I’ll admit that the month has flashed by and that the attention given to my website has been impacted by work and the stuff of living…
…and, perhaps bizarrely fixing clocks (three repaired this month so far) but maybe that’s a post for another occasion.
In the meantime, this article is a random assortment of thoughts and experiences from the month so far. It’s almost a quarter to November and I feel duty-bound to share something from the last few weeks.
Rugby
The Rugby World Cup was exciting for a while and then, for me anyway, lost its sparkle thanks to England failing to make it to the quarter finals. The loss to Wales was a blow and the Aussies just outclassed us altogether – to be frank it was depressing to watch.
I actually made it to a game at the MKDons stadium. France beat Canada, as was to be expected, but the Canadians put in a spirited performance and the game was gripping. I went with an old work colleague who I hadn’t seen in more than four years and the company/catch up was as good as the match.
Apparently the MKDons stadium had never entertained such a large crowd - with 28,150 souls in attendance, it was essentially a sell-out. I got chatting to a season ticket holder who said that during football games the top tier of the stadium is never open. Rugby it would appear is better than football!
The Scotland v Australia game this weekend was awesome, exciting from start to finish and the Scots so nearly had it too. If Scotland had played England, and exhibited the standard of play shown on Saturday night, they’d have beaten us too.
Bad karma at the VW Group
I have to say that I am more than a bit disappointed by the revelations of exhaust emissions rigging from VW. The fraudulent behaviour from such an iconic brand is a development that I am monitoring with interest.
I am currently driving a VW Passat diesel estate, the latest in a sequence of similarly branded vehicles and although mine is Euro 6 compliant (and therefore not affected), I feel less satisfied with my car than I did before. It’s a guilt by association thing. For me, driving it is now a bit like buying a coffee in Starbucks (the tax avoiding baristas) – i.e. a little uncomfortable.
If I am honest, I don’t want to see the VW Group brought down because of its cheating (it would be crying shame to lose the brand/s, or worse still see it taken over by the Chinese) but I do hope that the financial losses that will inevitably follow teach the company a lesson in behaving with integrity.
Tesla and the future of motoring
Whilst on the subject of cars, I move on to a vehicle brand that isn’t obNoxious at all.
This month has seen me get a chance to drive the Tesla Model S 70 RWD. I have to say that I was genuinely impressed. Driving this electric vehicle was a bit like driving a huge iPad - touchscreen everything.
As I write “Back to the Future 2” is front of mind because the 21st October 2015 was the date Marty and Doc went back to the future (I am so going to have to watch the movie again tomorrow night). The relevance to this article; all-electric vehicles haven’t exactly inspired me to date but the Tesla actually felt like it represented the future of motoring.
The styling and build quality had a premium look and feel; the performance was impressive (an enviable zero to sixty time and top speed); the technology advanced (Formula-one-ish in terms of battery regeneration and energy harvesting) the car was practical for a family; and, most importantly, it felt like a viable vehicle for daily use.
Which couldn’t be said for the BMW i8 I climbed into a few days before driving the Tesla. Though it looked lovely and the gullwing doors were cool, I came away with the distinct impression that the i8 - no boot to speak of, no bonnet storage either, rear seats barely suitable for small children etc. - had the practicality of a small shopping basket.
Shopping bag shenanigans
And that brings me on to carrier bags and the five pence charge you can expect to pay for one when you go shopping. In certain parts of the UK, supermarkets are reporting that the introduction of the charge has led to a significant rise in the thefts of shopping baskets (they are now being electronically tagged).
I am baffled that someone would be prepared to steal a shopping basket rather than pay 5p, or simply take a bag-for-life to the shop in the first place…but then what do I know?
Just after the charge was introduced, I was in the Asda store in Rugby and witnessed something that surprised me. There was a lady in front of me in the queue, who had mostly filled the conveyor belt and was waiting to be served - she watched me join the queue behind her carrying just one item – did she offer to let me go ahead? Did she heck! I shouldn’t have been surprised what came next.
The checkout assistant asked her if she wanted some bags, and clearly not happy with the new rule, she gave him a grumpy ‘yes’ response. To this chap’s credit he offered this lady a sturdy, reusable bag for six pence but instead she opted to pay five pence for the single-use, flimsy alternative.
If you have to pay for a carrier bag, surely it’s worth spending an extra 1p to buy one that you can keep in your car and use next time you go to the supermarket instead of one where the bottom will have fallen out of it, or the handles have broken, before you’ve got your shopping out of the trolley and into the boot?
Ikea = crap
At on the subject of boots, I need to put the boot into Ikea…again!
After my earlier post expressed huge frustration at the service received in Coventry, guess what my formal complaint resulted in…
…absolutely nothing!
I am thoroughly disappointed in the Coventry branch, so much so in fact that I will never set foot (or a boot for that matter) in that store again. And arguably that’s a good result because I was at best a reluctant visitor – now I have a point of principle to stop me going back...ever. Even better, Mrs Baldwin even agrees with me on this one.
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…and, perhaps bizarrely fixing clocks (three repaired this month so far) but maybe that’s a post for another occasion.
In the meantime, this article is a random assortment of thoughts and experiences from the month so far. It’s almost a quarter to November and I feel duty-bound to share something from the last few weeks.
Rugby
The Rugby World Cup was exciting for a while and then, for me anyway, lost its sparkle thanks to England failing to make it to the quarter finals. The loss to Wales was a blow and the Aussies just outclassed us altogether – to be frank it was depressing to watch.
I actually made it to a game at the MKDons stadium. France beat Canada, as was to be expected, but the Canadians put in a spirited performance and the game was gripping. I went with an old work colleague who I hadn’t seen in more than four years and the company/catch up was as good as the match.
Apparently the MKDons stadium had never entertained such a large crowd - with 28,150 souls in attendance, it was essentially a sell-out. I got chatting to a season ticket holder who said that during football games the top tier of the stadium is never open. Rugby it would appear is better than football!
The Scotland v Australia game this weekend was awesome, exciting from start to finish and the Scots so nearly had it too. If Scotland had played England, and exhibited the standard of play shown on Saturday night, they’d have beaten us too.
Bad karma at the VW Group
I have to say that I am more than a bit disappointed by the revelations of exhaust emissions rigging from VW. The fraudulent behaviour from such an iconic brand is a development that I am monitoring with interest.
I am currently driving a VW Passat diesel estate, the latest in a sequence of similarly branded vehicles and although mine is Euro 6 compliant (and therefore not affected), I feel less satisfied with my car than I did before. It’s a guilt by association thing. For me, driving it is now a bit like buying a coffee in Starbucks (the tax avoiding baristas) – i.e. a little uncomfortable.
If I am honest, I don’t want to see the VW Group brought down because of its cheating (it would be crying shame to lose the brand/s, or worse still see it taken over by the Chinese) but I do hope that the financial losses that will inevitably follow teach the company a lesson in behaving with integrity.
Tesla and the future of motoring
Whilst on the subject of cars, I move on to a vehicle brand that isn’t obNoxious at all.
This month has seen me get a chance to drive the Tesla Model S 70 RWD. I have to say that I was genuinely impressed. Driving this electric vehicle was a bit like driving a huge iPad - touchscreen everything.
As I write “Back to the Future 2” is front of mind because the 21st October 2015 was the date Marty and Doc went back to the future (I am so going to have to watch the movie again tomorrow night). The relevance to this article; all-electric vehicles haven’t exactly inspired me to date but the Tesla actually felt like it represented the future of motoring.
The styling and build quality had a premium look and feel; the performance was impressive (an enviable zero to sixty time and top speed); the technology advanced (Formula-one-ish in terms of battery regeneration and energy harvesting) the car was practical for a family; and, most importantly, it felt like a viable vehicle for daily use.
Which couldn’t be said for the BMW i8 I climbed into a few days before driving the Tesla. Though it looked lovely and the gullwing doors were cool, I came away with the distinct impression that the i8 - no boot to speak of, no bonnet storage either, rear seats barely suitable for small children etc. - had the practicality of a small shopping basket.
Shopping bag shenanigans
And that brings me on to carrier bags and the five pence charge you can expect to pay for one when you go shopping. In certain parts of the UK, supermarkets are reporting that the introduction of the charge has led to a significant rise in the thefts of shopping baskets (they are now being electronically tagged).
I am baffled that someone would be prepared to steal a shopping basket rather than pay 5p, or simply take a bag-for-life to the shop in the first place…but then what do I know?
Just after the charge was introduced, I was in the Asda store in Rugby and witnessed something that surprised me. There was a lady in front of me in the queue, who had mostly filled the conveyor belt and was waiting to be served - she watched me join the queue behind her carrying just one item – did she offer to let me go ahead? Did she heck! I shouldn’t have been surprised what came next.
The checkout assistant asked her if she wanted some bags, and clearly not happy with the new rule, she gave him a grumpy ‘yes’ response. To this chap’s credit he offered this lady a sturdy, reusable bag for six pence but instead she opted to pay five pence for the single-use, flimsy alternative.
If you have to pay for a carrier bag, surely it’s worth spending an extra 1p to buy one that you can keep in your car and use next time you go to the supermarket instead of one where the bottom will have fallen out of it, or the handles have broken, before you’ve got your shopping out of the trolley and into the boot?
Ikea = crap
At on the subject of boots, I need to put the boot into Ikea…again!
After my earlier post expressed huge frustration at the service received in Coventry, guess what my formal complaint resulted in…
…absolutely nothing!
I am thoroughly disappointed in the Coventry branch, so much so in fact that I will never set foot (or a boot for that matter) in that store again. And arguably that’s a good result because I was at best a reluctant visitor – now I have a point of principle to stop me going back...ever. Even better, Mrs Baldwin even agrees with me on this one.
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