Balls-u-like

So here’s a little story.

On the opening night of the Greenbelt festival one of my ‘buurrdddys’ and I were driving around site (can’t remember why exactly...I’m sure there was some good reason...), when we passed through part of the campsite and came across a group of teenagers juggling with the most amazing glow in the dark juggling balls.

We immediately pulled over and I wound down a window and said "hi".

Now either my reputation proceeds me, or the sight of a site vehicle coming over to them unnecessarily alarmed them, either way we were greeted with a nervous "what have we done wrong?" enquiry.

"Absolutely nothing" I say, "but they are fantastic – where did you get them?!?!?"

Ice broken, the happy teenagers proceed to show us these wonderful juggling balls that they have bought on site at the balls-u-like stall. They glow different colours and can even be set to change colour in sequence as you juggle. So cool!

Now I haven’t juggled for a while, but this could be the thing to cause me to take it back up...I seem to remember it was very good for relieving stress. And heck they’ll make groovy little lights as well!

Sadly by the time I get time to go to the balls-u-like stall it’s Monday and they’ve sold out of the ones I want. No problem though, they give me a lovely fridge magnet with their website details on...so a post festival internet order should do the trick.

So last Saturday I place the order and figuring they won’t fit through the letter box I give my office address.

Wonderfully they arrive on Tuesday.

Slight hitch in that somehow my name has been missed off, meaning that our admin section are trying to work out what to do with a package whose only identifying feature is that it’s from the dubiously entitled balls-u-like (so innocent when you know, so open to alternative interpretations when you don’t...), but happily this gets resolved pretty quickly.

And the balls are so cool.

The only problem is that the internal lights strobe rather than stay on one colour or change more sequentially. Not what I wanted and a definite no-no for my migraines and besie mate’s epilepsy.

So I ring the number on the website and leave a message. They ring back and are so lovely. Turns out the balls I’ve bought don’t quite work the way I was told by the guy on the stall. For my model I’d need different light fittings for solid of sequence lights.

Next thing I know they are sending me six additionally light fittings so I can swap over as I fancy. They absolutely will not let me pay them for this and are just so helpful and wonderful.

Sure enough the light fittings arrived today (this time with my name on the envelope!) and they are wonderful.



This photo does them no justice at all, they're lilac, blue and green in real life, or can cycle through 7 lovely colours.

But you have to see them, squeeze them, throw them, to truly appreciate them.

So cool.

And so cool to find an outfit for whom claims of customer delight is not just empty rhetoric. So if you need juggling gear, diablos, glowing frisbees or such like, then get yourself over there – they’re fab!