Old Gaffer

I was thinking further about the post office problem in connection with those who are incapable of having easy access to their weekly welfare money or old age pensions. Some are going to be mentally disturbed, some illiterate, some physically handicapped, and in consequence require the money to be collected by others. It occurred to… Continue reading 20.03.08, More Random Thoughts.

When you read this you will realise that I have insufficient knowledge of the running of a Post Office, so I can only speak from my own experience. Like most pensioners today I only use Post Offices to post parcels, post special letters, and buy stamps. I would say that I need their services on… Continue reading 19.03.08, Solving The Post Office Problem.

Political rethinking. On the 16.03.08, on the BBC programme, The Politics Show, David Cameron was talking as if he had just discovered the wheel. His point was that our financial situation, coupled with that of the world, currently, was such that no party, if it came into office, could guarantee tax cuts. At first I… Continue reading 18.03.08, Is What I Think Wrong?

Unfortunately I didn’t hear the radio programme that dealt with this matter. I received it second hand from Sophie, but when I heard it, it was so obvious, I was amazed that I hadn’t realised it myself, as basic common sense. I can remember in the 70s we used to drive after going to a… Continue reading 16.03.08, The Gradual Demise of the British Pub

There is concern among the population generally that our national identity is being diluted, and this seems to have been taken on board by the PM, who has instructed Lord Goldsmith to look into the matter. It would appear from what has been said on television today, 11.03.08, that there is a proposal to require… Continue reading 13.03.08, Schools to swear allegiance to the Crown.

When I started the blog a year and nine months ago, I never thought I would still be writing after 500 postings. The reason of course is you, my readers, who still find what I have to say of interest, even if you don’t agree with it. A lot of the interest is in the… Continue reading 12.03.08, The 500th Post

The small shopkeeper and a giant like Tesco, with up to 30% of the market, can use the same marketing techniques the intermediary sizes of grocers will probably find too expensive to initiate. One technique is to offer savings in some form or other if products, which are not selling well, are bought in sufficient… Continue reading 10.03.08, The Psychology of Scale

I’m not sure, because I am so old, if it is me who is going crazy or just the rest of the world. This is epitomised by the extraordinary divorce proceedings of Paul McCartney and his wife. They are fighting at great expense over sums of money that they couldn’t possibly spend. Even if I… Continue reading 08.03.08, Have I Lived Too Long?

Every week there is some proposed change in the educational system. The fact that proposing alone, means that headmasters throughout the country are having to assess the effect on a budget, their teaching staff, and the conduct of the school, even if only to protest to the union, or the government itself, which induces unnecessary… Continue reading 07.03.08, Are we getting value for money, Part 4.

The trouble is we have complicated our lives to an unbelievable extent, and our waste in every sense, is beyond recognition. Today I was looking back at my childhood, and I estimated that the wage paid to a labourer had increased by approximately 133 times. In the 30s I could ride trams all day for… Continue reading 05.03.08, Are we getting value for money, Part 3