NCP Tackle Homelessness

I WAS PLEASED TO SEE THAT A CITY CENTRE CAR PARK HAS PROVIDED THE HOMELESS WITH A PLACE TO STAY.

I took a picture with my cameraphone. Click on the image to enlarge.

It shows a wheelie bin outside the car park.  The bin is filled and overflowing. On the side is written

NCP
REFUGE
ONLY

It is so nice to know that there is a refuge at the NCP. I had always thought of those wheely bins as being for Refuse or Rubbish, and it would certainly seem to be the case that some silly person has mixed up Refuse with refuge and filled the wheely bin with refuse! I do hope this doesn’t inconvenience the homeless people using the bin as refuge at this time of year.

Flying Tyres

A SIGN CAUGHT MY ATTENTION WHILE GETTING NEW TYRES.

It was the bottom entry on the list of inclusions — Nitrogen inflation.

I had never heard of that — I always assumed that car tyres are filled with common or garden air.  Nitrogen gas just seemed a tad excessive.  I looked it up on Wikipedia when I got home, and sure enough, Nitrogen is used — for aircraft!

“Aircraft tires are usually inflated with nitrogen or helium in order to minimize expansion and contraction from extreme changes in ambient temperature and pressure experienced during flight…
…The use of an inert gas for tire inflation will eliminate the possibility of a tire explosion.”
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tire#Inflation_pressure

Things are definitely getting worse when a common, everyday car tyre gets filled with Nitrogen gas! The world has gone mad!

Brand New – Old Story

IT HAS TAKEN A LONG TIME, BUT FINALLY THE NEW SAINSBURY’S SUPERMARKET OPENED FOR BUSINESS.

I was surprised to discover, by virtue of the posted notice at the entrance (click image to enlarge photograph), that the brand new store had a very poor energy rating.

Things are indeed getting worse when buildings can be created that cost the earth.  One wonders if the sum total of the legislation in this regard results merely in the posting of a notice at the entrance.

Groundhog Day

I WAS CHANNEL-HOPPING ON MY NEW FREEVIEW SET-TOP BOX WHEN I CAME ACROSS SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY.

According to the TV screen, Yesterday will return tomorrow at 06:00. [As ever, click on the image to enlarge]

It also states: “Yesterday where the past is always present”.

What can this be? Things must be getting worse when repeats have their own channel!

The whole Freeview thing is very confusing to me.  Every time I channel-hop I see an old “Top Gear” or “Friends”. I keep seeing things I just saw, or things I saw last night.

This must be what it is like to be deranged! The “Yesterday” thing annoyed me simply because it failed to tell me what it was.  The message shown for hours is of no use, and yes — I know that I could have looked at the website — but why should I?  If they want me to watch their bizarrely named TV station, then they ought to do a better job!

Bollards

BOLLARDS ARE SOFTER THAN YOU THINK.

The council put bollards up to try to stop cars being parked in particular areas, but it is not working on account of the fact that bollards are made from cheap soft plastic rubbish!

The moral of the story is to drive slowly at the bollards to bend them out of your way, allowing you to park wherever you want.

Council tax money well spent!

Environmental Unhealth

I WAS SOMEWHAT AMAZED TO SEE FOUR THREE-BAR ELECTRIC FIRES ATTACHED TO THE OUTSIDE WALL OF A PUB IN THE CITY CENTRE.

Furthermore, two of them were full on — and it was before 8 am! And as though all that was not enough — they were heating the rubbish bin!

I cannot see breakfasters or diners wanting to sit outside next to the bins, and anyway, I didn’t see any tables and chairs.  It cannot merely be for tobacco smokers?  Not at 8am and next to a smelly gastro-pub bin, surely not!

Could this Argyle Street pub be the source of global warming? Is this a valiant Glaswegian attempt to combat the foul weather?

Perhaps this is to encourage recycling of food — the heat may attract homeless people to rummage through the bins. Then again it may attract vermin — or be a danger to birds or drugged up vandals.  The possibilities for harm and danger are probably endless. One wonders what the insurance is for all the family filled flats in the tenement above? One wonders what the profit margins must be for this place to be able to afford such extravagance.

Things are getting worse when 12kW can be burned away all night long to warm up lung-cancered Glaswegian drunks. This is bad for the environment, so someone ought to call the environmental health about this — refer them here to see the photographic proof; who would otherwise believe this one?

Lidl Logic

I WAS AMAZED AT A POSTER FOR LAMPS  SPOTTED IN A LOCAL SUPERMARKET.

Double left click on the image to enlarge — as ever

In case you cannot see the picture, it states:

Philips
Energy Saving
Light Bulb
* Bayonet Cap
*Screw Cap
49p each.

Under this, on a yellow background, it states:

5 for 50p

Now, this is pretty amazing when you stop to think about it; one costs 49p, but FIVE  costs just ONE PENNY more!  Who on Earth would ever buy just one?

Things are getting worse when a shop will allow someone to buy a single lamp at a comparatively extortionate price — why couldn’t the shop just sell the lamps for 10p each and be done with it? People who just need one could buy just one, and people who want 5 could get 5, and everyone pays the same price. It’s not rocket science.

Packaging Ironic

WE WERE SENT THIS PICTURE BY E-MAIL RECENTLY, AND THOUGHT IT QUITE IRONIC.

What do you think?

If you double click on the image, it will enlarge — it shows a device that helps you open stubborn hard plastic sealed packing — but the device itself comes in stubborn hard plastic sealed packaging!

Are things getting worse, or is this an attempt to be “funny”?

Police Exemptions

BAG IT AND BIN IT is the law — and if you do not pick up your dog’s poop, you can get fined on the spot… unless you are the police.

Police Dogs and Police Horses can poo anywhere — check out the picture (click on the thumbnail to enlarge), and no-one has to pick up their droppings!

On top of that, as evidenced by the photographs, they seem to think they can use the red lane sectioned off for the exclusive use of Buses, Taxis and Bicycles!

Apart from the obvious flaunting of many laws, look at the danger this shit represents to the poor bicyclist.  Not just in attracting flies for them to swallow, but they present an obstacle or slipping hazard.

Things are getting worse when the police think they can do whatever they want.  It seems to be a case of one law for them and another law for the rest of us!  They are literally riding roughshod over us, and crapping on us from a great height! How ironic!

Rain Drain

TRAFFIC CALMING MEANS NARROW ROADS. Narrow roads mean widened pavements, which in turn mean new drains that do not work. Drains that do not work mean puddles, and this makes for even more traffic calming. Genius!

Click on the picture to enlarge — can you see the new drain under the puddle? You may also see where the new pavement widening starts (along with new but redundant double yellow lines). Parking there might require a pair of Wellington boots or a good sense of balance and a deftness in the skipping department. No wonder people prefer to keep their brakes dry and park on the pavement – it’s safer all round.

Sometimes, the drain is sited in a random daft location. What is the point of a drain that is NOT at the lowest point?

For such a rain-soaked country, I am amazed at the inconsistencies in managing rainwater. Just look at this picture of TWO drains, side-by-side, on a pavement (not even on the road), that is next to rain-absorbing grass! At the very least, you have to ask why there are two.

However, then you may notice the paranoia the designers clearly faced on the ill-fated “squinty bridge” or Clyde Arc . I have taken the trouble to number the drains on the picture — just click on it to enlarge for a better view. You will note the closeness of each drain to the others, but note too that the entire bridge is sloped in every possible way — is this not drain overkill? Could they not have just used holes to let water through and down to the river below?

Yep. Things are getting worse!