Showing posts with label Boots. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Boots. Show all posts

Saturday, 28 March 2020

No Future


This is not as negative as the title might sound and is an excuse to share the Sex Pistols' "God Save The Queen" from which I extracted the title of this post. When I first heard the Sex Pistols I was sort of disappointed because they were more heavy metal than punk though that also might be down to having decent production

This is about the situation we find ourselves in with the lockdown. Normally we have something we have to do , and something we look forward to , like seeing people at work and socially , going to town , for some people shopping, everything is something to look forward to, but the lockdown has stopped a hell of a lot of that.

I am lucky enough to work from home and make random Teams calls to people to maintain sociability , but if your work is closed down you may suddenly lose a huge amount of social contact. We often think that the people we work with are just co workers but they are often friends and do provide social interaction and friendship as well , giving us something to look forward to.

Luckily I live in Fenham , Newcastle which has wide roads, wide footpaths , parks , green areas like the Town Moor which enables me to get out and walk while maintaining social distancing.

Today I went to the local Boots to pick up a prescription, but it took me well over an hour in freezing conditions. I was worried I was going to collapse the cold was so bad.  The other thing I hadn't thought a bout was there were two vapers spewing out their smoke over everyone behind them in the queue. They complainingly desisted when me and another guy told them they could be infecting everyone  their smoke / vapour hit. Smoking and Vaping is OK as long as you don't breathe it on anyone else.

The thing is you need something to look forward to. We have phones , social media, and an unfeasible amount of TV choice. Then there's books and music.

So we can give ourselves new things to look forward to , however small, something to look forward to is something worth having. There are still people who seem to relish things going wrong and telling you you must be miserable because things will only get worse, but I do not subscribe to that.

Although things will change, we can slightly change our goals and look forward to a bright future when we come out the other side.

So find something you like to look forward to. Enjoy your Saturday.

Wednesday, 8 August 2018

Your Password


There is so much idiocy about security. Banks tell us to hide our PIN, enter it under a cover so you can't see what you are typing, treat everyone as a potential thief and then make your cards contactless, no ID required (apart from odd random PIN requests).

I've always believed that much more than four passwords becomes a security risk, because people start writing them down. The only secure place for a password is in your head and it has to be something that you can remember, maybe a phrase with a smattering of numbers and other characters.

When I worked for Littlewoods on their IT systems the backspace was considered a valid character for a password, so if you made a mistake you had to completely start again with your log in.

There are systems that won't allow sequences, repetitions, numbers, special characters and these again generate security risks because people end up writing down passwords.

There are even software packages that remember your passwords for you. Think about that. You are entrusting all your logins to a piece of software, that is the digital equivalent of your notebook that you give to someone else for safekeeping. I was also amazed to see the number of password notebooks for sale on Amazon, it's like people want to give away their information, although if you think of your Tesco and Boots clubcards that track all your purchases, and Facebook where you publicly share so much personal information.

Facebook, Google and Paypal always ask me if I want to stay logged in, now how insecure is that. You enter a system securely and when you are finished you log out. The really annoying thing is that they use cookies to remember your preferences. Cookies are by their nature transient, and I always clear my web cache because I do web work and want a clean browser cache, which means all the particular site starts asking me for all sorts of things. To log into Facebook or this blog I am asked three times if I want to save my password.

Though again this blog is me sharing my thoughts with you.

I have had many arguments about IT security over the years, and it seems to me, often people do things because they can or it gives them control, rather than it's a good idea.

Fingerprints , Face Recognition and Retina scanning are more security options but my friend Nic managed to lock himself out of his iPhone when he accidentally sanded off his fingerprints.

So what else to play but "Security" by The Saints.


Tuesday, 11 October 2016

Stand Up There Are No Seed Drills Here - #ALifeInNumbers #17

My Stand Up Vinyl Courtesy Log Play Cafe

I didn't want to use Janis Ian's "At 17" , it's a fine song bit thought I would peruse my collection and
discovered an old Jethro Tull "B" Side "17" now available on the"Stand Up" CD and it is a very fine song. I just love it. This is one of the things about having a large records collection (it doesn't matter what media they are on, they are records).

I have a vinyl copy of "Stand Up" and that doesn't have it on, so you need to get it digitally or need to get a 7" copy of "Sweet Dream"





Anyway the 'flu' is being kept at bay by either my smoothies, paracetamol or both , but they (Boots)  won't let me have a 'flu' jab till I'm over it. Well they recommended I didn't have a 'flu' jab as is could make me much worse , so hopefully I will get sorted later in the week.

Right, time for work , have a brilliant Tuesday everybody.

Monday, 20 April 2015

Laziness Creeping In

Boots Sushi
Well not really. The new job is so close to home that I hop on the bus , off it , then into the office , it takes less than ten minutes. A side effect of this is that I don't actually hit my 10K a day designated in my Samsung S-Health application. The think is, that I keep trying to do extra walking when I can, so it's not like I have packed in trying to hit the target. Since starting the new job have become enamoured of certain Boots Sushi packs ,falling back on Nudo when Boots don't have the stuff. This stuff is really nice and does fill you and is probably good for you , certainly better than the huge sandwich packs , and bread often makes me feel bloated whereas after this I just feel satisfied , which is good.


As I've said before, my free time has increased and I do feel good because of it, which is improved by the current beautiful weather, and the upcoming glut of music festivals and concerts coming my way , the only real problem being so many clashes.

The new job is Newcastle based , and this is the hundredth time I have tagged Newcastle on this blog, and though I'm not a native (originally from Preston which I have mentioned only 15 times though I still love my home town and all my friends and family who live there) , but that's just some throwaway stats that I am wont to throw in to my perusals.

It's been another good day and this week I'm looking forward to enjoying the challenges of the new job , catching up with friends , maybe getting to a gig or two before a hospital appointment next Sunday (8:30 in the morning can you believe) , but I cannot berate the NHS because they are totally brilliant.

So this is just a short post , talking about nothing , and apologise for not putting anything of substance in here, but I'm sure you will find something brilliant to do tonight , so do it and have fun.

I included a Jordan Reyne song because I am going to see her in May and she is one of the most impressive artists I've discovered in the last twelve months.

Sunday, 14 July 2013

Snake Oils



Well actually Hemp Oil and Omega 3. I get my Hemp Oil from Holland & Barrett and my Omega 3 from Boots , and I can recommended that they both seem to work from me. Hemp is a very versatile product and the way Omega 3 works was brilliantly analogised for me by a diabetic nurse which I documented here.  It is , of course , possible that effect is a placebo effect and I just think I feel better, but if something causes that then you tend to perform better and just generally be better.

Last night one of my friends Chris Ball told me a story about someone who was taking loads of vitamin supplements , which "must be working because they make my wee smell funny". Chris is responsible for the excellent but brief "Ape of Wrath" blog.

Also he mentioned that the government were going to push aspirin as  a "Vitamin S" cure all , unless you are advised not to by your doctor, which then becomes a bit of an iffy policy to say the least. I personally think you should generally try and get your vitamins by eating the correct (fresh) foods (fruit and vegetables),  but people will still swear by their little rattling plastic containers.


Sunday, 28 April 2013

The Internet Is Not A Private Place

This is just in response to another site telling me , via an annoying pop up , that they're going to be collecting data about what I'm looking at to enhance my browsing experience. For that read you're going to be targetted with adverts related to things you have looked at, It's why Boots and Tesco and everyone else encourage you to take out loyalty cards , it's so they can target you with adverts and offers that you are more likely to respond to.

The internet is a public place so you shouldnt be shocked that technology is used to track what you are doing , usually in the name of making you part with your money, I have a website here but that is seeing less and less of peoples money, A big part of that was when Amazon effectively stopped paying for referrals by creating a set of rules disqualifying email links , and sales to people who were already customers. Build your infrastucture then stop paying for it , a brilliant strategy.

Also The Cloud is being used as a storage facility , while I'm OK with it as a back up , I'm not happy with it as a first point of storage. Amazon and iTunes offer cloud storage , with the right to delete anything they deem not "licensed" . So when you use these facilities you effectively lose control.

Did you know that when you catalog anything with iTunes it writes to that file!! It should never do that as it effectively corrups the item, but it tries to and tries about 1000 times befor giving up,

Basically I dont need to be told that I need to be aware I'm in public when on the internet. It's Caveat Emptor and I dont need to be continually asked or reminded. I can install ad or popup blockers and switch cookies off aand everyone who uses the internet can do the same.

Thought the Bowie song was appropriate.

Sunday, 24 February 2013

4:49 Sunday Morning

..and I've woken up , or rather been woken by an annoying tickly , chesty cough, In an Alan Bennett-esque piece of situationanist observation I'm sure I made myself a LemSip , well Boots own brand equivalent last night , but can't finsd any trace of it, and I'm still wondering whether I imagined it!!

Anyway it's one of those times where it's too early to get up and too late to go back to sleep. There's a thick carpet of snow outside and though it started to melt , it's now freezing , so not driving weather and the roads are very, very quite.

Was listening to an album of protest songs last nightfron the 40's and 50's from the likes of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger and many others about the oppression of the average man by a combination of banking and government. It's funny how banks and governments should be there to serve us , but in fact just exploit us. I'm one of the lucky ones in that I am keeping head above water , but lots of people arent so lucky, with fuel and food prices rocketing and wages either staying static or jobs just going and then people expected to take minimum wage jobs.

In yesterdays paper there wasreported a push by the Tory right to curb union power by not allowing strike action unless 50% of the members turn out. Be interesting to apply similar criteria to bills but through Parliament . Nothing gets passed unless 50% of MPs turned up. Can you imagine a company functioning with it's members have such a blatant disregard for their work and responsibilities?

Also yesterday the UK's triple AAA credit rating was downgraded to AA by the banks , who , don't forget put the whole world in this mess AND were bailed out by the governments of the world. George Osborne said that was justification for continuing austerity measures (ie tagetting people on benefits and the pensions of those on minimum wage). Yesterday the Inland Revenue was trumpetting the success of it's anti tax avoidance measures , apparently a Liverpool hairdresser and a Northumbrian Pipe Fitter were the top ones recovering about £20K. Letters of congratulation were probably sent to Amazon , Starbucks and Google. I am not getting at those companies for legally avoiding tax , I'm accusing our governments (and this goes back a long way) for facilitating this: Check this article on tax avoidance (which remember is legal and encouraged and facilitated by goverments all over the world)  and here are some telling figures:
  • 1% - Income tax rate reportedly available to members of the legal K2 tax scheme used by Jimmy Carr.  Source: The Independent
  • 98 – Number of FTSE 100 companies operating out of tax havens. Source: ActionAid
  • £25bn – Estimated annual cost of tax avoidance, according to 2008 research. £13billion of this is lost to individuals and £12billion to the 700 largest corporations. Source: Tax Research UK and the TUC
  • 10% - Average rate of tax paid by top earners, according to a confidential HMRC study seen by George Osborne. Source: The Telegraph
Plus a few telling figures from  1227 QI Facts:
  • In 2005, the 54 billionaires in Britain paide less that £15 million in income tax between them. £9 million of that was paid by James Dyson. To put it in perspective it's like me and you paying less than 10p a month on our earnings.
  • In 2011 only 9 of the 62 owners of apartments in One Hyde Park, London (the world's most expensive block of flats) paid any council tax.
  • Over 600,000 companies are registered in the British Virgin Islands (populaton < 29K)
  • In 2009 Exxon posted $19 billion profits and received a $156 million federal tax rebate from the US Government

So you can see goverments and big business are still in cahoots , taking profits for themselves and leaving us to pick up the tab. Anyway it's time to go back to bed now...


Sunday, 19 August 2012

Homogenisation Hell

A couple of years ago I was reading a book by Bill Bryson in which he noted that every high street in every town or city was beginning to look the same. There was a Boots , a WH Smith , a Woolworths , a BHS , a Next  and a few others . I noted the Glastonbury was missing a couple of these and in a recent visit to Totnes their only concession was I think a WH Smiths or maybe a Superdrug.

Anyway , I was in Newcastle today in various parts of the centre and I seemed to be always in sight of a Starbucks , a Costa , a Pret A Manger , a Boots , a Subway etc . It reminds of the Sylvester Stallone film Demolition Man where the only brand left is Taco Bell . I dont know if they paid for that or just enjoyed the irony of the product positioning , but it does get scary when your choice is being whittled away like that.

Even on Newcastle Railway Station we have Starbucks , Costas and WH Smiths , oh not forgetting Greggs !!




Tuesday, 1 May 2012

Cirencester

Not a very inspired title , but Cirencester is an extremely pleasant place.

The original reason for this blog was going to be a diary of places I'd visited , hence the Seven Days In name , but that soon went the distance. Also someone pointed out that in could be read as Seven Day Sin , which I believe was a raucous American combo!! 

It is posh because there are no betting shops , and unfortunately no record shops, and has it's infestation of Boots , WH Smiths , Subway etc. I didn't notice a McDonalds or KFC though !!

It has some excellent resturants and top end shopping, However my shopping was all done in Poundland , not a shop I frequent , but came out with some USB Data / Charging Cables and a Nine Black Alps CD. It is sad when you music has to come from Poundland!!





Cirencester Parish Church

Anyway Cirencester has a lot of impressive buiding including an unfeasibly high manicured hedge and an imposing parish church. It's easy to park and you can easily spend a day there.






Big Hedge in Cirencester
I also noticed an inordinate amount of charvers wearing trackie bottoms and backward peaked caps hanging around phone shops , Poundland and bus stops.


Don't let that put you off though , the place is full of charm and places to see , as well as eateries and watering holes!!

Thursday, 19 April 2012

Not Dead .... You Just Have To Look

With National Record Shop Day approaching I wandered down Northumberland to check out HMV, until recently your only source of music on the high street unless theres a Tesco , or you go for the rack in the Pound Shops that are proliferating in in our relatively affluent society.  Time was when WH Smith and Boots has a sizeable music section but that's no more . HMV themselves are losing their identity with football shirts , Apple Product displays and DVDs and games taking a huge part of the display despite the fact that streaming media is negating the need for recorded films. How man do you watch more than once.

I Shrewsbury I found an HMV buried deep in a shopping centre. The shop was quite big , but the only new music was the new Madonna album and the metal section consisted of multiple copes of Black Sabbath Volume IV , Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and something by Avenged Sevenfold. Newcastle store is over three floors but the music side seems to be contracting by the second,


A surprise and welcome addition to the high street is the Thats Entertainment shops , outlets for Music Magpie. Their music is arranged by price and I picked up several limited editions (Crowded House Recurring Dream and Annie Lennox Medusa) for a couple of quid each. Second hand but excellent condition and the staff are helpful. I was suuprised to see a fair few Shirehorses albums which I thought were hard to get , well Fat Harry White is , so you you can pick up some decent stuff and they have more new stock than the Shrewsbury HMV!!

The Independents are doing well , there'll be queues outside from midnight on Friday but it's good to see there is now a choice of music on the high street.

Though of course you can always go to your local independent record shop !!

Sunday, 20 November 2011

What Is The Point?

Everywhere you go now tries to foist some kind of loyalty card , with the promise that you can earn "points". The reasons for these are to capture information about you in order to lure you into buying far more than you want or require.

There are a few that give a reasonable reward such as the 4% given by Boots and the free WIFI with Starbucks . But then you have the awful returns on Nectar and WH Smith cards.

Basicall my three are Boots , Starbucks and Tesco and I aint too keen on on Tesco!!
Also quite amazed to see that Tesco do Cars!!