10
November
Last
night when I went through to bed, our bedroom felt quite warm, so much so that
I checked the temperature, 71.7, OK fine. The night before when I went through
it felt decidedly chilly, but the temperature was dead on 72. It’s not a big
difference is it but again I was surprised as to how much difference I felt at
those times. Getting older I suppose, yet I’m only 67.
That TV
show on food waste that I was on about last week was on again last night and we
watched the recording of it this morning. It’s not just food is it? All those
clothes that were thrown out after one or two wears is astonishing to me. I’m
looking at that pile of clothes in a shopping centre and thinking about what I
am currently wearing, none of it is less than two years old. I still have
shirts that I wear often which we found unopened while we were clearing up
after Dave died, that’s six years ago. Do I need any more or new stuff? Nope,
not at all. And the kids they spoke to out on the street seem to think that
they ‘have’ to buy new every time they go out. Such a waste, I just don’t
understand it.
Sadly it’s
not just in food and clothing that there’s a problem. Camera manufacturers
bring out a new model and loads of snappers go rushing out to buy it. Take my
Nikon D5200 as an example; it was released in 2013 and since then it has been superseded
by two new models. What’s the difference in them? Well, there’s an increase in
the processor from Expeed 3 to Expeed 4; The D5300 has built in wi-fi and GPS
and the D5500 has a touch screen monitor. Neither would be a big enough
additions for me to think about upgrade. And yet there are snappers who did run
out to get the D5500 when it first came on the market.
It’s the same
with everything else too. Someone brings out a new TV or Blue Ray or audio
system and off go they go to buy into them. And don’t forget the latest version
of the iPod! Have you seen the queues outside the Apple’s stores ready to get
their hands on the new model as soon as it’s midnight on the day of release?
Bloody crazy! And yet while all this going on, we are told that consumer shopping
is down because of a lack of spare cash – yeah OK, go tell it to the marines,
as me old dad used to say.
It’s all
about making money, lots n lots of money. The big supermarkets are now feeling
the pressure because of the cut price stores Aldi and Lidle. We did try Aldi
when they first opened up here in town, and yes, it was certainly I lot cheaper
than Asda and the Co-op where we used to shop. A few days in though we found
out why it was so cheaper, the quality of the food was really poor. I say ‘food’
with caution here. The tea bags were really tasteless, the coffee was the same
although it was slightly better. The fruit and veg was fine, and the tinned
stuff was so-so. As for the cakes and biscuits, less said the better.
Add in
our personal likes and dislikes it didn’t really make it any cheaper because we
then had to go back to Asda and Co-op for the items that we didn’t like from
Aldi. We’ve also found the same at Lidle. So back to the telly and last night’s
Despatches in which some of the
practices at Aldi were highlighted. For ages now we have been looking at sell
by dates on foods we buy, Jan isn’t keen on using anything after its sell/use
by date. Me, I’ll eat pretty much anything as long as it looks and smells OK.
So to see that Aldi are selling stuff well past there sell by date in a number
of stores, as well as clearly rotten fruit and veg, we won’t be going back
anytime soon, that’s for sure. But mainly because there is no sell by date that
the public can work out, although it was explained in the show.
All in
all our food retailers are not doing so good all round really. Yes, Aldi and
Lidle are a lot cheaper, but you get what you pay for and lot of it sub-standard
by my likes. The £1 stores are doing well, but again, look at it closer because
the cheapness has to be paid for somehow and they do it by reducing the size
and amounts in a pack. B&M we have found to be useful just lately. Although
there is no fresh produce we’ve seen that tea and coffee are a lot cheaper for
the same amounts as Asda are selling. Same as tinned foods; Jan likes the Campbells
meat ball in gravy and they are a lot cheaper too. Best of all for us here in
Dorktown, The B&M store is right across the road from Asda and actually
share the same carpark.
Today’s
photo …
A robin.
Today’s
funny …
Yo momma is so fat, I took a picture of her last
Christmas and it's still printing.
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