Sunday 25 September 2016

This crazy world we live in.

A week ago, I decided that I'd like pie and chips from the chip shop for my dinner.
One thing caught my eye as I was waiting for my food.
There's a notice on this chip shop door.
"What's so eye catching about that?" I hear you ask.
Well, the notice is actually quite discrete, but what it was saying caught my eye.
It said "We accept...." and then listed the credit/debit cards, and "We DON'T accept...." and a list of unacceptable cards.

Not that strange in most shops, but in a chip shop?
Long gone are the days when buying a "bag of chips" is an impulse buy, and you knew that you'd have enough money on you to buy them.
Could you imagine trying to buy your chips by cheque back in the late 60s, early 70s?
No, me neither.

I think that the existence of this particular sign demonstrates that the world is going crazy.

Tuesday 6 September 2016

Antique Road show......circa 2100

My brain sometimes goes off at strange tangents.  If you look closely you can just about see what is at the root of my crazy ideas.
Anyway, the other day I had been down to the town centre, and as I was walking back, I saw this guy with a carrier bag.  Yes, I know that they aren't that rare........yet, but this was from a shop that hasn't traded for at least five years, and it was in great condition.
That's where Antique Road show comes in.  I pictured a time in the future, let's say 2100, for argument's sake.
The expert is sat at his/her table, a member of the public approaches, they're invited to be seated.
"And what do you have for us today?"
The member of the public places a parcel wrapped lovingly in brown paper, inside the paper is a layer of tissue paper, nestling in the tissue is a plastic carrier bag, from Waterstones.
"I'm not entirely sure what this was used for, but it has an inscription on it."
The expert is awestruck, "This is incredible.  Do you have any ideas what it might have been used for?"
The member of the public shakes their head.
The expert goes on to explain what it was originally used for, "and do you have any idea what it's worth?"
Again the member of the public shakes their head.
"Well, originally they were given away to carry your purchases home from the shop, in 2015 a charge was brought in of 5p as they were injurious to the environment.  At today's prices it should be worth around €5000, as there's very few left in such good condition.
The credits roll at the end of the show, the camera focuses on the clearly gobsmacked member of the public.

Like I said, crazy things spring to my mind sometimes.

Form filling

So, it's over six months since I was made redundant, and I am sure that applying for jobs is in itself a full time job.  Some application forms can take up to two hours to fill out.  It's crazy, to take so long to do something that might only be given a cursory glance.
Perhaps it's just me, but when I fill out an application form, I write everything down truthfully.  I have heard the "urban myth" that "everyone lies on their CV".  I must be the the exception to the rule then, as I think that lying is counterproductive, and could end you up in an awkward situation, just because you lied on your CV.  Also, it does raise the question in my mind, "why would you lie?"
Anyway, that's today's musings.