Recently I seem to have been chasing unnecessarily difficult problems, graffiti, litter and potholes which have been a lot harder to fix than they ought.

The kind people at Network Rail are just as helpful on the phone as they were when I first called them in February 2007, but the graffiti still hasn’t been cleaned from their railway bridge. You probably noticed the ‘THiCK’ tag on the bridge over Pulteney Road over a year ago and I been trying to get it removed since then. In the last few months I added graffiti on the arches to my request, so I am now on my third different customer reference number. We’ve already passed a few deadlines for the contractors to do the work, so I wait with anticipation.

Unlike Network Rail, the electricity company only work to 9-5 office hours, but the one time I did get through I was assured that their substation would be scrubbed within the week. It hasn’t happened yet, I’ll have to call back Monday to Friday.

I have also experienced nothing but earnest enthusiasm from our own council helpline, but 2 months on I am still waiting for a highways inspector to visit Sydney Buildings to register the potholes for filling. An inspector did visit my street however, the complaint having been misfiled, and was able to locate some potholes which have since been filled in.

I hope that this post hasn’t spoilt the ‘magic’; I have to spend just as long on hold and re-writing emails as anyone else; the difference is that I get paid for it.

Whether it’s in the job decription is another matter.

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27-5-8 In fairness the electricity substation has now been cleaned and the potholes in Sydney Buildings have been inspected.