For Blog 66 I had a few choices of subject matter. I could have used Bingo as a theme, Clickety-click, sixty-six. Remember that. Two fat old ladies. Eighty eight. Echoes from a bygone era when Mecca meant Bingo Halls and not somewhere Muslims visited during the Haj. Or I could have used the England Cricket Captain, Joe Root’s squad number. 66 . Root 66. Get it? Or Route 66 itself ( if the protestors haven’t torn it up in anger by now) But all that talk of Roots and Routes led my meandering mind in the direction of root canal treatment.
I know this is a painful subject for you if you are in need of dental treatment. My sister-in law Val, lost a crown some time ago. My friend Phil tripped over a tree trunk in the park and lost his two front teeth ( don’t worry, Phil, Christmas isn’t that far away … How many of you recall that musical classic, “ All I want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth.“ Right up there alongside, “ How Much is That Doggie in the Window. “ and “ I’m a Pink Toothbrush, Your’e Blue Toothbrush “. And the old folk ( other than me ) say that today’s music is rubbish . Mind you we did have Major Tom at Number One in the charts recently and we should not be allowed to forget my particular fav The Baked Potato song.
But, back to dentists and we are getting mixed messages. That makes a change in this current situation, doesn’t it? The Times said and I quote “ Dentists to reopen for routine checks “ My dentist sent me an email about twice the length of the article saying no way Jose. He said that the Government ( and I suppose that means Brojo and The Caretaker ) hadn’t even bothered to tell the dentists that they were re-opening. So a bit of a shock to them particularly as it seems they had been asked to surrender all their protective equipment to the NHS as soon as The Big V struck. That reminds me of the Second World War when the Government ordered all houseowners to give them their iron railings to use to make weapons. In our first house, we had a neighbour called Leonard who proudly told us that he had refused and had hidden his railings until the war was over. Our dentist was clearly not so devious as to hide his gear in his linen cupboard. So, for the moment I guess we all have to grit our teeth and bear it.
The saga of Saga continues. As you can well imagine I was pretty steamed up when I called them yesterday. I first spoke to a bloke in the department who send out premium reminders. Ten minutes to get through and from what I’ve heard since I reckon they hear the phone ring and then draw straws as to who has to answer it. I told the man that my premium had risen by 550% ( that’s a more exact figure than I gave yesterday ) I could hear him shaking his head at the other end of the line and I got the feeling he’d had this sort of conversation before. But not with me.
I had the nerve to ask why this might be. Had they just picked a number out of a hat in much the same way that he had drawn the short straw when it came to talk to me? He said that I had made I claim and that was the reason. I said I hadn’t. I told him that after the minor incident to which I referred yesterday ( just to remind you a lady driver of about 90 tried to park in Edgware and was in no way deterred by the fact that I was already in the parking space at which she was vaguely aiming…. she did say she was signaling which was a bit like the captain of the Titanic saying he blew the horn of the ship as soon as he saw the iceberg in his path and was a bit surprised it didn’t get out of the way Anyway my rear slightly touched her car as she entered what was left of the space breaking, her front light in the process but not even marking my car. )
Now if I told Saga once I told them half a dozen times ( that many was necessary as they kept calling me up telling me the old lady’s insurers were making a claim ) that I didn’t want them to deal with it, that I wasn’t making a claim because my car was fine and they should refer the insurers to me. They just ignored me until they sent me a letter asking me to draw a map of the incident. Apart from the fact I can’t draw it seemed a fruitless exercise so this time I actually wrote to them to confirm I wasn’t making a claim myself and would be delighted to see the old lady in witness box in court.
Anyway Saga man number one gave me another number to call. He said it was “ Claims “ I repeated the above story and finally gave up and called a nice guy called Rory in “ Claims “ He was more sympathetic and shook his head as well ( at least I am sure he did, so allow me a bit of literary licence here ) when I told him the premium I was being asked to pay. He said they’d not heard from Old Lady’s insurers since last October and had notes on the file to say I wasn’t claiming. He then said he was going to call Old Lady’s insurers to check whether or not she was persisting in her claim. I said I didn’t think that was a very good idea. It smacked to me of a successful fugitive from justice wandering into a local police station to see if he was still wanted. I thought that “ out of sight,out of mind “ was a more sensible policy. But Rory insisted on making the call.
Rory asked me if I wanted to hold on. I declined. He said he would call me back then. I agreed, but doubted that he would. Oh ye, of little faith. He did. Told me that Old Lady had withdrawn her claim ( doubtless somebody had pointed out to her that it was a criminal offence to make a fake insurance claim and that prisons aren’t a great place for 90 year olds) . I asked him if he could therefore confirm that my premium would be the same as last year less a no claims discount and I also suggested a further discount as my car has virtually been off the road for 3 months. I think I may have been pushing my luck there, but if you don’t ask, you don’t get as my Grandmother used to say.
But, Rory could not confirm that. He said somebody from customer relations would call me today so let’s see if that happens. Meanwhile I will be trawling the web with the help of my daughter-in-law’s dad Anthony who is exceptionally good at things like this, to see if I can find another insurer. Because, it seems Saga do this sort of thing regularly. My old school pal, Roger ( a regular reader who also comments every day …. And I really will find a way to reply to this Roger ) had his premium doubled by Saga as well on the same day I received my unwelcome welcome back letter from them. Watch this space as I gather enough material to write “ How to Complain Volume Two “ If you haven’t read volume one it’s still available to buy from Amazon .
I also must apologise to readers for yesterday’s blog. I gave you a duff tip for the races at Newcastle as Stone Mason starting a hot favourite flattered to deceive and faded to finish a distant sixth. And I also gave you false information. The racing was not the first sport to reappear in the UK. And I really should have known what it actually was. Pigeon Racing.
It seems that the Barnsley Federation of Racing Pigeons released 4665 birds from a park in Kettering at 9.30 am ( and at (9.35 there was a rush to book car cleaners as the pigeons flew overhead ) The pigeons flew 90 miles in about two hours. So, I plan to get my two garden pigeons racing today and as they are both mine I reckon I stand a pretty good chance of leading one or the other into the winner’s enclosure . I did see a Jay yesterday to add to my bird spotting book, but I don’t think they race.
Actually have loads more to say today, but enough is enough and I’ve got a busy work day. Watch out tomorrow for crowded parks, dangerous pedestrians with phones, Sam’s experiences back at school and demonstrators in the States not socially distancing. There, that’s got you all hooked, hasn’t it ?
Stay safe and see you all tomorrow if we are spared.