It's all a tad annoying ...

I've only ever bought two deals from Groupon: a flying lesson and a Learndirect course on Sage.

The flying lesson deal I bought almost a year ago and had to give four weekend dates when I would be available. They would then contact me approximately 15 days beforehand to let me know it was happening. All year I've made sure I've kept those weekends free. The dates I had given came and went and, apart from a 'Merry Christmas, we've not forgotten you' email, I heard nothing.

Next weekend is the fourth and final weekend date I had given. Time to get excited, it has to be this one! A few days ago I still hadn't heard anything, so emailed the company. The reply I received was that they are no longer doing that deal and they will arrange a refund. How long have they known this? I could have done other things with those weekends. And would they have let me know if I hadn't contacted them first? As I said in the title, it's all a tad annoying ...

The Sage course I bought last September. I'd like to learn something about accounting software as, as well as gaining a new skill, it could be useful when I finally get around to starting my business. I downloaded one of Learndirect's free courses first to make sure it worked on my computer and that I liked the presentation style of their courses. Everything was fine and so I bought the Sage course. I knew I wouldn't have time to do anything with it there and then, but it's valid for a year, so that wasn't a problem.

I decided to start the course this weekend, but what happens? It no longer works on my computer. I get a message telling me I need some sort of update, but when I click the update button it tells me the update can't be done. There are a few instructions on things I can try, but when I follow them through, all the correct boxes are ticked and enabled anyway. The link they provide to a help page is broken. I'm really quite upset about this, as I finally get time to do something about the course and it is no longer working. A colleague has had a similar problem. She was part way through one of their courses a few weeks ago and she lost access for the same sort of reasons. Apparently Learndirect have made some sort of changes and this has effected users. I really don't understand how they can do this??? I've contacted them asking them to either sort it out quickly or send me a refund. I'd still like to do the course so I hope they sort the problem out. I wait with bated breath ...

Update

Web Design
As I didn't do the Duke of Edinburgh camping weekend, I've spent today sorting out plants, making up hanging baskets and planting vegetables. I've also got loads of laundry and ironing done. These are all things that needed doing, but I've run out of time to do the other things I was hoping to do, like my homework for the web design course. So I'll have to do that tomorrow evening instead. The teaching part of the course has almost finished and soon we'll be starting on creating our own websites for the assessment. I'm going to work on the actual website I want to have so at least I'll be well on the way with it when the course finishes in July. 


Exmoor
I rang the campsite in Exmoor this afternoon to try to book for next week. As it's half term and the bank holiday I thought it might get busy. I spoke to owner who doesn't take bookings in advance, but advised me to try to get there before lunch as it is likely to be busy. He said they shouldn't have too much trouble fitting just me and my small tent in though. I've checked out a route online and it's about a 4hr drive. To allow for a stop on the way and any delays, I think I'll leave home at 6am next Saturday. That should give me plenty of time to explore the area once I've got my tent up, and then I can start my walks first thing on the Sunday morning. 



I read a bit of the April edition of Country Walking magazine whilst I was having my lunch. It's got a special feature on the national parks and yes, there was an article on Exmoor. So I've cut it out and will take it with me. I've already got the OS map which I bought a few weeks ago and lots of printed out walks from the internet. 


Ballooning 
I spoke to a friend at work during the week about ballooning. If I can get a good price she is willing to do it with me. So now I just have to wait for the special offer to come up again on Groupon. When it does I'll buy a couple of vouchers and then we can sort out a day to do it. 


Diving
The Groupon voucher that arrived today was for a PADI diving course. Although I have no time to do anything about this at the moment I had a quick look at what the requirements are for the course. I need to be able to swim 200m. I can swim 200m, but only with lots of breaks, and I somehow don't think they'll count this. At least I have an idea now of what I need to aim for when I start swimming again.  
 

Floatation

I first read about floatation tanks in a newspaper article years ago. Although I read it in the UK the tanks were in New Zealand. Having never been to any sort of spa or having done anything like this before, I loved the idea and resolved to have a go when I got to New Zealand. As I only ended up spending a week in NZ instead of 6 months it didn't happen, and so has been something I've wanted to do now for a really long time. I've since been to other spas and had other treatments, but still not done the floating in a small, dark tank thing. 

I've put it on this list as it will make me look into doing it. Already because it's on the list I've googled tanks in the UK. The best and most feasible one seems to be in London. So I've resolved to do this next time I'm down there. It's £40 for a one hour session which isn't cheap but is affordable for something I really want to do. 

I've just checked out today's Groupon email and there was an offer for clay pigeon shooting which is also something I'd like to have a go at. As it's something I'd like to do with someone and I'm in Germany so can't ring round my friends, I've left it for now. I did wonder about offers in other parts of the country though and so checked out the past offers for London. Lo and behold, there was an offer (now expired) for the very floatation place I'm planning on going to. The offer is for £14 instead of the usual £40. I'll have to keep an eye on the London site and hope the offer comes up again before I go. I don't know if I'd have to book the session straight away (could be a problem if I don't know what date I'll next be in London) or just buy a voucher and worry about the date later. Hopefully it will be the latter.

Ballooning

I arrived in Germany on Saturday evening and as we sat down around my brother's kitchen table to eat dinner, a hot air balloon floated past the window. It's the lowest I've seen one. We could even see inside the basket. It was a beautiful warm evening and it seemed so idyllic to be floating about over the vineyards.

It's one of the things I've wanted to do for a very long time. When I lived in Sydney many years ago, people would go up in one when they visited Uluru. I never got to Uluru. When I travelled in Australia I went to Tasmania instead. It was great, but there were no hot air balloons. So I'm still waiting to go up in one.

I've checked them out in the UK and they all seem to be run by Virgin and the best price is about £150. As this is something I'd like to do with someone rather than on my own, it could be a while before I find someone willing to spend that much money unless it's something they've also wanted to do for a long time.  

I recently signed up to 'Groupon' which I heard of through a friend and also on another blog. Most of the offers that have come through so far haven't been of much interest to me, but then a couple of days ago I got one offering balloon flights for £79. As I'm in Germany at the moment and the offer was already out of date by the time I checked my emails I couldn't do anything about it this time. But it's good to know that there are offers like this out there and so next time hopefully I'll be able to go for it.