It’s amazing how many significant things can change in the space of a week.

About 7 days ago we were DEFINITELY both coming back to Australia in late January after a 1 week stopover in Thailand.

Then we decided that we could go to Thailand any time, and so shelved the above plan and that we’d take the most direct route back to Melbourne, BUT that we’d go to New York for Christmas-New Year. So, we booked our flights home – arriving Melbourne 21st January.

We did all the necessary research for flights and hotels to New York…. Found an awesome and suitably pricey hotel in New York… We were ready to follow-through and make the bookings.. but decided that it was too late in the evening and that we should sleep on it and we’d sort it out the next day.

Just as well..

Next day Olivia finds out that she needs to get some additional hospital work under belt as a last step before starting the GP training program in February.  Panic, panic – deadline for postings had already closed. She might have to wait a year before the next round of placements… Crap..  Next day we find out a place had opened up starting in November (as in – two months from now)… only thing is – it’s in Mildura.

We’ve seen this as a blessing.. Olivia will head home in the first week of November for three months in the country. What an interesting homecoming that will be…

I will remain in the UK for an as yet undetermined time. Latest I’ll be home is 21st January 09 – but I get a sneaking suspicion it will be earlier.

Such significant changes to what to us are fairly significant things are frankly making for a stressful time. It will be good when a few more pieces of the puzzle have fallen into place.

Watch this space.

Reference my previous post. Apparently Royal Mail have not had MORE THAN enough.

Dear Mr Polli

Thank you for your email regarding mail delivered to your address.

I am sorry to hear that mail has arrived correctly addressed but for a
previous occupier or someone you do not know.

Royal Mail is obliged under its Postal Licence to deliver mail as
addressed, even if the addressee is no longer resident there. This is
because we deliver to addresses rather than the named people at the
addresses.

If you receive mail which is addressed to a previous occupier of your house
you should write ‘recipient no longer at this address’ on the envelope and
place it in any post box. Where practical we will return the item to the
sender.

I am sorry that I have been unable to help you further on this occasion. If
you have further enquiries please get back in touch quoting your original
reference number.

Regards.

So there you have it.

I wonder if I can print off a heap of RECIPIENT NO LONGER AT THIS ADDRESS Stickers at work?

For the last 12 months or so we’ve been receiving a regular flood of junk mail addressed to a Miss J Barnes, one of the previous tenants of the apartment in which we live. I’m guessing it started as soon as the previous tenant’s mail redirection expired.

It all comes from the one company – More Than insurance. Sometimes known as MORE TH>N.

We get on average 5-6 pieces of junk mail per day – remember they deliver mail on Saturdays in the UK. So over a week it certainly adds up. The letters are all advertising More Than’s Car, Home, Travel and even Pet insurance products.  Nothing short of harrassment, I tell you. Imagine the waste – 30 items of junk mail per week multiplied by X thousand “victims” – the mind boggles

I simply can’t get it to stop.

I’ve tried calling them – “Sorry we have no record of a J. Barnes at this address” is the common response.

Each envelope contains a “in case this can’t be delivered please return to XXXX” statement.  I thought I’d be clever and store up a month’s worth of letters, send them all back to the aforementioned address in a postpack (without any stamps of course) along with a stern but not impolite letter asking them to kindly cease the barrage.  Wasted effort really – they keep on coming.

There is supposedly a junk-mail opt out scheme which one can sign up to.. Have done this to no avail. I’ve just sent a letter of complaint to Royal Mail. I’ve read somewhere that Royal Mail makes a substantial amount of money delivering huge volumes of junk mail – so let’s see what they say…

All of these letters come in the envelopes with the clear plastic windows – which means I can’t just pop them into the recycling. Our regular weekend task is to separate paper from the plastic. No big deal, but a pain nonetheless.

So if you’ll allow me  bad pun, I’ve had MORE TH>N ENOUGH! More Than insurance are bastards – anyone from the UK reading this should boycott all of their products.

Unbelievable.

Anyone got any bright ideas?