David in Spain

Back at the camping site again and the guy that was away for the last two years is back working, he really should retire. He is so slow processing the customers and he has another old guy for company working just as slow next to him. Because of this I have been pushed out to work more outside the reception which in some ways is good although I prefer being in the reception. A bit less stressful perhaps but quite a bit more boring. At least I have time to think about things I want to ponder.

The boss is a pain, but isn’t that in the job description for most bosses. Always ready with a telling off for the slightest thing to who ever is in the firing line even if not necessarily the culprit. Never has any words of encouragement for the staff and is not too good at motivation the workers, because of that. At least he does have a lighter side from time to time and can make a joke. now and then.

Good for me to practice my Spanish as I have to be speaking and listening all day long. I am missing my work on my Mac computers, and the experience with this working for other people convinces me that I should be learning programming and working freelance and also making my own products to sell. Getting only one day off per week hampers my learning efforts although I have been getting some study in before going i to work.

For the last few months I have been diving in to the programming. I started off with Objective C learning and some Ruby, and lately I have been getting stuck in with PHP which again like ruby is getting me to think like a programmer. I happened to mention on Twitter that I was learning PHP and was almost immediately asked if I was well on enough to be able to tackle a php programming job. That is a good sign that there is possibly work out there for me to do. Just have to get good at it thats all.

I do have a couple of ideas for the Mac iPhone and iPad applications centred on my interests of trading on Betfair and also for the education end of things. A lot of maths will be needed to do what I have in mind for the Betfair angle, but not an impossible amount. I can start with something that is more for information on a technique and later move into using the Betfair API to add more functionality.

The course I am following is on Lynda and is very good, fairly easy to follow. With this one I feel I have made some strides with the understanding of the processes of programming, learning things like For and While looping statements and the if then else logic that is the bread and butter of making computer programs work. Another area I have moved forward with is the using MySQL to make database type of applications and use with PHP.

On Monday the weather was blizzard conditions and since then we have had no electric, no phones and no internet. There is a possibility that the electric might come back today but I will not be holding my breath waiting.

It is amazing how much we depend on the electric. My neighbour was lucky enough to have a generator available but for the rest of us mere mortals we have to survive on batteries. I do have an inverter but it just gives me light to be able to see where I am going in the evening and to be able to read without messing up my eyes.

The news said there were about 30 or 40 pylons blown down with the wind on Monday. I think it will take ages to get back to the way things were before. If I had internet through the phone line then I could have internet before that but mine comes in through Wimax and that needs the electric power to work.

Not remotely religious myself but a friend goes to the Costa Brava Church and if you are of a mind to visit then here is a web site to tell you more about it.

photo credit: cecito

During the summer I worked in a Camp site next to the beach in Platja d’Aro. The job was OK and the new boss was trying to improve things by stamping his authority left right and centre. I once made a suggestion that  when some turned up looking for the other camp site that people always got confused with due to a simiolar sounding name, that I should ask how long they were thinking of staying as they were turning around to leave. If they said a week I should tell them I could do a price match for them. It was about 50% of what the price was supposed to be.

I was thinking on the lines of 50% the normal is better than 100% of nothing. The campsite would have customers in that would otherwise be else where and perhaps spending a bit in the bar and supermarket also. The boss as typical of the Spanish way of thinking said no it was not possible and was totally fixated on the loss of the 50% of the standard price. ????? Duh !!

Today I have encountered similar thinking while trying to buy a TV. The one  I have is old and CRT and small compared to the flat panel TV’s that are out now. CRT’s use a lot of electric too. SO I saw I TV that I liked in PC City in Girona. I know that they do Web prices and tried to order one via the web. €499 in the shop and €438 on the web. I had spoken with the sales person in the shop and he said I had to order via the web to get that price. So I went home and tried to place the order. Could have just said no problem let me sort that out for you now and you can take the TV with you today.

Of course there was another problem to encounter. I could not get that order to go through via the web for the Collect in shop type of purchase. The only way was with it being sent and I would have to pay an extra 28 Euro and wait for 4 days. So I put the order through with that and then printed off the papers and went back to the shop and asked them to go with that order and leave off the transport which would not be required.

The response was a Jobsworth answer that no they could not and I even asked the manager to sort it out. No joy at all. They said that the problem was that because there were less than five in the shop that they could not sell at that price. I would have to pay 499 Euro. They had four of that model of TV in the shop and would not do the deal.

I expressed my dissatisfaction and told them I would go to MediaMarkt and buy a TV there instead. The problem with the big company is that they don’t care about the individual customer and would rather lose a sale than break the rules that have been carved in stone.

The final act of the story is that I did some more searching online and found the TV for slightly cheaper including transport. I will have to wait a couple of days and I had to pay by bank transfer which will be quick because it is the same bank as I use so the TV could be sent out tomorrow or next day at the latest.

What are your stories of doing business here in Spain. Any stories like mine or do you have something good to say about being a consumer here? Leave a comment or fill in the form below to send me an email. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Today I went for a trip to Girona to meet with Peter Foremski of the web site MyGironaSpain and after a cup of tea, which always makes an interview run more smoothly, we got down to making a recording. I was using the Zoom H2 audio recorder which allows me to make recordings without having to carry a computer around with me.

Peter was also telling me about another web site his wife Debra has called LittleLanguageLearners with English books for all ages, Girona based but serving the whole of Spain & U.K www.LittleLanguageLearners.co.uk

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Peter Foremski

Hi there my name is David Allen and I have put up this web site to be a place for interaction for residents of Costa Brava and a little further south too down as far as Valencia even. In fact all of Catalonia is included, even the French part.

We will be out and about reporting on the things that happen in this area. For example later this month there is the festival time in Girona and I really would like to see the human castles again. They are just heart stopping to watch.

I will be interviewing residents and getting the lowdown on what it is like living here. Jobs businesses, relaxing, socialising and anything else that comes up and looks interesting.

If you have got to this site and you would like to advertise on it I am offering Free Advertising for the first six months of operation of the site. Get in contact with me using the form below. I would love to come and interview you and get to know you and your business. I want to make the interviews available as a podcast, either in a video or audio format and with links to your website and an advertisment.

photo credit: CytecK

I may add a forum for the site in due course but poc a poc as they say in these parts.

Send me an email or fill in the contact form below. I can’t wait to hear from you. Tell me what you think about living in this area.