An Advert That’s A Waste Of Money
This advert in Hackney was placed in the ideal position, to be read by those in the front seats on the top deck of a double-deck bus, which is from where I took the picture.
An Adert That’s A Waste Of Money
So for a start, a lot of the people that view the advert are like me and don’t have a car.
But surely these days drivers buy fuel totally on price and that generally means a supermarket.
I suspect, if you find someone, who says that he or she was influenced by this particular advert to change to Esso, I’ll show you a liar.
The Dubai Vodka Set
I bet the sheikhs in Dubai like this story.
It shows what a liberal bunch they are to allow such excess and drinking of vodka.
The writer, Paul Moss, didn’t describe those that invited him to dinner, but various obvious images come to mind.
I went to Dubai once, and there was little of the historic Dubai to visit. The best bit was the ferries or abras across Dubai Creek.
A Mistake On A London Bus
London buses are nearly always built with an entrance at the front and an exit in the middle. This post gives a good view of the two doors on the bus in the foreground.
I was on a 205 going from Kings Cross to Marylebone and sitting next to me at the back, were a couple from Sheffield, who wanted to go to the gardens at Regent’s Park.
The bus was a bit crowded and when it came time to get off,they walked right to the front door, before the driver, told them that you exit London buses from the middle.
The muddle in the middle of the bus as they returned, illustrated one reason, why buses should have an entrance and an exit.
This separation also makes it easy to load one baby buggy, as another is getting off and it tends to push the low life away from the driver.
I can’t for the life of me understand, why it isn’t compulsory for buses to have separate entrances and exits.
Strangely though, with New Buses for London, the drill now seems to be that you wait for everybody to get out at the entrance nearest you and then step in. People also tend to avoid getting on through the middle door and of course the conductor marshalls the passengers in busy times.
The Stairway To Heaven Memorial At Bethnall Green
The memorial to those killed in the Bethnal Green Underground Disaster is now almost complete.
According to the Stairway To Heaven Memorial Trust website, only the staircase needs completing.
My I Love De Beauvoir Bag
I’ve just got this I Love De Beauvoir bag.
My I Love De Beauvoir Bag
My only problem with it is the dreadful self checkouts in Waitrose at the Angel, as it refuses to sit on the tiny shelf.
I got mine from the De Beauvoir Association.
Soldiers In The Classroom
There has been some discussion about whether ex- soldiers should be fast-tracked as teachers. The story is here on the BBC. Here’s the first bit.
Former armed forces personnel without degrees will be fast-tracked into teaching in England under a new government programme.
The Troops to Teachers scheme will help “highly skilled” former military personnel become teachers within two years.
As someone, who was at school in London in the 1950s and 1960s, a lot of our teachers had either fought in the Second World War or suffered air-raids. I think these experiences made them better teachers,as they would always add anecdotes and stories into lessons.
So I’m very much in favour of the Troops to Teachers scheme, provided that the right soldiers are re-trained.
Sequins On My Balcony
I went to see this entertainment at the Rosemary Branch last night.
To say it was uplifting would be an understatement, but to anybody who’s been affected by breast cancer either personally or through a family member or friend’s suffering, Yvette Cowles got it absolutely right in my view. I have never had any cancer, that I know of, but what Yvette said about fighting breast cancer, could have applied so much to C and her successful fight against her lump.
Nothing though, helped in C’s unsuccessful fight against the cancer that killed her.
Real Neighbourhood Policing
I like this story from the West Midlands. Here’s the first bit.
He’s a beat bobby with a difference – but Pc Ian Northcott stopped shoppers in their tracks when he started belting out Oasis hit Wonderwall outside a busy shopping centre.
We need more of this interactive neighbourhood policing.
I am reminded of a story years ago, when a police team got conned into a five-a-side football tournament by the local vicar. To say the football was rough would be an understatement. But the officer who told me the story, says some those they kicked and were kicked by, gave them information to catch a few felons.
An Acadian Hero
Lyse Doucet is one of my favourite broadcasters and in some ways a bit of a hero, as she seems so unfazed of all the horrors she has faced, just being the total professional.
Like many I suppose, I’d always assumed she was from Quebec, due to her French name and her accent. But she is actually an Acadian, a group, who I knew little of until I looked Lyse up last night. Wikipedia says this.
Although today most of the Acadians and Québécois are French speaking (francophone) Canadians, Acadia was a distinct colony of New France, and was geographically and administratively separate from the French colony of Canada (modern day Quebec), which led to Acadians and Québécois developing two rather distinct histories and cultures.
I first became aware of Lyse, when she was reporting from Iran. In one report for From Our Own Correspondent, she described how the Russian Ambassador at a news conference, had started chatting her up, and was totally surprised, when he found the lady in the burkha was Canadian.
I do find it strange that two of my heroes are called Lyse or Lise. The other is of course Lise Meitner.
The Real On-Line Criminals
This article about unfair terms and conditions in agreements with on-line retailers is enlightening.
The companies they name and shame are Microsoft, Netflix and Apple. I never deal with any of these on-line.
I think the only company, I regurlarly give money to over the Internet, that doesn’t have physical presence, is WordPress, where I host this blog. I just give them a few dollars for extra storage and so I can use video. But as Facebook found with Instagram, I would vote with my fingers and move, if they did something I really didn’t like.
The article on the BBC, does give the name of a project that rates the Terms and Conditions of web sites call TOS; DR. It’s here.
The Anonymous Widower 