Life, the in's and out's of

My Life, Your Life, Our Life

Below is an email sent to Colchester county council to complain about the policy of gritting (or should I say lack of it) and their reply. I’m just glad that these people do not control our military, otherwise we would all be speaking German.

My Email (18 December 2009):

Having trouble getting your consoles talking to each other or your internet lost its connection, well have no fear Richard is here, Richard Branson that is. It has been three years since Richard Branson’s Virgin Group started up a company in the UK so his latest giving to the people of Britain is Virgin Digital Help, free online self-help guides backed up with phone support and home visits, which I guess is partly how they will make their money.

In the 1950′s a good quality cookware set would have been the dream present for any housewife, however these days in the land of ridiculous equal opportunity and political madness if you gave a set of saucepan to your wife you would probably end up wearing them.

It was not until the 1700’s that cast iron cookware became popular and the history can be traced back to around the 5^th century BC. It was the Chinese in 513 BC that developed furnaces for making cast iron. It is simply called cast iron because is it melted iron that is poured in a cast/mold to form a shape.

With the state of the postal workers and all of the strikes and of course not forgetting the environmental impact of postal lorries and vans on the road the best thing you can do is to send ecards as opposed to the traditional cards.

With thousands of designs available to choose from there really is a card for every occasion. Some companies even offer free cards, whilst others offer a membership arrangement where you pay a certain amount and send as many as you like.

Having written previously about Adobe Omniture and not given it a very good write-up, I thought I should write a little more about it. A lot of posts about Omniture are comparing it to Google Analytics, which is probably not the best thing to do as they both have different traits. In my job I use both products so it is hard not to compare them. Google is and will always be the easier application to use as Google are good at making their application user friendly but this does not necessarily make them better programs. Omniture is harder to use but what makes Omniture better on the usability front is the team behind it, who are always willing to go out of their way to help (Ben/Eric Thanks).

If you talk to a vet they will say they became a veterinarian because they wanted to help animals, so why is it that they charge such extortionate prices for some of the simplest of things. They certainly do not have the animal’s welfare or best interests at heart. How can they warrant charging £250 pounds for some x-rays or £46 pounds for some pills.  It seems any trip to the vet’s will have a major impact on your finances and it is usually the lower income families that are hit the hardest.

Wedding venues are big business these days and you can get married in stately manors, chapels, churches, registry offices or even your local supermarket (you would be surprised how many people have chosen this rather bizarre venue). Choosing the correct wedding venue is one of the biggest decisions of your wedding, not only can it affect the whole theme but it can affect your budget in a huge way. You can find yourself paying anything from a couple of hundred pounds for a registry office to over five thousand pounds for a lush manor house.

Times have changed dramatically over the years and sadly gone are the days of giving your child a good Christian name. These days baby names are more likely to be chosen from a pop start like Beyonce or a television programme or if you a Jonathan Ross then an obscure object.

When choosing baby names you should choose very carefully and think of all the alternatives and words that rhyme with the name and if choosing a middle name as well then just think about what the initials would be as sadly at school this is what children will pick up on and the last thing you want is your child picked on because of his/her name or initials.

Toys are not just about playing, even the simplest ones can be educational toys. A simple teddy bear can not only offer comfort for your child but it can also help children to quickly learn to recognise their favourite characters. Wooden toys offer not only a little tradition but have a different texture and aroma than the modern day plastic toys and it is these additional stimulators that will remain with your child through to adult hood. Jigsaw puzzles are an all time favourite as children get a definite satisfaction from seeing the completed picture. Family games are a great way to get a child to interact with other members of the family and to have a laugh, encourages team playing and healthy competition.

Photo books are the latest way to give your friends and family a way to preserve and cherish some of the fondest memories. From the wedding of your daughter or the birth of your grandchildren, these are all memories that can so easily be lost forever.

There are many companies offering this service these days from your large supermarkets to the small high street photo shops.  The possibilities are endless when it comes to customisation, you can have them perfect bound, and case bound, various sizes and stocks. Many of the professional companies offer easy to use software to create your booklet and they make a very good Christmas gift for someone who lives away.