Arrgggghhhh. Ok so I have been foolish this time and forgotten the PIN for a new Barclays account. Normally I always write this in my encrypted password file but this time I didn’t for some reason! So I have not been able to get online again since.

Yesterday I decided to call the Barclays helpdesk and request a new PIN as you can’t do it online. Eventually went through the normal press 1 for this 2 for that etc and got through to ‘Malcolm’ who was very helpful but the conversation was incredibly frustrating.

One thing I like about Christmas is the excitement on the face of kids when the day is coming closer. When the decorations start going up, the cards start arriving it just becomes more real.

For us each year it really starts with a visit to the local farm to select the tree we wont. This year it was the same and we selected the tree a couple of weeks ago and then it sat in water in the garage.

So the challenge has been set, the gauntlet thrown down, what will the prize be when the Penguin succeeds on Monday 21st December 2009?

Some challenges are simple to achieve but others need some work, lots of work, say the right thing here, do the right thing there and it can be achieved. The benefits and pleasures of winning far outweigh the disaster of losing!