Yaffa

...So you call a support technician who offers to talk you through the procedure - then loses his patience when you somehow can't read the 100+ pages of terms of service in a few seconds.

An advantage of registering your Oyster card (or using a contactless payment card) is that you can easily see if you were overcharged for not tapping out of any journeys and can request a refund if this was not your fault. moneysavingexpert.com just had a feature on what's involved:http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/oyster-card-refund

Some great news at: http://www.scottishballet.co.uk/what-s-on/world-ballet-day-2015.html This year the content for all companies will be shown on a newly launched website: www.worldballetday.com and will be hosted on BBC Arts Online for 30 days after Thursday 1 October

Sadly the people who were checking out which segments will be online after the live broadcast and for how long have not yet been able to give me an answer. I've sent another post and do hope this information will be available soon, Personally I won't be able to watch anything like 23 continuous hours of ballet, though I do have some commitments on that day that can now be shifted around - but such juggling probably won't be possible in another few days. I know of other people in a similar situation. It would be great to be able to plan which segments to watch live on the 1st, and to know that it will be possible to catch up on the rest later.

moneysavingexpert.com has a good section on broadband options at:http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/phones/cheap-broadband. I've found that if you arm yourself with details of what other providers are charging, other companies will often agree to match or beat it.

I just spoke with the ROH box office and was told that the non-Friends booking for the RBS matinee is due to start on 12th April.

Just heard back that they are not yet sure which segments will be available afterwards online but will confirm this later.

Sorry to hear about this Dance*is*Life! Orange gives you 6 months before expiry (see the table at: http://kenstechtips.com/index.php/payg-inactivity-account-termination-and-credit-expiry and the Orange terms of service http://ee.co.uk/content/dam/ee-help/e-gain.s3.amazonaws.com/external/content/Orange/Terms%20and%20conditions/PAYG-Terms-and-conditions-for-the-supply-of-Orange-network-services-20121023.pdf) . The problem could be connected with Orange's move to EE but if the phone doesn't switch on at all (rather than displaying an error message saying it can't connect to a network when you turn it on) , I'd suspect it's more likely to be a hardware problem with the phone itself or the battery or charger, rather than with the orange line itself. Will send you a PM re troubleshooting.

As well as moneysavingexpert.com, Ken's Tech Tips (a great resource for all aspects of mobile phone use in the UK) has a page covering this well. It includes a table with details of when credit expires and accounts are deactivated for all the major networks. See http://kenstechtips.com/index.php/payg-inactivity-account-termination-and-credit-expiry. Yaffa (with no connection to the resources here - just passing on the info)

I really sympathise after having this conversation with mobile phone operators on behalf of several people (including my mother) who also use their phone only for calls. The companies typically insist that you can't possibly know what you really want - Deep down, you have a burning need for thousands of texts and emails. And if you don't want a plan with a 2-for-one film deal - well you must have really lost it. I sometimes have to escalate the call to a supervisor who will confirm that if you had an old plan and were switched without giving your ok, it is sometimes possible to get it back, even though it is no longer being offered to new customers. As sarahw wrote, moneysavingexpert.com indeed has a good resource where you can compare the rates of several companies: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/phones/mobile-phone-cost-cutting Skip the first few sections - but see especially Section 10 Even if you decide not to switch, you can sometimes get a better deal with your current provider if they know you are aware of what the competition is offering. Credit already loaded onto mobile phones usually isn't refundable when you move your number to another company. (You may be lucky, but the phone companies don't really have an incentive to be nice to you, as you are leaving them anyway.) But there are ways you can use it up beforehand (e.g. some charities accept phone/text donations, where the money is taken from your mobile balance.) Yaffa [edited for clarity]

Very sad indeed. They do say at: http://www.royalballetschool.org.uk/2015/07/white-lodge-museum-moves-into-the-digital-age/ that as well as online access: Despite the closure, The Royal Ballet School Collections will remain intact and will continue to be maintained according to proper archival standards, managed by the School’s Curator of Collections, Anna Meadmore. Continuing access The Collections will remain open to visiting researchers and descriptions of the Collections will continue to be made available through the Archives Hub network.

Now sold out....

Done :-)

What I would really love this year is to know in advance which of the activities will be available online after the live event and for how long. I recall lots of confusion about this last year and know several other people who could not take a day off work but might have allocated their available time differently if they had known what they could easily watch afterwards.

Perhaps they could at least make the video of the dress rehearsal available to families? Last year I recall seeing notices saying specifically that recordings were only for private use and should not be uploaded to social media channels...

It's the annual WL summer fair and open day on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Lauren Cuthbertson will be opening it. Further details at: http://www.royalballetschool.org.uk/2015/05/open-day-and-summer-fair-2/ It's always a very special day, rain or shine... but good to see that the weather forecast is currently predicting just a 10% chance of rain (down from 20% yesterday). It would would be nice to meet up with other Balletco-ers in one of the breaks.Hopefully this year they'll have an arrangement for allocating indoor seating tickets without people having to spend the breaks queuing....

Just saw that RBS is starting a pilot Advanced Associates scheme for 16-17 year old students. From the RBS website: http://www.royalballetschool.org.uk/training/associates/newpilotassociates/ Advanced Associates We are excited to announce a new pilot programme – Advanced Associates – for dance students aged 16 to 17 years of age (by 31 August 2015). The programme is devised for students who aim to continue their dance training/studies at 18, with the intention of pursuing a career in dance. If you are currently in full-time training we must have written confirmation from your school that they are happy for you to attend additional training. The pilot programme will consist of 12 sessions between October and April 2015/16, with a view to starting a full programme of classes in the new academic year 2016/17. Classes will be held on Saturday afternoons at The Royal Ballet School, Covent Garden. Further details are on the RBS site. Applications need to be submitted by 31st July; the audition is on 2nd September.

And alongside Madam's birthday, I understand that RBS is today celebrating 60 years of students living at White Lodge. Thanks very much indeed, Melody, for sharing your most interesting dates throughout the last year.

Since this is a new arrangement all round, and the boss is also sensitive to sounds, might they be interested in discussing devices and software/apps for masking different types of sound? These are now used in many open-plan offices and needn't be expensive. In any event I definitely agree that its best to raise the topic in a non-confrontational way - the whisperers may well be struggling to adapt to the loss of their own joint-private space. Wishing you all the best with this tricky situation...

They just released around 50 tickets, including some standing in the different categories....

In case anyone's interested/hungry/nostalgic,http://www.approvedfood.co.uk/ has 8 Crème Eggs for £1 today. And specially for Melody they also have Caramel Eggs at 3 for 99p. Not sure if these are the new or old type eggs... I've found approvedfood.co.uk to be an amazing site - It mostly sells food which is close to or past its "best before" date but not outside any 'use by" dates. (Only the latter is concerned with safety... there's a more detailed explanation of the distinction on the site.) There's a minimum order of £15 and a minimum postage charge of £5.99 but that's for up to 25 kgs of food, which is a huge amount. When I visit England I usually combine orders with someone who lives nearby. Their stock varies, but as well as junk food they generally have a lot of more healthy stuff, with products for special diets (including vegetarian and gluten free). Much is around 70% off the normal price. You can also get credit for referring friends. Yaffa (no ties to the above except as a satisifed customer who's registered to their refer-a-friend programme - deliberately not posting my referral code here) [edited to correct typo]

Resending a message I tried to send last week but which doesn't appear to have gone out... I've found that moneysavingexpert.com's section on train travel has a pretty comprehensive guide to when, how and where to book the different types of cheap tickets. http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-train-tickets This guide deals mostly with strategy. There is a separate page with the latest train deals: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/cheap-coach-train-ticket-deals Most (though not all) of the cheap deals appear around 12 weeks in advance - and the first resource above has links so you can be notified when this happens. Unlike most sites, for which you pay a huge fee to cancel an advance reservation, Megabus/megatrain http://www.megabus.com (offering huge discounts on tickets) enables you to change all its bus and train tickets for just a pound (50p rebooking fee and 50p change fee) plus the difference in price between the old and new journeys until 48 hours before a train journey and 24 hours before a bus journey - I've found that very useful when plans change! Unfortunately it only offers a 45 day booking window and a very limited set of routes and times. Yaffa [edited to correct typos]

There's an interesting video about the school, including clips about the audition process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqIQGmnj1iU

The statistics of applicants and places for the various courses is in the school's annual report at: http://www.royalballetschool.org.uk/information/annual-report/

Thanks Alison. Nice article. Does anyone know more about the twirling through the concrete pillars ritual? "Internationally recognised as one of the top three dance schools" - by whom and what are the other two schools? The statistics (100% graduate employment, 70% of RB dancers coming from RBS) give the impression that everyone at WL will get a ballet contract. If only...