You're as Cold as Ice

Apparently it's gonna be very cold this winter. That's what my sister said anyway, so it must be true. I can feel it already - we're experiencing minus temperatures and it's still only October. With this in mind I decided to go shopping to prepare for the winter months - draft excluders of all descriptions, foam filler for those holes around the kitchen pipes, a shower cap for the air vent (oh yes), and a can of de-icer which I didn't even need because we already have some.

I have to say, the man in the shop didn't seem like much of a DIY enthusiast.

"Excuse me. Can you tell me where your draft excluders are please?" I'm usually very polite I'll have you know.

"Yes. They're in this section somewhere. Just look around."

Ok then. Not very helpful.

I have no idea why I asked the same person for the foam filler.

"Foam filler, foam filler..." I swear he said it about five times. "Oh, you mean the stuff in a can?"

"I think so. It's the stuff you use to fill in the gaps around pipes that go through walls" I explained. Hey, he's supposed to be the expert not me!

"We have these for copper pipes" he said as he showed me some tube shaped foam.

Not exactly out of a can is it? But I thought it would be more polite to say:

"Well... the pipes go through walls so... I need to fill the gaps to stop the drafts. I'll never be able to get that foam in the gaps."

"Well these are for copper pipes" he continued.

Who said anything about copper pipes anyway? I'm not trying to keep the pipes warm, I'm trying to keep me warm! I nearly asked him if I should go and ask one of the female assistants, since they seemed to know more about DIY. But I thought it would be more polite to say:

"Well, it's not really what I'm looking for, so I'll go somewhere else. Thanks anyway"

I know what you're thinking: how do I manage to endure these encounters with such a high level of patience? I don't know. I often wonder the same thing.

I See Stupid People

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I was in Subway’s the other week.

“Can I have a serviette please?” I asked the lad behind the counter.
“What’s one of those?” he asked, confused.
“You know, tissue to wipe my hands on”
It's only when someone else handed me one that he said:
“Oh, I call them napkins”

Yeah, same thing Einstein.


You think that’s bad. I was shopping for a frame today.

“Do you have any frames 50 x 60 cm?” I asked the shop assistant, who was probably in her 40’s.
“Let’s see… we have this one – 40 x 50 cm?” she offered.
“No, that’s too small” I said. Then she went on to offer me frames that were too big.
“What size did you say you wanted?” she asked eventually.
“50 x 60 cm” I confirmed.
“So that’s more of a square shape really isn’t it?”
“Umm, no, not really”

How can 50 x 60 cm be more of a square shape than 40 x 50 cm?


Changing the subject slightly (although maybe not completely) I thought I’d like to try my hand at knife throwing as a new hobby. I saw a lovely cleaver in town today…

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Retail Therapy

I love shopping. I love finding the squeaky trolley that won’t go the way you want it to. I love being sandwiched between the slow shoppers in front and the ones trying to get past me from behind. I love having my personal space invaded by shoppers who seem to follow me into every aisle and stand close enough for me to feel their breath on my neck. I love having to stand around for ages waiting for that person to move out of the way of that shelf I am trying to reach. I love it when the item I want is out of stock, or when there are only a few of them left and the person blocking my way grabs all of them. I love it when that person with a trolley full of shopping sees me heading for the till with only five items in my arms, and rushes to get there before me. I love being given a handful of change because the cashier doesn’t have any notes. I love not being able to move my car because a couple of shoppers have decided to stand around and have a conversation in front of it. I love the sound of my shopping falling over in the boot, and I love it when the bags split as I lift them out.

It’s no wonder women love shopping so much.

Love Today

A single from the album “Life in Cartoon Motion” by Mika. It reached number 6 in the UK charts in 2007.

You must be kidding – I hate today. I am so stressed I feel like my head is going to explode right off my shoulders.

Feeling absolutely exhausted after a sleepless night, I just scraped my unwashed hair back into a pony tail and threw on some sloppy joes to pop into town this afternoon. But deciding which sloppy joes was a nightmare! What sort of stupid weather are we having at the moment? How do you dress for this time of year? Looking out of the window it seemed like it was blowing a gale outside, so I decided to go into town wearing a jumper. Surely that would be cooler than wearing a jacket…?

So with unwashed hair, and feeling extremely hot, flustered, and sloppy, I go about my business in town. Why do I always bump into someone I know when I look and feel like an absolute minger?* How embarrassing is that?

I decided to go into the “Pound Shop”. Every town probably has one. You know the ones; every item in the shop is £1. “Yes that’s right! Every item is just £1!” says the over enthusiastic voice over the tannoy as you walk around the store. One shopper pointed to an item on a shelf, and grabbing the attention of a shop assistant asked:
“Excuse me, how much is that?”
Yes, people really are that stupid in this town.

I go into another shop and whilst searching for my diet Pepsi I notice a shop assistant looking very important with her clipboard and pen, obviously supervising stock control in the store.
“Excuse me” (we’re very polite in this country apparently) “do you have any diet Pepsi?” I ask.
“I’m sorry, we don’t at the moment” she replies.
“That’s ok. Thanks anyway” I say, and as I turn the corner into the next isle I come face to face with a shelf full of diet Pepsi…

I tend to get rather stressed when I’m shopping, and when I’m stressed I have personal space issues. I can’t even stand people walking past me or being in the same isle; it makes me want to scream at people “Just get away from me! You have the whole damn store to shop in; why do you have to stand in the same isle as me?” I swear I’m going to freak out in a store one day and end up getting myself arrested. Ok, when I’m feeling sane I realise that this is a little over the top, but when is it ever acceptable to stand so close to someone in a queue that you brush against them?

So it was just another ordinary day really. Lack of sleep; feeling exhausted; stupid people everywhere; people trying to walk through me; people standing too close to me; and bottles of pop rolling around on the floor.

Nothing much to love if you ask me.


*The Urban Dictionary also describes Minger this way:

“Although now more commonly used to define an extremely visually challanging appearance, the word minger originally came from scottish gaelic, meaning 'septic vagina'.

Now often used by chavs all over Britain to define anything remotely disgusting”

Spelling mistakes and lack of capitalization courtesy of Urban Dictionary.

Nice huh? So I’m either a septic vagina or I’m a Chav. At least I know how to use a spell checker.

Am I Really Here?

“I think, therefore I am” - So said French Philosopher René Descartes, although he said it in French, obviously.

Is this statement really true? Can we really say that because we think we must exist? What if we only exist in someone elses imagination? What if we only exist in our own imagination? What if I’m really just a brain in a pickling jar, covered in dust in a laboratory somewhere, and in my imagination I believe I am sitting at my laptop typing these questions?

Foolish reasoning?


Then why the hell do people keep trying to walk through me like I don’t exist?!

Fashion Statement

Feeling the chill of mid September air on my bare arms, my eyes were drawn to a cosy looking cardigan in a shop window. I promptly stepped inside to check the rail for my size.

At the checkout the woman made friendly small talk.

“It’s a lovely cardigan isn’t it?”
“Yes, it’s perfect. It will go with virtually all the colours in my wardrobe” I replied “…turquoise, purple, brown…” I continued.
“And it will go with black” the shop assistant chipped in.

No kidding Einstein. Is there any colour that doesn’t go with black? Where do they find these people?

Do You Ever Get The Feeling…

…that you’re missing something?

As I stood in the queue tonight to pay for my shopping at the local supermarket, I noticed that the man in front of me had a trolley full of tea bags.

“Hmm… he must run some kind of community group” I thought.

Then I noticed the man behind me. His trolley was full of light bulbs.

Very strange…

Life on Mars

It’s like nowhere you’ve ever been before. Everyone seems to know each other, and they all stand around in little groups chatting. The locals speak in a strange tongue, with words including ent, kent, shent, wunt, gooing and gonna. The elderly folk greet each other with “Er yoo or-roite me dook?” the literal translation of which is “Are you alright my duck?” This is a local expression which means something like “Hello my friend. How are you?” Strangely, there are no children to be seen anywhere.

It’s the local supermarket on a Saturday morning.

Oddly, the atmosphere is quite relaxed. There is no pushing or shoving; no shouting or screaming. I walk around wondering if I am in a dream. There is an orderly queue at the bakery section of people waiting to have their freshly baked loaves sliced. A slightly younger generation of shoppers quietly sing along with Dionne Warwick as they go about finding their goods of choice. The non offensive atmosphere is almost eerie. Am I mad, in a coma, or back in time?

I get to the checkout and I start putting my shopping onto the belt. It’s at this point that I realise that these Saturday morning folk have some bizarre superstitions. Apparently it is incredibly bad luck to allow two peoples shopping to touch.

The woman in front slowly turns her head to look at my shopping. She’s not really looking at my shopping; more the gap in-between her shopping and mine. I look up at her and she quickly looks straight ahead. I continue to unload my basket and I sense that her eyes are turning towards my shopping again. She shuffles uncomfortably and then impatiently looks to see if she will be served soon. The belt moves and the shopping starts to wobble. She is starting to inwardly panic. Did our shopping touch? A divider becomes available and she quickly grabs it. She sighs with relief. So do I; I don’t know what would happen but judging by the reactions of the woman in front it must be something catastrophic. Naturally then, when the gentleman behind me starts to put his shopping on the belt, I do the same. I hold on to my bottles of pop to make sure they don’t roll towards this mans shopping.

I finally make it safely to the checkout. Oh great; it’s the miserable bloke who tries to read my signature upside-down. Now I know this isn’t a dream. I anticipate a more true to life, stressful ending to my shopping trip.
“Would you like any help with your packing?” the old man asks. I only have a few items.
“Er…no. Thank you.” I stammer nervously. I hand him my card and he barely glances at it.
“Enter your pin please” he requests.

I don’t believe it. I got through the whole experience stress free. A smile breaks out across my face as I walk back to the car. I get in the drivers seat and close the door.


Damn. I forgot the potatoes…

Say Cheese

I ate my cereal with gone off milk today. I have a stinking head cold and everything tastes gone off, so I thought it was just me. But no, the milk is off. My tummy told me so.

Despite having this dreadful head cold, fever, aches and pains all over, belly ache, and watery poo; I couldn’t get my loving brother to fetch a carton of milk for me (he made some excuse about having to work 12 hours every day this week), so this evening I dragged myself out, with Mr Man in tow, to the local 24 hour supermarket.

I hate shopping at the best of times. It makes me want to kill people:

I hate shoppers.
Why do they always have to stand or leave their trolley directly in front of the shelf you want to look at? And have you noticed that if you try to get to the shelf from a different angle they move so that they are still blocking your way? They walk incredibly slowly and sway from one side of the isle to the other so that you can’t pass them, and then they stand around and make you feel like you are in their way. The whole thing makes me feel so stressed that I can’t think straight until they have gone.

I hate shop workers.
They do the same thing as the shoppers but with their huge cages full of boxes. They burst through swinging doors with them and nearly run you over. They block the isles and leave boxes lying around everywhere. They stand there looking at you, and they make you feel rushed because you’re obviously in their way while they are trying to do their job. The whole thing makes me feel so stressed that I can’t think straight until they have gone.

I hate the shop.
Either they’ve sold out of whatever it is that you want or they don’t stock it anymore. Those loyalty cards that they give you are so that they can keep a record of what you buy on a regular basis, so that they can stop selling it. They change everything around in the shop so that you can’t find anything that you want and have to spend more time in the store feeling harassed by shoppers and workers. It’s not unusual for me to abandon my trolley and walk out of the store in sheer frustration. The whole thing makes me feel so stressed that I can’t think straight until I have gone.

I hate the noise.
The noise of those flippin’ cages being dragged along is absolutely deafening. I can’t think straight with the constant mindless chatter of the workers, and the incessant bleeping of the tills. And as for those self service tills… I want to smash a brick through the screen to shut the stupid voice up:
“Please scan your first item please scan your first item please scan your first item please scan your first item…”
Ok! I've scanned my first item already! Damn you, just shut up you stupid worthless piece of...
I’ve actually put my fingers in my ears whilst waiting in a queue before now.

I hate the journey there and back.
On the way to the supermarket tonight I saw an RAC van which had stopped at the side of the road. In my rear view mirror I noticed the car behind me indicating to over take both me and the van, because obviously I didn’t want to over take the van myself; I wanted to drive straight into it.

On the way home was another numpty van driver approaching the same round-a-bout as me from the right. I decided I had enough time to pull out, but then had to break as this person decided to take a short cut by going the wrong way around the round-a-bout. That’s one way of cutting down on fuel consumption I suppose…

Of course on the way home I have the added stress of being able to hear my shopping falling out of the bags and rolling around in the car.

I hate shopping. I really hate shopping.

Who Let The Dogs Out?

A UK #2 hit in 2000 for the Baha Men. Anslem Douglas originally recorded the song in 1998, but in 2001 he was sued by Patrick Stephenson and Leroy Williams, who had originally written the chorus for a radio jingle in 1995. The song has often been used at sporting events, the first use being in 1999 at a football game of the Mississippi State University, with a version sung by Chuck Smooth. (Who’s he?)


Unbelievably, both driving and shopping have been quite a joy of late – until this weekend...

Who let the stupid drivers out again? Every time I’ve been out in the car I’ve had to put up with some numpty driving right up my rear, almost close enough to push me along, or with their headlights shining in my mirrors, and I’ve even been beeped at a couple of times. I’d just like to point out that I don’t actually set the speed limits, ok? I just try to stick by them. You know, I’m just like anyone else; if someone is driving along at 20mph when the speed limit is 30 I get a tad irritated, but why get irritated with someone who is obeying the law and driving at the speed limit, just because you happen to feel that it’s not fast enough for you? Listen, if you want to get pulled over and given a speeding ticket that’s your business, but don’t try to push me into breaking the law/having an accident.

I was actually tempted to stop my car at a junction and get out to speak to the driver behind me this afternoon. I’d only just found out that a couple of people I know had been involved in a car accident and had been air lifted to hospital, and here was this loser, who had appeared from nowhere (obviously driving too fast to have caught up with me that quickly) and was driving right up my rear. These people annoy me so much. (Can you tell?) I had my niece in the car with me this evening so I decided to pull over and let yet another loser past as I thought it would be safer, but it’s not always possible.


Shopping on Saturday wasn’t so much irritating as embarrassing. Two women airing their dirty laundry in public and pointing their fingers in each others faces, and another woman waving her arms around as she shouted down her mobile phone “No, I won’t shut up! Jus’ get ‘ere now!...”, as well as the usual mothers screaming at their children like “fisher women”. Do these people have no shame?

Genetically Modified Tomatoes?

Listen, if you’re going to waste time trying to reinvent the wheel, why don’t you do something really useful and make the cherry tomato square so that it doesn’t keep rolling off my plate? (And for some reason it always seems to roll towards me when it’s covered in an oily dressing)

And while you’re at it, how about genetically modifying the plastic bottle so that my shopping doesn’t keep falling over and rolling around all over the place? I can’t possibly be the only person in the world who absolutely despairs at trying to get these bottles to stand upright, so why has no one redesigned this utterly useless piece of plastic? It's as pointless as storing liquid in a balloon - both roll all over the place, and have you ever tried untying a balloon with liquid in it? It makes a mess doesn’t it? Yeah, the same thing happens when you open a bottle of pop that’s been rolling around on the floor.

How can human kind possess the knowledge and technology to enable them to propel satellites into space and yet not realise that the design of the Pepsi cola bottle is seriously flawed? And why waste time trying to make a tomato red when it’s already red, and juicy when it’s already juicy, when all I really want is to be able to eat the smeggin’ thing without it rolling under the table?

Yabba Dabba Doo!

I had my slimming club meeting tonight.
“How much did you lose?” Mr Man asked.
“Blimey, he’s optimistic” I thought.

Unbelievably I did manage to lose some weight though. I say “unbelievably” because when you hardly sleep there are more hours in the day to eat food. And when you’re tired you can’t be bothered to cook so you eat any ol’ rubbish.

On my way home I popped into the local supermarket. I finally gave in and bought some sleeping tablets. They’re just herbal things so I hope they do something. I didn’t want anything stronger because I don’t want to feel drugged up all day. Right now though I don’t feel like I’m going to need them tonight. I’m resisting the urge to go to bed, because I know that if I sleep now I will wake up again in three hours time and then be awake again all night.

I wonder how many people I irritated tonight? When I’m tired I do everything in slow motion. I shuffle along with my trolley and every now and again I stop and stare at a shelf even though I have no idea what I’m even looking at. Strangely enough I drive really slowly when I’m tired as well. I have no idea why. I could understand it if I had a Flintstone car.

Man alive, I wouldn't look that happy if my car was leg powered. It's too much effort to press the accelerator.


Picture from Google images.

I'm tired and grouchy

Today was another stressful day following a restless night. I didn’t sleep well, so I was not in the best of moods anyway, and I needed to take a trip into town, which meant facing the two areas of life guaranteed to cause me the maximum amount of stress – driving and shopping.

The stress started when I stopped at a junction joining a busy road in town. I didn’t actually need to join the busy lane of traffic but needed to pass through it to get to the lane on the other side. Someone waved me out, so raising my hand to say “thanks” I pulled out, but after waving me out he made absolutely no attempt to slow down whatsoever and nearly ran into the side of me. I was a bit shaken by this, and confused. If he was just waving his arms about while talking to his passenger he needs to be a bit more careful about using hand gestures while driving.

I went into that well known shop again that sells magazines and books, to buy a couple of magazines for Mr Man. As usual one of the magazines was missing the DVD on the front and as usual it was the last issue on the shelf, so I wasn’t very impressed with that. The girl behind the counter suggested that maybe it didn’t come with a DVD until I pointed out that the cover of the magazine states that it does. They're absolutely hopeless in that shop, but unfortunately it's the only one like it in our town. Amazingly they had the November issue of the other magazine, which I was expecting to be “out of date” by now. Maybe it’s for November next year; I’ll have to check the date.

The town centre was unbelievably busy, but I expect every weekend will be busy now in the run up to Christmas. Shopping at Christmas time is a whole other experience entirely, which I’m sure I will blog about in greater detail nearer the time, but already I’m finding the shops that usually sell sensible and useful items are now stocking their shelves with isle upon isle of Christmas decorations and wrapping paper. All I wanted was one lousy plant pot. How many variations of Santa could a person possibly need?

Going back to the crowds, how Mr Man coped yesterday I have no idea because everyone was really stressing me today. When I came out of a lift I was faced by a wall of people moving in towards me; I thought they would at least have the brains to let the lift empty out before trying to squeeze even more people inside. Everything about my whole shopping experience was irritating and stressful with noise and people walking straight across me. I made a point of not apologising to people today, not that I want to be deliberately rude or impolite, but I’m fed up with always being the one to apologise when people walk into me. I even got poked in the bum with the corner of this lads calendar while I was waiting in a queue. The only person that didn’t get on my nerves today was the friendly bloke who sells the Big Issue.

I just really hope I get a good nights sleep tonight. I’m so tired. I don’t want to be woken up tomorrow unless the house is on fire (unlikely - see previous post) or someone has died (and then they won't care or even know if I choose to ignore their death and stay in bed).

Voile update

Well I just rang the shop that I got my Voiles from, and they actually have another of the correct length in stock! The lady on the phone even took it out of the packaging and measured it for me to make sure, without any complaining.

Now, the question is: Do I take down this Voile that is too long, and leave a huge gap at the window for everyone to see in through, so that I can just make a simple exchange at the shop? Or do I collect the other Voile first, and then take this one back later, meaning in total I would have had to have made five trips for these blinkin' Voiles?

Groan. I can't bear the thought of either.

The final curtain

I ordered new Voiles for our living room last week. After looking at the same dreary net curtains for 9 years I thought it was time for a change. My husband doesn't like change, but I tried to explain to him that although I'm not one who feels the need to have the latest fashions in home furnishings, you can be so out of fashion that you actually start drawing attention to yourself. Apart from that, I was just sick of the sight of them. Then he said "You've been looking at me for longer than that, are you sick of the sight of me as well?"

Anyway, I digress. I bought some Voiles the other week, but of course having a memory that is so poor that it rivals only with my husbands (he can't even remember that I changed the curtains in another room only two months ago), I forgot to take the measurements with me. Actually, in my defense, I did make a pretty good guess, only the measurement written on the packaging which I thought was the length turned out to be the width. So of course I had to make a second trip. And due to the fact that they didn't have the length I required in stock, I had to order them, and then make a third trip to collect them once they were in.

I collected them yesterday, and so today I got on with the jolly job of putting them up. I needed three Voiles as we have a bay window with three sections. Everything was going fine until I put up the third Voile. "Oh, I don't believe it". Hubby then said to me "Oh, did you pick up the wrong length?", "No, they gave me the wrong length". I love how he always assumes the mistake was mine. I tried to phone them, not really knowing what time they close on a Saturday, but there was no reply, so I guessed that meant they were closed. Good job I rang, because I wouldn't have been overly impressed if I had made a forth trip to find them closed.

This does however mean that I am now stuck with the wrong length until Monday when they will be open again. (Actually, I wonder if they're open on a Sunday? I'll give them a ring tomorrow and see.) As it turns out, the person who collected my Voiles from the stock room and gave them to me isn't as stupid as I thought - it's the packaging that was wrong. Thankfully that third Voile is too long and not too short, so I've decided to leave it up until I have a replacement, and at least it's not noticeable from outside. Well, I couldn't have two Voiles up with one dreary net that's 9 years old could I? (Just a side point, I have actually washed them during those 9 years, in case you were wondering) So, what's the odds on me now having to order a forth Voile, and wait another week for it?

All this "window" stuff reminds me of when we first moved in. We wanted a curtain rail to go round the bay window, but had no idea what length to buy. Someone my husband worked with just lived up the road from us, in a house of the same design, so hubby thought he would just go and ask him what length he bought. "Eight foot" he said. So off went hubby and bought an eight foot long curtain rail, and came home to fit it. When he put it up though there was a foot long gap at both ends. He went back to his work mate - "I thought you said you bought an eight foot long rail?". "I did" came the reply. "Well I just put mine up and there's a foot long gap at either end". "Yeah" he said, "mines like that as well".

Shops and me

You know what, shops and me just don't mix. I told you that I don't do shopping. But my venture into town today has given me something else to moan about at least - you lucky people.

I went into a well known shop today that sells magazines and books, and incidentally I asked for fellow blogger Tom Reynolds book "Blood, Sweat & Tea" but they didn't have it in stock so I think I'll just order it online. Anyway that's a side issue, the point is I went in there for a couple of monthly magazines for my husband. One of which was missing the DVD on the front, and it was the last issue, and the other one they only had Octobers issue. I asked them about this and the lady politely explained that once the new issue comes in, the "old" ones get sent back to the publishers. She said the October issue came in during August...

(That quietness that you are now experiencing is known as the "calm before the storm")

...

...

...

...

It's the 1st of September for goodness sake and the September issue is out of date??? I'd understand it if it was the middle of September but it's the 1st of September, and these magazines went out of date in the middle of August???

I noticed some 2007 calendars while I was standing there and I asked the woman if she thought I should buy one in case they sell out before the end of October. I mean, it's the 1st of September. Why are they selling calendars for the following year on the 1st of September? We still have a whole 4 months of this year left. That's a third of a year.

So basically they didn't have the book I wanted, and they didn't have either of the magazines I came in for, but they had a calendar that doesn't start for another third of a year. I could have gone to the charity shop for one of those, and maybe while I was there I might have found one of those out of date magazines I was looking for.

...

...

Ok, you can come out now, the storm has passed. But I told you I don't do shopping.

Cash only

Well, no sooner have I created this blog than something stupid happens to give me something to write about. I put off creating this for a while, worried that I wouldn't find anything to write, but it seems I underestimated Joe Public and it's stupidity. Really all I have to do is make sure I get out more, and I'm sure to find inspiration on a regular basis.

Tonight I decided to pop out to the local supermarket before it closed to get a bit of shopping, as you do. I prefer shopping later because there are generally less people to irritate me. Tonight I found that I managed to complete my shopping without getting irritated once! That really is a miracle, let me tell you, because I really don't "do" shopping. I mean I do shopping, because I have to, to make sure we have food. But I don't "do" shopping in the sense that I don't enjoy it. I know, a stupid expression, I really need to drop that.

Anyway, happy that I had managed to find everything I wanted, and no one had got in my way, and everything was labeled correctly, and the fact that I had even managed to get some bargains, I made my way to the check out. I went to pay with my debit card, as usual, and the old man behind the till started squinting at the signature strip and turning the card upside-down to compare my signature. Like I would have signed it upside-down. He said to me "I don't know how anyone could be expected to read that". I didn't take offence at this, thinking that he was referring to the fact that that it's so hard to see a persons signature due to the fancy squiggly pattern it has on the strip. Then he said to me "You should have signed it in black ink", to which I replied, "I did, but it's faded" thinking that would be the end of it. He continued to moan at me for not making my signature clear enough, so I tried explaining to him that it's not a new card, so sliding it in and out of my wallet the signature has worn off. He then said to me "I would be within my rights to refuse to accept this card", so I said "I would be more than happy to use the chip and pin facility, if you had it available". He said "This is a cash only till so we don't have chip and pin at this till", "I didn't realise" I replied as I looked around for a sign to confirm this, but of course there wasn't one. But he accepted my card anyway, saying "Anyway, I don't want to argue with you at this time of night".

Don't you always find that? That it's always stroppy people who start an argument and then say "Anyway, I don't want to argue with you"? I wasn't even aware that we were actually arguing.

What can I say? Apart from "There's life Jim, but not as we know it..." or as my husband would say "What the smeg's wrong with people?"


I'd just like to comment that in using the spell checker on here, it suggested I replace the word "to" with... umm... "to" and "that" with... er... "that". It's most useful.