Author Archives: Pete

This is the end!

Two events have happened today that make me realise that I cannot continue with certain associations..

The first is with Google Blogger. An entire post, two hours work, has disappeared from Blogger, and I don’t see any way to retrieve it.

Oh well, too bad. I’ve moved here to Word Press and that’s the end of my postings on Google.

The other realisation is that a close personal relationship is also gone. Lost. Damaged beyond repair. There is no understanding, no way of making the modules talk together. Like software, the modules are incompatible. They  cannot communicate. Black is white, white is black. Hands outstretched, poles apart, no common ground, incompatible code.

I don’t think there is any possibility of restoration and I don’t feel like going through the pain and sheer grind of trying.

Too bad. Not interested. I’ve moved this to the outer and I’m moving on.

In the past 20 years I’ve developed a hard, impervious outer shell. No-one gets through unless I allow it. I have closed the gate, locked and bolted it and that’s it. I control who enters and I shove people who hurt me outside.

I simply no longer care. I am moving on to the rest of my life and I simply have no feelings any more for people who hurt me. End of story. I honestly don’t care. I have learnt the hard way to be this way. Do not get close to people, do not let people get close to me. Especially females. Not a chance.

Ah well, luckily I have lots of new things to do and I’ve made some terrific new friends recently, and rekindled some old friendships. That’s all I need. I am confident of my integrity. That’s all I need.

So if you don’t hear from me, that’s it. Don’t call me. I won’t call you.

Australian Management?

15 August 2012 – my tree has not yet popped into flower.    In 2008 it bloomed around 1st August. Is it the dry weather?
Oh this buggy Blogger! I didn’t deliberately shift the picture. It did it all by itself. Duh!
_________________________________________
OK, I sent complaints to both Coles and Woolworths Supermarkets showing the items below, and neither has responded today. So much for their web site complaints forms.
My next step will be to contact the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), and to post on the CHOICE web site. Standby.
_________________________________________
Today I also escalated a dispute with CamerasDirect.com.au (Gold Coast address) to the Queensland Dept of Fair Trading. I bought a monopod from them a couple of weeks ago and when it arrived, it’s faulty. $135 worth. I believe they’ve sent me an old shop model which someone else has used but rejected. It has scratch marks and simply won’t work in the way it should.
I’ve sent them five emails and made two phone calls in the past 10 days, but all I get is either silence or an answering machine. I have had one email response, but only to say their warranty department would get back to me. Of course, they didn’t.
This isn’t a shonky mob. I actually bought my Canon HD camcorder from them in 2008 and went there to collect it, so I know they exist. I’ve bought from them before and had a good relationship, but boy, something’s gone wrong this time.
_________________________________________
Today, with Bazza’s negotiating skills, I’ve also written a letter to Carpet Call saying, “Not satisfied! You don’t get off this lightly. I want financial compensation for the hell you put me through.”
On Barry’s advice, I’ve asked that it be dealt with at senior management level because this is a serious matter, and I want a written response. We’ll see what happens now.
_________________________________________
I’m also expecting a phone call from Texas, USA, at 8am tomorrow morning, to validate my Photodex ProShow software. Even though I have a fully paid copy, even though I have a serial number, even though I have been a paid user since they first developed it about 6 years ago, I still have to validate it by connecting on the internet to their server.
But my desktop PC cannot connect to the internet and never will. Therefore I cannot use the software! I get very terse. I have complained from my laptop and they’ve said they’ll phone me, but only during their working hours. Luckily 8am here is 5pm in Texas, so I expect a call. They’d better.
________________________________
Finally, here’s Minnie! She’s fine and smiling.

This is a salad?

See those two little blobs? That is the bocconcini cheese you get in a Woolies salad for $6.98!
Hah! Little did I know that the bocconcini salad would contain just two, tiny pieces of bocconcini cheese!
Woolies is being informed.

Coles for Kids

Coles’s idea of Kids’ DVDs
Oh yeah, nearly forgot. This is Coles Supermarket at Innaloo last Thursday 9 August.
Coles’s idea of DVDs suitable for kids includes Shutter Island rated MA 15+, Gladiator rated R, and Atonement rated R.  There may be others but I can’t read the labels.
I think Coles is going to hear more about this. (Taken with my iPod Touch).

Woolies joins in the deceptions too

Woolies attempted deception  14 August 2012
Not to be outdone, Woolies got me again today.
In the photo above, notice the WOW SALAD BOCONCCINI (sic) TOMATO & BASIL 300G? It scanned at $6.98, even though it’s clearly marked down to $5.58.
(Also note that they can’t even spell their own product name properly. Look at the tub label, bocconcini, which is correct.)
I am tired of this. To get it fixed, I have to go back to Karrinyup and stand at the counter. I don’t want to do this! I have no reason to go back for a week or more.
I cannot go through a scanning checkout these days without catching at least one of these attempted scams, be it Woolies, Coles or IGA.  I think it’s time to go to the ACCC and demand that scanning “errors” be stopped.
Additionally, it used to be that if you found a scanning error, you got the item free. Not any more! They stopped that years ago. Too many payouts I reckon — too many errors.
_________________________________________
I was pleased to hear about the Facebook rant today about Target children’s clothing. A woman posted her anger at Target making “trashy” clothing for 7-14 year olds.
I don’t care about that, but I do care about K-Mart’s DRAB clothing. In men’s clothing, you can have any shade of drab you like, as long as it’s black, purple, green, turquoise, military camouflage or grey.
But the overwhelming impression in K-Mart men’s is DRAB. It looks awful! Cheap, but rubbish.
Bali, by contrast has magnificent men’s clothing. I can’t find anything I like here, but up there I am in clothing heaven. The only problem is, 4XL is not a common size in Bali!
I think it’s time I started telling these local waster shops that they can take their drab and stuff it. No wonder retail business in Australia is bad. These guys can’t sell to save their lives.

Coles deceptions

I have just sent this to Coles corporate web site as a complaint:

You BASTARDS. Congratulations – you’ve tricked me again!
On Thursday 9 August I bought two packets of Birds Eye Wok Ready 750g meals BECAUSE THEY WERE SHOWN AS ON SPECIAL AT $4.99 each.
They scanned at $9.99 each. I didn’t notice until I got home and being aged 65 and with poor mobility, I have been unable to go back and SHOUT AT the poor bloody shop people.
I realise now that only one of the few varieties of Wok Ready flavours was on special.
Congratulations! You’ve deceived your customer once again.
This is happening more and more – deceptive pricing on shelves.
Even when I try to look closely, I STILL get caught! My eyesight is deteriorating but your fine print is deliberately designed to catch us out. BASTARDS.
On the same trip, I managed to catch another of your deceptions. I bought an item marked with a yellow SPECIAL tag at $5.81, only to have it scan at $21.40!! Luckily I caught it and rejected it in time. But I was embarrassed because it was an item of makeup and I didn’t like being seen buying it.
This is happening over and over again. I have to pay careful attention to what the tags actually refer to, and since they are often low down (yeah, low down!) I can hardly read them. It’s deliberate deception!
I will no longer willingly shop at Coles. I am fed up. You are predatory, deceiving bastards. I take every opportunity to highlight this, including on-line on my blog.
Damn you.
I have the receipt, but there’s no way to attach it. How convenient.
Therefore I’m going to post this on my blog for the world to read.

Word salad

Um, mesclun, methinks
I’ve just eaten some more of the Mescalin salad leaves as featured with my name in today’s Inside Cover in the West Australian.
I submitted this item last Friday and they phoned me twice, Friday and Saturday, to double check my identity and ask questions about the item before publication.
As the New York Times writer said, “If your mother calls to say she loves you, get another source.”
I debated whether to phone the company before I dobbed them in, but if they’re too lazy to use a dictionary or the web to check before they get their packaging made, they deserve a rocket (boom, boom).
In fact, I’m pretty disgusted with the quality of the WA made salads I buy at IGA. They are made from the tough, leathery outer leaves of lettuces, sometimes containing as few as two baby tomatoes, with old, tough capsicum slices and in the Caesar Salads, rubbishy, dry, counterfeit bacon chips and flavourless croutons. All at $8!
We are being served crap at high prices! It’s time we jacked up, as Japanese consumers do. Don’t accept this rubbish. Complain.

Good day

Blossom start August 2012
What a nice day. I got up at 4am and watched the whole of the Olympics Closing Ceremony. 
Wow! With the sound up high, it rocked. What a change in technology. Hi def digital vision, digital audio, LCD screen, LED lighting all over the stadium, radio mics everywhere, hand held cameras, flying cameras, chopper shots, flawless stadium sound, huge stadium screens … it’s hard to imagine how it could get better. This is so far ahead of 2000 and the 1990s. I think it even surpassed Beijing in 2008.
I posted a comment on the Guardian’s newspaper web site:

 Congratulations, you Pommy bastards. Top job, top show. I got up at 4am and watched all of the closing. It was great!

I admit I was a doubter. All those pre-games troubles had me worried, but it was all right on the night. Even the weather played the game.

Well done, from a proud Aussie. Proud of my English heritage, even from 7 generations ago, and proud to be an Aussie as well. Geez, I’m gettin’ a bit emotional.

If only I could summon the cash and the strength to come to London now. I bet the atmosphere will be fabulous for the next few months. Ya never know, ya might see me in my shorts and T shirt yet. Say G’day if you do.

This got 31 Likes (recommendations)

Then at about 7am I went for a walk along my street to the corner and back. I must admit, I don’t do it anymore so this was a bit hard. But I did it, and more importantly, Minnie followed me! She’s still capable of walking to the corner and back, and I’m sure she loved it.

Crumbs, I’ve got to do it more!

As well, it was a nice, fine day and my almond tree is on the point of bursting into flower. And North Beach/Trigg is the top performing suburb in real estate values for June.

Got one!

No brake lights except obscured HMSL   5:03pm Thurs 9 August 2012
I don’t like Bunnings. Monopolistic, domineering, predatory, bad service, all the usual stuff.
Today I may have had a win. I bought a new reticulation controller. The shelf price was $49.99.
I also bought some bookcase and wardrobe shelf supports, those little plastic or brass things that fit in the holes in the sides.
When I came to check out, there were only two checkouts operating with about 5 people queued at each one. I was stewing.
When my retic controller was scanned, it wouldn’t register. OK, the guy peeled off the top bar code to reveal another one underneath. This time, it scanned OK, at $23.89!
So how come it was shelf priced at $49.99? Rip off.
_________________________________________
At Coles at Innaloo yesterday, I had the opposite experience. I saw Bird’s Eye Wok Meals on special at $4.99, so I grabbed two packets.
Only when I got home did I realise I’ve been charged $9.99 each packet!! That’s the full price, I assume.
I am angry. This is deception. I should take them back, but why the hell should I have to? I can’t face the trek back. I’m going to make a huge fuss on their complaints web page. I’m sick of this constant attempt to trick the customer.

Aunty ABC stuffs up again

I roll on the floor in laughter:
WA’s shark premier
I am becoming a bit of a regular contributor to Media Watch. They know me by now. The pig cruelty vision from last weekend may feature this Monday.
The above is tonight’s stupidity on the ABC News web site. I happen to loathe the guy, but I have to acknowledge how well he fits the image of a hammerhead shark.
________________________________________
So I sent the screen grab off to Media Watch, not reading the text below it.
Later (11:15pm) I refreshed the page.
Look at the text. ” … spooked a massive hammerhead shark to help rescue a man … “
Wow. What a good shark. What a nice shark. A hammerhead shark rescues a man. Lucky we didn’t start culling them, eh? We need these sharks.
The sheer blithering incompetence … it’s not as if this was fast, late breaking news. This story broke at about 11.30am, plenty of time for them to write the story!