Month: February 2025

Resolver – a tool for complaining

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A screenshot of the Resolver web site

Recently, I’ve used Resolver to handle a couple of complaints that I have had with companies, such as the firm that provides water in Yorkshire. As I mentioned on Monday, we’ve had some water supply issues recently and this has resulted in some expenses for us.

Resolver works by managing the complaint for you. It sends your complaint using a unique email address, and notifies you of responses. You can also upload evidence, and keep these in a ‘case file’ to keep track of documents. If the company you’re complaining to doesn’t respond, then it’ll help you escalate the complaint to more senior people in the company.

The thing I like best about Resolver is that it helps you write your complaint in a structured way. Instead of one long free text field, you get a series of prompts, asking you to write:

  • what the problem is
  • its impact on you
  • what resolution you are seeking

You’ll also be prompted for important information like customer reference numbers, which will hopefully make things easier for the staff handling your complaint. Before your message is sent, you’ll have the opportunity to review and tweak it.

Resolver supports a wide range of companies across a number of sectors. Utility firms are there, as are telecoms companies, parking firms, insurance and financial services companies, and many others. Even my employer is there. Resolver was quite popular when PPI was mis-sold, as it allowed customers to manage their claims themselves, rather than engaging a claims management firm to do so (and who would take a cut of any compensation). Resolver is free to use, as it’s supported by advertising.

So far I’ve used Resolver twice, with one case resolved. I don’t often have the need to complain, but when I’ve used it, it has made the process easier.

Answering the blog questions challenge

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Whilst I wasn’t tagged, I saw Matt Haughey’s ‘Answering the blog questions challenge‘ and decided to give it a go. It’s been a while since I did one of these.

Why did you start blogging in the first place?

I started blogging in 2002 as I could see people that I followed also starting to write blogs. I used to read Chris Pirillo‘s Lockergnome email newsletters, and saw that he and his then wife had both started blogs. Whilst I had run various web sites on Geocities and the like, having a blog that was easy to update quickly seemed like a good idea.

What platform are you using to manage your blog and why did you choose it?

Like most of the blogiverse, I use WordPress. In my case, it’s the open source self-hosted version, running on a virtual server that a third party hosts for me. It’s the most popular platform and highly customisable, with many plugins and themes available and lots of guides for how to do things. For now, it continues to suit my needs.

Have you blogged on other platforms before?

Yes. I started on Blogger, using some free hosting – I started blogging at age 17 when I didn’t have a bank account or was allowed to sign contracts for hosting. Within 9 months I’d switched to Movable Type, as I was 18 and could pay for things online myself.

I continued to use Movable Type until 2011, when I switched to a fork called Melody. However, Melody never really took off, and so I moved to WordPress the same year. I’ve used it ever since.

On other blogs, I’ve used ExpressionEngine before, and my final year project for my Computing degree in 2005 was to write a simple blogging system in Perl and PHP, to compare the two.

How do you write your posts? For example, in a local editing tool, or in a panel/dashboard that’s part of your blog?

Just using the standard WordPress web interface. Years ago, I used w.bloggar, a Windows app which is still available on GitHub and is now open source. I have the WordPress app on my phone but mostly just use this to upload images.

When do you feel most inspired to write?

Most of my writing is done at weekends – this is being written on Saturday evening. During the week, I don’t really have the time, but if I’m sufficiently inspired then I may write the occasional post on my lunch break from work. Generally though, I write the blog posts for the forthcoming week at the weekend. If I know I’m going to be busy then I’ll try to write more in advance.

Do you publish immediately after writing, or do you let it simmer a bit as a draft?

It’s rare that a blog post will go live on the same day that it’s written. Generally, I write in bulk and then schedule the posts to go live every other day throughout the forthcoming week. However, if something urgent comes up, I may shift things around.

I don’t have any drafts saved – generally, I write and then schedule each blog post in one session. Of course, I have the opportunity to tinker with each post before it goes live. I also have a note in Simplenote with blog post ideas, but these are usually single bullet points.

What are you generally interested in writing about?

I like to share interesting places that we’ve been, and, if I’ve recently solved a problem, writing about how I solved it. I also write quite a bit about home automation and occasionally about transport.

Who are you writing for?

I know there are a few regular readers, but also for myself – on more than one occasion, I’ve followed my own guide to solving a problem when it has happened again.

What’s your favourite post on your blog?

I remember A new dawn for trains in the North taking quite some time to write, as did Is the Waterloo & City Line Step Free? It’s Complicated. Both required some research and I’d consider them to be almost journalism.

Any future plans for your blog? Maybe a redesign, a move to another platform, or adding a new feature?

Just to keep it going. I may change the theme at some point but only to another simple and lightweight one. I quite like the fact that it’s quick to load.

I imagine I will stick with WordPress for the foreseeable future, unless a better fork comes along.

Who else do you want to tag?

I’ll tag Kevin and Dave2, since I read their blogs and I’m pretty sure they read mine too.

As I was writing this, I saw that Ben Tasker had done so too. Ben notably uses a static site generator called Nikola for his blog, rather a dynamic system like WordPress.

Finally February, again

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Last year, my wife remarked that January 2024 was the Januariest January that had ever Januaried. I don’t think January 2025 was quite as bad, but it’s definitely dragged and I’m relieved to be in February again. Not at least because the days are starting to get noticeably longer.

We didn’t do much in January, hence the lack of blog posts about days out. Indeed the only post to the Days Out category was our trip to the Jorvik Viking Centre, and though I published it last month, our visit was in December. January isn’t a good month for going out to places as it’s cold and many attractions are shut for the winter.

As well as the cold, we’ve had the heavy snow to contend with. This resulted in me taking some short notice annual leave to home-school our nine-year-old when the school closed. Indeed, I only managed one full week at work this month, as I had to take a second instance of short-notice annual leave the following week. That was caused by a burst water main, knocking out the water supply both at the school and at home. There was also a funeral to attend.

So it’s been something of an eventful January, just not one that is full of things to write about on a blog. Oh well.

What’s happening in February?

This would be where I tell you about lots of exciting things that we’re planning for February. Alas, we don’t have any plans; it’s probable that February may end up being as uneventful as January. We’ll see; perhaps we’ll end up spending a nice weekend afternoon somewhere if we get lucky with the weather.

I’m hosting a webinar for LGBT+ History Month

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A photo of the official LGBT+ History Month 2025 badge.

It’s February, which means that it’s LGBT+ History Month in the UK. LGBT+ History Month started in 2005, so this year is its 20th anniversary year, and the theme for this year is ‘activism and social change’.

In 2021, when we were back in lockdown, I hosted and co-hosted a couple of webinars through work. One was about Section 28, the legislation in force during my years at school which banned the ‘promotion’ of homosexuality in schools. The second was a panel discussion with two other colleagues about what it is to be bisexual and some debunking some common myths about bisexuality.

This year, I’m hosting another webinar, with the rather long title of ‘From Ace to Zir – the A-Z of LGBTQ+‘. Over the space of an hour, I’ll be delivering a glossary of LGBTQ+ terms, including what they mean, and when to use them (or not use them if they’re now considered slurs). Starting with A, and terms like asexual, I’ll be going though each letter of the alphabet to help LGBTQ+ and their allies to understand the various terminology used. Many of these words are relatively new, and so I’m hoping it’s useful. I’ve also tried to include as many of the various pride flags as I can.

The webinar is free to attend – here’s the Eventbrite link to register. We’re also hosting several other webinars this month:

  • The fight for liberation – How it all started, about the Stonewall riots.
  • Queer South Asians – Looking back and forward, about South Asians with queer identities, especially in Bradford, and hosted by my colleague Usman
  • Stonewall postal action network documentary screening with Austin Allen, a screening of a short documentary and a discussion with Austin Allen, who ran a postal LGBT action network from his home in Queensbury, near Bradford.

There are also other events taking place across the wider Bradford district during February – details are available here.

Whilst Pride Month takes place in July, LGBT+ History Month is also important and different. Pride is, depending on your view, a protest and/or a celebration for LGBTQ+ people and allies. Whereas LGBT+ History Month has a more educational focus, looking at LGBT+ people in history and the key events that have pushed LGBT+ rights forwards (and sometimes backwards). As I work for a university, LGBT+ History Month is closer to our mission, and also happens during term time. Pride, alas, takes place when our undergraduate students are on their summer break.

By the way, if you want to buy the pin badge shown in the image above, here’s the link.