Room 101

[taxi4ballet]

The roundabouts in Oxford.

 

OK, so I get the traffic lights before the roundabout, but why, oh why do the then have lights half way round the darn thing, and then again to stop you getting off....

 

Either it's a roundabout or it's traffic lights - make your minds up!

[alison]

Because when it grows up it wants to be Hyde Park Corner?

[Huddsballetmum]

I am an old person, well beyond pensionable age, but I work full time with a three hour per day commute on top, I don't like swearing either but if someone came up to me in the supermarket at the weekend and suggested I shouldn't be shopping then, I would tell them to **** off. 

I only include retired elderly people in my shopping issue, but also people of any age who have the opportunity to go supermarket shopping during the week and leave it to the weekend when I'm rushing around like a mad woman!  I'm definitely not ageist!

[taxi4ballet]

And... why do couples decide that the best place for a family day out is IKEA?

[Legseleven]

I firmly believe that online supermarket shopping, with the blessed delivery of same and 24 hour supermarkets were invented for stressed working parents, to save them the horror of a precious weekend spent doing the weekly shop. Certainly changed my life!

[Jan McNulty]

Good thinking Legseleven.  My Mum loves going to our local Tescos and as it is one of her few outings we go nearly every day.  Sorry workers.

[2dancersmum]

Cars that travel at 50mph plus through little villages - especially when its raining and the country roads are full of puddles so the spray covers the whole of the pavements where children are walking home from school.

[Shmendrick]

Cars that travel at 50mph plus through little villages - especially when its raining and the country roads are full of puddles so the spray covers the whole of the pavements where children are walking home from school.

 

  Anyone who deliberately speeds up when going through a puddle in order to drown unsuspecting pedestrians. It has happened to me many times, sometimes accompanied with a few young men howling gibberish from the warmth of their car. 

[alison]

I firmly believe that online supermarket shopping, with the blessed delivery of same and 24 hour supermarkets were invented for stressed working parents, to save them the horror of a precious weekend spent doing the weekly shop. Certainly changed my life!

 

Actually, I hate it.  Every time so far, I've sworn I could go down to Sainsbury's and do the shop myself in less than the time it takes to find everything on the website.  Ugh.

[Legseleven]

I do know what you mean, Alison and it seems to take forever to set up the basic weekly shopping order - but once you have done that it just needs additions etc per week - and it is all DELIVERED to you and brought into the house if you wish. The joy of having the shopping delivered rather than rushing round the supermarket like a mad thing, resenting the fact that the boring supermarket shop takes up your few weekend hours, is priceless for me.

 

I do also rather like wandering round the supermarket at 11pm or later, or at 5am. I know that's weird but far less weird to my mind than allocating that precious weekend time to supermarket shopping.

[porthesia]

Cookery/food programmes - trying to loose weight and they don't help! (got the Hairy Dieters book thanks)

[Anjuli_Bai]

A couple of questions please about online home delivery from the food supermarket......

 

Is there a charge for this?  (my supermarket has a 15% charge)  I don't know if they carry it into the house since I've never used that service yet.

 

When you include fresh fruits and vegetables - and someone else is picking them out - do you end up with fruits and veggies the way you like them - undamaged - not overy nor under ripe, etc.  That seems an individual decision.

 

As it is  now:

 

I do check into their online ads and click what I'm interested in.  The website keeps track of what I buy in the store and tells me when those products are on special sale.  Then when I go to the store and buy the product I get a fairly hefty discount.  Sometimes I get as much as 30% off my entire bill.

 

I usually shop on a weekday.  I live near a University and for me the priority is to avoid the college students on the weekend.  The girls are clustered and totally obssessed in the cracker aisle.  The boys are fixated on the meat and trying to figure out what to do with it. 

 

What I do  like about my supermarket is that if I forget something while I'm checking out they will go get it for me.  They offer to empty my cart for me and always carry the stuff out and put it in my car trunk.   I get preferential parking, too.  I've also seen people use  a mechanized chair/cart combination for those who can't walk.

 

There does need to be improvements.  Many of the items are on shelves far above what many women can reach, especially the Hispanic and Oriental women who tend to be of smaller stature.  Many times they ask me to reach for them.  It seems like a real design flaw.  Another is  the price tag for the items on the lowest shelf - one would have to literally crawl on the floor to read it.

 

And, finally, I hate it when they make those pretty pyramid piles of fruit like oranges and the ones I want are on the bottom!

Edited September 18, 2013 by Anjuli_Bai

[taxi4ballet]

A friend who once had a job stacking supermarket shelves told me that they put the most profitable items on the middle shelves, and everything else at the top and bottom.

[alison]

Is there a charge for this?  (my supermarket has a 15% charge)  I don't know if they carry it into the house since I've never used that service yet.

 

Oh yes.  Varies from £2.99 to £6.99 (although I think the maximum is £4.99 if you spend over £40.  This is Sainsbury's only: I really have no intention of putting myself through all that again for another supermarket!) depending on how popular the delivery slots are (Saturday evenings are cheap), although they sometimes have promotions where delivery charges are waived if you spend over £100.  Incidentally, Tesco now has some "black" stores - ones which are used *only* for supplying the home delivery service, and which you can't actually shop in.  Carry into house, yes, upstairs to first-floor flat?  Depends on the delivery person. 

 

When you include fresh fruits and vegetables - and someone else is picking them out - do you end up with fruits and veggies the way you like them - undamaged - not overy nor under ripe, etc.  That seems an individual decision. 

 

I agree, so I never buy anything where ripeness is an issue.

 

I'm afraid you Americans have rather better customer service than we do: you might get your goods bagged for you, but "carry to car" is definitely not common, unless, I suppose, you happen to be disabled (there is a disabled shopping service, where someone walks round the store with you to get those items you can't reach).  Talking of which, that's another very good use for an arabesque en demi-pointe - getting things from the top shelf in the supermarket, although even I have to use tools like a large cereal box if the item I want is right at the back of the top shelf.  I often get asked by other people to pass them items they can't reach.

 

And coupon-clipping is a real art in the US, I gather from a friend who got used to surviving on a very low income.  I was always amazed at how much she managed to get from the supermarket for what to us would be peanuts.  It doesn't work nearly as well over here - and now the Government is trying to clamp down on the number of 2-for-1 and similar promotions to reduce waste and obesity.  Grrr!

 

BTW, in the US do you get seriously discriminated against if you buy "single-person" sizes of things, like 1 pie rather than a box of 4, or a small loaf of bread rather than a large one?  We do, and it irritates me no end.  How can it be possible to sell an 800 g loaf for, say, £1.30 and a 400 g loaf of the same type for £0.95?!  Disgraceful.  I don't buy small loaves now, on principle.

[Anjuli_Bai]

I'm afraid you Americans have rather better customer service than we do: you might get your goods bagged for you, but "carry to car" is definitely not common, unless, I suppose, you happen to be disabled (there is a disabled shopping service, where someone walks round the store with you to get those items you can't reach).  Talking of which, that's another very good use for an arabesque en demi-pointe - getting things from the top shelf in the supermarket, although even I have to use tools like a large cereal box if the item I want is right at the back of the top shelf.  I often get asked by other people to pass them items they can't reach.

 

I have been known to wait for a likely looking male (college students do come in handy once in a while) to walk by to reach something for me in back of a high shelf.  I am 5'7" - and still some things are beyond my reach.  When it comes to heavy things, I just tell the cashier and they send someone to get it.  Yes, I do think there is someone who will walk around with a disabled person to help them.  In my younger years a penché come in handy for the lower shelves.  I love the carry to the car service.  There is no tipping allowed and there is no store charge for it.  And, they take the empty food cart back with them so I don't have to return it. 

 

 

And coupon-clipping is a real art in the US, I gather from a friend who got used to surviving on a very low income.  I was always amazed at how much she managed to get from the supermarket for what to us would be peanuts.  It doesn't work nearly as well over here - and now the Government is trying to clamp down on the number of 2-for-1 and similar promotions to reduce waste and obesity.  Grrr!

 

 

 

 

I find there are less and less coupons that I use and I think this is because the store web site paperless coupons are taking over.  I used to arrive at the store with a fistfull but now I seldom have more than one of two.  The days of doubling the value of the coupon are over.  There was even tripling at one time.

 

I really don't think it is the gov't business as to the shape of my body.  Fortunately, I am slender -- but that's my choice - has nothing to do with what the gov't wants.  The gov't is a nosey busy body just looking for things to get into when they can hardly do the things they are supposed to do - like fix the roads.

 

BTW, in the US do you get seriously discriminated against if you buy "single-person" sizes of things, like 1 pie rather than a box of 4, or a small loaf of bread rather than a large one?  We do, and it irritates me no end.  How can it be possible to sell an 800 g loaf for, say, £1.30 and a 400 g loaf of the same type for £0.95?!  Disgraceful.  I don't buy small loaves now, on principle.

 

On each price tag there is a "price per ounce" tag.  So, I can tell not only what the item costs as a whole - but how much it costs per ounce/pound as well as the singular price as opposed to buying in multiples.  For instance:  if the sale is 4 pies for $10.00 - I am also told how much buying just one pie will cost as well as the per weight (ounce/pound) price.  So, that makes it rather easy (even for the mathematically challenged like me) to make some sort of sane decision.

 

As for smaller things costing more than a larger unit of the same thing (small bottle of soap versus a larger quantity) well, most of the time buying in quanity works out to be cheaper - but not always.  I think it depends more on which is the most popular size.  Every once in a while the store will run a "quantity sale" - more is cheaper.  There are some stores which specialize in selling in larger quantities.  As a whole I do not feel cheated buying in smaller quantities. 

 

The supermarket also has a "loyalty card."  I always use it.  It means I will automatically get the "special customer" price.  So, if a bottle of apple juice is $2.00 without a card, I will get it for $1.50 and if it is on a "just for you website sale" I'll get it for $1.20.  It's automatically deducted at the checkout. 

 

The total bill paper receipt which is given to me tells me how much I saved in each category and it is automatically deducted from my bank account.  The card also allows me to get cash - I'm not sure what the upper amount is - but if I need some cash this is a handy way to do it instead of going to the bank or an ATM.  There is no extra charge for any of this.

 

The store also has a pharmacy, a bank, florist shop, a deli with made to order sandwiches, salads, etc., a Starbuck's (which I dislike) and a fresh bakery.  It is a medium size supermarket - there are many which are much bigger which I avoid.  Some places are just too big -

 

They recently started "self checkout" which I never use.  The college students love it which is a good reason to avoid it. 

 

Do I sound like a curmudgeon? 

[taxi4ballet]

How about this for a supermarket 'bargain' that I happened to see today:

 

One 120g pack of ham £2, or buy two packs for £3. Sounds reasonable until you see that the 100g packs are £1 each.

 

[2dancersmum]

major roadworks - in this case the removal of the bridge over the river on the main road into town.  months of traffic chaos and long diversions to follow

[Dance*is*life]

They are adding on open balconies to the blocks of flats over the road from our house.  They are gradually working through the various buildings one at a time, so it is just never-ending.  They also start at 7am, which is the legal hour that they are allowed to make noise here. Our student son, who slept in the front bedroom used to work at night and go to bed about 6am for a few hours.  He had to close his shutters and windows in an attempt to block out the noise and sleep with air-conditioning.    Lucky for him he's now left to continue his studies in England      All day long we have drilling and banging and shouting and so far they have only finished one building and it's been going on for months. 

Edited September 20, 2013 by Dance*is*life

[alison]

A couple of questions please about online home delivery from the food supermarket......

 

Is there a charge for this?  (my supermarket has a 15% charge) 

 

Hmm, it turns out that in-person shoppers are majorly subsidising the delivery charges in the UK: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/10320914/How-in-store-supermarket-shoppers-subsidise-those-online.html

[taxi4ballet]

Those cars with super-bright brilliant blue-white headlights.

 

They either totally dazzle you as they light up half the countryside while coming at you, or drive up so close to your exhaust pipe that you are driving in your own shadow, and are half-blinded by a million watts in your rear-view mirrors.

 

it's all very well for them - they can see where they are going - but that's not much use to everybody else!!!

[porthesia]

Totally illegal Taxi, but if someone does this to me I put my rear fog lights on, makes them back off a bit sometimes if you're lucky!

[Jan McNulty]

I've done that when people get too close to me too.  It does sometimes do the trick.

 

I hate those superbright lights or, just as bad, misaligned ones too.  Being a total urbanite I am not comfortable on dark country roads and those types of lights make it 100 times worse.

[taxi4ballet]

Talking of bright lights, something else I find disconcerting on a long night-time motorway journey...

 

Some articulated lorries have red lights on all four corners, and a fluorescent red stripe all the way round the back of the lorry, that makes a giant glowing rectangular shape. After following one of these for any length of time, it can almost hypnotise me into a trance - it is a very odd feeling. Does it affect anyone else in the same way?

[LinMM]

Not experienced this lorry thing yet.

 

But I hate driving on country roads at night. It gives me the creeps if I seem to be the only car on the road and someone suddenly comes up fast behind me (often with full beam on) .......and then doesn't overtake!! Are they following me or what!? Usually they roar off eventually......but then I expect to see them waiting round a bend in the road......seen too many scary films I think!!!

 

I do find night driving altogether less desirable these days though....especially on hilly roads where suddenly get blinded by headlights every so often.....very tiring!

[2dancersmum]

Most of my driving is done on little country roads and I quite like the brightly lit lorries (though I get the hypnotic quality) as following a lorry is easier than being the only car on the road going in the same direction as I am.  It provides some shelter from the glare of oncoming traffics headlights aswell as showing me where the road goes.  Cars behind me though - the number of large landrovers and the like around here - they don't need extra bright headlights as their lights are in line with my back window and the whole interior of my car is lit up!!!!

 

On another 101 hate - cold callers on the telephone - market research etc.  I have telephone preferencing system but that seems to make no difference to the calls - especially those where it is some computer dialling your number.

[Jan McNulty]

Oh don't start me on cold calls.  We get loads and most of them seem to come from abroad, which the telephone preference service can't cover.

 

The latest spate of calls I have had, asking for me BY NAME, are people wanting to discuss the accident I haven't had!!!

[alison]

Oh yes, I've had some of those.  Along, of course, with all the PPI I've obviously been mis-sold (again, addressed by name).

[Huddsballetmum]

In addition to cold calls I am now recieving cold texts particulaly about PPI.  The beauty of mobile phones is that you can keep these numbers as a contact with "Spam - do not answer" in the title.  It saves having to waste time saying NO!!!!!

[alison]

That's a good idea.  Wish I could do something about blocking the occasional spam text, though.

[Anna C]

Totally illegal Taxi, but if someone does this to me I put my rear fog lights on, makes them back off a bit sometimes if you're lucky!

My first car was a Triumph Herald, and the reversing light had to be switched on manually - a bit of a pain but it did mean that I could switch the reversing light on in any gear.

 

If I was "tailgated" by another vehicle trying to drive too close, I would switch the reversing light on. The sight of the reversing light suddenly coming on while I was driving forward totally flummoxed the driver behind and they ALWAYS backed off. :-D

[taxi4ballet]

Something that really disconcerts cold-callers is when you start asking them for their name and address, date of birth etc, especially when you tell them that you have to confirm THEIR identity before you can give them any information.

[porthesia]

Oh Taxi I hadn't thought of that. I'm going to use that next time.

[Anon2]

We have a family friend with the gift of the gab who if answers the phone to a cold caller engages them in conversation and will keep at it until the caller gets fed up and hangs up. It is amusing to listen to from our end but probably not the callers.

 

Ironically his sons uni holiday job this summer was telesales.