Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Marketing Gone Mad!

Well I suppose that title should really be Merchandising Gone Mad. I went into my local Sainsburys yesterday to get a sandwich for lunch and had a quick wander around the non-food aisle, always looking out for a CD or DVD bargain.

Nothing to be seen in that area but my eye was inexorably drawn to a new display being put out, replacing the tired old Footie/England/World Cup stuff. I couldn't believe my eyes, it was "Kids Back to School" uniforms! I kid you not, on Tuesday 19 July, more than a whole week before the local schools actually finish this year, Sainsburys are promoting the BTS range.

WE always moan every year as Christmas seems to start even earlier, but this is just ridiculous. Can't you at least allow the kids a couple of weeks of summer before they get confronted with the prospect of returning to their studies.

I think this is a big mistake and I say "Boycott Sainsburys" - so there - that will get them worried. I am off now to send this to the BBC, I want action.

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Cycling is fun and good exercise

I've just got back from a long lunch, during which I went for a lovely bike ride along the Thames Path from Staines three quarters of the way to Windsor. Why three quarters I hear somebody ask? Well, I wanted to see how far I could get in 25 minutes riding, then stop for 10 minutes to eat lunch and then cycle back.

I have been walking this route and can get from Staines to Runnymede Pleasure grounds in 25 minutes. I've calculated that this is about 3.5 miles there and back - a good healthy walk for lunchtime.

But today I came to work by bike as Staines bridge is temporarily closed to vehicle traffic, see this post for the original fiasco. So I thought I would see how far I would get in the same time by bike.

The Thames Path is great for cycling as it is almost uniformly flat, being by a river, and has beautiful views of the river as you travel. By a quick estimate of my speed, I think I did about 6 miles out, so 12 miles round trip, burning approximately 691 calories according to this calculator