The laptop should be on my doorstep by Friday and I am oh-so-excited. :D

This means:

Wow, my Friday nights are exciting. I wrote a short C# program that will let me estimate how much my next power bill from Airtricity will be. This is to both avoid bill shock and help me plan my budget. Over the weekend I will add the option to export the option to a .csv file. The ultimate idea is to allow me to track and graph my power usage by day. Source is on Pastebin http://www.bhalash.com/?p=13544791529

from: Mark Grealish mark@bhalash.com
to: info@texoil.ie
cc: sligo@texoil.ie
date: Fri, Jan 27, 2012 at 12:52 PM
subject: Why was my cancellation not processed?

Hello!

In October 2011, I signed up for Texoil Sligo’s direct debit payment plan for oil. Before I placed any order for oil, my bank account was debited, for €50, on November 28.

In the first week of December 2011, I had a change of circumstances and as a result I decided to cancel my order and seek a refund. I called the Texoil Sligo office and spoke to their worker there, who assured me that 1. my cancellation was understood, 2. my direct debit plan would be cancelled and 3. I would receive a complete refund of the €50 drafted.

On December 29 my account was again debited €50, but between school exams, and Christmas and new year’s travel I did not have an opportunity to follow up on the matter.

On Monday of this week (January 24), I contacted the Texoil Sligo office and spoke to their office worker who assured me that 1. my cancellation had been processed, 2. a refund had been issued. I was promised another callback from their manager/owner, X, which I duly received on the following day, Wednesday 25. X promised me that the direct debit would be cancelled and either a refund would be issued, or I would receive oil to the amount so-far debit.

This morning, January 27, Texoil again debited my account €50.

At this point in time, I have been promised a cancellation and refund on three occasions by the Sligo office, promises that completely fell through. I no longer have faith in their promises, and I no longer wish to deal with them.

I do not want credit in oil. I want the immediate and full refund of the €150 debited from my account. I understand that the amount is small in the grand scale of things, but I am a full-time college student supporting a family; the €50 debited from my account last night was my bus fare and food budget for the week coming.

At no point in time have I received any invoice or receipt in writing from Texoil, so I am happy to furnish original bank and phone records in order to confirm my claim.

My bank account details and a summary of facts:

• Name: Mark Grealish
• Bank: Bank of Ireland
• Account #: ########
• Holding branch: ##-##-## (##### branch, Galway)

My account was debited on:

1. 28/11/2011 TEXOIL SLIGO DD 50
2. 29/12/2011 TEXOIL SLIGO DD 50
3. 27/01/2012 TEXOIL SLIGO DD 50

I expect a prompt reply to this email. I can be reached by phone on 086 190 8088, or by email to this address (mark@bhalash.com).

Thank you!

Mark Grealish
Ballinabrock
Cliffoney
Co. Sligo

/proud

On the upside, more pussy sits on my face in one week than sits on most other mens in a year. Win.

Search by Image, Recursively, Transparent PNG, #1 from kingcosmonaut3000 on Vimeo.

Describe the progression of a game:

Identify and acquire key properties on the Monopoly board. Invest in your properties and work toward the construction of a hotel. Build up your financial reserves. Drive your enemy before you, pillage their home and listen to the lamentation of their women.

When: Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 February, 2012.

Where: Cliffony, Co. Sligo, Ireland. We are situated beside the N15 road right on the outskirts of Cliffony as you approach the village from Sligo town. (54.428231,-8.458785)

Cost: €10, payable by Monday February 20, 2012. I accept PayPal and Google Wallet payments.

How do I reserve my place? Pay the deposit fee or let me know either here or via email.

What should I bring? A sleeping bag, a tent, weather-appropriate clothing and your camera gear. If the weather is anything like it was last September then “weather appropriate” should be read as “warm, layered and with strong footwear”.

It helps me out a lot if you bring (and clean :p) your own plates and cutlery. I have plenty on hand here to use, but it simply reduces my logistical overhead if I have less dishes to fret about.

Tell me more…

Dun dun dunnnnnn.

Yes, again. A spring walk to match the autumn one, although I doubt that the weather will have changed all that much in the intervening five months.

Alright, some of you were at the last photowalk, and some of you undoubtedly be new faces. Here’s the gig:

1. Turn up Saturday, and have a delicious lunch.
2. We visit somewhere in the locale and stop into a pub.
3. Come back, have dinner.
4. Go somewhere else. Where, exactly, depends entirely on the temperament of the weather on that night. There are ruins in the area for light painting, and if the weather cooperates we have gloriously dark skies.
5. Then we sleep.
6. The next morning is breakfast.

There is no set schedule, and indeed the whole point of the weekend is for some photographers to get together and relax.

The menu of thunderous fury!

As of today (January 11) the menu is somewhat provisional. Alternate dishes will be offered based upon any given allergies and any professed aversions.

• Lunch:

  Homemade vegetable soup, served with white and brown breads.

• Dinner:

  A Mexican-style buffet. Savoury taco beef and beef chili served on corn tortillas wraps. Toppings include fresh salsa, guacamole, cheese sauce, refried bean dip, pickled jalapenos, iceberg lettuce and sour cream.

  This meal will be both savoury and strongly-spiced. I will have alternatives in place for those who aren’t up to the task.

  Dessert will be ice cream and brownies supplied by a local friend. Toppings include chocolate and strawberry sauce, wafers and whipped-cream-in-a-can.

  Bring your own alcohol.

• Breakfast:

  Tentatively fried potatoes, bacon and eggs. Fast, easy to cook food that’s full of delicious unhealthiness to get your arses out the door.

A special request

This might strike some as an odd request, but I need one person to bring an electric kettle. A significant choke point last September was in getting everyone a hot cup of tea/coffee in hand on the Sunday morning. An extra kettle will go a long way to relieving the congestion.