At last! Technology which cuts costs and saves money for its owners

Most times I drag the soapbox out to challenge the idea of technology cutting costs. Any perception of money being saved can usually be offset against the resource needed to support its use. But I was wrong! Today I have found a technology which is saving money. It’s called e-expenses.

e-expenses; the technology that saves you money

I find the site eventually having managed to look down the left and right columns for Expenses (where it wasn’t) and missing it in the centre column (where it was). Two out of three ain’t bad.   On arrival I then find I’ve forgotten my login details. It wants the name of institution, user id and password. It’s been some time and I can’t remember what these are. The relevant email has been archived and my computer won’t open archived emails. See proof below.

archived email message - sorry, I can't open for you. Tough luck!

By the way, the browser tab says Welcome. It doesn’t mean it.

Welcome to Expenses - it is lying!

I click on’ add new expenses’. So far so good. I want to claim expenses for a 100 mile round trip beyond the 100 mile a day I already do. It’s near the end of the month and I’m broke – and tired. It’s been a long week, and just as I feel my patience being tested, it tells me I don’t have a car registered.

You have no active cars - what? I

So I head off to the car registration details. Make, model and chassis number later, I get the darling little message

Waiting for approval? What?  You can't be serious!

I’ve already seen I need to submit a copy of my paper driver’s licence and photo card along with a copy of my private car insurance confirming cover for business use. Which means providing them in digital format. The DVLC haven’t quite got there with e-licences.  But I have a wander round my details and find my car already registered and approved.

Told you it was already registered!

Do you know what?  I give in. It’s worked. The conspiracy to make it so difficult to claim expenses you decide not to bother has won. Here is a technology which truly cuts costs and saves money for its owners.

I’m going home. I’m two hours and 50 miles away from a Friday night glass of wine.

Have a good weekend 🙂

 

Some days there’s a lot to be said for watching the flowers grow…

Some weeks are tougher than others. This week my laptop has not been helpful. I open an existing file, work, save and close. The next day I try to reopen and get this sweet little error message

Word Error Message
Word Error Message

Don’t be fooled because none of the above suggestions work.

The first time this happened I lost an assignment and was not happy. https://suewatling.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/2010/02/04/read-this-and-be-warned/ A virus was suspected, the laptop ghosted and my general admin rights removed. This has not been without its frustrations but is by the by. Over the past two weeks Word documents have mysteriously started vanishing again. At first I blamed the synchronisation for behaving strangely. But it’s been a week since my laptop was plugged into the network and I’m still losing work. Never mind cigarettes and alcohol, this is not good for my health.  I’ve reactivated DropBox, am emailing myself and putting backup copies on the D drive which doesn’t seem to be affected. I don’t understand. How is it possible to save and close and then the file vanishes? There are things in life we like to rely on. People can be perverse but I like to think my car will start in the morning and my laptop is reasonably faithful, that it will hold onto my work and return it to me safely. But not so. Some days there’s a lot to be said for sitting down at the allotment and just watching the flowers grow.