Yamyam

Customer Service, now that's something I do very well each and every day. It's the most important aspect of being a problem solver when dealing with a company's customers...

Don't move to the UK, Laurie! You'd be tragically wasted here.

After all, here in the UK, our national telco can tell you, quite straightfaced, that you can't go on the wishlist for their service because you aren't using their service. Uh, and how do I start?!?

Well, I like to think that I'm confident and outgoing. Unfortunately I work long hours, and do a lot of travelling, so I'm either not around or too tired to go out and meet people. And, Canada is so far away! But I'm aiming to get a new job, working in one place, so hopefully things will change.

we do have a Thomas the Tank Engine layout

"ha ha, he thinks after giving him no more excuses for not coming"

Darn. Could you send me the details, please?

...when you have two computers on your desk, one for work and one for Missy's screen savers!

Well it's pretty hard, sometimes to hard. [...] But I wich I had somebody who cared for me in good and bad times.

Yeah, same here. I'm feeling really cut off as my family is based around the West Country, and my friends are mostly in Hertfordshire. And I'm here, miles from anywhere.

Well, if her e-mail address is on the site, then someone ought to pick up the mails and get back to people. After all, if you're going to do customer service, you've got to do it right.

So hey, get out there, try it, and eventually, people won't care and will actually expect it from you.

True! I went for chinese with a friend in London the other day, and we managed to spend the whole night without mentioning shoes, just because he's used to me in them now.

Eckerslike performed well at it's first showing[...]

Is that related to the famous Yorkshire town where nothing ever gets done?

If anyone wants more details on the exhibition, like where and how do I get there, just shout!

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I might. My little boy is a big Thomas the Tank Engine fan, so if there's any steam trains going, I might pop up!

Hiya, Andy! Glad to see another Midlander joining! We'll outnumber those Londoners yet

If you have access to free word processing programs for Win98 that are spectacular to use, then that would help a lot.

I'm sure that any word processor you used would be spectacular! But try OpenOffice (from http://www.openoffice.org). If you don't want to download it, I can send you a CD.

It's 100% free, and I've never found anything I couldn't do with it that I could do in Microsoft Word. And it's smaller, faster and free!

After some thought, I wondered idly: Laurie, is your car manual (=stick shift) or automatic? I found clutch control the hardest part of driving in heels. As for hitting the brakes hard, I try to avoid that, whatever I'm driving in. It's always a good idea to leave plenty of space and drive more smoothly. As for resting feet, I tend to rest my left foot on the footrest next to the clutch, and my right foot along the heel on the floor. But that only works when I'm not on the M6

Wow! Very nice. Are those coming to a screen saver near me any time soon?

Strange how the Birmingham fetish fair thread has moved onto train spotting perhaps we should omit the fair and watch the trains instead

Noooooo! I had to go and see Thomas the Tank Engine the other week - that's me all trained out until 2003!

It is odd, though, how a bunch of British people get on to trainspotting!

No problem. After all, I fancy myself as a bit of a writer as well, and I know that you have to go for it when inspiration strikes! And before anyone asks "which bit of a writer?", uh - guess?

Well, now I know. I don't know if I'll ever get to those lofty heights, but now I know it's worth a try. Finding nice shoes generally isn't a problem. Finding the money, the time to wear them, etc...

I agree, the video could be better, but it's quite impressive. All we need to do now is video Laurie, so we can show them how it's done! (And I bet she can't write anywhere near as well as Laurie does!)

Well, my astonishingly wonderful Dad is a psychologist, but knew how to blow things up, as well as much other useful stuff. I think it's about what people are interested in.

I can't believe there are American trainspotters! I remember being in Germany a few years ago, trying to convince fellow Europeans that there was such a thing as a trainspotter!

And I'll be well behind, ideally positioned to watch your heels!

Hey, it's a rallying cry, not a shopping list! (And I should have known I'd be out-posted by our Goddess! )

I'm just astonished that you can buy shoes with that kind of heel that are tough enough for everyday wear. I'd assumed that the shoes you see in that kind of style are for lying down in. But I'd quite like to have the problem of only finding my preferred height in patent. Oh well, a man can dream !

Thanks for the tip, Laurie! I'll look out an old towel and try tomorrow. I think I'm off for a three hour drive to Lincolnshire!

Spike_Metal, it sounds to me like you've got your head straight about what you want, and it only remains to convince your Mum. The thing is, you're going to want to wear them anyhow. It's like preferring coffee to tea. You could say to her that you'll either do it with her support or without, and see which one she wants. I think it's a good idea to start with less extreme styles, such as block-heel ankle boots, and work up from there, as has been suggested above. And as for 'I produced a normal child!' - well, what's so great about normal? As a parent, I'd be happy that a child of mine could come to me and confess something like this - I was 31 years old before I told my father anything! You have my support. Good luck!

There I was, embarrassed at asking the question, and now I see that you all were talking at cross purposes anyway . As for 'near the ground' trousers, yes, that's me in a big way. I initially decided to go for them as they'd show heels less, but experiments with glass-fronted buildings proved that it hides less than you think. But I just like the look. Jeans with less of a waist, which I thought were called 'hipsters', only appeal to me on women. I've seen styles which combine both, and they look great, but not on me. I must admit, tho', I wore my jeans lower on the hips last week (I forgot my belt!) and it felt good, but I don't think I'd make a habit of it. I kept tripping over my own trouser legs!

Are you sure thats not the heels?

Quite sure. I don't wear heels when my little boy is around. It's difficult, but I don't want him to get in any trouble just from me and my shoes.

Exercise your right to buy the music you want.

Hang on though this sounds a familar battle cry!

Perhaps we should just try "Buy and use whatever you want!"