I got a bunch of good stuff for my birthday last month — books, CDs, a groovy t-shirt, some terrific framed old photos. One particularly good book was a book about street-artist Banksy. I hate stupid meaningless graffiti (and have been regularly contacting Connex about Glenhuntly Station… they’re not quite meeting their own “clean within ... [More]
Obviously I can’t predict any better than anybody else, otherwise I’d be rich, but I wonder if now might be a good time to put any Amazon orders in, before the dollar drops any further. (Source: Reserve Bank) PS. Cameron recently pointed out this company, which ships worldwide from the UK for free: The Book ... [More]
Yes, I’m selling the old beast. It’s a 1993 Mitsubishi Magna TR Executive sedan, dark grey, manual, 4 cylinder 2.6 litre, air-conditioned. Built in sunny Adelaide, it’s got about 215,000 kms on the clock. The tyres were replaced about 10,000kms ago. Rego is until late October, though obviously a Roadworthy Certificate needs to be obtained ... [More]
“I’m just going to Woolies.” “I need something from Woolworths.” Doesn’t quite sound right. But I guess I’ll get used to it, just as I did with Melbourne Central Station… and yes, I’m even getting there with Southern Cross Station (even though I still think that name change was silly). Age: Woolies shelves Safeway brand.
My brother-in-law Adrian was telling me some amusing tales of recent trips to Ikea in Richmond. On one, he dared to go on a Sunday, but went early. He described it in surfing terms — moving through the one-way system ahead of the wave, which he could see developing behind him, trying to beat it. ... [More]
I’ve had something of a fascination with Ikea’s furniture ever since my teenage years when my friend Konrad moved to his new place in St Kilda and showed me the bedroom desk he’d got. It was a huge pine modular setup, full of useful drawers and shelves for his various gadgets and papers. Somewhere I ... [More]
I just bought a car. Well, subject to a mechanic giving it a going-over. Holden Astra CD TS, 2000 hatchback “Olympic edition”. Which means it’s from two Olympics ago, and that it has a few little extras like fog lights. Silver, electric windows, airbags, ABS, CD player, alloy wheels (like I care), remote locking. Perhaps ... [More]
Some interesting movement on grocery prices, with the ACCC report noting a lack of competition, and making some recommendations, such as unit pricing. You know, I’m pretty sure my memory isn’t failing me in this: Safeway used to have unit pricing. I’m sure that 10 or 15 years ago, in the small print on the ... [More]
On a packet of chocolate (via Marita and Justine)… See, it’s not just the nuts you need to watch out for. It’s the other nuts as well.
Given Starbucks’ news that it’s closing most of its Australian branches, it was amusing to read Joel Spolsky’s piece on Starbucks and their sales techniques. I’ve got my own opinions of Starbucks’ product, but I’m not a coffee drinker anyway. Ultimately I think the analysts are right: Starbucks misread the market. Most Australians simply aren’t ... [More]
Dropped through Myer last Sunday (last day of their stocktake sale) to see if they had any nice work shirts or ties on special. I hate clothes shopping, but discounts numb the pain. Saw a shirt I thought looked all right. Special price: $29.95. Pelaco, okay brand. Take to counter. Extra super discount: rings up ... [More]
That cult show, the one I’ve liked for 30+ years. I think it’s really gone mainstream. Nice touch the ads being on phone booths, too. Not quite as well done as the Get Smart ones though.
Shopping at an IGA Supermarket near me is a bit like stepping back in time. The cash registers don’t have the full colour screens like in Coles and Safeway. But the shelves do have those electronic price tags that were all the rage in the early-noughties at places like K-Mart, before they realised that they ... [More]
Glad it wasn’t me that this happened to. One can understand the frustration which gets people taking flying kicks at the machine, trying to rock it on its base to get the purchase out.
My sister and her family are moving from gentrified East Brighton to the wilds of Cheltenham. They bought a house there on a huge block of land, with a pool in the backyard. They don’t expect to keep the pool (what, in this day and age, and with Waves about 5 minutes’ walk away?) but ... [More]
There was some discussion on this recently in the comments, and now it’s become reality: From tomorrow, most Australian credit cards will offer you the choice of using the PIN instead of signing, at most shops. Details on the Pen Or Pin web site. Wouldn’t surprise me if it had been pushed by those retailers ... [More]