Archive for February, 2010
An Itch I Cannot Scratch
A few months ago I made my first ever visit to a Costco store. The huge American chain of membership cash & carry stores has branches all over the world; I broke my Costco virginity in the exotic climes of Milton Keynes.
In Costco MK I managed to pick up a few bargains for myself. Aside from a rather nice jacket and a really warm full-length coat, I saved a fair amount of money on a bulk-buy of red wine, a year’s supply of red onion chutney (eaten within a month) and a 2.5kg tin of corned beef (a Christmas present for my brother. He still hates me.). But the real saving came when I purchased one-hundred and forty-four Persil Bio Gel washing tablets for £16! At two tablets per wash, that’s seventy-two washes, which is a year’s worth for a singleton like me!
But there is a problem…
Since I started using the Persil washing tablets my clothes have become uncomfortably itchy. I’ve tried adding fabric softener and tried using only one tablet per wash, but it has made no difference – my clothes are itching me like crazy! Of course I could change my brand of washing tablet, unfortunately that would still leave me with about fifty washes-worth of these bloody Persil Bio scratch-tablets to get rid of. I’ve since reverted back to my usual cheap-o-Asda branded washing capsule things, saving the Persil itchy-tablets for washing any non-clothing items.
I’ve learned the lesson that some bargains are not as good as they seem.
Do I Want an iPad?
Do I want an iPad?
Yes, of course I do! It’s a new gadget, who doesn’t want to have new gadgets?
Will I buy an iPad?
No.
Well, maybe…
A Toast to a Toaster – UPDATE
I can confirm that my new toaster is a worthy replacement.
Look! It turned this:
Untoasted toast
Into this:
Toast
Job done!
A Toast to a Toaster
Back in the days when the World of Me was updated more frequently than the time it takes entire continents to shift, I confessed my undying love to the Tefal Avanti toaster. To recall, I absolutely loved the Avanti toaster; its even, high-speed toasting ability, multiple browning options and brushed aluminium casing assured that I would always remain in toast nirvana. And it wasn’t just me who’d been won over by the Avanti’s superior toasting ability, by pure chance I’d discovered that friends and family had also become acolytes to the way of the Avanti toaster as well!
It seemed that everyone and anyone had a Tefal Avanti Toaster.
Curse My Eyes
It was back in the mid-nineties that I discovered I was short-sighted. It was when I was at a Star Trek convention with my cousin Samantha.
That’s right, you read correctly, a Star Trek convention.
I discovered that I had poor vision when we were sat in a hot, sweaty conference room with a few hundred fellow Trekkies at the Leicester Holiday Inn. We were sat listening to various luminaries giving entertaining talks about their time in the Star Trek universe. The charming George ‘Mr. Sulu’ Takei was present, as was the rather witty Max Grodénchik (Deep Space Nine’s half-wit Ferengi ‘Rom’) who had managed to win the audience’s adulation with a comedic re-enactment of Ferengi mating rituals.