3 Broadband Modem

3 Broadband modem - add broadband to your laptop computer...

DON'T touch this product - the service is terrible, the customer support is the worst I have experienced in a long long while - oh yes and if you accidentally choose a wrong option when setting up your account on-line they will take money from your credit card that you ABSOLUTELY were not expecting... I think I have got that part resolved - but it will probably mean that I get a credit from 3 for some of it and then a charge-back from my credit card company - by telling them NOT to pay 3 for the rest...

Their call center is populated by two sorts of people - nice people with no power and their managers who are NON-nice people ... with no power...

Do I sound ANGRY... Well yes I probably am angry - this little episode has cost me a LOT of money and time!!!

Don't worry - it's a secret...

Hi All

Don't worry too about this blog entry - it's a secret - I'm trying out a new web marketing program and I need to have a blog entry with the words Yambo Kiles Verdazxwe in it...

So there it is...

Great Indian Restaurant

Hi,

About a week ago I was travelling down to London from Buxton when I detoured through Loughborough in order to get some dinner...

My wife and I ate at an Indian Restaurant called Mugal-e-Shahi.

Great food and great service in a pleasant restaurant with modern decor.

We were so impressed that we asked for a business card and from that, the details are:
Address: 40a/b The Rushes, Loughborough, Leics, LE11 5BG
Tel: 01509 216 013
6pm till late seven days a week

We will be going back - An hour and a half drive to get to a really good restaurant is (to me) worthwhile...

Defensive use of a walking stick - Cane Jitsu

Hi,

Here is a link to me showing a brief demonstration of how you use a walking stick as an aid in situations where you need to defend yourself.

Cane Jitsu - http://www.p-k-j.org/cane.html

New Dojo

My new dojo "place of the way" in Buxton Derbyshire, is nearly ready. It is a log cabin with a training area of just over 5mtrs by 5mtrs. So it's ideal for one to one and small group training sessions. I'm going to be offering Tai Chi, Chi Gung and Karate Jutsu lessons.

Private lessons will be £20 for an hour.

Next week the floor gets carpeted (I prefer to have a carpeted floor on which to put martial arts mats - keeps the place warmer :)

Within a couple of weeks it will have electricity and lighting so evening training sessions will be possible.

If you are interested in learning Tai Chi or Chi Gung or Karate Jutsu email me at robert@p-k-j.org and if you want to know more about my martial arts background check out http://www.p-k-j.org/

Bad Burger Good Burger

BAD BURGER:

Paramount Hotel Oxford, a four star hotel - stayed there in Jan and for dinner in the restaurant ordered a burger - wrong burger was delivered (wrong cheese and not cooked as I had asked).

Then I asked for English Mustard - not too difficult...

Waitress "English or French"
Me "English"
Waitress "Sorry, English or French"
Me "English"
Waitress goes away and comes back after thirty seconds...
Waitress "Sorry, English or French"
Me "English"
Waitress goes away and comes back after about two minutes...
Waitress "Sorry, I forgot, did you want English or French"
Me "English"

After eating the Burger I ordered pudding - it was meant to come with custard - it didn't - I asked a different waitress for custard and it only took about five minutes (I'd eaten half the pudding) to arrive...

Then just after I finished the pudding, a waiter appeared carrying a BURGER!!!! - I politely explained that I had eaten...

Needless to say I didn't pay for that meal. However I'd rather have a good meal at a fair price than a lousy meal for free!!!

Moral of the story - don't go to the Paramount Hotel in Oxford...

GOOD BURGER:
On the way back from Oxford the following day stopped off at a motorway service station and went to Burger King - ordered a burger (and got 20% discount as an AA member) it came and I went to sit down to eat...

I realised when I opened it that I had forgotten to order it WITHOUT Ranch Sauce (which I don't like) so I went back to the counter and said
"Sorry my fault, I'll pay for another burger, I didn't want any Ranch Sauce and forgot to say"
the gentleman behind the counter said...
"No problem we will do you a new one, I'll bring it to your table, no charge"

So I get ZERO star service in a four star hotel and FIVE star service at a motorway Burger King...

HP Tablet PC

Recently bought an HP Tablet PC over the phone from the HP Shop.

When it arrived I realised that the battery life was appalling.

Spoke to HP and they agreed to send me an extra battery as a goodwill gesture.

A week goes by and I call them - no batteries in stock.

A week goes by and I call them - Battery not being made any more.

I escalate the call - and am told that the battery is still being made and I can go into a shop and buy one. I remind them that I had been promised one as a goodwill gesture - and they say - NO CAN DO!!!!

So I am left with £1100 worth of very sub-standard computer.

I have spoken to my solicitor and may go the legal route but that would be expensive...

Will I ever buy HP products again...

Let me think...

NO

Over 600,000 emails processed

Well since I started using SpamArrest to filter my emails (In November 2005) it has processed (as of today) 604292 emails!!!! Of those it has let through 59228 valid emails and prevented 545064 nasty spammy emails from wasting my time... Am I delighted? You bet!!!!

Joined ecademy

I have joined (on the 17/11/06) ecademy it seems to be an excellent place for meeting new personal and business contacts.

I have gone with a paid membership but you can also join as a 'guest' which is free of charge...

Have a look, you might find it of use...

Martial arts ( Karate Jutsu and Tai Chi ) in Luton Bedfordshire.

I've started actively advertising and promoting the fact that I teach Karate Jutsu and Tai Chi via one-to-one sessions at my private dojo.

The sessions are designed for people who either want personal tuition or simply have very busy schedules and cannot fit into the typical 'Wednesday Night Class' regime that most martial arts clubs run. Subject to availability, sessions may be booked between 7:30am and 10:30pm Mon-Fri and 7:30am and 11:30am Sat-Sun.

I also offer classes that are tailored to the individual student's need, in so far as some people are interested in the whole art and want to take gradings and achieve a Black Belt whereas others have more specific fitness or personal security goal.

More details are available HERE.

Your Safety Matters Newsletter

I produce an email newsletter (eZine) called Your Safety Matters. It is published monthly and contains hints and tips on the management of Anger, Aggression, Violence and Stress. The content for the newsletter comes from myself as well as many of the newsletter's readers.

To see a recent issue click here and to get a regular copy sent directly to you, click here.

Special Offer

My eBook "How To Deal With Your Anger" has been selling at $49.95 on the 1st November the price is increasing to $79.95 - however to stimulate sales at the beginning of the forth quarter I have dropped the price down to $29.95 for a couple of weeks - so if you or anyone you know wants to learn how to 'beat the anger demon' then head over to http://www.your-anger.com

On my desktop...

On my computer's 'desktop' is a file simply labeled 'aikido' it is a copy of a story (I don't know if it is true or not) that was written by Terry Dobson who was an Aikido practitioner...

The story can be read online on several websites - the one I suggest that you might like to visit is http://easternhealingarts.com/Articles/softanswer.html

Anytime I need to remind myself of the important things in life, I have only to read this story...

It's short just 6301 characters, 1428 words, 19 paragraphs - it only takes a couple of minutes to read - but in that short story is wisdom beyond price...

I commend it to you...

IATAM relaunch

IATAM the International Association of Trainers in Aggression Management of which I am one of the founder members and also the web designer has just relaunched its website at http://www.iatam.org

The structure of the organisation has also undergone a major reorganisation and now, membership is free to anyone who is involved in aggression management. This includes trainers in de-escalation techniques, physical self preservation, self defense, breakaway training, control and restraint, anger management, prevention of and coping with bullying, mediation, counseling and other methods of dealing with aggression.

Elevator Pitch (USA) or Lift Statement (UK)

I'm trying to come up with an 'Elevator Pitch' to describe succinctly and powerfully what it is that I do...

Currently I have:

I sometimes get paid to hit people. My name is Robert Agar-Hutton of Protectics Limited and I provide organisations and people with information products and training courses on conflict management. That includes internal conflicts like anger and stress and external ones like violence and aggression. I help my clients achieve peace, confidence, progress and prosperity. Each month I also publish a newsletter called "Your Safety Matters" which helps over two thousand people by providing them with hints and tips on conflict resolution. It's available for free at http://www.qtvh.com/ (QTVH stands for Quit Those Violent Habits).

What do YOU think, can I improve my pitch? If you have any suggestions, please email me at robert @ protectics.co.uk

Poor service from Comet

My wife purchased a new dishwasher from Comet via the simple method of phoning them up. She was asked "Would you like us to deliver, install and take the old washer away?" it was a good price so she said "Yes".

BIG MISTAKE!!!!

The delivery was on time but the driver / installer could not remove the old washer and in trying to do so tore two holes in the kitchen lino. Comet have been to take pictures of the holes and we WILL get compensation in due course - I am fairly sure of that.

We called a builder friend of ours and without the need for any tools at all, he removed the old washer and fitted the new one in under twenty minutes.

One of the flooring firms who have quoted us for replacing the lino said "I give four or five estimates a week to people whose floors have been damaged by people like Comet and the others..."

I think that the moral of the story is that it's better to get goods delivered and then get an expert in to fit them.

I also think Comet should look at either training their delivery men better or cease offering an installation service - which in this case - is probably going to LOSE them somewhere in the region of £200!!!!!

A review of "How To Deal With Your Anger"

A review of my web-interactive eBook "How To Deal With Your Anger" has been published on the 'Circles of Light' website. To read it go to http://www.circlesoflight.com/brainwaves/anger-ebook.html.

Another use for my blog...

The last two entries in this blog about Vistaprint and 1899 mark the start of a new use for this blog - on top of all the other stuff that I intend to use it for I'm going to post positive and negative reviews of organisations that provide me with either GOOD or BAD products or services... Read and enjoy :)

Cheap Telephone Calls

Hi,

If you are in the UK check out 1899 for cheap telephone calls - I've been using their service for a couple of months and it seems really good... Not sure how long the rate of 3p for a UK call of any length will last but...

Also good for some international calls...

Their website is at http://www.1899.com

Vistaprint sends me a deceptive email...

Vistaprint are in my bad books after sending me what I consider to be a deceptive email asking me to fill in a survey and then they will give me a free gift...

This is the email that I have just sent to them...

---START
Hello

Received an email that stated:
"Thank you for your confidence in VistaPrint. We are grateful for your business and promise to do everything we can to not just meet, but exceed your expectations for a long time to come.

"With that goal in mind, I would like to ask you to click here and complete the VistaPrint 60-Second Survey.

"As a token of our appreciation for your time and input, we would like to offer you our top 6 Products for FREE. As soon as you have completed the survey, you'll receive a link to this special offer.

Filled in your survey, chose postcard - spent time designing card - then went to complete order and...

NOT FREE

'FREE' means without charge!!!!

Postage charge of over £3 is NOT FREE...

Guess what is going onto my blog and into my monthly newsletter to over 2000 people...

Yours.

Robert.
---
Robert Agar-Hutton, FFIATAM, FFA, MIAP, MICM.
Protectics Limited - +44 (0)1582 400111

Products, Training Courses and Trainer Training in the management of Anger, Aggression, Violence and Stress.

http://www.protectics.co.uk - http://www.verbalaggression.com - http://www.your-
anger.com - http://www.breakaway-training.co.uk - http://www.angercoach.co.uk

For your FREE monthly email newsletter with hints and tips on the management of Anger, Aggression, Violence and Stress, visit our website at http://www.protectics.co.uk/ma


p.s.
Putting the fact that postage is payable BELOW the signature is deceptive!!!


---END

Another new Anger Management website

I've just launched another Anger Management website. This one has details of all the Anger management products and services that I provide. It includes various things that are NOT on any other of my websites like Anger Management TRAINER training.

Trainer training is for organisations that want me to train trainers who can then train coaches who can then perform anger management coaching. This adds an extra 'level' of expertise...

The website also includeds a system that lets the site automatically recommend Anger Management coaches or groups depending on where a client wants to have coaching, this system works but will be developed further as time goes by...

The website address is http://www.angercoach.co.uk