideas such as eliminating non-essential purchases, cook a meal from local and seasonal ingredients, or finding alternatives to the TV for an evening. For more info take a look at http://www.downshiftingweek.com.

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15/04/2008 by admin.

Testosterone - read more here!.

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14/04/2008 by admin.

Training is needed to stay the best. There is always something new to learn, some ability that has become dulled that needs honing, something that has been forgotten that needs bringing back into play.

If you talk down to people to tell them how to climb the ladder you are on, they can only reach as high as your feet. If they want to go on upwards, they will start trying to push you off to take your place on the top rung.

People are capable of training beyond their own ability. If this were not true then every sports star would have a coach who could outperform him. The relationship between coach and performer is also very special. Do you ever see a sports star holding out his racquet to the coach and saying “All right, if you are so clever you do it!” Why not? Partly because the coach is detached and poses no threat or competition.

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