Ticking boxes

The antithesis of my love of language is a complete loathing for jargon in all its forms. This antipathy can manifest in different ways, from sitting in the back row at a product launch playing ‘Jargon Bingo‘* with colleagues, to getting into trouble at a high level meeting for snorting derisively and rather too publicly when one of the great and the good insisted that we must ‘get all of our ducks in a row‘. I won’t go so far as to claim that that faux pas cost me the job but I was gone from that worthy establishment within the year.

As you might imagine, ‘box ticking‘ registers fairly highly on the list of management-speak activities that sets my teeth on edge. Box ticking – however – is what the Kickass Canada Girl and I have been engaged in as we attempt to effect our egress from the country without forgetting anything important.

These things have we done in the past few days – in no particular order:

• Cancelled the landline at our Berkshire apartment for our day of departure
• Cancelled the broadband circuit at our Berkshire apartment for our day of departure
• Ensured that we would not be liable to pay Council Tax on our Buckinghamshire apartment
• Ensured that we would not be charged over the odds for gas and electricity at our Buckinghamshire apartment
• Booked hotels for the nights between moving out of the Berkshire apartment and leaving for Victoria
• Arranged an appointment with the bank to discuss our legacy financial arrangements in the UK
• Spoken with Her Majesties Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to clarify how to get my tax coding changed after retirement
• Responded to further queries from our purchasers solicitors regarding the sale of our Buckinghamshire apartment
• Booked carpet cleaners for the Berkshire apartment subsequent to our moving out

This I have not done – though not for want of trying:

• Cancelled my mobile (cell) phone contract. The contract actually runs until November 17th and would cost more to bail out of than to continue paying until then. However – it can only be cancelled by giving 30 days’ notice by phone, which means remembering to call Vodafone on or around 17th October – by which time we will of course be in Canada. Bah!

Still much to do!

* ‘Jargon Bingo’ appears usually to be called ‘Buzzword Bingo’ on the American continent. Same game!

Oh – I forgot ‘Brand Essence’…

Doh!