Fair play to Morrisons at the moment, they are selling their "energy saving" 20W (100W) lightbulbs for 29p for a pack of 2 and you get 4 free, so 29p for 6 or less than 5p each.
Surely this is the best way to promote us to change to the energy savers, rather than trying to make us all feel guilty.
Nice to see that these have come down in price even in the big DIY retailers who were selling them at about £3 each about a year ago but have now been forced by the supermarkets to drop the prices.
Sadly they're still not a patch on old fashioned lightbulbs, I tried one in my bedside "touch" lamp and it just made a strange hissing noise and refused to dim or turn off, and my hall light only has room for a smaller lamp so that when you answer the door in the dark it's really gloomy unless you can keep the person at the door talking for 5 minutes until it's bright enough to see them.
Wednesday, 3 June 2009
Boot Sale Tales
Well I'm a few more boot sales down the line, some good some bad but the old instincts are returning.
Repackaging crap for profit (works on the high street, why not in a field).
You soon learn that image is most important thing these days, stick an old 45rpm single in a box and try to sell it for 10p you don't get any takers, yet put it in a new 5p plastic sleeve and label it "rare only £3" and someone will try and knock you down to £2.50 and think they've got a bargain? it's a crazy world.
Repackaging crap for profit (works on the high street, why not in a field).
You soon learn that image is most important thing these days, stick an old 45rpm single in a box and try to sell it for 10p you don't get any takers, yet put it in a new 5p plastic sleeve and label it "rare only £3" and someone will try and knock you down to £2.50 and think they've got a bargain? it's a crazy world.
Politicians
Politicians are crooks shock!!
The only shock is that it until it's front page news most of the British public didn't seem to know or care? Even now only 48% of the country think they're dishonest?
I think I've spent most of my life in the knowledge that MP's are parasites living off the public, so I struggle to believe anyone thought they were honest.
Quote
Politics (pronounced "sc-um-ba-gs"): noun; from the Latin words Poli meaning "many" and Tics meaning "bloodsuckers".
The only shock is that it until it's front page news most of the British public didn't seem to know or care? Even now only 48% of the country think they're dishonest?
I think I've spent most of my life in the knowledge that MP's are parasites living off the public, so I struggle to believe anyone thought they were honest.
Quote
Politics (pronounced "sc-um-ba-gs"): noun; from the Latin words Poli meaning "many" and Tics meaning "bloodsuckers".
Back Again
Oh well time's come to update this blog now I'm back with the cyber crowd.
Still got no money and no job but life continues (with a struggle).
I hear things are looking up? although my own family are now all in the same boat as me.
The wife's 2 brothers have both lost their jobs with large companies recently (one with Virgin who are not my favourite people at the moment), my eldest son has been laid off from his job (replaced by someone who was willing to work for half his pay).
Even the mother-in-laws ironing business has collapsed as people have started ironing their own clothes (or don't bother like me).
Still coping well though as me and the wife have lived just above poverty for most of our married life apart from the last 5 years where things went very well, so it's just a return to a lifestyle we're used to, unkike the rest of the family who seem to close to breakdown.
Anyway here's a few things that have been on my mind recently :)
Still got no money and no job but life continues (with a struggle).
I hear things are looking up? although my own family are now all in the same boat as me.
The wife's 2 brothers have both lost their jobs with large companies recently (one with Virgin who are not my favourite people at the moment), my eldest son has been laid off from his job (replaced by someone who was willing to work for half his pay).
Even the mother-in-laws ironing business has collapsed as people have started ironing their own clothes (or don't bother like me).
Still coping well though as me and the wife have lived just above poverty for most of our married life apart from the last 5 years where things went very well, so it's just a return to a lifestyle we're used to, unkike the rest of the family who seem to close to breakdown.
Anyway here's a few things that have been on my mind recently :)
Friday, 6 February 2009
Back To The Basics
A lack of money has forced me back into a hobby I had given up for over 12 years - Boot sales.
When you're earning ok the thought of getting up at 5am on a cold frosty Sunday morning doesn't really appeal but faced with a lack of basic necessities like food and electric it sort of forces the hand.
Something that I'd forgotten was how much I actually enjoyed the experience, not the getting up in the dark, or loading my car full of stuff, or the standing around in the freezing cold, and especially not the fact you have to hand over £8-£9 before you've taken a penny to just be there, no it's the meeting people I enjoy talking to complete strangers about everything and anything and seeing people I hadn't met in years.
When I used to do them before I mainly sold vinyl records and assorted junk that I'd polished up and presented in a way that made it appealing to the bargain hunters, this time it seemed like a good way of clearing those hundreds of videos I seem to have collected and never watch plus a large selection of CD's that I never play (most music gets played through the PC these days).
Thought of pricing the vids at 50p each but soon found out the going rate was 10-20p each (they were going for £2-£3 when I was selling before).
The CD's have held their price usually £2-£3 each so as I've ripped them all to my computer and they're not likely to be played again this seems reasonable.
I've been slowly going through my loft for some of the old junk that was left from years back plus being someone that hates to throw anything out if I feel I could make a few pence for it I have a lot to choose from.
Anyway I did my first one just after Christmas on a frost covered car park locally and despite a lack of people I ended up making a profit of just under a hundred quid :)
Back to the same place the following week and the weather was better and more people turned up but this time it was a bit of a disaster as I only made about £30 profit, so the following week it was off to a different place which backfired again as the icy cold morning saw most people staying in bed and I was lucky to make £25 and most of that was after the other 10 sellers had all given up and gone home early.
Last Sunday started out bad as snow was threatened and it was bitterly cold, one of the better boot sales about 20 miles away had advertised they were open so I headed off to get their early but when I arrived I found an empty field, I came back passing all the old boot sale sites I knew and all were closed so I end up back at the local place, so I'm a fivers worth of petrol down and the pitch money as well.
Luckily the few people who'd come out were buying and I made about £25 in the first hour to make it worthwhile but a few snow flurries and a biting wind soon had everyone leaving.
The guy next to me had piles of videos which after I showed an interest he offered to me for a tenner the lot, maybe later I told him.
About eleven and the buyers had all disappeared so he offers me the films again for a fiver and I offer him £3 which he accepts, 50p buys me two large trays full of paperbacks he's struggling to sell and I get a set of golf clubs and some other stuff thrown in.
This little deal has got me right back into the swing and I'm confident that weather permitting things will improve over the coming weeks, I've come home with £30 more than if I'd stayed in bed and twice as much stuff than I'd taken, the additional items although not of a high value tend to attract the punters.
When you're earning ok the thought of getting up at 5am on a cold frosty Sunday morning doesn't really appeal but faced with a lack of basic necessities like food and electric it sort of forces the hand.
Something that I'd forgotten was how much I actually enjoyed the experience, not the getting up in the dark, or loading my car full of stuff, or the standing around in the freezing cold, and especially not the fact you have to hand over £8-£9 before you've taken a penny to just be there, no it's the meeting people I enjoy talking to complete strangers about everything and anything and seeing people I hadn't met in years.
When I used to do them before I mainly sold vinyl records and assorted junk that I'd polished up and presented in a way that made it appealing to the bargain hunters, this time it seemed like a good way of clearing those hundreds of videos I seem to have collected and never watch plus a large selection of CD's that I never play (most music gets played through the PC these days).
Thought of pricing the vids at 50p each but soon found out the going rate was 10-20p each (they were going for £2-£3 when I was selling before).
The CD's have held their price usually £2-£3 each so as I've ripped them all to my computer and they're not likely to be played again this seems reasonable.
I've been slowly going through my loft for some of the old junk that was left from years back plus being someone that hates to throw anything out if I feel I could make a few pence for it I have a lot to choose from.
Anyway I did my first one just after Christmas on a frost covered car park locally and despite a lack of people I ended up making a profit of just under a hundred quid :)
Back to the same place the following week and the weather was better and more people turned up but this time it was a bit of a disaster as I only made about £30 profit, so the following week it was off to a different place which backfired again as the icy cold morning saw most people staying in bed and I was lucky to make £25 and most of that was after the other 10 sellers had all given up and gone home early.
Last Sunday started out bad as snow was threatened and it was bitterly cold, one of the better boot sales about 20 miles away had advertised they were open so I headed off to get their early but when I arrived I found an empty field, I came back passing all the old boot sale sites I knew and all were closed so I end up back at the local place, so I'm a fivers worth of petrol down and the pitch money as well.
Luckily the few people who'd come out were buying and I made about £25 in the first hour to make it worthwhile but a few snow flurries and a biting wind soon had everyone leaving.
The guy next to me had piles of videos which after I showed an interest he offered to me for a tenner the lot, maybe later I told him.
About eleven and the buyers had all disappeared so he offers me the films again for a fiver and I offer him £3 which he accepts, 50p buys me two large trays full of paperbacks he's struggling to sell and I get a set of golf clubs and some other stuff thrown in.
This little deal has got me right back into the swing and I'm confident that weather permitting things will improve over the coming weeks, I've come home with £30 more than if I'd stayed in bed and twice as much stuff than I'd taken, the additional items although not of a high value tend to attract the punters.
Tuesday, 13 January 2009
Signing On
Well today was the day I had to sign on for the first time in a lot of years.
I had submitted my claim nearly a month ago and have yet to hear from them or get a penny :(
The wife and I had signing on times of 2.05 and 2.10pm so we turn up at 2pm and ask where we have to go? as the layout is all open plan and not as regimented as it used to be.
We are finally shown who to see and arrive at her desk at 2.06pm and greeted with "you're late, I only have 5 minute time slots", so I showed her the time and pointed out mine was 2.10pm so I was actually early and as we are man and wife we could do it together.
But Miss stroppy moo wasn't happy and insisted on treating us like low life scum :(
"What jobs have you applied for" she says, so I get out the e-mails sent to me by the online job search company and a copy of the local paper with the 2 jobs I had rung up about but I'm stopped in my tracks because I haven't written it down on the special "looking for work" form that they didn't give me on my initial interview! "you have to put it on this form" she says, so I show her all the paperwork they gave me and sure enough I didn't have one.
Next I ask when I'm likely to receive any benefits as I had to borrow money to get to the job centre as we are completely broke and it's been a month, she mentions something about the wrong signing day being listed on the computer? and that I have to talk to benefits "so where abouts do I talk to them?" I ask and she points out some telephones "go over there and press button B".
So off we go to the phones, there are two labelled benefits and one has an out of order sign on it, also there is a queue of people waiting for it.
I patiently wait and eventually get to use it, I press button B and get a choice of options jobseekers is no.2 so I press 2 and get the message "all operators are busy please ring back later", I try again and the same message so I try option 1 instead and get a real person :)
after telling me I'd called the wrong department I explained the problem and unlike her colleague she was very helpful and helped me through the process.
My claim still hadn't been processed (as it takes ten days), I pointed out it had been 29 days so she agreed to label it as urgent and I "might" hear from them this week.
Makes you wonder how so many people are supposed to be getting money from them by fraud when it is this hard to get a penny from them with a genuine claim?
I had submitted my claim nearly a month ago and have yet to hear from them or get a penny :(
The wife and I had signing on times of 2.05 and 2.10pm so we turn up at 2pm and ask where we have to go? as the layout is all open plan and not as regimented as it used to be.
We are finally shown who to see and arrive at her desk at 2.06pm and greeted with "you're late, I only have 5 minute time slots", so I showed her the time and pointed out mine was 2.10pm so I was actually early and as we are man and wife we could do it together.
But Miss stroppy moo wasn't happy and insisted on treating us like low life scum :(
"What jobs have you applied for" she says, so I get out the e-mails sent to me by the online job search company and a copy of the local paper with the 2 jobs I had rung up about but I'm stopped in my tracks because I haven't written it down on the special "looking for work" form that they didn't give me on my initial interview! "you have to put it on this form" she says, so I show her all the paperwork they gave me and sure enough I didn't have one.
Next I ask when I'm likely to receive any benefits as I had to borrow money to get to the job centre as we are completely broke and it's been a month, she mentions something about the wrong signing day being listed on the computer? and that I have to talk to benefits "so where abouts do I talk to them?" I ask and she points out some telephones "go over there and press button B".
So off we go to the phones, there are two labelled benefits and one has an out of order sign on it, also there is a queue of people waiting for it.
I patiently wait and eventually get to use it, I press button B and get a choice of options jobseekers is no.2 so I press 2 and get the message "all operators are busy please ring back later", I try again and the same message so I try option 1 instead and get a real person :)
after telling me I'd called the wrong department I explained the problem and unlike her colleague she was very helpful and helped me through the process.
My claim still hadn't been processed (as it takes ten days), I pointed out it had been 29 days so she agreed to label it as urgent and I "might" hear from them this week.
Makes you wonder how so many people are supposed to be getting money from them by fraud when it is this hard to get a penny from them with a genuine claim?
Sunday, 4 January 2009
The Job Search
Have applied for a few local jobs, but yet to hear anything :(
So I registered with an online employment agency which is supposedly the biggest in the UK.
Not a great start as I specified a travelling distance of up to 30 miles, which is usually about an hour in rush hour which seemed reasonable.
So they've sent me the same 2 jobs every day since registering, the first reasonably local which I applied for straight away through them, despite this they send it to me again every day.
The second that they advise me to apply for is in Slough which is 60 miles away as the crow flies or 76 miles by road if you avoid central London, also the job has a requirement of speaking fluent German and I indicated I only had basic French as a language skill.
Not promising so far :(
So I registered with an online employment agency which is supposedly the biggest in the UK.
Not a great start as I specified a travelling distance of up to 30 miles, which is usually about an hour in rush hour which seemed reasonable.
So they've sent me the same 2 jobs every day since registering, the first reasonably local which I applied for straight away through them, despite this they send it to me again every day.
The second that they advise me to apply for is in Slough which is 60 miles away as the crow flies or 76 miles by road if you avoid central London, also the job has a requirement of speaking fluent German and I indicated I only had basic French as a language skill.
Not promising so far :(
Friday, 2 January 2009
2009 - Up Shit Creek Without A Paddle
Well I'll wish anyone who reads this a Happy New Year and hope you have a good one.For myself it's a case of the only way is up (although there is a possibility of dropping some more).
So I'm out of a job and almost penniless due to a combination of pride, stupidity, over generosity, and generally burying my head in the sand for the last 6 months.
I finally signed on as unemployed just before Christmas but it seems I have to wait till mid January to get a penny, and I expect to have to answer a lot more questions before that as they've failed to contact me in this last 3 weeks?
The bank cancelling my overdraft was the final nail in my stubborn resistance to claiming benefits (although I've been eligible for 6 months), pride or stupidity made me believe I could still bring in the money without going back into the mind numbing employment of previous years but I failed.
My hobby of online gambling brings in the money but not enough to survive on, (before anyone thinks I've gambled my money away I can honestly say I'm one of the few who uses a common sense approach to it and have made a tidy profit over the years) I operate a very methodical low risk low stake policy which on average brings in £50-£100 a week profit but for the hours spent it's not a good hourly rate, and to be honest I've never really liked horse racing so after a few hours of play I'm bored witless, also being at home has so many other distractions so I really don't spend the time I should on my one means of income.
Over generosity is another problem, much as I love my kids between them I've loaned them thousands of pounds which they promised to pay back but I've yet to see a penny, and as they are my family I don't want to pressure them as they're not really making enough themselves.
After 15+ years of solid working since my last period of unemployment it's been a nice break and I had the finances to cover it for the early part, but it's time to get back into work and this is the part I'm getting worried about as most jobs I've looked at are offering salaries which are a fraction of what I was earning 2 years ago, and the lack of any replies to my applications is leading me to think the age thing is a problem? when I last applied for work I was early thirties now I'm late forties although I don't feel any different and I certainly know more than I did then.
The job centre has been an experience as the people I've dealt with all seemed computer illiterate and lacking in people skills, so when I asked what jobs I could do it was hard not to say "yours" :)
The last woman I spoke to there seemed to lack any experience of the real world as she looked at my CV and saw I'd got certificates for car maintenance and told me most surgeons had started out as car mechanics due to their ability to work with their hands??, I couldn't resist telling her to put my name down for a surgical post (I've seen Holby City so it should be a doddle) :)
My computer skills are also a problem as my only qualification was gained over 25 years ago in the days of main frames, and despite using computers nearly every day since then it doesn't look as good as most modern qualifications.
The things I'm really good at with computers (always first point of call with the 200+ workers at my last job) tend to be slightly illegal so don't sit well with employers, A life of crime beckoned but I'm just to damn honest to profit from illegal activities so I'm probably screwed.
Anyway as 2009 begins I've got £4.39 and the remnants of some tobacco in my rolly tin, no job, no benefits, no money in the bank, credit card maxed out, a pile of bills, a sick wife and a dodgy arm, Surely the only way is up?
The strange thing about all this is that I'm now getting the buzz I haven't had since I was in this situation in the early nineties, money in the bank with a regular job and a cosy lifestyle tends to put your brain into neutral, now it's finally got into gear and I feel more alive than I have in years?
Might be my last post for a while as it's only a matter of time till the cable company cut me off as I cancelled their direct debit, and I need to be nice to the mortgage company to keep possession of this place.
Keep smiling people, I will :)
Saturday, 13 December 2008
Where does the Time go?
Not sure whether it's an age thing but the days, months and years seem to just fly by for me.
Dropped my son off at Uni in September and it seems like only a few weeks back, but he's back tomorrow after over 3 months of being away.
The wife's big operation was five months ago and that also seems like only weeks ago.
Has the world speeded up or are the things I do nowadays responsible, watching TV, using the internet etc are all time consuming while giving the impression you haven't achieved anything, so is my brain relating achievment to time periods as in "he's only done 2 weeks work in the last 3 months, so it's only been 2 weeks"?
I know what I mean.... haha
Dropped my son off at Uni in September and it seems like only a few weeks back, but he's back tomorrow after over 3 months of being away.
The wife's big operation was five months ago and that also seems like only weeks ago.
Has the world speeded up or are the things I do nowadays responsible, watching TV, using the internet etc are all time consuming while giving the impression you haven't achieved anything, so is my brain relating achievment to time periods as in "he's only done 2 weeks work in the last 3 months, so it's only been 2 weeks"?
I know what I mean.... haha
Junk Spam Whatever
I wonder what the chances are that the people who have sent me all that junk mail recently read my little rant the other day?
Just seemed strange that I've just checked my mailbox and not one single mail about Viagra, Rolexes or College degrees were there, usually it's at least ten per day at the minimum.
Got my customary bank scam one which was kinda funny as the link to verify my account had an address leading to Scubapirate.com which seemed appropriate :)
Just seemed strange that I've just checked my mailbox and not one single mail about Viagra, Rolexes or College degrees were there, usually it's at least ten per day at the minimum.
Got my customary bank scam one which was kinda funny as the link to verify my account had an address leading to Scubapirate.com which seemed appropriate :)
Thursday, 11 December 2008
Bargain?
So all the high street shops are offering massive discounts in the attempt to get credit crunch hit families in before Christmas.
Now I'm cynical of all "half price" and "60% off" type discounts as over and over again I see products still costing the same as they used to before the discounts, there are laws against this but the department that enforces it must be totally overrun as every store is doing it.
It was nice to be proved right again today as the wife went to buy my Daughter-in-law a Christmas present, she had checked in an old Argos catalogue we had (the early 2008 edition) and the price was £14.99, so she went in and was shocked to see the price had doubled to £29.99 in the new catalogue but on checking the with the cashier she found out that there was a 50% Christmas discount on the item bringing the price down to the original £14.99 .... that was lucky!!
Who said Rip Off, no the increase during the year was obviously down to the price of Oil wasn't it? I know it's only a jewellery item but there must be a legitimate reason for the 100% increase during the year.
Sigh
Now I'm cynical of all "half price" and "60% off" type discounts as over and over again I see products still costing the same as they used to before the discounts, there are laws against this but the department that enforces it must be totally overrun as every store is doing it.
It was nice to be proved right again today as the wife went to buy my Daughter-in-law a Christmas present, she had checked in an old Argos catalogue we had (the early 2008 edition) and the price was £14.99, so she went in and was shocked to see the price had doubled to £29.99 in the new catalogue but on checking the with the cashier she found out that there was a 50% Christmas discount on the item bringing the price down to the original £14.99 .... that was lucky!!
Who said Rip Off, no the increase during the year was obviously down to the price of Oil wasn't it? I know it's only a jewellery item but there must be a legitimate reason for the 100% increase during the year.
Sigh
Oliver Postgate RIP
Strange thing happened the other night while watching the news on TV, they announced the death of Oliver Postgate and I suddenly felt incredibly sad :(
Know I didn't know the man and to be honest I probably would never have even recognised him if I saw him, but I felt the sort of sadness you only get when a loved family member or close friend dies.
For anyone who hasn't heard of him he was the creator of classic kids animations in the 1960/70's such as the Clangers, Ivor the Engine, Bagpuss and Noggin the Nog amongst others.
The sort of TV programmes I grew up with and will still sit and watch if they appear on Telly, I even bought the box set of Clangers on DVD.
This was the sort of innocent childrens TV that is now sadly missing, you knew it was cheaply made but you didn't care because that's what gave it it's charm.
The closest thing I can think of today is Nick Park's plasticine animations such as Wallace and Gromit and Creature Comforts.
Here's a classic Clangers episode
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=wfsMZKwqw3w
Junk Mail
Since having a computer and e-mail I've always received junk mail but lately it's getting ridiculous.The pic (left) is a small selection of the 200+ junk mails I've had in the last week, I don't know any of the people in the "from" or "to" boxes and if your name is there it probably means your computer is carrying some sort of trojan / mailing worm and you need to run anti-virus.
I hate to think just how much if the internet's bandwidth is being wasted with this amount of junk flying around, surely it's only a matter of time before this and all the annoying advertising on every web site kills the net.
About 5 years ago I could happily surf the web with a 33.6 kb modem connection, now it's not much faster despite a 20 gb broadband connection due to every site having a multitude of flashing adverts and pop-ups.
Reasons for my increase in junk mail over the last couple of months? I've put it down to one or two things (or both).
In this period I joined Facebook, and I used my e-mail address on one of those car insurance comparison sites.
Just in case anyone sending out this shit cares!!
I don't need Viagra or Cialex (I have no problems in that area)
I don't want a replica Rolex (My old Timex works fine)
I don't need a genuine college degree (because it's not genuine is it).
Friday, 5 December 2008
What a bunch of Bankers
So I go into the bank today (the one who cut my overdraft after I used it for the first time in years) to deposit the money they wanted after withdrawing it from my gambling account.
I decide not to have an argument over their pretty shitty way of treating me so I'm reasonably calm at the counter and then the assistant says to me "have you received a leaflet about the banking changes?", "No" I say "what's changed", so he tells me that I can no longer draw out less than £30 and I can't ask for a mini statement at the counter.
Cue a mood swing "So you're going to cut your bank charges then due to the reduced service are you", he replies "no sir it's to reduce waiting time at the counter" so I point out that it takes as long to withdraw £30 as it does £10 and possibly longer.
He gives me the raised eyes look so I then ask what happens if I only have £29 and he says I can still use the ATM, "and what if I only have £9.99 how do I get my money then as the ATM has a £10 minimum" "surely you stopping me from withdrawing MY money is theft and must be against the law".
Don't know if he's buzzed for help but another member of staff appears and rescues him by taking me off to her desk.
I make my point and also tell her what I think about their overdraft policy but as usual it's banging your head against a brick wall with these people.
I still regret the day all those years ago when my work told me that they weren't paying us in cash anymore and we had to open bank accounts.
I decide not to have an argument over their pretty shitty way of treating me so I'm reasonably calm at the counter and then the assistant says to me "have you received a leaflet about the banking changes?", "No" I say "what's changed", so he tells me that I can no longer draw out less than £30 and I can't ask for a mini statement at the counter.
Cue a mood swing "So you're going to cut your bank charges then due to the reduced service are you", he replies "no sir it's to reduce waiting time at the counter" so I point out that it takes as long to withdraw £30 as it does £10 and possibly longer.
He gives me the raised eyes look so I then ask what happens if I only have £29 and he says I can still use the ATM, "and what if I only have £9.99 how do I get my money then as the ATM has a £10 minimum" "surely you stopping me from withdrawing MY money is theft and must be against the law".
Don't know if he's buzzed for help but another member of staff appears and rescues him by taking me off to her desk.
I make my point and also tell her what I think about their overdraft policy but as usual it's banging your head against a brick wall with these people.
I still regret the day all those years ago when my work told me that they weren't paying us in cash anymore and we had to open bank accounts.
Thursday, 4 December 2008
Ban DVD's
20+ Years of video collection (and even some bought at full price).
Now they're all worth less than 50p each :(
Might just be me? but some of the later ones were pretty poor quality even when bought new.
Would that have been the companies trying to persaude you that you needed to buy them all again on DVD for top quality?
I wonder if the quality of DVD's will now start to diminish in the hope that we all go out and buy replacement Blu Ray discs?
A New Collection
New health warnings on my ciggie packs.
Have to smoke more so I can get the full set.
Wednesday, 3 December 2008
Bank Whores
They love you when you've got plenty of money, but as soon as time's get hard they just want to drop you.
Not the first time it's happened to me but it still pisses you off, when I had a fair amount of money with them and a regular wage it was "we love you" and here's a bigger overdraft even though you've never asked for it.
But as soon as you go overdrawn its "we've had to review your overdraft and we've decided to reduce it, so please pay in the required amount to keep your balance in credit".
I assume they think I have bank accounts elsewhere with thousands of pounds of spare cash!!
A nice touch by them was to have my new zero overdraft in effect from the 26th December.. Merry Christmas.
'kin Bastards
Not the first time it's happened to me but it still pisses you off, when I had a fair amount of money with them and a regular wage it was "we love you" and here's a bigger overdraft even though you've never asked for it.
But as soon as you go overdrawn its "we've had to review your overdraft and we've decided to reduce it, so please pay in the required amount to keep your balance in credit".
I assume they think I have bank accounts elsewhere with thousands of pounds of spare cash!!
A nice touch by them was to have my new zero overdraft in effect from the 26th December.. Merry Christmas.
'kin Bastards
Insurance Vandals
Received an e-mail from Direct Line offering me car insurance with vandalism cover.
The headline was "are you worried about the car vandalism in my town", now I hadn't heard about any vandalism in my town so wondered why they mentioned it?
Three days later I read the local paper and it reported a spate of car vandalism had occurred the day before in my town.
Coincidence maybe?
I can't help thinking that some marketing type had bunged a few quid into the hands of a local hoodie gang and told them to go round and smash a few motors, but they had obviously taken longer than expected to do it so the e-mails had already been sent.
Of course this is just my opinion.
The headline was "are you worried about the car vandalism in my town", now I hadn't heard about any vandalism in my town so wondered why they mentioned it?
Three days later I read the local paper and it reported a spate of car vandalism had occurred the day before in my town.
Coincidence maybe?
I can't help thinking that some marketing type had bunged a few quid into the hands of a local hoodie gang and told them to go round and smash a few motors, but they had obviously taken longer than expected to do it so the e-mails had already been sent.
Of course this is just my opinion.
Wannabe Gangster
I've finally found a reason for using Facebook, the addictive games.
Loads of gangster games like Mob Wars, Mafia wars, Gang wars etc where you can gather together mobs of "friends" (or people you'll never ever meet or know) to go around committing various crimes and murders in this virtual world.
Bad taste yes, but really addictive.
Tesco Shares
The wife cashed in her Tesco shares a couple of months back as she wanted to get another car (or old banger).
She'd accrued them while working for Tesco's for many years and they were worth about a grand.
I thought she was mad as one company in Britain that seems to always be on the up is Tesco's due to them taking over every free space and garage around (we have around ten of their outlets within five miles of us).
But it seems that people have finally realised that Tesco's are ripping people off (with their prices now looking more like Waitrose), where they used to be one of the cheaper supermarkets.
The share price has tumbled as worries over stores like Aldi, Iceland and Lidl who are taking Tesco's customers.
At times in the past I have shopped in all of them and Aldi and Iceland are pretty good although I'd have to be desperate to shop at Lidl's (personal opinion based on some right crap I bought there a few years back).
I think a lot of people are following my style of shopping where you buy the products on offer at a specific shop and don't touch the other goods which they've raised the prices on to cover the advertised bargains.
So the upshot is that she has made a couple of hundred pounds more than if she cashed them in now :)
she should be a stockbroker with that financial insight.
She'd accrued them while working for Tesco's for many years and they were worth about a grand.
I thought she was mad as one company in Britain that seems to always be on the up is Tesco's due to them taking over every free space and garage around (we have around ten of their outlets within five miles of us).
But it seems that people have finally realised that Tesco's are ripping people off (with their prices now looking more like Waitrose), where they used to be one of the cheaper supermarkets.
The share price has tumbled as worries over stores like Aldi, Iceland and Lidl who are taking Tesco's customers.
At times in the past I have shopped in all of them and Aldi and Iceland are pretty good although I'd have to be desperate to shop at Lidl's (personal opinion based on some right crap I bought there a few years back).
I think a lot of people are following my style of shopping where you buy the products on offer at a specific shop and don't touch the other goods which they've raised the prices on to cover the advertised bargains.
So the upshot is that she has made a couple of hundred pounds more than if she cashed them in now :)
she should be a stockbroker with that financial insight.
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