28 November 2016

Stationery spending

Linked foolscap suspension files - £30.00.  Nope.

20 x mini foldback clips to link together my existing suspension files - 14p.  Yep.

I win.

29 September 2016

Drive like a dick season has arrived

What is it about autumn that makes people drive like dicks?  This morning, I've seen a bloke in a van, holding his phone in his left hand, placed against his right ear, whilst trying to do a U-turn on a busy road.  I was cut up by a bimbo, who then went straight through two red lights, and then had to wait whilst someone driving on the wrong side of the road made a decision whether to get on the right side of the road, or just stop in the middle of the road.  Then there's the plethora of people who don't know what a handbrake is for, and just sit there either blinding you with their brake lights, or holding it on the clutch crawling forwards and slipping backwards.  I hate this time of year on the roads.

18 June 2016

Dark Morris Dancer

"Morris dancing?  Isn't that all about hankie waving and prancing about?" I hear you say.  Well, yes, if you're watching Cotswold Morris, then some of it is.  But there's other types of morris too, and my particular favourite is Border Morris.  


I would argue that Border Morris performers have more fun than the other types, but that's because I am one, and my side is made up of a wonderful bunch of fabulous people who are absolutely potty.  Rain or shine, wind or hail, these vivacious folk can be found causing mayhem on the streets of Britain, scaring small children and loitering within tents (beer tents, usually) at folk festivals.

One of this hardy breed is the wonderful Dark Morris Dancer, whose funny and informative blog is one of my 'must reads'. It tells me of the things I missed when I wasn't there and it tells me of the things I missed because I was there, but was too drunk to notice. The Dark Morris Dancer also happens to be a friend of mine, a fellow Crow and an all-round good egg.

Head off to the Dark Morris Dancer blog to read tales of dancing, drinking, music and fun. You never know, you might feel inspired to come and join us in a field somewhere.



07 June 2016

Attempt to go plastic-free - update

Our Council won't recycle any plastics other than those which are bottle-shaped.  So, even if a yoghurt pot or a food tray is the same type of plastic as a milk bottle, they won't take it.  I decided to try to avoid buying food wrapped in plastic, but it turned out to be much harder than I had thought.

So many things come wrapped in plastic, probably because it's easier to stack and display, and even my attempts to buy as much as possible at the local market were thwarted by those horrible black polystyrene trays.  Since then, a new butcher has opened up on the market, and he sells meat loose in thin plastic bags, rather than using trays, so he's getting my business now,

In just one month, I gathered one black bin bag full of plastic food trays, yoghurt pots and other plastics which our Council won't recycle.  Eventually, my other half dropped a huge hint by leaving my bag of recycling right in the middle of the kitchen floor.  In the interest of peace, I decided it was time to dispose of it.

Knowing that one of the recycling centres nearby had a specific skip for these types of plastics, I set off to get rid of the bag.  However, the traffic was so bad that I diverted to the tip nearer to work instead.  When I got there, I couldn't find a receptacle for plastics, so I asked one of the site workers, who told me that they don't have one, and that I should throw it in the general waste skip.  I asked him why this was, and he said that few places will buy recycled plastic at the moment because 'new' plastic is cheap enough, so it is all sent to the Thermal Recovery Facility, where it is burnt in order to generate electricity.  The man also told me that the other site no longer recycles plastics either.

OK, so it's not recycling, but at least it's better than going into landfill.  I still think it's stupid that they won't recycle any plastics which are not bottle-shaped.  Other Councils manage it, so why can't we?

You were never me!

Why on earth do some people insist in using the word 'revert' instead of 'reply'?  

I've just had an email from someone who says they will revert to me by the end of the day.  

What?  

You were never me, so how can you revert to me?

09 April 2016

What the hell is 'plusness'?

TSB has an advert on the telly at the moment, advertising a new bank account.  Its says their new Plus Account has 'all that lovely plusness'.  Well, thanks for giving us all the information we need there then.  Did an eight years-old come up with that one?

11 March 2016

Trying to go plastic-free

Seeing as my local council is one which recycles only a very small selection of plastic types, I have decided to try to avoid buying the stuff in the first place.  They did tell me that it is burnt in order to produce power, but I'm not entirely happy with that, either.

As I do my food shopping mostly on my local, and excellent, market, I am able to buy all my fruit and vegetables loose, and the meat and fish wrapped in paper and then in a thin plastic bag.  It all goes into my one huge shopping bag, which I've had for about ten years now.

However, when I go to the supermarket, it's not so easy.  All the meat seems to come in plastic trays, sealed with film or shrink-wrapped in thick plastic.  Sometimes, products which come in a cardboard box will have a plastic tray inside, and I really don't see why they have to have one.  If something really needs some sort of reinforcement to protect it, can it not be done with better recyclable materials?  The Japanese art of origami can produce some amazingly strong structures.  Even just corrugated paper or cardboard is strong.  There's several companies out there who make fully recyclable cardboard packaging, so supermarket bosses should start looking at using them.  If more people chose not to buy stuff in plastic, then the supermarkets would have to take action.

So, anyway, I'm trying to reduce plastic packaging waste in my home.  Whatever I do manage to accumulate, I am putting in a bag to take to the recycling point at the supermarket.  Let's see how I get on.

06 March 2016

Black. Just black, please.

Why is it so difficult to find a pair of black trainers?  Just black.  No colours, no stripes, no white sole, no flashing lights, no sparkly bits, just plain old black.  What is wrong with just black?  Why do women's trainers always seem to have to have pastel colours involved?  I hate pink, I don't want baby blue, I just want black.  Size 9.  Narrow.