shopping

Ratty New Year

Welcome to 2008, or in the Chinese zodiacal system, we’re still in the year of the Boar. It will soon be the year of the Rat, however. Anyway, I greet the year with a cautious pessimism though. I can’t imagine it’s going to be a good one particularly. But it has started off fairly well.

I’ve managed to get Ubuntu running — after a day of trying to stop it freezing (and I still can’t get the thing to shut down without breaking) — and I have managed to get Ruby on Rails to work on my Ubuntu system (which took only three days, and managed to complete this morning). So I’m working through this book in order to get my head round it. It strikes me that even though the book can only be a year old, it is hopelessly out of date, with version number mismatches stupidly duping me (me being the stupid one, of course). But it’s all working.

On a completely different note, I bought some Kickers Zepplin shoes yesterday for £54. I had been eyeing them up for a long while, and the £60 price tag had put me off. However, Debenhams yesterday had a 10% off event, and though I’m not proud of spending £54 on a pair of shoes, I am happy with the product I have received.

So what have I decided on a New Year’s Resolution? The short answer is, I haven’t. No one suggested anything, so bugger you I’m doing nothing!

Happy New Year!

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Money, Money, Money!

I had an astounding set of news yesterday. I went to the Arriva Bus website yesterday: I don’t link it for good reason… Last year I paid £270 for my annual pass (which actually only covers September to June, the use of the word "annual" is a loose definition of the pass). Arriva have hiked the price of this pass to £450. I don’t think I should discuss this any further, as I make a point of trying not to use expletives on my website.

I have also spent a bit of money – £79.99 to be precise – on a new phone. My new Nokia 6300 for T-Mobile is on order at The Link, and I should receive it within five days. However, my recent experiences of retail websites haven’t been the best of late… Still remember to avoid CD Wow! and Woolworths! But I’m looking forward to a change from Orange, who really don’t seem fresh and enticing at the moment at all; and I think going back to Nokia from the wilderness of my Motorola V635 will be a rewarding pleasure.

And finally, the pièce de resistance if you will, my Newcastle United season ticket smart card came through today… all £482 worth. That beast will provide me in excess of 1,700 minutes of excruciating pain, unbounded glee and swirly scarf-waving. My student loan has certainly had a bit of a kicking this year!

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Him Off The Telly

These last few weeks I have been driving my friends nuts talking about my liking for the hair and the t-shirt adorned by the kid in the BT advert. I am please to inform all that read this that I have managed to acquire my own copy of that t-shirt: it happens to be on sale at Topman. It wasn’t my original intention to get it, rather I expected that I would be unable to get one so I would settle for anything similar. The fact that it was the same was a bonus. It cost £12.60 (with student discount) from the Eldon Square branch, Newcastle.

My other purchase yesterday was a new electric shaver. My old one was a Christmas present from when I was 14, so being seven years old and cutting like a feather duster it was time for a new one. Boots are having a bit of a sale, so I obliged. I forked out £24.99 for a Remington R320. Tasty.

I also still do not have Dream Theater’s Systematic Chaos CD+DVD, largely down to the ineptitude of a certain company that won’t be named here.

I’ll name it here instead. If you want to purchase any solid music, don’t visit CD WOW.

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Selling And Selling Out

The music industry is forever trying different avenues in order to make people buy their artists’ albums. In all honesty, I prefer having a solid product rather than one that exists almost entirely as a clump of zeros and ones that no one can see.

I like having sleeve notes, and what is almost like a keepsake in the form of the plastic casing. The album cover is an art-form – buying music off the Internet as a download pretty much renders it pointless.

What I don’t like – and I mean really don’t like – is where a record company releases different versions of the same album. It is an insult to my intelligence where a record company thinks I might buy more than one in order to have “the set”, if only so that I have every single colour. Furthermore, a record company might release “CD” and “CD and DVD” versions; the latter with a DVD containing a load of rubbish really. I have to say, that works. Each time I’ve been offered a choice between the “CD” and “CD and DVD” options, I have gone for the DVD option. Indeed, I have always been disappointed with the poor quality of the content. But I make the same mistake every time.

And I have done the same: buying Dream Theater’s new album Systematic Chaos. Can’t wait to get it, but I reckon I’ll be disappointed by the DVD add-on.

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Musical Additions

I have made some purchases today, using the HMV voucher Dad got me for Christmas. I got:

  • Nothing Like The Sun by Sting
  • A Change Of Seasons by Dream Theater
  • The Poison by Bullet For My Valentine

I also bought the first season of Futurama on DVD. So my choices were rather varied…

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Sales Fails

I went to Boundary today. Usually – particularly if there is some kind of sale on – I cannot fail but leave bearing bags of clothes. However, this is not the case this time. I think I have Japan firmly set in the back of my mind now, so I have an aversion for spending money.

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Aldi Anger In The World

So we went to Aldi again. I smiled from start to finish, occasionally muttering “I’ll never come here again” to Mum, as she muttered herself last time. She concedes that while the format of the shop was different, the produce was agreeable. So we went back for some milk and “crispy aromatic duck” pancakes. Then it was time to pay.

We thought we had everything covered – we brought plastic bags so we didn’t have to pay for theirs and Mum brought cash as they don’t accept credit cards. But now a rule was introduced. You are not permitted to put your items in bags while you are at the checkout. You must put them back in the trolley and fill your bags at the designated shelf at the store entrance. Oh well, all’s well that ends well. Another phrase I don’t understand…

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Pet Hates

Now, I’m a very patient person. I don’t usually display aggression or displeasure, but there are some things that annoy me. And seeing as Helen made a post and the Grumpy Old Bastards do so on a daily basis, I thought I’d list a few things that annoy me.

  1. Shopping, but not shopping as such – more shopping when there are other people around. Typically in Marks & Spencer (I go through M&S, Newcastle, in order to get to Northumberland Street) and they are full of people that have little knowledge of the outside world beyond the initial three inches beyond their bodies. Through this lack of awareness, they often walk slowly, stop right in front of you, or form chains with other shoppers, thus blocking any exit.
  2. Women clothes shopping is unusual. I have studied this phenomenon over many years. Why is it that women look at items they do not like, and feel an urge to touch every garment? Is it just me that has noticed that?

That’s just about it really. Please comment! ;)

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