Category Archives: General
And now for After
Sorry Martin, couldn’t resist posting this! We had a brilliant day on Wednesday catching up after such a long time – lots of laughs and memories of those innocent days of our youth! Hope to see you again soon – lets not leave it another 30 odd years this time!!!
After something like 35 years …
Tomorrow is a big day! After something like 35 years since this photo was taken, I am meeting up with Martin again – I’m so excited I’m not sure I’m going to sleep tonight!
Martin was the “boy next door” when I was growing up in Twickenham (except he actually lived round the corner!) and we were extremely close for a very long time. Circumstances were such that we eventually drifted apart and so it will be very interesting to catch up after all these years. I know he is now happily married and living in Lincolnshire somewhere (and he’s a grandfather!). I’m pretty sure we’ll soon revert back to those 2 carefree 17 and 18 year olds when we start reminiscing though! This is the “before” picture – watch this space for the “after” picture – it’s probably going to be emotional!!!
Merry Christmas
I hope you have all found what you were hoping for under the tree this morning!
I would just like to take this opportunity to wish all my readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and lets hope that 2012 brings you joy and laughter, good health and happiness – we all deserve a bit of that!
He just wanted a decent book to read …
Not too much to ask, is it? It was in 1935 when Allen Lane, Managing Director of Bodley Head Publishers, stood on a platform at Exeter railway station looking for something good to read on his journey back to London. His choice was limited to popular magazines and poor-quality paperbacks – the same choice faced every day by the vast majority of readers, few of whom could afford hardbacks. Lane’s disappointment and subsequent anger at the range of books generally available led him to found a company – and change the world!
The quality paperback had arrived – and not just in bookshops. Lane was adamant that his Penguins should appear in chain stores and tobacconists, and should cost no more than a packet of cigarettes.
Reading habits (and cigarette prices) have changed since 1935, but Penguin books are still around – and hopefully will remain so for a long, long time!
‘Please **** off, you’re too stupid to get a job’
This was the email that a “top recruitment executive” sent out last week and he has now been forced to quit his job – after he mistakenly sent the expletive-filled rejection email to 4,000 people.
Gary Chaplin, who reputedly earned £200,000 per year at Manchester firm Stark Brooks, received a mass-mailed enquiry from Manos Katsampoukas. But instead of replying to just him, he accidentally replied to all the 4,000 employment leads Katsampoukas had contacted in the first place. The Sun reported that Mr Chaplin was so incensed by the email, he replied by telling the prospective employee to ‘f*** off’.
He told Mr Katsampoukas: ‘I think I speak for all 4000 people you have emailed when I say, “Thanks for your CV” – it’s nice to know you are taking this seriously.’
Mr Chaplin added: ‘Please f*** off … you are too stupid to get a job, even in banking.’ He ended it: ‘Yours hitting the delete button Have a nice day!’
His reply sparked uproar in the recruitment industry, with one recipient replying that it was ‘appalling’ and added: ‘It displays an unbelieveable degree of arrogance’.
Mr Chaplin has had to resign over the matter and told newspapers: ‘I am mortified by what I did … It was a moment of idiocy.’
‘I am now looking for a job just a few days before Christmas. If I could turn back the clock I would. I will regret this forever.’
So who is the stupid one now Gary???
After 30 years in the recruitment industry nothing amazes me anymore – as has been said on more than one occasion that I am aware of If you can do, do. If you can’t do, teach. If you can’t teach – become a recruiter. No wonder our industry gets such a bad name!!!
An outdated institution?
Marriage may be “for better or worse, till death us do part” in the words of the Book of Common Prayer but it seems that fewer and fewer of us believe those traditional words to hold true.
Marriage rates in the UK are at an all time low, with 4 out of 10 of those marriages expected to end in divorce. And getting a divorce is becoming easier too – with advent of “cyber divorce” a marriage can be history in the click of a mouse.
It seems the institution of marriage may be in crisis. It is a trend that is worrying church leaders, prompting the Church of England to publish its own rescue plan. The Archbishop of Canterbury says the consumer culture has contributed to the breakdown of marriage, that people are encouraged to believe “there will always be something better, faster, shinier just around the corner”.
But is marriage really the cornerstone of a stable society?
The Prince of Wales, Nelson Mandela, the person next door – divorce is everywhere. But does divorce really lead to social breakdown? Is it worse to stay in an unhappy marriage “for the sake of the children”?
Is it realistic to expect two people to live together for a lifetime? Or do you think that a throwaway culture is to blame for the increasing number of marriage breakdowns?
Or, like me, did you just get married to the wrong person? 29 years ago this month I got married and for me, thankfully, divorce was the best thing to happen in that relationship. I was too young, to naive and too stubborn to listen to the advice I was being given – perhaps a written test, not dissimilar to a driving test, should be introduced to ensure that the reasons for marrying are centred around wanting to spend the rest of your life with that person and not to stay with them for “as long as it lasts”.
Scotrail Update
On a final note regarding my Scotrail “incident” a few weeks ago – here is the response I’ve received from Customer Relations today:
“Dear Ms HeywoodThank you for your email dated 18 October 2011. I am sorry that you have had cause to complain.
On most routes we offer a combination of fares being an Anytime single, Anytime return and Off-Peak return. On the Edinburgh/Glasgow route the Off-peak return fare has been reduced to less than the Anytime single and as a result it has created an Off-Peak single fare which is only 10p less expensive than the return. The Off-Peak return fare was reduced to less than the Anytime single to try and encourage passengers to travel at Off-Peak times. The Off-Peak single is an anomaly in the system and cannot be removed.
I understand that on this occasion you purchased a single fare instead of a return, and although I appreciate that the similarity in fares may cause some confusion when ‘rushing’ to buy your ticket it is the customer responsibility to ensure that they have left enough time to purchase their tickets, and that the ticket they have bought is valid for the journey they wish to make.
I also note that you tried to upgrade your ticket at Haymarket station. Since you were no longer in possession of your outward ticket it was not possible to change or upgrade your ticket. I can only add that the member of staff who did eventually upgrade your ticket was actually acting out with ScotRail policies and should not have carried out your request. Any ticket for 10p issued without the outward single ticket would generally not be valid for travel.
On a separate matter, I notice that we have not responded to your comments within 7 working days. I apologise for this delay and am happy to inform you that you are entitled to a Rail Travel Voucher for £5.00, in accordance with the conditions set out in our Passengers’ Charter. The voucher can be redeemed for tickets with any UK domestic Train Operating Company within the next 12 months. In order for us to send this to you, we will require that you reply to this email with your postal address and quoting the reference number above.
Thank you for contacting ScotRail.”
Note to self – must read this Passengers’ Charter that they refer to – wasn’t expecting the £5 voucher – this might actually get me almost half way to Edinburgh next time I need to go!!!
Sense of humour failure?
Following on from my Can’t be Arsed post (http://wp.me/p1z7xq-cA) I thought I’d share with you some of the comments that I’ve received from people on the RailUK forum who took exception to my blog post. People who clearly haven’t a clue what irony is and, to be frank, take themselves and their love of all things “trains” just a tad too seriously!
When you write things like this you can never be sure of the reactions you’re going to get – these are priceless! What next I ask myself?????
The time is fast approaching …..
Now counting down to Popinjay’s official launch party at Falkirk Stadium this evening! Goodie bags are packed, presentations ready, video camera charged – it’s going to be a great night so look forward to seeing you all there!
Semi Finals – yes!
I am delighted to announce that Making Ugly has made it to the semi finals of the International Movie Trailer Festival – can’t wait to find out how far we’ll get! The grand prize is $5,000 plus a meeting with an industry insider so there’s a lot riding on this – fingers and toes crossed!!!
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