I’d waited a long time, but then the phone call came in January. There was a job for me. It was 1975 and I was about to embark on a career as a paperboy.  Despite wages of just 70p a week for working seven days (still only around £6.50 in today’s money) competition for jobs  was fierce. The only way you got a call was  if someone left school and got a full time job, or was taken on by a competing newsagent who wasn’t quite so tight-fisted. Continue reading →

It’s coming up to that time of year again….

”So what  would you like for Christmas?” you ask. “Oh, I don’t  know,” they reply, half-interested “There’s nothing I want really Just get me a couple of  pairs of socks.”

“Is that all?” you say, expressing outward concern that it’s not nearly enough, but inwardly delighted  that the problem will be solved with a tenner and a trip to M&S. Continue reading →

I admit  that I can get wound up quite easily, and unnecessarily , by the words people use. Business jargon is a particular bone of contention, but why should it matter? It shouldn’t.  So going forward. I’m going to be proactive in pushing the envelope, so that at close of play it will no longer bother me. It’s going to be a paradigm shift for me…a game-changer. Continue reading →

The build up was sombre and laid  heavy with gravitas. The poor women couldn’t even bring herself to speak on camera. Her words were spoken for her by an actress. She was angry, stressed out and upset. Why? Because she couldn’t afford to give her children  any breakfast,  and they were going to school hungry. Continue reading →

Almost three years ago now, I wrote an article entitled, ‘Male Pale And Profitable To Know’ which you can read here. It was all about my trip to The Cycle Show at the NEC in Birmingham, and poked a bit of fun at middle aged men in lycra, and the large sums of money they are happy to spend in pursuit of cycling nirvana. Continue reading →