Myki and Me: A Love Story (NOT!)

When the Victorian government decided to spend a couple of million on the public transport system it didn’t opt to replace train tracks that seem to buckle in the heat every summer, neither did it choose to increase services during peak hour, nor to man stations (a radical concept that would create employment, reduce fair evasion and be of service to the public). No, the Victorian government decided to overhaul the one part of the system that seemed to be working quite adequately-the ticketing system.
They decided to introduce Myki.
In theory it’s a great system-in theory.
As the mother of two regular train users there’s been more than one occasion when a monthly ticket has met a soggy end in a uniform pocket long before its expiry date. And I’m no stranger to the words “mum, my ticket’s run out”, usually heard at ten to eight in the morning. So I liked the idea of Myki. A plastic card has a greater chance of surviving the spin cycle and being able to keep track of ticket validity and top up accounts online could be a real time saver. So I duly applied for, received, registered and activated Myki cards for the family.
And that’s when the trouble started.
The week before school went back I found myself at the local railway station and decided to load tickets onto the girls’ cards so they would be ready for use. The first transaction went well. I had no trouble purchasing a ticket for the master of the bleeding obvious. Delighted with how easy the system was to work I went ahead with a second transaction. Part way through the ticket purchasing sequence the screen went black. A few seconds later it started flashing system error/out of service. O-oh!
When I got home I checked the account, no ticket had been credited. I checked my bank balance, payment had been made.
I’m sure there are systems in place for this eventuality, so I call Myki. It takes fifteen minutes for the operator to understand my problem (I paid for a ticket and it wasn’t credited to the card-not rocket science folks). I am assured that the ticket will be credited to the card within twenty-four hours.
It was not.
So I called Myki.
And explained the situation again.
I was told that the system had gone down (I fairly much had figured that one out for myself), offered profuse apologies and told the situation was being investigated and a ticket would be credited to my account within forty-eight hours of my original report. In the mean time would I like to purchase another ticket to ensure the card was valid to travel? As it happened, yes I would. So I purchased a second ticket for the professor of pedantic’s card.
All appeared to work well on the first day of school and although I had received no refund or ticket credit, I gave Myki the benefit of the doubt and let the situation rest for a further two days.
Since it was now five days since my original report and I have heard nothing I call Myki.
And explained the situation again.
The operator tells me that a ticket was credited to my card twenty-four hours after my initial report. I explain to her that I purchased that ticket and my enquiry was in regard to the ticket for which I had been charged but not yet received. Hmm, tricky. I’m referred up the line.
Yes, they understand the problem. Do I have a receipt? No the system shut down after taking my money but before issuing a receipt. Did I pay by cash or card? Card. Then my bank statement will show a debit to Myki without a corresponding credit to the Myki card. Could I forward them a copy of my bank statement? (My second thought was lucky I used my card. My first thought was what? Your system fails and the onus is on me to prove you took my money!! My third thought, if you’re interested, was and if I’d used cash I’d be stuffed at this point.) The situation will be resolved within forty-eight hours of receipt of said evidence.
It was not.
So I called Myki.
And explained the situation again.
Yes, they have my bank statement. And there is a credit on the account. I point out my second purchase and ask if there is a second credit to the account. After much waiting, to-ing and fro-ing, they don’t know. My report is being referred up the line. Somebody will contact me within forty-eight hours.
On Saturday master of the bleeding obvious reports that her card is failing to touch on and has recorded a debit.
So I called Myki.
Who couldn’t help me at all but assured me somebody would look into it by the end of next week. I pointed out that meant I couldn’t use a valid ticket for a quarter of the time I had paid for (and yes, I had a receipt to prove it). Awfully sorry but there’s nothing they can do.
So I wait until this morning and…
I call Myki.
And explained the situation.
Over half an hour of negotiation later they agree to rectify the erroneous negative balance. (Because even in a Myki world 7 days is not 28 days and school buildings do not wonder between transport zones) This should correct the problem. I’ll know for sure in twenty-four hours.
And, no, there has been no further progress on the other situation.

Quite frankly Myki is a total balls-up. The system went down and it is me that is out of pocket, inconvenienced and has the aggravation (and expense-all those phone calls) of sorting it out.

Myki might be haemorrhaging cash but they’re not going to stop the flow by taking money from the little people. They’re going to drive us all to boycott the system.

Electronic ticketing systems have been in place all over the world for years (London’s Oyster card comes to mind). Surely the Victorian government could have installed a system that was tried and proven elsewhere. At the very least they could have asked what problems arose with those systems and anticipated similar issues here-an ounce of prevention, as they say.

In the mean time my advice is to avoid Myki for as long as you can. That way they may have the system sorted before you’re forced to use it. And if you’re game to give it a try don’t use cash-you may need to prove your purchase with a bank statement.

Hand all fixed

I'm pleased to say that my hand's feeling better,
I'm suffering nearly no pain.
And, as I am sure, you can tell from this post,
I'm back to typing again.

Here endeth the shockingly bad poetry-Hey I was in pain and didn't want to suffer alone.

Ouch!

Examintation provides no explanation
No swelling or bruising discolouration
Why it hurts so I can't understand
I wish I knew what I have done to my hand

Why I...

like the music of Within Temptation. Here's one reason:



And here's another.

Failing Resolve

So, here it is almost a week into the new year and I am yet to commit to a resolution.
In the past I have valiantly failed to drink two litres of water a day (easy enough in the summer but as the temperature fell so did my water intake), exercise for 30 minutes a day (because, as any mother could tell you when you need to be in three places at once and something's exploded in the microwave and you can't get from the front door to the letter box without a machete the first thing to go is exercise), lose weight (no that's not a conjoined twin behind me, it is, in fact, my arse), or live more spontaneously (who was I trying to kid. Military campaigns have been fought with less precision than boy genius's daily routine).
Inspired by these heroic failures past I have decided to run with the idea of the unfinished. This year I will endeavour to complete, or to at least make substantial progress on, the unfinished craft projects, unread books, unwatched DVDs and undone jobs about the place generally.
I'll report back as to how it goes.

Verily I say...

Yuletide hath passed me by with unwonted haste.
One moment I was felicitating my husband on the anniversary of his birth ere I knew it the last of the turkey carcass is discarded and I stand on the threshold of a new year.
So I send thee salutations for the season passed and pray fervently for a salubrious new year for all.

Because

Because I was nauseas I didn’t take my antihistamine.
Because I didn’t take my antihistamine I couldn’t stop sneezing.
Because I couldn’t stop sneezing I threw my back out.
Because I threw my back out it hurt to move.
Because it hurt to move I limited movement.
Because I limited movement my joints started to stiffen up.
Because my joints started to stiffen up I thought I’d get some exercise.
Because I needed exercise I thought I’d go for a run.
Because two weeks ago I could run for half an hour I thought I’d be able to do it okay.
Because I struggled to make it to 20 minutes I gave up and went home.
Because I gave up and went home I felt pathetic and miserable.
Because I felt pathetic and miserable I attempted to cheer myself up by eating comfort food.
Because I was very sorry for myself I ate a lot of comfort food.
Now I feel nauseas and lethargic.
In just two short weeks one piddling little irritant has led to a spiral of crappiness that I just can’t seem to pull out of.
Please feel free to give me a cyber boot in the pants.
Because I really don’t have time for this.

Stonehenge Photos

Testing, testing. Can I load photos? This should be a trio of stonehenge photos. One traditional view (outside the ropes), one inside the circle and one with picturesque sunset on an upright.

Thanks St Anthony

I may have mentioned that while we were away we lost the memory card from our camera and with it all of our photographs from London, Paris, Bath and Stonehenge. We looked everywhere, tearing my mother-in-law's house apart in the search, and to my great disappointment couldn't find it. When we returned home we even removed the linings of our suitcases in our hunt for the missing memory card. All to no avail.
So imagine my surprise when I walked into my bedroom this afternoon and saw a memory card sitting on top of my satchel-as if it had fallen from the ceiling.
I didn't want to get my hopes up and loaded it into the camera thinking I'd probably find 200 pictures of the cat. But lo-there was the Eiffle tower winking back at me!
It was the lost memory card-with most of the photos intact (London seems to be missing but I will continue to work on it.)
I don't know where the card was, or why it has turned up now but I am happy to have it back.
As the patron of lost things St Anthony gets my thanks-as does whoever petitioned him on our behalf (since it wasn't us).
Now as soon as I work out how it's done I'll be able to post some photos.

C25K

This morning I completed day 3, week 9 of the couch to 5k running program officially graduating from couch potato to “runner”. I use the quotation marks because most people could probably walk faster than I run. Hey, I can probably walk faster than I run. Even so, I did it and I’m quite pleased with myself.
I ran, okay jogged, for time rather than distance. Nine weeks ago shuffling along for one minute was a bit of an effort. Today I can do thirty continuous minutes with the same amount of effort. I figure this means that my fitness has improved, though I have no objective way of measuring that.
Now that I’ve made it this far I am determined to stick with it, aiming to increase my speed/distance. (I am currently only running about 3.5-4km in half an hour as opposed to the 5km the program targets so there’s lots of room for improvement.)
If you’re interested in checking out the program for yourself (or just to see what I’m talking about) you can find it here:
cool running, couch to 5k running program
It’s not particularly easy but neither is it very hard. And if I can get my fat, middle-aged, arthritic arse through it then anybody can.