We upgraded the kids’ beds to King Single… because they’re both getting big. Unfortunately the place I bought the excellent old bunk beds years ago (“Chunky Pine Bunks”) seems to have closed down… a real shame because all I wanted was fairly plain, but really sturdy beds. I hunted around and eventually found these: Good ... [More]
Category: Consumerism
If you improve a product, and want it to sell well, you need to make people aware of it. When they launched trains every 10 minutes between the City and Ringwood, Dandenong and Frankston last year on weekends, there was an initial bit of publicity via the media, but very little else. Metro did some ... [More]
Spotted in Big W: Spotted in JB Hifi: The key difference seems to be that the JB Hifi people know how to set up their TVs. The Big W people don’t know, or don’t care, that on almost all of the TVs they have on display, the colour is completely distorted. If you can’t see ... [More]
I’d been told this segment was coming up on Coxy’s Big Break, and it finally aired on Sunday: a look at the cash railways at the shop I worked at part-time as a teenager, Hattams in Elsternwick. Apparently these are some of the few still working cash railways in Victoria. They were common in medium ... [More]
One of the chemists in Bentleigh is renovating, and this old signage has been revealed — soon to be covered up with something new. Apparently they used to sell stuff called “film” from a company called “Kodak”. The windows have also shown up some old ads. Anybody care to estimate how old they might be? ... [More]
Among the presents I got for my birthday was a JB Hifi gift card. This always presents a challenge: what bargains can I pick up? Browsing around the store one day, I found the two Harry Potter movies we don’t already have — the Deathly Hallows parts 1 and 2 — on Blu-ray, for $14.98, ... [More]
This train is rolling around with advertising for Sportingbet plastered all over it. It provoked this letter in The Age yesterday: THERE’S much disapproval of the AFL regarding the promotion of gambling to minors during game time. I eagerly await seeing equal concern at the state subsidised rail system, which now has an entire train ... [More]
Observed at Southern Cross Station this week: IKEA seat covers. They seem to be confined to platforms 11 and 12, though if you’re trying to get to IKEA by public transport, platform 9 (train to North Richmond, then a tram) is probably a better bet. Not every seat has them, and there are no cushions ... [More]
Categories
Simple jobs
Here’s another blog post inspired by a discussion with the kids. Relatively simple things, it appears, can also be quite profitable. Back when I worked at Hattams as a 16-17 year-old, the alterations for trousers and jackets and things were done by a bloke called Telly who lived up the road. Trouser shortening was $5, ... [More]
Categories
Robot vacuum cleaners
I was chatting to a work colleague about birthdays, the amazing fact that we’re now well into the 21st century, and what happened to the promise of robots who would do the housework? Of course, we have dishwashers, clothes washers, dryers… and then she said she has one of those robot vaccuum cleaners. Apparently it ... [More]
The question seems to keep coming up as to whether it’s legal for Myki machines to not accept 5 cent coins; or indeed whether it’s legal for Metcard machines on trams to only accept coins (not notes). Some people assume that because it’s all legal tender, it must be against the law to demand specific ... [More]
Yowzers. It’s been 7 years since I bought the house. And it’s been four years since I bought the car. At the time I bought the car, the dealer I bought it from had just paid the rego, so it’s due every August. This year it’s $696.50. Obviously because I bought the car in August, ... [More]