7.02am - Bradford, West Yorkshire, one hour until the O2 store opens and as I pull into the car park I notice quite a few cars. It’ll be the staff I tell myself as I round the corner and find a queue of 21 people (some with folding chairs) waiting for the store to open.

 So, at least 21 people are sadder than me, which is a start!

 Over the next hour, I got chatting with some of the other people in the queue, including a couple of magicians who were practicing their sleight of hand coin tricks. The O2 staff were really good, keeping everyone jollied along, handing out free water and keeping everyone up to date with progress. A nice camaraderie began to develop.

The store only had around 10 16GB iPhones which disappeared almost instantly so a few people peeled off as they didn’t want to settle for an 8GB. By about 8.20 I was in the store and sat down while the very friendly assistant took my details, filled out paperwork and took copies of my ID….at which point the O2 credit checking system fell on it’s arse.

 A little disappointing given their experience earlier in the week with the online store, given the decision to open almost all the stores at 8.02am, it was hardly going to be a surprise that the online credit checking service was going to get a sudden hammering.

So, i’ve “bought” an iPhone, pending the credit check. But I can’t actually get my mitts on it until they’ve run the check and given me a call. Which realistically means this evening. I can’t really fault the on the ground staff. Just a shame the infrastructure didn’t live up to it!

Found this rather amusing french Hyundai ad this morning, a great example of turning your perception on its head and also presenting a (reasonably) positive message in the process…oh and it’s funny too.

via outintheuk

Well it’s Tuesday and i’m still knackered from a weekend in London to celebrate Michelle’s birthday. It was a packed couple of days. On Saturday alone we visited two museums, had afternoon tea (cucumber sandwiches, crumpets, cake and a pot of Orange Pekoe.), saw Cirque du Soleil perform Alegria at the Royal Albert Hall, dinner at a Thai restaurant and then went to see The Producers at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. Busy? We didn’t stop.

So Sunday in Ealing was a nice change of gear, we wandered into Ealing for a rummage round a second book shop and an organic supermarket before having an enormous roast dinner to set us up for the drive home…

Was also pleasantly surprised to see Ealing Studios as we walked to the tube station.