John Linton .....or so pessimists seem to say.
Our final day in the Dales/Peaks was spent on a scenic drive following a route (with detailed instructions) prepared by a local with a
deep knowledge of the area. His route took us through the prettiest villages and we saw more spectacular views than we have been able to find for ourselves over three separate visits. There was a downside that much of the driving was over single track 'roads' which were challenging enough themselves without the added 'feature' of locals
driving towards you at speeds two or three times faster than I considered safe. It was a magnificent morning - perhaps even aided by the adrenalin of getting from point to point in one piece.
We stopped for lunch in yet another charming village and ate yet more home made pastry and meat combinations washed down with a modest amount of the local 'best. We
completed our day by re-visiting one of the old stately homes that Annette admires so much and then found our way back to our hotel tired but in one piece with the added 25 and 4 to spend the weekend just outside London.
Today was billing day for Exetel which recorded our first ever slight fall in month on month recurrent billings in our 78 month 'history'. This was because of our decision to stop providing services to out of contract money losing ADSL customers which we have been implementing over the past three months. However the monthly recurrent plus once off billing meant that the amount was in single figure thousands which is, in some ways, quite remarkable and is certainly better than I expected. The major difference was in the 'profitability' for the month which jumped markedly and that is hopefully the start of a trend....well we all should be able to dream every so often. In many ways, I am sorry to lose any customer as is any commercial entity but I have to say that the two immediate benefits (less bandwidth usage and more monthly 'profit') take away much of the regret and make it much easier to provide better services to the overwhelming majority of residential ADSL customers - so hopefully the customers who leave Exetel and the customers who stay will both be happy - as will Exetel.
10 days away from the day to day 'challenges' of daily business life continues to change my perspective (as I'm sure that holidays tend to do for every person who is able to take them). I would like to think that the thoughts that cross the remainder of my mind over the last week or so will remain with me when we head back to Australia in 10 days or so time. It is really nice to look benignly on the world in general and to notice that the hair trigger irritability you have become used to exhibiting is completely absent when confronting the myriad of minor difficulties that tend to invade every day irrespective of how relaxed you are (dangerous drivers, motor way tail backs, pushy people, loud voiced fellow diners etc). Perhaps there is some chance it will remain a normal state of mind? Unlikely but it would be nice.
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