My New Shopping Bag
For some years, I’ve used some shopping bags, that were free with Waitrose’s Quick Check system. I no longer use the system and I don’t think it is available, in any of the branches near me. My last bag is on its last legs, but they do seem to work on the dreadful self-service tills at the Angel.They also are an easy one hand carry for my left hand and can generally cope with the biggest daily shop I do.
Yesterday, I was doing some shopping at their Canary Wharf branch and needed to carry it home on the Underground. As I didn’t have a bag with me, I didn’t fancy using a plastic carrier, as they aren’t good when they are full and I’m always frightened, that I’ll end up with shopping all over the tube or the bus. So I asked if they had any bags like the ones I used to use with Quick Check and they found this one at the back of a store.
My New Shopping Bag
I was charged two pounds, but I did get it home safely.
The trouble is it’s not trendy and modern. But it does have a large capacity and it does work well!
Replacing A Television
My 32 inch Sony television is now past its best, as it’s been on Radio 5 so much, the phosphor on the plasma screen has been damaged. I originally bought it in John lewis in Cambridge and when I moved, I mounted it on a John Lewis swing mount, so I could watch it in both my living room and the kitchen, when I’m cooking. The system works well and I can link it into any related device with ease to watch films on my laptop or BBC iPlayer.
So it would seem logical to upgrade it with something more modern, that had more than one HDMI port, an LED screen and perhaps some built-in smart technology. My watching habits are fairly simple, in that I never record programs for later viewing, but I do use iPlayer regularly. With the exception of sport, I never watch a channel with adverts. If I could pay a subscription for advert free television, I might watch programs like Downton Abbey. Incidentally, I’ve never seen an episode.
My reasoning suggested that a modern Sony of a maximum of 40 inches from John Lewis, that fitted the current bracket might be a good purchase.
But firstly, the Sony I thought I should buy, would appear to be difficult to fit on a swing mount. Apparently, it needs to go flat on the wall. So I suppose you can’t use it in buildings like lighthouses or windmills.
I then settled on a Samsung, but the John Lewis assistant, then told me, it would have to have a new bracket if they fitted it, despite the fact that the new bracket would be the same as my old one. I know it will be mounted on a very solid brick wall and the new television will be a lot lighter than the old television, but drilling a new set of holes is probably not a good idea.
I did buy the Samsung and I’ll fit it myself.
It does strike me though, that with new technology coming in regularly, many people will want to replace a television and will get rather annoyed, when they find they either can’t fit the obvious one of their favourite make or they need an unnecessary new bracket.
Memories Of Williams Brothers
Williams Brothers, was the grocery shop of choice of many in North London, in the 1960s. They had the odd supermarket, but most like the one I used to go to for my mother in Cockfosters were ones, where the assistant did the fetching and carrying.
What singled out Williams Brothers from other stores, was that for every pound you spent you got a token, which could be exchanged for money, when you got to a particular value.
Children loved all this and used the tokens, which were available in various denominations, in all sorts of games.
It does puzzle me, why this simple but probably expensive to run loyalty system, hasn’t made a comeback somewhere! After all, every coffee shop seems to have a loyalty scheme, for which you always misplace the card. Perhaps plastic tokens would be easier to collect.
In the end, Williams Brothers was taken over by Budgens.
Unacceptable Food Waste
Tesco are reporting that large quantities of good food is thrown away. The story is covered here on the BBC.
The problem isn’t that we waste food, but that supermarkets gear us up to buy large quantities of everything in a weekly shop.
I live in the city and although, I do have a mid-sized Sainsburys in walking distance, I prefer to take a bus to the Angel, when I need food.
I generally food shop two or three days at a time, planning what I need.
I use a lot of multi-use food, like Rachel’s yoghurt, that goes on my muesli and also acts as the sauce for my pasta.
I also buy what I need, like a single onion, three bananas or a ready prepared pack of potatoes. Only last week, I found a sandwich-sized pack of salami in Waitrose.
We need more small packs, so we can buy what we need.
As for salads, which is one of the biggest sources of food waste, I rarely eat them at home, but regularly I will have a salad for my lunch in a convenient Carluccio’s. As an example, their mozzarella fusa, which is a meal in itself, is £6.75. It probably isn’t much more expensive than buying the ingredients in a supermarket and making one myself, if you count the amount of food that will be wasted.
in some ways my biggest food shopping problem, is that I have a small badly-designed kitchen, with a fridge sized for a bed-sit, It doesn’t have a freezer, which is downstairs in my garage. This state of affairs, is because Jerry felt an enormous cooker was what was needed and much more important. I had hoped by now, that the kitchen would have been properly rebuilt.
And of course, I still throw away two much food.
John Lewis Pops Up In Islington
This shop has opened at the Angel for a few days.
The only thing you could say about it, it that it’s not very John Lewis!
The Iconic FIAT Factory At Lingotto
The FIAT factory at Lingotto is best remembered in the UK for its appearance in the Italian Job. I just had to visit.
I couldn’t find out how to get on the roof to see where the Minis had outrun the Italian police, so I explored the rather boring shopping centre and then returned to the centre of Turin to catch my train to Milan.
An Aladdin’s Cave For Coeliacs
I couldn’t believe it, when I saw this shop in the Piazza de Ferrari in Genoa.
Not for Genoa a small Free From section, but a whole shop.
As I’d forgotten my EatNakd biscuits, I stocked up for the journey.
Preston’s Chaotic High Street
I know that there are lots of road works, but Preston’s High Street wasn’t one of the best I’ve visited.
Preston High Street
Cars were still trying to get through the road works and shouldn’t they be in a car park somewhere? Even the Marks and Spencer was very tired and in the food department, there were no gluten-free sandwiches.
The biggest crime in my view, was the non-working clock that towered over the street. But at least Rolex had the time right.
It is definitely a High Street that needs a touch of Portasisation!
There were no maps and signposts and this was the only cafe I passed.
The Only Cafe I Passed
But then I don’t do Starbucks. Surely, there must be a locally owned coffee shop in the city.
Preston Covered Market
The covered market in Preston is a Grade 2 Listed building.
It was large and busy, but most of the goods on offer didn’t interest me at all. Like the bus station is this another albatross around Preston’s neck?
How Will A Plastic Bag Tax Affect This?
I bought a heavy and expensive casserole at John Lewis today.
How Will A Plastic Bag Tax Affect This?
To get it home, the assistant skilfully wrapped it in three plastic carrier bags.
The packing worked and I got it home safely on a train and a bus.
Will the plastic bag tax make this sort of use of plastic bags rather frowned on?
The Anonymous Widower 