I think that the BBC’s DIY SOS is excellent television. If you didn’t see Thursday night’s episode then get on the iPlayer and correct your mistake. In this episode Nick Knowles and the team help, no more than help, save a chap called Mike in Littlehampton. He had been the victim of a scumbag builder who had effectively stolen his money and left him living in a building only fit to be condemned. The stress of two years of living in hell had almost mentally and physically ruined Mike. 

Thanks to a web forum based cry for help, and a subsequent social media campaign, the DIY SOS team had found out about his plight and had come to help.

The subsequent TV programme is just heartwarming and here’s why you should watch it. The callous fraudster who conned Mike presents the very worst of the building trade, so often maligned. On the other hand, the SOS team and all the local trades people that supported this Big Build show the very best of this essential industry. Watching the show is good for the soul because it is positively uplifting! This is feel-good TV at its best and I for one feel that it is my TV licence money being well spent. This is 'reality TV' in the only format worth watching.

The programme also proves that social media is a great environment for supporting individuals and driving social change. A friend of mind rightly points out that the internet contains so much stuff that is ‘brown and smelly’; this though is evidence that social media can be a force for good too.

Finally, the BBC also presents Watchdog, I hope that some legal types supporting that show go after the original builder – that would make a great follow-up to the Big Build, the fraudster being revealed and shamed. There is a saying that ‘what goes around, comes around’ and I for one hope that there’s truth in the saying. What do you think?

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I was watching the news last night about the upcoming public sector strikes on the 30th November being organised by the TUC. Whilst I have some sympathy for individuals whose benefits are being eroded, and generally support the right to protest, my overriding feeling is that the union members should just get on with their jobs, be very grateful that they still have one and accept that the country is in financial crisis and that cuts are inevitable. There are 2.62 million souls like me that would be happy to relieve some these aggrieved union members of their roles. Try unemployment for a while and you'd be surprised just how much more flexible you become towards pay and benefits!

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Come on be honest, do you know what the word pulchritudinous means? I came across this gem whilst reading the Guardian Guide for last week. The reference was in connection to a review by JNR about the new TV series Pan Am. 

The word means attractive, sexy or beautiful and was obviously used as an adjective about the airline stewardesses the series follows. 

What I don't really understand is why the reviewer felt the need to use the word at all - to show off is my opinion. 

Please let's just stick to plain English! Don't get me wrong, I love the dictionary but should it be necessary to pick it up to translate a TV guide? 

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I am amused by the fact that Renault is offering 3,000 miles of free fuel across its range of vehicles. It just goes to show how expensive fuel is getting when this is the kind of offer that is expected to persuade buyers to consider the manufacturer. The offer is of course just a discount that saves a buyer some money (probably something like £500) but not from the purchase price of the vehicle. What makes that clever, at least from Renault's perspective, is that this discount doesn't devalue the vehicle and thereby reduce its residual (or re-sale) value.  Potential buyers out there might want to haggle a bit more on the purchase price, the potential savings being much greater.  

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