29/06/2007 by orientfan.

I was watching FilmFour last night [on Freeview I might add, can’t afford Sky] and saw the trailers for Dexter on FX. They were cack but please don’t let them put you off, I will wager my pint of Guinness that you will love it.

Posted in TV and Film | 1 Comment »

28/06/2007 by orientfan.

This is a bit of a rant but I need to get it off my chest..

I am currently receiving Jobseeker’s Allowance [JA]. After receiving this for six months you switch from Contribution Based [CB] to Income Based [IB].

This happened to me on 31st March. The letter to inform me of this arrived in April. It told me I had yet another form to complete, yet conveniently did not enclose it. The next time I signed on I was given the form. Now, remember, as from 31st March I was not being given any JA.

I was meticulous when filling the form out as I wanted them to have no excuse not to give me JA. I had nothing to hide. There was a section of the form asking for current savings/bank account balance(s). If it was over £6k then you had to provide a statement. I have no savings accounts and a bank balance that was -£1.4k.

I took this to the Job Centre with the intention of them going through this form to make sure it was 100% correct and I did not need to add any further info. They confirmed that it was fine and would send it to the relevant department.

Two weeks later and… nothing… nada… nicht. Trying to phone the ‘relevant department’ is completely pointless. You will never get through. I chased this up at my next signing-on to be told it had been flagged with a query, that they couldn’t tell me about directly, and I would be getting a letter detailling this.

One week later it arrived. They wanted my last six months bank statements. I had my one from the last month but due to a NatWest cock up they had been sending all my correspondence to the wrong address until May. I visited my local NatWest branch only to be told that they no longer provide copy printed statements over the counter and they’d have to be ordered. Grrrr.

I spent two whole days trying to get through on the phone with no luck [the address they give is a PO box as they don’t want visitors] so I drafted up what I consider to be a literary tour de force and sent it, recorded signed-for, to the address with my last month’s statement and a request to contact me as a matter of urgency.

Two weeks later nothing. I spent four hours today trying to call them, finally I got through to a human being! They are going to pay me from 31st March and I will have the money on Monday. I was then told some info, off the record, as to what they were up to. e-mail me at the usual address for more info on this.

Anyway, if anyone wants the address of N & NE London District timewasters DWP it is:

Wentworth House, 350 Eastern Avenue, Ilford, Essex. IG2 6NW.

You can try calling them on 0845 6002612 [option 4 for JA] if you fancy wasting days. Hopefully this’ll turn up on Google at some point. The OrientFan doesn’t give a toss.

Posted in Uncategorised | No Comments »

28/06/2007 by orientfan.

So Mr. Scott has given up his job to write web based games full time. Thank God! His latest is Vector Tower Defence which is superb. Play it and prepare to write off your evening.

Posted in Computing | No Comments »

10/06/2007 by orientfan.

Big congrats from OrientFan Towers. Great drive in an incident packed race.

As for ITV’s F1 team, I’ve now had enough. Robert Kubica is not a national hero in Poland, I’d be surprised if 1% of Poles knew who he was. Speedway is their national motor sport, think Tomasz Gollob. I am really glad he seems to be OK. That was an horrendous accident.

Posted in General Sport | No Comments »

10/06/2007 by orientfan.

When in Busset in April I was introduced to an American show called Dexter. It took me an episode or two to get into it but it is fantastic. Why no UK network has bought the rights I just don’t know. I’ve had to rely on torrents for my fix and have now completed the first season. Season two starts in the US in September and I’ve got uTorrent ready to go!

Unfortunately you can only view the official web site in the US, but here’s a quick link for a little more info http://www.metacritic.com/tv/shows/dexter

Posted in TV and Film | 1 Comment »

10/06/2007 by orientfan.

Have a funeral to attend on Friday. My thoughts at this time are with Mr. Page and his family.

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03/06/2007 by orientfan.

Getting up at 10am after five hours kip after 13 hours drinking is not a particularly recommended way to start the day, trust me on this. After a superb bacon sarnie - thanks Bryn - we made a trip back to the scene of the previous day/night/morning party to pack up chairs and the pagoda.

I don’t know at what point the pub was suggested but by midday we were drinking again. I made my excuses and left at an unknown time to start the journey home.

By 21:00 I was tucked up in bed. Awwwww.

Posted in Out and About | No Comments »

02/06/2007 by orientfan.

Well, I suppose we’ll all get there one day. The weather decided to do us a favour, which was a result as the barbecues were pretty integral. I can report a good time was had by all, although I understimated the amount of Guinness I would consume so an impromptu trip to the offy was in order.

Posted in Out and About | No Comments »