Why I Love John Lewis!
This may be a personal view, but then John Lewis is one of Britain’s most respected brands.
I went to Oxford Street today for two reasons; to have lunch in Carluccio’s and buy some storage and other goods for my house.
I arrived about two thirty and made for the television department, as I wanted a double swivel wall bracket for my lrge-screen television. Some have said that I should have a bigger one, but then I think 32 inches is big enough for me, especially as my eyesight isn’t perfect. But I do want to be able to view it either from my kitchen and both ends of my living space at various times. So I was sold a bracket, that would do all the swivelling, but would also take a larger screen if I decided to upgrade. So that probably saved me the cost of a second bracket, which is about £100.
I then bought some underbed storage boxes, a dual-compartment waste bin and a vegetable rack on wheels in the basement. Three people offered to carry them for me to the till and eventually after I’d paid for them, one even took the storage boxes to the customer collection department, where after a few minutes I was united with the rubbish bin.
But that wasn’t the end of it, as not even a Chinese pole juggler could have carried all of my parcels, even taking account of the fact that the TV bracket was in my backpack. So the guy behind the desk in Customer Collection came out and carried one parcel to the taxi rank at the back of the shop.
The taxi home did cost me £25, but it was the rush hour and the driver got out of the cab and helped me get the parcels into the house.
Isn’t John Lewis and London wonderful?
New Power for an Old Friend
One thing that got temporarily lost in the move was the charger for my Nokia 6310i. It will probably be found, but I thought that it would be prudent to have a spare, as I do have a spare phone and a spare battery.
I found a new one for just £5 at a stall in Chapel Market.
A New Charger for My 6310i
So now I have a fully-charged phone again.
After Payday Loans, We Now Have Payday Sales!
I buy my Sloggi knickers from Figleaves, as it is so much easier to buy them there than in a real store, as most never have my style or anything smaller than medium. And as they are just a few miles down the road in Haverhill, they usually arrive in the post the next morning!
Today, I received an e-mail from them with a new twist. The title was “20% off at figleaves.com – Payday treat!”
I like that and it is very much the acceptable face of the Internet, as opposed to some of the payday loan companies.
My Gluten-Free Diet
I think it is true to say that as time has gone on, I’ve cut out more and more manufactured gluten-free foods.
Take tonight after a trip to London to look over my new house, I needed a quick supper, so I warmed through a Moroccan chicken casserole and cooked some rice. None of the ingredients are specifically processed to be gluten-free and most of the basic ingredients can be obtained in most good food stores. So I did use rice. chicken and apricots that were organic from Waitrose, but that has nothing to do with being a coeliac.
I got to thinking today, about obtaining my gluten-free supplies, when I move. The nearest shops to where I will be living are in Kingsland Road in Dalston.
So what specific gluten-free food do I buy?
- Genius bread
- Greens gluten-free beer.
- Doves farm pasta and flour.
- Waitrose gluten-free cakes and biscuits.
- Life free-from Worcester sauce.
I suppose you can include St. Helen’s Farm goats milk and yoghurt, Wilkins jams, marmalades and tomato sauce, and Aspall cyder, but these are a matter of personal taste rather than a strict diet.
In a quick recce of Sainsburys in the Kingsland Road, I found that they had a free-from section, that was even selling the Greens beer, which is something my local one in Haverhill doesn’t. So for some products, I may need to go on an expedition to Waitrose in the Holloway Road or at the Angel, but it will be nice to have some basic products within ten minutes walk. I haven’t lived close to a supermarket, since we lived in St. John’s Wood in the early 1970s. Although we were close to Whitecross Street Market when we lived in the Barbican.
Returns at GAP
A couple of months ago, I bought a bag in GAP in Islington. Unfortunately, it had started to come apart at one of the seams. So I took it back yesterday and I was surprised to get a refund, as I didn’t have the receipt. So I spend the refund in the shop on a jumper for the winter!
Reasons To Be Hopeful
This was the headline across the front page of The Times today. They gave it three sub-titles :-
- Growth surprises City
- Advertising soars
- Strongest ewbound since the War
They also talked about how a new shopping centre at One New Change in the City of London, nicknamed the Stealth Bomber is virtually fully let to retailers.
Let’s hope that this is not a false dawn! But visiting Cambridge as I do regularly, I have a feeling that it is not!
The Vaguaries of Internet Shopping
I do a lot of Internet shopping, but today I’ve given up. I need to buy some pH Test strips, because I’d like to test the pH of my mouth. Two web sites wanted all my details in a profile, before they checked me out. There was also no box to check to stop spam. Compare this yesterday, when I bought the book, all the Public Catalogue Foundation wanted was an address, an e-mail address and credit card details. Perhaps this is why I buy my books on Amazon and my clothes at M & S, as they do it without fuss.
Internet shops should be simple and efficient. Many aren’t!
In the end I found what I wanted on valuemed.co.uk.
Science Fiction about Market Research
Seeing some of the comments in The CEO’s E-Mail Address, reminded me of one of my favourite books; Counterfeit World (Simulacron 3 in the US)by Daniel F. Galouye, This is a classic science fiction tale set in the world of market research and computers. It is out of print now and hasn’t been reprinted like another of his books, Dark Universe (Gollancz SF collectors’ editions)
According to Wikipedia, GAlouye is one of Rjchard Dawkins’ favourite writers.
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By Coach to the Football at Ipswich
Tuesday’s match against QPR is best forgotten and I did think about abandoning my trip to see Ipswich host Cardiff today. But in the end I took the Supporter’s Club coach from Haverhill. And very comfortable and sociable it was too!
The only problem was crossing to Tesco’s in Haverhill after being dropped at the bus station, so that I could get my supper. You just had to brave the traffic as the crossing was in the wrong place. But then supermarkets aren’t designed to be accessed on foot, as the average person can’t carry much!
But I did come quickly in a taxi!
A Not-So-Easy-To-Open Bottle
My hands are not good, but this one was difficult for someone with good ones!
Waitrose Rinse-Aid
I shan’t be buying it again until they change the pakaging.
The Anonymous Widower 