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You could not make it up

Bob Tickler passed me an interesting consumer problem. He had purchased at ASDA a Google voucher for £25 for  his godson’s birthday. It said on the back that it was only compatible with Android appliances so his godson could not use it to buy video games. His mother, who knows her consumer law, [...]

June 16, 2020 // 0 Comments

Drifting towards we know not what

As – six months on and in a collective state of near-chaos – we dive into the coronavirus pandemic’s vast ocean waves crashing onto our section of the beach of global humanity it occurs to me that one item we are sadly lacking at this point – and the one thing we desperately need [...]

June 16, 2020 // 0 Comments

It’s going to get worse before it gets better

From today “non essential” shops in England can open for business provided that in advance they’ve rendered themselves ‘Covid-secure’ or whatever it was that Boris said they should. Obvious I cannot speak for any else’s view of how things are going for the UK at the moment, but mine is [...]

June 15, 2020 // 0 Comments

The umbrella and story unravels

Readers will recall the saga of my garden parasol. My neighbour E had it. She declined my invitation for a barbecue as she is a vegan and offered me a tomato plant. To show that vegans don’t hold the rights on being picky I declined her gift on the grounds I don’t like tomatoes. Not [...]

June 13, 2020 // 0 Comments

Fiddling while Rome burns (and why not?)

Somewhere around 6.30am this morning Him Indoors will be bringing me my first cup of weekend tea in bed. After that we shall gradually prepare to make our way to the drawing room to watch Sky Sports’ live coverage of the Highlanders taking on the Chiefs in Dunedin in the opening game of Super [...]

June 13, 2020 // 0 Comments

Coming to terms with the world

I approach my subject for today – the current “Let’s contextualise, or preferably rid the world, of every symbol that could be deemed to represent or celebrate a nation’s historical past that is contrary to – or out of touch with – modern sensitivities” movement that is sweeping [...]

June 12, 2020 // 0 Comments

The state of opinion forming (not informed opinion)

My contribution today comes from my perspective as a privileged, white, sixty-something male with no particular political axe to grind – which description in itself probably marks me as someone who has as many weaknesses (and lack of appreciation of the world’s problems) in terms of his genes, [...]

June 10, 2020 // 0 Comments

Sir Geoffrey exits (stage right) …

On 21st October this year, assuming all remains as is – coincidentally the 215th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar – Sir Geoffrey Boycott will celebrate his 80th birthday. I think it is fair to describe Boycott as a singular man in the twin senses of “exceptional” and [...]

June 10, 2020 // 0 Comments

The mystery unravels

Whilst my flying parasol has been returned, Inspector Tickler is still on the case. In particular why has been there no response from my neighbour? Late in the afternoon there was: she wrote a reply on the back of my second letter which contained an invitation to a barbecue and my request for her [...]

June 10, 2020 // 0 Comments

Two jolts whilst I was busy doing nothing

Time catches up with us all, of course, albeit that most of the time – despite our jokes at the dinner table about bits falling off, hair (either receding in anticipated parts of the body and/or growing in others you didn’t know you had), expanding waistlines and going somewhere in [...]

June 7, 2020 // 0 Comments

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