Mutterings for the Minority

Doncaster Rovers v Swansea

Am on my way home now after watching the Swans hammer Donny 4 nil.

I’ve uploaded 5 videos from the game onto YouTube - enjoy them as they show 3 of our 4 goals.

Swansea v Crewe

The Swans recorded their seventh straight home league win which sees them move 8 points clear at the top of league one.

The only blot on the game for me was conceding a sloppy injury time goal, thus making the 2-1 scoring somewhat flattering to Crewe. 22-1 would have been a fairer reflection on the game to be honest!!

It was the same old story really as the Swans created and squandered numerous chances.

My man of the match - as per Saturday - was the diminitive but bullish Leon Britton. A close second was the lawnmower man (’cos he covers every blade of grass) Darren Pratley.

More from me later as I’m in the queue of traffic leaving the liberty stadium at the moment!

Shunting cars

I don’t if it’s me but there seems to have been one hell of a lot of road traffic accidents in the Swansea area over the last couple of weeks.

This week alone I’ve seen (well driven past) at least 5 accidents, all of which appeared to be shunts. All of this has been whilst driving approximately 12 miles a day (roundtrip) to work and back. That’s a lot of RTA’s for such a short distance.

Perhaps the poor visibility and saturdated road surfaces haven’t helped matters or maybe that’s just a coincidence. There’s no doubting that drivers appear to be driving faster and in some cases tailgating more than ever before. A reflection of the ever increasing pressure on people to be at destinatation A before X time perhaps? Let’s face it, life today is a hell of a lot quicker than it used to be. That’s no excuse mind you for being aware of what’s going on around you - especially whilst behind the wheel.

Talking of saturation, it’s quite astonishing to think how much rain we’ve already had this month and with some the forecast being for up to 4″ of rain over the next couple of days, it’s little wonder that Janaury 2008 is heading for the wettest January since records began in 1914.

How many forum users…..

Someone sent me this little gem via email today, I’m sure you’ll all agree it’s pretty much spot on!

How many forum members does it take to…

1 to change the light bulb and to post that the light bulb has been changed

14 to share similar experiences of changing light bulbs and how the light bulb could have been changed differently

7 to caution about the dangers of changing light bulbs

6 to argue over whether it’s “lightbulb” or “light bulb” …

another 6 to condemn those 6 as stupid

2 industry professionals to inform the group that the proper term is “lamp”

15 know-it-alls who claim they were in the industry, and that “light bulb” is perfectly correct

19 to post that this forum is not about light bulbs and to please take this discussion to a light bulb forum

11 to defend the posting to this forum saying that we all use light bulbs and therefore the posts are relevant to this forum

36 to debate which method of changing light bulbs is superior, where to buy the best light bulbs, what brand of light bulbs work best for this technique and what brands are faulty

5 People to post pics of their own light bulbs

15 People to post “I can’t see S$%^!” and their own light bulbs

7 to post URL’s where one can see examples of different light bulbs

4 to post that the URL’s were posted incorrectly and then post the corrected URL’s

13 to link all posts to date, quote them in their entirety including all headers and signatures, and add “Me too”

5 to post to the group that they will no longer post because they cannot handle the light bulb controversy

4 to say “didn’t we go through this already a short time ago?”

13 to say “do a search on light bulbs before posting questions about light bulbs”

1 to bring politics into the discussion by adding that George W. isn’t the brightest bulb.

4 more to get into personal attacks over their political views.

1 moderator to lock the light bulb thread.

1 forum lurker to respond to the original post 6 months from now and start it all over again.

Funny but true!

Cheap flights and cheap holidays

Are you feeling deflated after the festive season and in need of a tonic to get you out of the new year blues? Well Expedia are offering discounts of 30% on flights, hotels and package holidays on their Blue Sky Specials, so what better way to cheer yourself than with a holiday.

So if you’re are after a cheap long haul flight to Australia or even New York - why not take a look at Expedia, you might just be surprised at how good a deal you get.

Marks and Spencers

After reading the BBC’s article online about “retailers suffer after M&S slump“, I couldn’t help but chuckle given the recent experience I had at the hands of the Marks and Spencers sale.

Here we were on Christmas Day (yes sad I know) shelling out almost £300 in the M&S sale only to find days later an email arrive from M&S stating …

Dear Customer,

Thanks for your recent order.

We experience extremely high levels of demand during the M&S SALE and occasionally items sell out as other orders for them are in the process of being placed - orders are confirmed on a first come first served basis. As a result we’re sorry to tell you that since your order was placed, one or more of the items you ordered are out of stock. These items have now been cancelled from your order and will not be visible in your online account.

Obviously you have not been charged for any of these out of stock items. Please check your online account to view any remaining items that will be sent to you.

We apologise for any disappointment this may cause. If you have any questions about your order, please feel free to call us on 0845 609 0200. If you are calling from overseas please call us on +44 1925 672 317.

Kind regards

Customer Services

Eventually I got my order, but the value had shrunk to under £200!

If we take a cynical view of this episode, surely M&S must have some idea of their stock levels PRE-SALE? And as a result you’d expect that their website (which is driven by Amazon I hasten to add) is capable of keeping tabs on stock levels. A quick google around finds that I’m not the only one who’s suffered this fate.

I mean the Christmas season does come around the same time year in year out doesn’t it? So you’d expect them to be stocked up to the hilt. Or maybe I’m just expecting too much *sigh*

I know the BBC article refers to the high street in particular and that the M&S online effort was indeed up on previous years. BUT for me profit and sales to any business are it’s bread and butter regardless of the channel (high street, web, phone, whatever) used surely?

Little wonder then with retailers being unable to fulfill orders online (or not) that they’ll lose money.

Back in school

I’m glad to report that DDWT Junior’s first day back in school went without a hitch - thankfully! He even managed to be the first one there which was a surprise.

Perhaps what was more surprising however was that at least six new classmates joined today - taking the number in attendance up to around 20. A number - in my opinion - which is quite small even if the class is only a nursery one. Not that I’m complaining of course

It’s quite weird actually that as first time parents we often think is it only us who has a child that perhaps (delete as appropriate)…. doesn’t sleep through, won’t eat fruit, doesn’t like vegetables, has tantrums, etc, etc.

Then, as I have today, you strike up a conversation with work colleagues about said topic and guess what - yes indeed, they have exactly the same problems as us. Will we ever remember that when we’re faced with the same dilemma next time? I doubt it. Human nature eh.

Firebox.com Sale

Those lovely guys and gals at Firebox.com - which incidentally is the best place to find the very latest high quality gadgets, games and boys´ toys - are having a sale. The Firebox sale is not just any old sale either, it’s an up to 50% off sale.

I’ve treated myself to a remote control aeroplane! But what are you going to treat yourself to in the Firebox.com sale?

2 more games…

… and the Swans could be at wembley. Yes it’s true, tonight’s 1 nil victory over Brighton means we’re into the Southern area final of that illustrious cup competition they call the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.

Quite simply, if we beat Paul Ince’s MK Dons over the 2 leg final we’re at the NEW wembley - how cool would that be. Just to make matters all the more intriguing a certain Willy Gueret now plays for the Dons. I’d sacrifice it all for a place in the Championship next season though.

I still can’t get back into the routine of work. I know it’s only been two days, but it feels like I’ve undergone a lifestyle change!! Hopefully my body clock will have re-adjusted by next week, ‘cos at the moment I feel like a zombie and quite possibly look like one too.

With DDWT Junior returning to school tomorrow, I just hope he doesn’t suffer from the same effects as me. We have tried to get into the school routine over the last few days though to try and help the process, so we’ll see if it’s worked in the morning. Here’s hoping

Road to/from hell?

Today is my first day back in work after my 2 week festive holiday and unsurprisingly I’ve been faced with a deluge of email and voicemail. Typically this usually means I can kiss goodbye to the best part of the day as I trawl through what I’ve been sent. This process usually reveals that 70% of the stuff is crap and I can either simply delete or ignore it. It begs the question I guess of how did we manage before the advent of email, etc. Ah yes I remember, a mound of scribbled notes on my desk

And what with no lunchtime training to look forward to for a few weeks, the days ahead are going to feel rather long and increasingly frustrating no doubt. Just what you need before a nice slow commute home via Oystermouth Road - which just happens to be at the centre of 13 weeks of roadworks commencing today I hasten to add! Now, where did I leave my bike…

I’m currently wasting the bandwidth (LOL) of work’s internet connection listening to Radio 5 Live in readiness for the FA Cup 4th round draw. Hopefully the Swans will get a decent draw and then go on and paste the cloggers from Havant & Waterlooville in their 3rd round replay on January 16th. Let’s hope that Stuart Atwell isn’t reffing that game shall we!