It’s about this time of year that I often go calendar shopping. I generally like to have a calendar hanging in the kitchen, and another in the toilet. Sometimes I’ll get given them at Christmas, of course — for last year I was given two excellent ones — the Melbourne Train Station calendar, and another ... [More]
Category: Consumerism
Christmas Day was largely spent with family, eating too much, playing with a giant cushion-like water balloon (which burst when, tragically, nobody was watching/filming) and swapping presents. Our haul this time around included a Wii U, which should be fun, and for my own personal stash I got some great movies on Blu-ray (Help, and ... [More]
Categories
Deliveries
Definitely in the category of First World Problems… When you order something online… …and you get it sent to home rather than work because it’s a bit bulky… …and you aren’t home when they try to deliver it… …and they don’t take it to a Licenced Post Office which is open on weekends… …and they ... [More]
The Melbourne General Post Office was built in the 1860s, and served as GPO until 2001. Nowadays it’s a shopping centre. Australia Post moved its retail operations a little north, to the other side of Little Bourke Street, with a big (but no doubt cheaper to run) Post Shop. Now that too has closed, in ... [More]
Anybody who likes to minimise their food miles might like to note this… increasing numbers of Woolworths supermarkets are using bags for fruit and vegetables that are made in the USA. That’s not to say other supermarket bags aren’t also imported from a long way away. As far as I’ve noticed, the Woolworths ones are ... [More]
A couple of years ago I wrote about Nissan Micra ads at Flinders Street Station directly criticising public transport. This time, it’s Kia’s turn, though it’s a little less overt. Spotted at Malvern (as well as other locations, such as South Yarra): You know, I’ve been using public transport for decades. I’ve seen people asleep, ... [More]
I assume this Anti-Hate advertising campaign from the Equal Opportunity & Human Rights Commission is a response to some well-publicised incidents recently: The small print says: The only thing more painful than racism is the silence that follows. If someone’s abused on this train, let them know you’re on their side. Help stop the hurt. ... [More]
Magazines aren’t quite dead, but they’re in trouble. While places like MagNation in Elizabeth Street are often busy, that might hide the fact that it replaced at least two older specialised magazine retailers (Technical Book Shop and McGills) that were in the CBD previously. At Southland, the newsagency that had been there for decades has ... [More]
Has anybody else had one of these, possibly dodgy, texts? This is the second one I’ve received now. After the first I replied “Wrong number” and got a “Sorry” back, but the guy is persistent. Something smells fishy. Note the supposed pick-up date, which is last Thursday, three days before the text was received. When ... [More]
Categories
Beware of credit card points
I was thinking of using my Commonwealth Bank credit card points to get myself an iPad, or an iPad Mini. After much consultation and trying them out, I thought I’d go for the Mini, which I have about enough points for. There’s a catch — ordering stuff from points can take quite a while for ... [More]
Categories
The past and future of retail
In one lunchtime walk yesterday, I saw both the past and future of retail. “As seen on TV.” Seriously, they still use this tagline to hook people in? Does it still work? It’s never the name-brand products which used this — always the slightly dodgy ones. I walked past this display twice, and saw nobody ... [More]
I don’t read The Age in paper form everyday, but when I do, it’s either on the weekend where I can spread out as much as I like (so broadsheet is fine, though the smaller format of the supplements is fine too), or on weekdays on the train, where the broadsheet format is extremely awkward ... [More]