The i-tailor rises

Not as scary as the Dark Knight, but hang on to your wallet! I won't go over old ground but talk to me first if you are tempted to do business!

Remember; if it looks too good to be true ....

Don't ever fly Thomas Cook!!!

Thomas Cook - doncha hate 'em? I do.

Totally useless web site; impossible to navigate and so-called 'Live Chat' does not connect. So just phone them, right? No bloody phone number on the web site and directory enquiries couldn't find one at first - eventually tracked down a premium (of course) number. Interminable bloody intro - I don't need to know about flights to Cuba 'cos I ain't going there!!!.

All I wanted to know was which terminal I'd be flying from so the parking service would know where to meet me. Of course, this helpful information is nowhere to be found on the documents they email you.

AND - you can't check in on-line unless you first BUY a specific seat. Yet another little extra (see previous post) they don't reveal until you have committed yourself to buying your ticket.

Crap doesn't begin to describe them. I thought Ryanair was bad but they begin to look like angels compared to this bunch.

Thomas Cook it?

Read all the small print first!!

I recently booked some tickets on Thomas Cook's low-cost airline.

Now, we all know 'low-cost' is a misprint, it should read 'thieving bastard'. So I thought I should alert you to the dangers I discovered while enjoying this transaction:

First, I did not read the terms and conditions thoroughly enough. Worse, I was not sufficiently attentive to note that there was no mention of hold baggage during the several pages of guff I had to wade through to complete the transaction. So it was only after my credit card had been debited that a little  message appeared telling me I could add hold baggage to my trip - for £16 a time! That, you may know, is even more that Ryan Air charges!!! And could, of course, make the whole experience more costly than the BA alternative. Well, not really, but you get my drift.

Second, I made a small error on one of the pages. I was immediately sent back to correct same. Helpfully, TC highlighted the bit I had got wrong. Unhelpfully, it did not highlight the bit where it had changed my 'no insurance thank you' instruction back to the default 'yes please, let me purchase your ridiculously overpriced insurance'. Again, this did not become clear until after the transaction was completed. FORTUNATELY, being insurance, they have to let you have an option to cancel and this comes in an email a couple of days later. Don't overlook it when it arrives!

So far, that seems to be it and all will now proceed smoothly. Sadly, I am stuck with having to pay 2X£16 for our suitcases; let that be a lesson to me - read all the small print first!

Rigid Dawkins (he’s soooo unbending)

Luci must be so pleased to have such an eminent disciple. Note upside down Star of David representing evil. Much easier to do with a cross but the showbiz analogy is also important. Because Rigid is also soooo showbiz.

Memi to self: stip using si many Os – the key is beginning to shiw signs of wear and it makes yiu liik a bit ibsessive. Like Rigid Dawkins.

Teapots

I find Richard Dawkins hard work. Paraphrasing his main preoccupation (his obsession?), he seems to be saying:

“I am very clever. I do not believe in God. There are other clever people in the world (not as clever as me because no one but Darwin even comes close) and some of them claim to believe in God. However, no clever person could possibly believe in such an absurd concept so they must be pretending.

“I know that the universe sprang out of nothing at the time of the Big Bang. So anyone who disagrees is either stupid or pretending.”

The choice that faces us is (according to the evangelical Richard)

There was nothing, then there was something OR

There has always been a man with a grey beard and he created everything else.

Me, I believe in the Orbiting Teapot. And the White Queen agrees so that pretty much clinches it.

However, I hope I am wrong. I hope it is White Beard Man. Just because Rigid Dawkins will be soooo upset!

Stop whinging about the 50p tax rate

You don't know how lucky you are! If you lived in Holland, you'd pay 52p on earnings over £46,000! Sweden wants 56.6p on anything over £36,000 and Belgium, Denmark and Aruba (Southern Caribbean near Venezuela) all have 50p+ rates that start way below £150,000.

So you've never had it so good (actually, when that phrase was first uttered, the top rate was 19s 6d - or 97.5p for the youngsters). So, if you're feeling the pinch go out and generate some more wealth and help support the poor sods who are struggling at the bottom of the heap.

Directions, doncha love 'em?

Did the Winchester 10k today. Perfect day for it. Found the start without too much trouble. But ...

Why no post code in your booklet, Winchester? Or should I call you Concept Sport?
There was a map, certainly. Though with half the roads not named, once you had missed a critical turn there was no hope - except stopping to ask a local. I did; glazed over half-way through the explanation.

As someone says, "Simples, squeek." Stick in a post code and we'll all arrive in plenty of time, cool and unflustered, thanks to the magic of Tom Tom, Garmin or whoever. This is the 21st century, guys.

Hilton Hotel, Watford. I wished to get directions to this no doubt fine establishment. So I clicked on 'maps'. This is what I got:

Okay, this is not the actual map shown, becuase it refused to let me make a copy. But I promise you, it was a world map - with a title above it that said 'Local map'. And here's the link to prove it - Hilton map

I don't belieeeeeve it! itailor strikes again...

The b*&%X!@s are at it again! itailor now wants to sell me some jeans. Whatever makes them think I would risk it after my last experience? Imagine trying to squeeze into jeans as well made as the shirt they sent ... see my earlier blog




Whatever you do, don't "START now!"

Will Newt rule the world?

Apparently Newt Gingrich, in his early years as a politician, was coached by a Professor Chester Gibson.According to the Washington Post:

'Admirers say the Republican was always a dynamic speaker, but with flaws. He frowned. He tilted his head oddly and fell back repeatedly on the same words. He went for the rhetorical jugular. Supporters worried that TV cameras magnified those problems.'

Chester Gibson,now 70, says Gingrich’s problem was delivery, not substance.

It appears strong debate performances have kept alive Gingrich’s candidacy for the Republican nomination. Again from the Washington Post:

“Gingrich is clearly the best debater in the final four,” said Gibson, “No contest. A Gingrich-Obama debate would be one of the great moments in American political history.”

So given that his delivery is now up to scratch, will American voters overlook the substance? Let's hope not!

Remember that old TV series where lizards ruled over humans? I shudder to think what things could be like if the Newt became the most powerful man in the world.