I'll be honest, I'm not having the best week. I mean, by international standards I'm still doing fine. I have my family, my home, my health, enough to eat etc. I don't however have a bicycle. I know that sounds trivial, but I ordered one 7, yes 7, weeks ago through the government sponsored Cycle to Work scheme. I had imagined myself sailing through the streets by now. Or about 5 weeks ago in fact.
I officially gave up on the Cycle to Work scheme yesterday and cancelled my request because I don't have a hope in hell of getting the damn thing by the weekend. Instead I elected to just buy the bike with cash. Sadly that failed too since the model is no longer produced and the only one left in the shop requires a spare part they don't have. I am beginning to think there is a higher force at work here. So anyway, last night I went back to the bike shop and argued with the manager for a while before we settled on a new deal. He agreed to sell me a different bike, a bit more expensive, but with a £50 discount. Frankly, I am so fed up with trying to get a bike I would have agreed to pretty much anything.
Tonight should be the night however. I am scheduled to go back to the bike shop and take delivery of the new machine. If you read in the news tomorrow about a mysterious murder in the West Country, it may well be the result of new and unforeseen circumstances conspiring against me once more, and me finally redressing the balance with a large, blunt object.
Yesterday I was toying with the idea of making a formal complaint to the HR department at work, since it is they who run the Cycle to Work scheme and make such a pig's ear of it. I had in fact resolved not to voice my opinion due to the fact that complaining to HR about HR seldom results in anything good. Sadly, I've always had a bit of a problem keeping my mouth shut and could not resist the urge to end my request for cancellation with a comment about the inflexibility of the system at my company and my bitter disappointment. Hysterically, HR wrote back and also expressed their regret at the cycle shop's inflexibility. That did it of course. I replied with a rant pointing out that the cycle shop couldn't have done more to help, and that the 7 week wait was entirely down to the fact that HR did the absolute bare minimum.
Strangely I don't really feel much better about anything. If my new bike does actually come tomorrow I will be happy again. It is of course World Naked Bike Ride day on Saturday.
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