Thursday 7 May 2009

SOME RANDOM MUSINGS (HOPEFULLY AMUSINGS?)

Let me first apologise to my decreasing band of regular readers for my lack of regular postings to this blog in recent weeks. It seems however from visiting other blogs that, with a few notable exceptions, I'm not the only one neglecting blogging duties. I wonder why that is? Perhaps the warmer days and brighter evenings are taking us away from our keyboards?

One of my valid excuses for neglecting this blog is my election campaign is now getting into its stride so I've been doing some blog postings there and will be ramping up those postings even more as the campaign comes to a climax over the next 28 days. Also interesting developments at my local football club, Ipswich Town, as the football season has drawn to a close has generated postings on my football blog.

So what's been happening Chez Troy other than matters mentioned above. The short answer is not a lot. However reading my daily newspaper has brought to light some matters that caught my attention and caused some amusement....

The first is the hoo-haa regarding Marks & Spencer choosing to charge more for their bras sized DD and bigger. Apparently they charge £2 more for the larger sizes and this has caused complaints and the establishment of a pressure group on Facebook (shouldn't that be Titter?). It got me to wondering if these same people go into a curtain shop and expect to pay the same price for their curtains irrespective of the size of their windows?
Curtain Shop Customer : "I'd like to buy a pair of curtains for my living room."
Curtain Shop Assistant : "Of course Madam, this range here goes from £50 to £140 and is very popular."
Curtain Shop Customer : "Surely the price is the same for all size of curtain?"
Curtain Shop Assistant : "Oh no Madam, the larger curtains contain more material and involve more stitching."
Curtain Shop Customer : "I can't believe you charge more to people with larger windows, that seems so unfair. Next thing, they'll be charging more for larger bras!"

Another article that caught my eye was headed "Adult TV shows lead children to have sex earlier". I think adults too can learn from this. If like Mrs Troy and I, you stay up until 11pm to watch "Desperate Housewives" and then need to get up early the follow morning, all you want to do after turning off the TV is to get a good night's rest. So much better to follow the children's lead and have sex earlier in the evening!

The Scottish sporran is under threat from the European Union. Apparently they are made from sealskin and the EU is banning the sale of seal products. Synthetic materials cannot produce the same results according to the kilt industry. It will be a shame if Scottish men have to make a fool of themselves by wearing synthetic sporrans.

Finally, I read that Hertfordshire County Council is spending £5,000 a year teaching children how to catch a bus. Why the controversy you ask - I mean surely you can't expect parents to teach children how to catch a bus?

UPDATE - FRIDAY 8th MAY

Following this posting yesterday and the several comments made by my readers it now appears (for surely it can be no co-incidence?) that M&S have now changed their policy regarding charging higher prices for larger bras.

When I opened my newspaper this morning, the following advert for some reason - I can't think why - immediately caught my eye:-

Not only are M&S eliminating their £2 premium for larger bras but for the next two weeks, commencing this Saturday, are reducing all their bras by 25% (that's price not size). As a shareholder of Marks & Spencer I would encourage you all to go grab a bargain and "fill your boots (sic) up" whilst the prices are reduced.

14 comments:

Tim Atkinson said...

Ha! Perish the thought... (and I could write a book about the things I have taught kids to do that should've been taught them by their parents. In fact, I think I will...)

Anonymous said...

Perhaps a little too much information there! Desperate Housewives is enough to send one to sleep alone..

You're a busy bee right now, I hope the campaign is going well. Has football finished then?

CJ xx

Marian Dean said...

Apology accepted!

Very good point comparing the curtains size with size of Bra's. Stands to reason the bigger size takes more materials.
As for kids having to be formerly taught how to ride a bus, the mind boggles! what next? teach them how to use the toilet?
I had five kids, and knew my responsibility for the things parents taught.
Rant over.

Love Granny

HelenMWalters said...

Teaching them to drive a bus - now that would be a challenge ...

DJ Kirkby said...

as I am sure you can imagine, I am not at all happy with the extra charges. It doesn't make sense...you don't get charged more for buying other clothing in larger sizes so why extra large bras? Not fair that mine cost £50 each and up, it means I can't indulge in buying anywhere near as many as I would like to! Oh dear, I seem to have had a bit of a rant, I'll leave quietly now shall I? That door over there? Ok byeeee!

Troy said...

Dotterel - sounds like it would be a good book.

CJ - we're just switching off the TV and saying goodnight. The football season has ended for Ipswich and many other clubs below the Premiership.

Granny - I think if I'm stuck for something to write in the future I'll turn to the newspapers for inspiration. They should probably start with the toilet training and then move on to buses.

Helen - that would be an NVQ rather than a GCSE I assume?

DJ - I enjoyed your rant! Sometimes it is good to get something off one's chest isn't it? Of course my whole posting was written tongue in cheek.

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

Best of luck with the election campaign - I shall pop over to your other blog and have a peek.

£2 extra for how much more material? Speaking as one who has to pay the £2 extra... no, that's a fib, I don't like M&S bras, so what do I care?

Catharine Withenay said...

I see that M&S have backed down - admitted they 'boobed' on the pricing.

As for training to catch a bus - surely we just are too dependent as society on cars? What really bugs me, as a pedestrian, is getting to traffic lights that are clearly geared up for the cars not me, so I have to wait for two or three cycles of the lights before I can cross the road. Aarrghhh!! So much for a 'green' society!

Troy said...

Debs - I don't feel particularly inclined to spend my time in my local M&S store investigating how much additional material is used. I might get some funny looks. It was hard enough (oops!) just going in there on for Valentines Day to buy Mrs Troy lingerie.

Catharine - Yes, I have updated the posting to reflect new developments.
I do catch a bus regularly but although I quite clearly give the driver my home address, he insists on dropping me on the village main street!
See the new photo on the posting for my idea of what a green society should ideally look like.

Kitty said...

The problem with your analogy about the curtains is that I'm sure you'd be hacked off if you had to pay £2 more for 2" more of curtain?!

If there were £2 between an 'A' and a 'J' I would have more sympathy with your argument.

It is a sheer coincidence that I fall into the +£2 bracket!

x

Troy said...

Kitty - it would appear that several of my readers fall into the generously endowed catagory when it comes to the upper body. Mrs Troy has always told me that "anything more than a handful is a waste". I have yet to be fully convinced with that arguement!

Lane Mathias said...

M&S pricing was not logical. A 38B bra has more material in the straps, less in the cup. A 32 E F etc has more material in the cups, less in the strap. I'm glad they've backed down but their bras are still rubbish:-)

Hope the campaign is going well!

Ladybird World Mother said...

Oh I love random musings... you do make me chuckle.
Will go straight out to M&S and get lots and lots of bras. Just for the hell of it. Husband gave me some M&S vouchers the other day... my luck is in! Fingers crossed for you and the election campaign.
(and I agree about us neglecting our blogs... I am finding it more difficult to sit and browse through everyone's posts, and so just stick with a few... its too damn nice outside!)

Troy said...

Lane - I'm certainly getting an education about bras. For most of life I thought all I needed to know was how to nonchalantly unhook them (at the right time!). We've enjoyed campaigning in the beautiful Suffolk countryside in the sunshine today.

LWM - I'm glad you enjoyed my musings. I'm considering making them a weekly feature of my blog. As a M&S shareholder let me encourage you to spend, spend, spend!