More Doggy Problems!

Further to my previous post regarding "Puppy Pandemonium"

http://cattyjenblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/puppy-pandemonium.html

I've been having more issues with next door's dogs today.

This started this morning when I heard a commotion coming from the kitchen. First, came a hissing from my moggies. Then when I went to investigate, there was a huge dog (an American bulldog) with its head through the cat flap! Luckily this was the only part of the dog that would fit through! I couldn't believe my eyes!

Once I'd got over the initial shock, two questions came into my mind. How did this dog manage to get in to an enclosed garden, and (perhaps more importantly) how can I get it out again? Although I do like dogs, and this one did seem friendly, I was particularly concerned about my cats at this point. however, the situation would get much worse before it got better!

I ventured out into the garden, which admittedly is a bit of a jungle, but couldn't immediately see how to get this dog home. So I went next door, and knocked, hoping there would be someone home. There wasn't. The other problem is that we don't really know our neighbours, as they haven't been around very long.

I went back out into the garden for another look. This time I found the answer. There was a fence panel which had become detached a the bottom, which allowed the dog to push through one way. I tried to open the gap again to let the dog back through, but it didn't want to go, and was very, very strong! As I tried to get the dog back, a second one (one of the puppies from before) shoved its way in! Now I had two to contend with!

I was even more worried now, so took a look outside again, in case the owners were home. No luck, however our neighbour from across the road had just returned home. I asked if he knew who these people were, and how I could get in touch with them. He also had no idea. At that moment, the dog owner's neighbour from the other side walked past. We asked her, and she had a number to contact them - finally some luck! She told us that these were now the only two dogs left next door, and that they were the mother (Stella) and one of the puppies (Buster). They had invaded her house the other day, and frightened her dogs! She agreed to contact the owners for me, so all I had to do was wait and hope they didn't cause any trouble. So I waited.

After about half an hour, I heard another noise in the kitchen. I went to investigate, and found that Buster had managed to squeeze through the cat flap and was now in the kitchen! Stella meanwhile, had her head back through the cat flap, and was whining. She obviously wanted to come in too! I tried to get Buster to go out, but the only way to do this was to open the door, giving Stella the opportunity to force her way in. They were both really strong dogs, and flatly refused to leave the house. Every time I got them out, they would force their way back in!

Eventually, they became too strong for me and forced themselves into the house. They ran upstairs, chasing Ziggy outside, and then pushed into the living room. They ran around, knocking over my expensive guitar, then chasing Bob out in the process. Still chasing Bob, they ran out into the garden, where they continued to chase him. Fortunately, by this time, help had arrived. Our neighbour from over the road had come to help. He said he could have them in his garden, where they could stay until the owners came to take them home. As we went out into the garden, we saw that the owners had returned. They had lifted up the fence panel, and were calling the dogs back home. However, the dogs were more intent on chasing and tormenting poor Bob behind the tree at the back of the garden!

Eventually, the dogs were returned. I'm now faced with a new problem. A couple of hours have gone by, and there was suddenly no sign of Bob! I called him for hours, with no response. Now I was really worried! I was about to set out to search for him, when...

luckily, Bob returned home by himself a few hours later. What a relief! I think they'll be getting an extra portion of fish tonight to help them recover from their scary morning!

New Beginnings...

Now that I'm out of work, I thought I'd have a fair bit of time on my hands. Not so! The job hunting takes up most of my day now (everyday), and there seem to be endless jobs to do around the house. However, I now have an extra thing to focus on...

I'M GETTING MARRIED!!!

Where to start I wonder? I started off thinking this should be simple, particularly as this is going to be a small do. Just a registry office and then on to the pub! First, pick a date and invite everyone. Then book everything, and turn up on the day. No.

First, we needed to decide who we really want at the ceremony. Then, as we're looking at only a couple of months ahead, contact everyone, and make sure they can all make at least one date. Then I can start booking things. This sounds like a potential nightmare in itself. There is also the memory of my sister's wedding to contend with. She started off thinking about a small, intimate wedding, and ended up inviting at least three times the number of people she first thought of (including many family mambers we hadn't seen in years). She also somehow ended up with five bridesmaids (myself included). I think because she (and her husband) were unable to say NO to people! We need to avoid this at all costs!

Then we started thinking about everything else involved. The cake, photos, flowers and even the dress! Somehow, I think this may end up being a bit more complicated (and expensive) than I'd first thought!

I'll keep you posted on my progress!

Amazing Insights from the Angels

Whilst nosing around on the net, I decided to look for a site that could give me a free card reading. I had been pondering on the issues facing me at the moment, due to my sudden redundancy, and felt the need for some additional guidance.

My dilemma is this. I have been in constant work for the past decade, although for a long time now I have felt in a rut, and wanted to do something entirely different. However, I was unable to justify leaving a stable job to do this. Added to this, I had huge debts to sort out.

Suddenly I was out of work, plus I had some redundancy money to fall back on (for a time anyway). I could probably walk into a new job, similar to my previous one, which would provide a stable income. The problem is, do I want to go back to a job like this that I would most likely be bored in, but commit myself to it anyway, and keep the money?

I could also use this situation as an opportunity to try something new. The trouble is, what would I be good at and really enjoy doing? I have always wanted to work for myself, but can I be certain I would make enough money? I needed help to focus my mind on these questions, so I looked for a site that could help...

The very first site I found was amazing! It offered FREE Angel card readings instantly online (no sign up required), using four different card spreads. I tried them all, and found them relevant to my situation. The readings from the cards were consistant over all of the different spreads. They highlighted my situation, for example that I had been worried about my finances, and felt at a loss at the moment. I didn't know where to go next. This is all true. They also told me not to worry, as financial help was coming, along with guidance from a wise person that understands my situation. This made sense to me. I have a meeting coming up in a couple of weeks to speak to a specialist advisor about available courses I can take to re-train for a new career. The final message was that my redundancy was actually a good thing, and will open up new opportunties that I would otherwise never have had. This made me feel much more optimistic. I was so impressed that I added a link to the site (top right) for anyone who fancies giving this a try. Have a go!

While searching on the site, I discovered that they offered more than just this service. There's some great stuff on offer, which I may well buy into (when I can recover from my option anxiety!), all of which would be of really helpful in my quest for psychic development. Why not take a look for yourself? I'd love to hear your opinions on this site.

I've selected a few interesting items which I am tempted to try for myself. Have a look below...

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Each card has a message in rhythmic quatrain verse from the angels who
are the "voice" in Voice of the Angels. On this delightful journey, meet your
guardian angels, leave your troubles in the peaceful clearing, return to the
light and more. The cards are based on A Healing Journey Guided Fantasy by Dyan
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your questions. These cards will "speak" to you!

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The Best & Worst UK Payday Loans

Payday loans on the whole are a bad idea. I know this. The reason being is that they charge a huge rate of interest. However, I have been incredibly short of cash for a long time, and sometimes there is no other way to make it through the month, particularly as they can deposit funds into your bank account on the same day the loan is requested. I have come to the opinion that as long as you can afford the loan repayment, and don't get to the point of relying on them every month, they can be helpful in the short term. As I have had some experience now of using these, I thought I should share my experiences.

There appear to be hundreds of these companies nowadays, and one quick search on the internet will prove this. They promise to provide loans with no credit checks, which is handy for those of us with a bad credit rating. The trouble is that not many can be trusted. Many of these companies will make false claims in my experience. most commonly is that no documents will need to be faxed to them before a loan can be approved. I have personally approached several of these companies, who display "no faxing" in big letters on the website, but as soon as they approve the loan in principle, they request multiple documents to be faxed before they release the money! Others promise to guarantee acceptance, and then turn down applications with no reason. Believe me this is true! I don't know how they can get away with this.

In the end I found two companies I thought I could rely on. However, whilst one of these has continued to impress me, the other has now made my blood boil! Here is the story...

The Worst

Quick Quid is a company I have used a couple of times now. The first loan was obtained with no problems at all. Next time I needed a loan, the amount they were prepared to offer had increased (this is common). The problem came to light when it was time to repay this.

Friday:

As I am having to keep a tight reign on the finances, I decided to check that everything to be paid had come out of my account. I checked online, and no sign of the Quick Quid payment. Our online banking system tends to be a few days behind, so I then looked on the Quick Quid website. This showed my loan as still being outstanding. Confused, I entered into "online chat" with an advisor, who told me that the payment had been returned due to insufficient funds. I knew this must be wrong, as there was plenty of money there, more than enough for them. They refused to believe me, or even consider the possibility that their system had made a mistake! I was then told that they had taken a part payment, and that unless the remainder was paid by the end of the day (I was told this at 8.30 at night), my account with them would go to their collections department for which I would be charged an extra £12. This sounded so unreasonable, seeing as they had no proof that it was even my fault! It was just lucky that I had bothered to check. No one from Quick Quid had bothered to let me know there was a potential problem, let alone allow me much of a chance to sort this out!

So I spoke to an advisor at the bank, who could tell me everything, in and out of the account. The bank told me that there was several hundred pounds in the account (much more than they would need to take out). This was despite a payment of £428.75 (the repayment amount for Quick Quid) coming out, plus a further payment of £171.50 (again from Quick Quid)! I contacted Quick Quid again, only to be told that they could not do anything unless I could prove this with a copy of my bank statement, which had not yet been issued! They agreed that someone would call me regarding this issue within 48 hours... That call never came.

Tuesday:

I gave Quick Quid some grace over the bank holiday weekend, and when I still had heard nothing by Tuesday morning, I called to speak to someone about this. Again I was told that they needed to verify this with a copy of my bank statement. Luckily, these transactions now showed on the online banking system, so I was able to email this over. I was again promised a call once they had received and checked the information I sent them against their own records. No call came from Quick Quid. So I waited...

While I was waiting, I received a call from my partner. He had checked the account in a cash machine, hoping to get some out. This told him that our account was soon to be overdrawn, as all of the available balance was about to be withdrawn, and then some! Again I phoned the bank to find out what was happening. I was told that there were two pending payments, one for £107.71 and the other for £161.54, which neither of us had authorised. I calculated that these pending payments, plus the original overcharge for£171.50 added up to the whole loan amount (£428.75) plus the £12.00 they had threatened to take from me for late payment! However, I could not prove this.

Back to Quick Quid! Unwittingly, they made my case easier, as they could confirm the two latest charges were from them. The issue they seemed to be having concerned the original two charges. These were clearly marked on the bank statement! They finally admitted (after what seemed like hours on the phone) to the £171.50 charge as well, but couldn't work out the £428.75. I had to tell them over and over again that this payment had not been returned, and was not pending, because IT WAS ON THE BANK STATEMENT AND CONFIRMED BY THE BANK! Finally they seemed to accept this, and I was told that a manager would call me some time today (although they were very vague about how long this would take).

I waited over an hour, and no call came. Judging by their record for calling back, I called again. This time I spoke to a very bored advisor (I use the term loosely) who told me an email had been sent to the manager. She could not put me through to ANY manager, or give me any idea when they would call. This, I thought was a lost cause, she just didn't care, even though I repeatedly remeinded her that her company had unjustly taken £440.75 from my account! At the end of the conversation, she even had the gall to ask if there was anything else she could help me with! I told her that as she couldn't be bothered to help me with this, I couldn't see what else it was worth asking her for!

However, surprisingly enough, I did receive a call from them at 4.30 that afternoon (that was virtually my whole day wasted on them). I assume this was the elusive manager, as she finally agreed to deposit £440.75 back into my account, with no arguments this time! Yippee!!!

Take this as a warning. If you're looking for a hassle free pay day loan, DON'T GO TO QUICK QUID!

The Best

There are exceptions to this rule. Wonga is it. Their site is easy to use, and hassle free. They don't ask for endless documents to be faxed, and you can see at a glance how much the loan will cost. They also tell you in advance how much they will be willing to lend (unlike some others). You are also able to see how much less this will cost if you repay them early. This is easier to do than will other sites, as you can do it online.

With most of these companies, if you choose a lesser amount than your limit with them, you have to stick to this. They will not authorise another loan of any amount until the first is repaid. With Wonga this is not the case. You are given a limit (which rises every time you repay a loan in full) and if you want to increase your loan (up to the limit of course) you are welcome to do so. Again, you are able to check in advance online how much this will cost.

Even better, it states clearly on the website not only how much you can borrow, but exactly when the funds will be in your account (usually about an hour or two after applying). I have not seen this approach anywhere else.

The site itself consists of two sliders primarily. The first gives you the ability to slide to the amount you wish to borrow, and on the other how many days the loan is for. By juggling with these, the total cost of the loan (including interest) is shown, so you know exactly where you are. The same applies when borrowing an additional amount. In this case though, you can see the original loan details, and the loan with the extra amount added, so this is easy to calculate.

I have dealt with Wonga three times now, two for new loans and one including an additional amount which has been added later. They have always been reliable so far. Whilst I must repeat my warning, that it can be dangerous to your finances to rely on pay day loans, Wonga are my first choice of this type of lender.

Don't trust the others, if you really need quick cash, you're much safer going to Wonga!