What Pisses me off

Myer plans to improve its service. About time!

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During the past two weeks I have been to three different Myer department stores and they all have one thing in common. Lack of service.

There was simply no staff around. We scrounged around the stock, of which there is also very little. We wandered up and down the menswear department in search of help. But there was none.

I suspect that if I picked up a few items and walked out with them I wouldn’t even be stopped. Unfortunately, there was nothing worth stealing. At one stage we were so busy rummaging through some items that a customer mistook us for staff and asked us for help.

We shook our heads in sympathy with the fellow sufferer. “Sorry, mate” we shouted in the wilderness. “You have to fend for yourself!” Not many people are keen to do that, however, so it’s not surprising that sales in department stores are down by 5.8% in the year to May.

So when the CEO of Myer, Bernie Brookes, announced in the Weekend Australian newspaper that Myer was going to increase its staff by 10% I was nonplussed. 10% of nothing is not very much, is it?

Nor are things much better in “David Jones” department stores, but at least the Melbourne city store had more stock to choose from. There was no service either. Nevertheless, we put in the effort, found an item ourselves and took it to the cashier.

Oh how I miss the old days when someone would greet you as you walked into a department store and ask if you needed any help. From what I can see the only place that has service in a department store is the cosmetics and perfume section and I suspect that’s because the cosmetics companies supply their own staff.

Shopping has become a very daunting experience. Even when you really, really, need to buy something, and you stand there looking desperate, you often go home without a catch. Oh well, you did try to give the economy a bit of stimulus, but if they ain’t doin’ the sellin’ you can’t do the buyin’.

More passport forgeries but this time it’s okay, isn’t it?

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When Israel was accused of forging passports you would have thought that the world was about to explode. So much indignation! How could Israel commit such an outrage? Ireland was annoyed, the UK was annoyed, France was annoyed. And ex Prime Minister Rudd was annoyed.

Well, well, well, now that the spy saga in the U.S and Russia has come to light and spies have been returned to their state of origin, we discover that these spies held forged passports.

Dear me, they used Irish, British and Canadian false passports. So what’s the reaction of the world? Apparently, the rest of the world is amused. Joe Biden makes jokes on the Jay Leno Show. Not a whisper of outrage at the use of forged passports and spying that’s been going between two so-called friends.

It seems that it’s okay to forge identities and passports, but not if you are Israeli.

Talk about hypocrites!!!

My losing battle with technology

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I am proud to announce that recently I got rid of my electric toothbrush. Now that may not signify as one of the world’s greatest protests, but for me, it meant a lot.

I got sick of charging the blasted thing. I got sick of having another gadget to be plugged in. I got sick of the brush telling me how long I have to brush my teeth and allotting to me the requisite two minutes which the gadget manufacturer said I have to do.

It made me feel as if I wasn’t in charge at all. Let’s face it, if you’re at the mercy of an electric toothbrush how autonomous are you?

There are people out there who bid their gadgets goodnight and then charge them ready for the next day’s onslaught.

All this dependency on electric gadgets has been getting on my nerves.

Which brings me to why my web site was down over the weekend. I use a web host as do a few other people and apparently a very selfish or ignorant company which monopolised all the available space on the host’s internet. This company was told not to do this again and I have been assured that said company will not be so greedy in future.

I wish I could believe it, but all sorts of things get screwed up on the internet. If it’s not the internet provider then it’s the connection somewhere on the line. Or else it’s because the rotten schoolkids are on holiday and they sit at their computers all day shooting demons or whatever or taking photos of their private parts and putting them on Youtube to impress the world.

Then there’s the twits or the twats and Facebook. I’m uncomfortable with all that and do not take part.

Nowadays, even the politicians twitter away, just to be with it. Do we really need more soundbites from the politicians? Still, even Julia Gillard has somebody twittering away for her. Some junior member of her staff with the gelled ridge of hair is doing the deed so that she can appear trendy.

I seriously doubt that her busy schedule allows her the time to twit. Not should it.

I would rather she concentrate on policies and leave the silly bits to some nerd who is already afflicted with a sore and arthritic thumb at the venerable age of 20.

You may well argue that I too have joined the ranks of internet afficionado since I have a web site. That’s not quite true, though. It’s a love/hate relationship that I have with my computer. I like the word processing part and I enjoy surfing the net for information.

But I am well aware of the dangers of the World Wide Web as a disseminator of falsehoods, a tool for propaganda more invasive than any newspaper by its speed and unaccountability.

I must confess I fear it.

On the other hand, I can’t think of anything in this world that is totally good. And so I endure the frustration of technology when I have to, while feebly protesting against it when it doesn’t really matter, as in the case of the electric toothbrush. T’is but a rather lukewarm attempt at aligning myself with the Luddites.

So there! I showed them, all right. lol

Hamas prisoners want their MTV

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Imagine a Hamas prisoner in Israel. He has access to family visits, TV and newspapers and medical treatment for any ailments from the best doctors in the world. Compare this with the way that Hamas treats its prisoners, if any are left alive, that is.

Remember the Christian hostages who were captured by Arafat and his bunch of terrorists and who were kept in dark cells and threatened with death every day? Remember the dead bodies of two Israeli soldiers who were kidnapped by Hezbollah and who were returned in exchange for some of the worst convicted terrorists who ever sullied an Israeli jail?

What a contrast! But it’s not surprising when one is dealing with an uncivilised group like the Arab fanatics who have captured an Israeli soldier and who want to use him as a trade off for getting thousands of Hamas terrorists freed.

According to the ABC news website the government of Israel has finally lost all patience with Hamas and has decided to take away the privileges enjoyed by those prisoners because negotiations for the return of one single Israeli soldier have broken down.

So what are the Hamas prisoners threatening if they can’t get their MTV? A hunger strike, that’s what. I’m all for that. Bring it on!

Call me a sceptic, but I believe that Gideon Shalit, the Israeli soldier who was captured by Hamas three years ago, is dead. There is nothing left but his bones but even then the Israelis want him back to give him a proper burial.

Quite frankly, I would return the Hamas prisoners in the same condition as the two dead soldiers were returned.

Nick D’Arcy gets a slap on the wrist for assault

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Once again Australian courts have let us down. Nick D’Arcy, who viciously aussalted a fellow swimmer and damaged his face for life has been let off jail. Why? Because he’s a sportsman and in Australia all is forgiven if you are a sportsman. So D’Arcy, who’s no example to young people, is going to be turned into some kind of hero if he wins a race. I suspect it wouldn’t matter if he murdered someone as long as he can swim for Australia. Continue reading →

The Ant and the Grasshopper and home insurance

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It looks as if the insured bushfire victims who lost their homes will have to pay rent on temporary shelters provided by the government. They will have to pay from $40 to $100 per week (provided by their insurance policies). This rent will only be charged after a period of three months of living rent free. But those homeowners who were not insured will be bailed out by the government. So what would Aesop and La Fontaine have made of this situation? Continue reading →

The Insurance Council of Australia echoes my views

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More than a week ago I suggested that home insurance should be compulsory. Quite simply, if home owners can’t afford the insurance then they can’t afford to own a house. It’s gratifying to learn that the insurance industry has just come out with a similar statement. Australian insurers would like compulsory insurance for residents in bushfire prone areas. However, I would extend that to all home owners in all areas, not just the bushfire prone areas.

    The following extract comes from Sky News March 1

Australian insurers are leading a call for compulsory insurance for residents in bushfire prone areas, in the wake of Victoria’s devastating fires.

The Insurance Council of Australia has also questioned, how much of the $200 million Victorian Bushfire Appeal Fund, should be given to uninsured victims.

ICA boss Paul Giles says there’s no incentive for people to insure against bushfires, if their uninsured neighbours are going to be helped to rebuild anyway.

He also claims a compulsory home and contents insurance scheme would be no different to current Compulsory Third Party car insurance.

A Victorian government spokesman says the issue of compensation to uninsured victims, would be examined by the bushfire royal commission.