McDonalds in Elizabeth Street — at least at busy times — appears to now have someone who takes peoples’ orders while they’re still in the queue. The order is keyed into an electronic gizmo, which presumably goes into the Maccas computer, and the price of the order is quoted to the customer, and a ticket ... [More]
I switched my geeky Galaga ring tone back to a standard ring (Nokia’s “bee”) the other day, when I finally came to accept I just couldn’t hear the Galaga tone outdoors. Also it appears my model of phone can’t handle starting quietly and getting louder with an MP3 tone. Apart from my own utterly superb ... [More]
My Yearly Metcard is almost up for renewal, and I was pondering if I can somehow organise to stagger it and my other biggish expenses for the year? Yearly ticket — $1065. Mine expires in April, so if I want the cheap price I need to order in early-March — about now. If I pay ... [More]
Just so you know, this is not me: Brazen Careerist blogger Daniel Bowen talks about the seven effective habits of highly frugal people. He says frugal types go out of their way to take care of every purchase and spend money on maintenance, as that’s cheaper. Instead of buying, they make things, they set a ... [More]
I just dropped the iron. No, it didn’t cause any kind of comical foot injury, but it did cause a crack in the iron. Time to go shopping for a new one. It’s a Sunbeam iron. Lasted 15+ years I think. I’ll happily buy another one. I wonder if they’re on sale anywhere this week? ... [More]
Reasons to like and dislike EB Games. Good — price matching. I walked into the Elizabeth Street store with a printout showing that Big W had Mario Kart $30 cheaper and the guy didn’t blink, and happily matched the price. Good — unlike many of the staff in the department stores (especially the cheap ones), ... [More]
I’ve been thinking about cancelling the newspaper subscription. I’m trying to watch my expenditure at the moment, and am wondering if it’s really worth the money, given a lot of the news I read is online. The pros of the subscription Cheaper than buying it every day. I definitely love having the Saturday paper delivered ... [More]
I wouldn’t normally consider myself a Trekkie. But when it was first on the telly, late at night on Channel 9, I did regularly tape Star Trek: The Next Generation, at least for a while. And I did once dress up as Data for a Star Trek: How to Host a Mystery night. But I ... [More]
I wrote in December that recycled tissues had disappeared from the supermarket shelves. I did find an email contact for ABC Tissues (who make the Naturale brand) — they told me to expect their recycled tissues back into Woolworths/Safeway stores soon, in a new packaging. Last week Flerdle commented that they’d been spotted in Brunswick. ... [More]
I got the socks I always wanted at K-Mart the other day.
Time for one of those quick boring domestic posts: Recycled tissues. I’m almost out. I can’t find any in the local Safeways, Coleses or IGAs, or anywhere else. Anybody seen them recently, or do I have to resort to using recycled paper towels as tissues? (Well, and handkerchiefs, of course.)
It’s nice that the all-new Jazz has come to town… but which town? Judging from the poster, London, apparently, not Melbourne. The order’s Roll. Beef Roll. Bless ’em, they’re trying their best to stop any redundancy redundancy. No. You don’t understand. IT DOESN’T APPLY TO ME. (Mind you, with people apparently continually parking on it, ... [More]
Now THIS is car culture. Come to Kingston Central Plaza! Bring your hulking great four-wheel drive! In fact WE DON’T EVEN ALLOW compact cars in our car parks! Yes, we’ve built a shopping centre just for you, where we wanted it, on cheap land. Why stick to the designated activity centres in the Melbourne 2030 ... [More]
1. Superparma is gone… but parma.com.au has arrived to take its place. 2. I’ve talked before about how kids inherit traits and behaviour and interests from their parents. I was struck by this clever alcohol awareness advert which shows it well. 3. To the self-confessed lurker lady in the red raincoat yesterday in Collins Street: ... [More]
The kids and I set off for the Show on Tuesday morning. It had been about a decade since I’d been — ditto for Isaac, who went with a childcare group some years ago, and we’re not sure if Jeremy had ever been before. Tuesday turned out to be a good day to go. Despite ... [More]
I don’t claim to understand a great deal about the share market, and the current turmoil it’s enduring. I’ve heard the practice of short selling explained twice on the TV or radio in the last few days, and while I think I get how it works, I can’t understand why the owners of the shares ... [More]