By the Sea

The beaches at Clacton-on-Sea and Holland-on-Sea have been reclaimed. When I first started coming here a dozen years ago with Mark, there was no beach. The beach he knew when he was a child had been eroded and no longer existed. Just steps into the sea - no beach.

A great deal of effort (and EU funding) went into reclaiming these beaches and sea defenses. And while I don't think I want to go swimming (too cold!!) it's great to have the beach back.

A few more photos, although not of the beach. 

View from our hotel.

Feet on Fire

It's only about a mile and a half from the Kingscliff Hotel in Holland-on-Sea to the Clacton Pier. We'd probably only walked about a mile when it felt like my feet were on fire. I truly thought those shoes would be okay for walking. (I have some that I KNOW are good for walking but they are bulky to pack so I wanted something a bit more streamlined and versatile - in a fashion sense.)

Compare. Top- the really practical shoe - the one that never hurts but is heavy and bulky to pack.. Center - the compromise shoe - that I thought would be okay. Bottom - the shoe I wish I could walk in. (Because I could - once upon a time.)

The last time I went to the podiatrist to complain that my feet hurt, I ended up at a vein specialist having my great saphenous vein decommissioned. This time I thought I'd try some gel inserts. We made our way to Boots (the British version of CVS Pharmacy) and bought a set of gel inserts. Inserted them and then walked a block to the Clark's store because they were ineffective.

Not a great selection in their inventory but I found one that was specifically designed for walking - according to the salesperson. Mark pointed out that all shoes should be suitable for walking because that's what feet do. (He's right, you know!)

Anyway, in hope of getting rid of that burning sensation on the balls of my feet, I purchased a pair of Clarks walking shoes. The navy/gray ones. Comfort was becoming more important than Cute.

I wore them out of the store, assuming that my feet still hurt because "the damage had already been done." Who knows? The next day was warm and I wore my walking sandals (also Clarks) and walked about five miles with no ill-effects. The day after that we were doing a long walk - probably seven miles - so I wore the newly purchased Clark's walking shoes and my feet were once again on fire about a mile before we reached a stopping point. Since we weren't going any long distances the following day, I went back to my original choice - the white shoes that weren't quite as white as when we started. 

A week later, we were planning on doing a bit of walking so I put on the new "walking shoes" but my feet were once again "on fire" after only two blocks. There is no rhyme or reason to this. None. No predictability. I have no idea when my feet are going to be ignited. And I don't really want to spend the rest of my life wearing running shoes, aka "sensible" shoes. 

I'm surprised Mark hasn't offered to re-engineer my feet. (He wanted to do that with my ears when I had problems with pierced earrings.) But I think I need a different podiatrist. Any recommendations?

Not the Best Idea

When we traveled to Ireland in February the trip was split into two segments each way rather than a direct flight to the final destination. It took a little longer to get there, but it wasn't as tiring. We didn't have a choice on that trip since there were no direct flights to Dublin from Dallas, but we liked splitting the trip up so well that we decided to forego the direct flight this trip and opted for a stopover in New York.

In order to ensure that we had plenty of time to get from LaGuardia to JFK we took a really early morning flight. The one that left at 7 am, which means that you had to be at the airport, bags checked, and through security by 6 am. If we'd been flying out of DFW, we would have stayed at an airport hotel, got up around 5 am and taken the shuttle to the airport. But we were flying out of Love Field. I'm not sure what hotel people use when they fly out of Love Field. I couldn't actually find any - which meant we would need to leave the house around 4 am just in case something happened with traffic. In order to leave the house at 4 am, we'd need to get up at 3 am.

It wasn't going to leave much time for sleep, but if we went to bed around 9:30, it was a very workable plan. But what really happened? We went out to celebrate a friend's birthday. We got home around 9 pm and started packing and tackling the stuff on the "to do before we go" list. At 11:45 we decided there was no point going to bed for three hours. It would be easier to stay up than to get up. We watched taped episodes of The Tudors until it was time to load up the car to leave.

We arrived at Love Field around 5 am. Security was a breeze and before we knew it, we'd landed at LaGuardia. We took the shuttle to JFK. Not as exciting as the time I took a cab between the two airports but that time I only had 20 minutes between flights. We had about an eight hour layover. When we had our stopover at JFK in February there were any number of restaurants to choose from. And while I don't know which terminal we were in either time, I do know that there weren't so many choices in this terminal. It was actually a bit difficult to find something that wasn't fast food. Did I mention we had an eight hour layover?

By the time we got on the plane for London we were both completely exhausted - asleep before the beverage cart came through. Apparently, I was still asleep when breakfast was served - a great shame because by that time I was getting hungry.

But we arrived in London somewhat rested. (As rested as you can be when you've been sleeping in a relatively upright position.) But that being said, I don't think that staying up all night before an early morning flight or eight hour layovers are good ideas - both are on the list of things to avoid next time.

When You Jump the Gun

This past November an unfamiliar charge showed up on my credit card statement. Turns out it was the $250 registration fee for a fishing tournament in Louisiana. Clearly the fraudsters didn't know the difference between "Barbara" and "Bubba".

The card was closed and replaced but I always go through every statement and account for every charge. So when I saw another unfamiliar charge - $185 at Rooms to Go - I called the credit card company (Citicards) immediately to dispute the charge.  I bought a desk at IKEA. Who had been shopping at Rooms to Go?

Unfortunately, the call went through to someone who spoke heavily accented English. My guess was Phillipines, but I could be wrong. She informed me that Rooms to Go is a furniture store.

"Yes. I know what it is. I'm just telling you I haven't been there recently."

To cut to the chase, we disputed the charge, closed the account and issued a new card. Quick and easy. And everything was fine. Until I got ready to go to bed. When I went upstairs and looked at my bed it suddenly occurred to me what I bought at Rooms To Go. New bedding - purchased online.

In fairness to me, I hadn't been specifically shopping on the Rooms To Go website. I was shopping for blue/green bedding and on the page of many options, the one I happened to like best happened to be shipping from Rooms To Go. I forgot until I saw it on the bed that night. Not really surprising when you consider that sometimes I forget why I went into a room.

So the next morning, I called Citibank back to tell them that I understood that the account had already been closed and a new card issued, but that I wanted to withdraw the dispute because the charge was legitimate. After a game of 20 questions with someone else who spoke in heavily accented English, I thought they were going to take care of it and I paid the bill.

So imagine my surprise when two weeks later, I got a call from Rooms To Go about a chargeback. I explained what had happened and that the chargeback shouldn't have happened. I had paid for it on my credit card statement. I still haven't seen the new statement to know whether they gave me a credit or not, but I don't want them to charge me for it twice. I would have to call Citicards to find out why the chargeback had been processed when I'd said it was a legitimate charge. The young man who answered my call and told me he was in the Dominican Republic, asked me to hold for a moment while he checked with someone in the dispute department. Eighteen minutes later, a young lady came on the line. She had no idea what I was calling about - it was like she was answering a new incoming call rather than dealing with someone who'd been on hold for 18 minutes.

I assumed she was also in the Dominican Republic. I didn't ask. What I did ask was what number I needed to call to speak with someone in the United States. She said she would be happy to try to help me but I said I'd be happier to speak with someone in the United States. To her credit, she promptly transferred me to an American. The problem was resolved without any time on hold. I was given a reference number that I could give to the folks at Rooms To Go, who by the way have their customer service center based in Florida.

For me, the bottom line is that while Citicards might save a bunch of money using foreign call centers, it cost me an extra hour of time and it cost the good folks at Rooms To Go even more extra time. Admittedly, I'm the one who jumped the gun in the first place but realized my mistake in plenty of time to avoid the problem if it had been in the hands of people who actually understood the problem. On the other hand it may be that they are paid based on the number of calls they take (actual or average) and so they just leave the ones that sound complex on hold or transfer them to someone else. Either way, it's not good for the customer.

I'd love to refuse to do business with people who off-shore their call centers, but I'm afraid I might find myself completely isolated. It's really easy to be principled until you can't get what you want or need.

But doesn't this bed look great!