The Anonymous Widower

Men And Washing Machines

There’s an interesting survey about male clothes washing habits going the rounds and it reported in the Daily Mail.

I won’t disagree with the findings, but I always find the instructions on most domestics appliances unfathomable, unless you get out the instruction manual. And of course, you always forget where you have put them.

Most appliances have far more features than you’ll ever use, whereas if I ever designed anything, one of the aims would be to take someone with the intelligence of say a ten-year-old and expect them to work it without instructions, after a brief chat with someone, who understood how it worked.

My washer-dryer is pretty simple, except that the buttons are difficult with my hands and tend to have mind of their own.  But it has got many features, I’ve never used. i also fairly unique in that my mother taught me how to wash clothes by hand.

July 27, 2013 Posted by | World | , | Leave a comment

John Stephen Remembered

This plaque in memory of John Stephen was at the Southern end of Carnaby Street.

John Stephen Remembered

John Stephen Remembered

I csan remember some of his fashions from the 1960s, although I never bought anything.

June 10, 2013 Posted by | World | , , | Leave a comment

Is There A Cardigan Gene?

My father liked to wear cardigans and so does my son.  So is this in our genes?

I obviously don’t have that particular gene, as I’ve never worn a cardigan.

On the other hand, C had lots of them!

June 5, 2013 Posted by | World | , , | 1 Comment

I Get Turned Down For A Turn Up

I was talking to a friend, when she said that she had a dress that needed shortening.  She was also rather worried about getting the length right.

I suggested that she come round later in the week, and I pin it for her, as it is one of my skills, even if I haven’t used it in some years.  She could even take it to my dry cleaners down the road, where the owner’s mother does a good job, if the repairs she’s done for me are any guide.

It would have been a convenient time for me, as the table is still fairly clear.

The table is very stable and it must be countless times, that I’ve got C to stand there, whilst I got the length of one of her dresses just right. I used to sew them up for her, but for perhaps the last five years of her life, she got someone in Cambridge market to do the cutting and sewing.

At least in that case, it wasn’t my fault, if she didn’t like the new length of the dress.

Getting the length of a dress on a lady absolutely right, is very difficult. C’s problem, was that she had a very small waist for her height and it was very easy to get the proportions wrong, so in the end I usually relied on good old golden section.

In the end, my friend decided to take the dress to a dressmaker of whom she knew. Sometimes, it’s good not to be wanted, as if I’d got it wrong, I’d have been deep in it.

June 3, 2013 Posted by | World | | Leave a comment

Polycell Launch Underpants For Builders

This was reported in The Sunday Times.

Builders have long used Polycell to cover up unsightly cracks, so it was only a matter of time before the company launched its own underwear range. PolyPants have a high waistband to avoid revealing “builder’s bottom”.

A cartoonist friend, will have to redraw one of his best cartoons.

May 22, 2013 Posted by | World | , , | Leave a comment

Bikinis On The Buses

H & M seemed to have moved their adverts this year from bus shelters to the buses themselves.

Bikinis On The Buses

Bikinis On The Buses

I suppose, it’s more difficult to spray out adverts on the sides of buses.  Last year a lot of their adverts were defaced.

May 11, 2013 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , | Leave a comment

Something For Room 101

I know I have to have my decent clothes dry-cleaned, but why do they come back on a wire coat hanger wrapped in plastic?

Something For Room 101

Something For Room 101

If I was in charge of the world or even just the dry-cleaning bit of it, I’d find a better and more acceptable way for dry cleaning to be returned.

April 22, 2013 Posted by | World | | 2 Comments

Ladies’ Day At Aintree

As ever the weather didn’t cool the ardour of the Liverpudlian ladies at Ladies’ Day at Aintree yesterday.  There are pictures here.

There is no truth in the rumour, that the Royal Liverpool Hospital, had to deal with ten thousand drunken young ladies with hypothermia.

April 6, 2013 Posted by | Sport | , , , | Leave a comment

George Osborne Must Be Getting Paranoid

Those on the Left, blame George Osborne for all the country’s troubles.

So he is under the attack in two major stories this morning.

In the first story, it’s Osborne’s comments about convicted manslaughterer; Mick Philpott.

Mr Osborne said a debate was needed about whether the state should “subsidise lifestyles like that”.

But shadow chancellor Ed Balls condemned Mr Osborne’s comments as “a cynical act of a desperate chancellor”

I have a feeling, that most voters in the UK, except those living on benefits with umpteen children would agree with Osborne.  But then those in that group, probably wouldn’t have time to vote.

He is also brought to task, by getting into a car, that was illegally parked in a disabled space. Read about it here. It does appear he wasn’t driving,

But a Treasury source said Mr Osborne had been dropped off to buy lunch.

The unmarked police Land Rover was not driven by the chancellor at any point, added the source.

I bet Osborne wished he’d taken the train.  But then, those that want to get him, had a go at him when he did.

He must be getting to dread, saying anything or going anywhere!

It seems as if the job of Chancellor of the Exchequer has taken over from that of Home Secretary, as the most vilified job in Government.

But then Theresa May has a great advantage over George Osborne, in that she can be spun for her dress sense, as she was in this double-page story  in the Standard last night. George Osborne never got a headline like this.

Theresa May-nia: sharp-suited, well-heeled, the Home Secretary is on fighting form

Perhaps, he should wear a dress!

April 5, 2013 Posted by | Finance & Investment, News, Transport/Travel | , , , , | 2 Comments

Window Dressing In The Sun

I took this picture yesterday at Gap in Islington.

Window Dressing In The Sun

Window Dressing In The Sun

It was very cold and perhaps a sunny window was the best place to be.

April 3, 2013 Posted by | World | , , | Leave a comment