The Wonderful Power of Twitter

Hello all, I come to you today to tell you the story of my experiences with Twitter.  I first came on Twitter a few years ago when I was on a housesit with nothing much to do but play about on the computer.  I had heard a lot about it but had little experience.  I tapped in, logged on and that's when the magic began.

At first I had a few people I was following, not really knowing what I was looking for and was not really a Twitter Pro!  I following famous people, people who made me laugh and within a short time I was totally hooked.

The thing about Twitter is it can be a totally unfriendly arena or you can feel completely loved.  There is no real inbetween. Gradually I found some lovely friends on there and also some family members.  I have regular conversations with people and some of whom I intend to meet up with at some point. It can be a platform for building quality relationships and friendships that last a long time.

Twitter can be a fantastic marketing tool for all talents, businesses and advice.  You  can promote anything and know it reaches millions of viewers.  I have had the pleasure of stumbling upon the best Authors and the most enjoyable books ever read, courtesy of Twitter.  I have had people offering advice and pointing me in the right direction with issues or problems I might be encountering and offers of support and the odd cyber hug.

Then there is the other side of Twitter a very important side which I found out to be the best, most powerful side. There is the power of publicity when you have a problem.  No company wants a problem aired to millions of people.  This I found out quite by accident and fortunately for me it all worked to my advantage.

My first encounter with the power of Twitter was when I had been battling with Barclays for over 2 years with a fraud case.  There had been the usual lost information, never received letters, threats from dept collectors and the usual stress that goes with these issues. One day I was reading Twitter with my morning coffee and there was a tweet from someone saying '2 months to sort out a problem Barclays need to get their act together'. I casually answered this with a smile on my lips and a little chuckle 'thats nothing I've had a fraud case going on for 2yrs, lost info & no end in sight'.  Within 10 minutes I had a tweet from Barclays saying please email me all you details we are sorry you have had a problem.

I was so astonished but emailed them all the story (took several pages).  I pressed the send button not expecting anything to happen.  I was wrong, I got an email back straight away saying they were looking into the details and would be back to me within 2 weeks.  I was shocked, but a part of me was saying, I bet it will be more like 2 years!

Well within 2 weeks I got an email asking for more details etc. I duly sent off more details.  I then received a phone call which went something like this:

Hello Ms Davey,  I am so sorry for the delay,  I cannot tell you where your information went to as we have a record that we received it several times.  We would like to inform you that we agree it was a fraud and we will be repaying everything back, restoring your credit rating and paying you compensation. We are really sorry this has taken so long and we have no explanation!

I sad down and cried as this was such a relief I could not believe it was sorted after years of stress!

My second encounter with the power of Twitter was a problem with a phone company over here SFR.  My daughter cancelled the contract with them and stopped her monthly payments. They didn't register that she had cancelled the contact and carried on sending her demands for money unpaid.  We went in the shop to sort it out, we sent letters, we even paid the other bills just to shut them up but nothing worked.  So again I went on Twitter to ask SFR what I had to do to get them to realise that we had paid all the bills and cancelled the contract. They agreed that we had paid but that the outstanding (in their opinion) had been sent to the debt collectors!  I then sent all the Twitter conversation off to the debt collectors plus all the information to prove we had paid it. They still did't agree that we had paid and the saga went on. This went on for 8 months. Finally after sending proof from the bank that we had paid all bills I told them to go away otherwise I would send them my medical bills for the stress they are causing me.  Well I then get the debt collectors following me on Twitter and then a message comes through saying that they have sorted it, sorry and the case is closed.

My last Power of Twitter is finding a lovely family member who is a wonderful Author and artist. Peter Davey just turned up on Twitter on my timeline and we hit it off straight away which has been a true blessing.

So you see Twitter has many faces, many uses and is a wonderful platform for a multitude of needs.

This is my tribute to Twitter for helping me with many things, some stressful and some a delight.

So to Twitter I say 'Thank you very much' The Funny Farm thinks your fantastic!

Soggy Headings

So while I move pee sodden newspaper around into a ball with my plastic crocks trying not to step on three black balls of fur biting at my trousers, clawing my legs and chewing the strap of my shoes, I dream of lying on a warm beach with the white sand cascading through my toes and the sound of the waves gently rolling in and out. Back in reality I find I have trodden on a soft brown poo hiding just out of sight beside some wet paper.  Scraping it off onto the saturated newspaper which, most fittingly, has a heading of 'I saw my mother get sucked down the toilet' I wondered why people put themselves through all this everyday.  For me this is just a job and one that in a weeks time I can leave and go home but for some it is an everyday routine.

Poo seems to feature quit regularly in my life now, not through choice but from a desperate need to earn a living and trying to find something that you don't need to speak the language fluently and you don't really need to use your intelligence or brain power. If it's not animals poo it the blocked toilet I have to contend with on a daily basis.Then there is the smell of the Fosse and when the wind is blowing towards the house the whole place smells like a cow shed.

This worked for me a few years ago when I had little or no brainpower left, I was coming out from many traumas and stress and just needed something that took me away from reality.  Well now I am, what you could say, all better I am needing to use my brain again and engage in the real world.

Cleaning up dogs poo and making scrambled eggs and rice pudding for 4 legged fluff balls, having my arms pulled out of their sockets on walks, woken up at night with howling visitors and being knocked off my feet by 50kg monsters is all very well and dandy but this girl needs to get more time to be creative.

I have many project on the go and that's where they stop.  On the go is about as far as I can get them due to the lack of time.  I have a house which is in needs of lots of work, there are the daily jobs that take up most of my time and that's without trying to make a living.  Far too much for one person by themselves.  My days of multitasking have flown away, just the word multitasking brings me out into a cold sweat.  We strive for bigger and better things in life but we are a long time dead.  These days I am elated when I see the hot water coming out of the tap and ecstatic when I've ordered wood for the winter.  I have to admit though that I have had in my wish list a beautiful dark pink Fosse bag which matches my purse and in my wish list it will stay as who can justify £100 for a bag! I do peek at it now and then just to make sure it is still just as beautiful.

Don't get me wrong I am grateful for the business I have built up, albeit small.  It has kept food on our table and shoes on our feet, I just sometimes, when I am knee deep in excrement, wish I was back in my office talking to clients on the phone and organising print schedules and delivery dates, outwork and orders and all things print!!

Oh and by the way the weather here in France today is pants!  So much for balmy evenings, warm summer days sipping wine and eating cheese, its chucking it down and blowing a gale!!

Back to poo collections and reading sodden newspaper headings!  Life not so far away from the Funny Farm