Chairman’s Chit Chat October 2025
There have been a couple of instances of late where I have been obliged to engage with modern technology and progress. Being a dyed-in-the-wool dinosaur, these encounters were not the traumatic experience I feared they were going to be. I suppose it is the fear of the unknown, coupled with the fear of failure, that makes me shy away from certain aspects of the modern world.
The car I drive is certainly no Chelsea Tractor. It is five years old, petrol and manual – and just to let you know,
I have still not worked out how to use the satnav. As the annual service and MOT were due, I duly booked it into the Nissan York service centre. A full service and MOT takes about four hours, so I was offered a courtesy car (well, not exactly “courtesy”, as I was charged £20 for the privilege). The car they provided was a brand, spanking new Qashqai hybrid automatic.
Never having driven an automatic car before, I was filled with apprehension. One of the service team sat in the passenger seat to talk me through, slowly and very clearly, how to drive the thing. Very gingerly and jerkily I moved off the forecourt. It took a while not to want to use my left foot and I kept reaching for the non-existent gear stick and hand brake. However, I managed to arrive home and return the car later in the day without any mishaps.
It was a strange, and I have to admit exciting, experience.
My other foray into the modern world is internet banking.
This was not what I wanted but I had no choice. The current account I held came with certain benefits that were no longer applicable to my circumstances, so I wanted to change to a simpler current account to save the £18 a month I was being charged for something I was not using. Two bank staff (I asked for a second opinion) were adamant that this could only be done if I converted to internet banking. Do bank staff receive a financial reward for converting resultant customers to internet banking, thus, ultimately, doing themselves out of a job?
This change, of course, could not be dealt with in the branch. I was given a phone number to ring.
Luke, the young man who answered my call, had the patience of Job as he, again very slowly and very clearly, guided me through the process step by step. The whole thing took about 45 minutes. I am now a dab hand at shuffling money from one account to another, checking account balances and paying for goods and services by BACS.
What other joys of the 21st century await, I wonder?
Tags: car, dinosaur, nissan