John Terry Braced For Abuse? What Else Can He Expect...Cheers & Applause?

Can John Terry expect  anything other than a hard timefollowing the revelations about him in recent days.  I think it is healthy for us to be able to voice our opinion good or bad about any public figure. I think that there is a change happening in the country as we all become truly sick of the behavior exhibited by young people, celebrities, sports stars, and politicians, we are becoming more vociferous in our condemnation.

I have no real interest in Terry,s tangled life but like so many before him it is the crass attempts to cover their immoral behavior by lying and paying people to keep quiet about it that I find annoying.  No one ever owns up anymore even when caught red handed. In this case Terry has allegedly paid the lady in question the amount she would have earned by selling her story.  Smart move there John, the papers are still full of it and who else are you going to pay hush money to.  It tells us ever more about your honesty, morality, and loyalty.  So I am pleased to see these cases exposed and even more pleased to see the majority of opinion not least of all Mr Capello agreeing that his sacking as England Captain was wholly deserved.

The Gas Man Commeth. The Gas Man Brings Heat Warmth & Comfort.

You don't need too many hours without central heating to drive home the fact that you live in a cold country. It is my own fault because the Gas Man has been shaking his head at our old(27 years) central heating boiler for about five years now saying you really need a new boiler. However as you may have guessed it lasted another few years until January, the coldest January in living memory almost. What actually happened was the smoke alarm started chirping just before the family arrived for Saturday diner.I duly changed the battery but the chirp persisted? it was the carbon monoxide detector   PANIC. Call the emergency number.Its a silent odourless killer so there was not a moment to lose.We will get someone to you within the hour the lady said ignoring my attempt to explain the noise was intermittent.

Any way the guy came said the detector was faulty and would be replaced under warranty but he should check out the boiler anyway for our safety. That done he shut it down disconnected the gas supply and said there all is save now.   Very cold but very safe. Now to be honest I would have went down the "live a little dangerously but be cosy " route but with the family gathered around  risk was not my business.

Cut a long story short after getting a few quotes and checking a few prices on the INTER-WEB we found a local guy who seemed totally professional and had all the accreditation and certs so, we went with him.  He repaired the old boiler specified the new set up and did it all in a day for around a third of the cost the national gas company wanted. The guy was so pleasant and helpful even replacing and upgrading parts of the system he hadn't quoted for but insisted it was required so, he did it. It was a big lesson for me that we ignore the local trades people to our cost.We have all been drawn into the" big is best" lie where you believe the big guys do it better and cheaper because that's how they got big in the first place. The real lesson of course is to shop around no matter what you are buying  and always call the local guy,he could be your best bet.  

Katie Price Image Is Art, Says the Artist. I Am Not So Sure.

I am reluctant to show the image in question but, people are outraged by the tasteless use of  Myra Hindleys image masquerading as art. Jordan/Katie  may well be the "artist's" innocent victim, but you would think she would have some image rights to stop the picture being used. The artist was  inspired by the fact that Jordan has been voted the most hated woman in Britain a tag reserved for Hindley so, he decided it would be a good idea to merge the images and voila... art.  

Some people may say Katie looks a fright anyway  but that is not the point here. It seems anything goes when you are seeking publicity but some things are just plain bad taste. This is one of those things: no artistry required, just bad taste. 

Aliens Discovery Chances Better Than Ever Says the Astronomer Royal .

 

Like most people I am fascinated by the prospect of life on other planets. I look to science and therefor scientists to find this out and report it factually and promptly.  Until they do they should keep quiet, zip it, shut up.

You see The Astronomer Royal has said the chances of such a discovery are greater than ever.  Well how amazing.  Technology has advanced to a level where we can have a realistic hope of detecting planets which are like Earth.  If only he could have waited a year or two, technology would have advanced even further and we will have an ever more realistic hope. I mean what a pointless thing to say unless you want to get a bit of publicity for your Astrologers Conference

HOW AM I DRIVING ? & DOES ANYONE REALLY CARE?

HOW IS MY DRIVING ? CALL 0800 12345 TO COMMENT. We have all seen the stickers on the rear of company vehicles. The driver ahead of me the other day saw one a wee bit closer than he would have preferred as white van man cut him up causing him to take evasive action.  I ended up behind the van at the next junction and there it was a bright yellow how is my driving sticker. It dawned on me I would have had to memorise the number or find a pen and paper our cut it into my hand with a pen knife to take up the invitation to call to comment.  It turns out that only a third of calls are ever passed on to the company who own the vehicle never mind the driver.

  I have never called one of these lines but it begs the question what happens if you do call? Do they take it seriously, do you need to identify yourself, do they call back to let you know what happened with your complaint or comment. Or is it all a bit of a con trick to make you think they care about road safety. So we want to know if anyone has had any response from the "Well Driven" scheme. Did you get a fair hearing or did two truckers come round and scratch your car?

Scrap The Fixed Retirement Age? I Don't Think So.

This makes me grumpy and troubles me a lot. The language is slanted to preserving the rights of those who want to work past what is known as the official retirement age of 65. As far as I know there is no law which prevents anyone working as long as they want to.  It should be about choice, not need. If pensions in our country were of a decent level to allow people to maintain a reasonable life style I am sure we would see a different picture.

 It seems like a stealthy ploy to increase the retirement age. The other thing that concerns me is the fact that young people have enough difficulty getting into the jobs market as it is, this can only make it more of a challenge for them. Hard work never killed anybody they said, but no one ever asked a miner or a ship yard worker or a night shift worker. Some people want to retire and collect their pension, i.e. the one they have worked for.  This bit of social engineering should be consigned to the scrap heap along side the majority of people who work past retirement age, like judges, politicians, bankers and civil servants: you know, people with gilt edge pensions.  

So be warned this is about wealth not health, and we should also remember that people fought and sacrificed to get retirement pensions in our country. Many never even reached retirement age.   We give them up at our peril. 

Kids In Supermarkets: ban them now, and their mothers too

I seem to be stuck in a retail grump but no apologies for that.Somebody must do it...so. Instructed to bring home milk I stop off at the local supermarket.  There I encounter Mom and two kids although it was not apparent at first that they were even related.  Lewis was squeezing tomatoes until the juice ran down his arm,he looked around five or six. Lexie, his four or five year old sister was, more interested in the fact that she simply could not find an orange that bounced no matter how many she hurled floorward. 

 Mom, resplendent  in jeans and tee shirt which failed to meet around her middle (or maybe a Leona or Lennie were on the way) was preoccupied in the ready meal section but did manage to break her concentration to scream, "Lewis, Lexie  pick those up or no sweets!" She yelled this warning around five times ,by which time her two monsters had ran off up another aisle out of sight and most definitely out of mind.

What really surprised me was the fact that a staff member witnessed all of this and at no time felt able to say or do anything other than pick up the fruit and veg after the Mom had moved on.  Now to be honest I would not have tackled  this lady to question her kids behavior, or her own for that matter.  However, as I exited the store   Lewis and Lexie sprinted past me and Lewis stumbled and fell all of his length on the pavement skillfully tripping his sister in the process. Mom was unresponsive to their cries but did point out that this was precisely why she had told them a thousand times not to run out of stores. 

Does any one know if there is a patron saint of Supermarkets?

B&Q: the place to get fit on a Sunday

It's a fun day out if it is cold damp and wet any Sunday, your local DIY store can provide hours of fun. Not only can it be fun but it can be good for your health at the same time.  Now, our local store is huge in fact it is A SUPERSTORE.  So we find ourselves in the plumbing & heating section. We have had some ill fortune in the heating department thanks to a faulty Carbon Monoxide detector which led to our heating being shut down for our own good - at least that is what the gas man told us.

Anyway, we stumble across the special offers area and find a bargain we think, if we can check the price. So the boss remains to guard the bargain and I set off to find an assistant. I go to the department information desk but finding no one there I wander around in a vain attempt to get help. On my second circuit a guy nods knowingly as we pass each other for the second time as he searches for help too. We encountered each other twice more and he said, "still no one "?  "No," I replied, "but I am getting fit!" He laughed as we passed yet again in our vain search for assistance. 

We did eventually find a sales person or rather he found us as he wandered through the plumbing & heating department and,although he did not work in that section he did check the prices we needed.  It was obvious a we passed through each section there were lots of customers and very few staff members. It is no doubt their simplest way of keeping down costs but it does make me wonder how many people just give up and go elsewhere.The retail industry pays lip service to customer service across the sector whether it is food, clothing, or your favorite DIY store and we have been slowly re-educated to accept these low service standards.  The fact is we bought the item, it was a bargain price and the cardiovascular work out was free so what am I grumping about? 

SWINE FLU: ARE WE ALL OWED AN APOLOGY?

Let us not forget that there were some serious cases of swine flu and sadly there were fatalities. We are not through the winter yet, but it does look like the warnings about thousands of dead, industry grinding to a halt and, mass vacination plans were more than a wee bit off the mark. Again we have been victims of "WORST CASE SCENARIO PLANNING".  It is designed to terrify you so that when what actually happens is bad enough, it is stiill nowhere near as bad as they said it would be and you feel relieved that it wasn't as bad as it could have been.  So don't say we didn't tell you.

3-D MOVIES AND THE COST OF POPCORN ?

We used to go to the movies at least once a week, often twice. Not so much recently, but we love the whole deal you get in new theaters: big comfy seats, full surround sound and ultra-modern facilities - fantastic.

Then...you decide to buy some snacks: pop-corn maybe, something to drink, a hot dog even.  Suddenly you realise what pays for the multi screen movie theater experience:  IT'S THE FOOD.   We had a couple of hot dogs a couple of small drinks and a thimble of ice cream  £17.95 ( $30).  This turns your movie experience into a slightly resentful one where you talk about a hot dog costing almost as much as your seat did rather than the movie. In old style cinemas they sold branded chocolate and sweets you could buy anywhere so the price was the same. It did not make any sense to bring your own,  but at these exorbitant prices it was not surprising to see people smuggling in their own sweets and cans of  soda.

The movie, Avatar,  was exceptional - a 3D  mind blower of a film and highly recommended. Just take your own sweets.