Why are all expected to behave like babies?

I've long wondered why grown-ups (Chavs in particular) like to walk around in romper suits and drink from bottles with a pull up teat cap. These bottle caps encourage you to suck at your drink like an eager baby. Maybe the marketers think that we all yearn to return to the breast and so provide fizzy drinks you can suck through a plastic nipple.

I drink a lot of water and so far, Sainsbury's water bottles have had proper caps. The kind you unscrew before drinking from the open bottle. I always have one in the car. Sure there's a risk of spillage which, if you're driving can create a suspicious wet patch on your trousers - but that's an acceptable risk.

Now Sainsbury's have decided to put teat-caps on the top of their water bottles. Do they expect me to suck my water like a baby? (Perhaps they can also provide someone to wind me after my drink - in case I get tummy ache!)

I refuse to drink like a baby so will start saving proper caps to re-use. In fact I might as well re-fill my old bottles with tap water. Sod Sainsbury's!

The power of post script

I've not felt moved to blog of late, too busy I guess. However a recent chance meeting with Steve Short, magician and all round nice guy got me thinking.

I first met Steve when he was a children's magician in Norfolk 20yrs ago. This week we both found ourself presenting at a Leicester Business Event. I was determined to hear his presentation and was surprised by how well he used magic to make sound business points.

However the thing he said that struck a chord with me was this: after the headline and the sign off, the next thing people look at on a letter or email is the PS. I was once a big fan of the PS and used it to good effect all the time. Of late I've stopped . . . . but don't know why. So now, I'm going to make October a post script month.


PS See if you can catch me out - let me know if I contact you and there's no PS!

Are you haunted too?

Yesterday I spent a very pleasant afternoon with my ancient uncle, pruning trees and cutting grass. He has lived in his bungalow since he had it build 49 years ago. I've been visiting since then so the place is important to me too.

As he's aged (he's now 85) the large garden has gradually taken over, hence my frenzied strimming and sawing. Over the years, a housing estate has been built around him and what was a quiet unmade lane is now a well lit thoroughfare. His bungalow rather stands out, an oasis of history amongst a modern urban sprawl.

The problem started when the paper boy refused to deliver. 'It's too scary,' he said. Then maurauding youngsters started throwing pebbles at his windows after dark. He won't admit it, but he's become rather worried by all this, keeps his door securely bolted and spends little time in his front garden.

To his neighbours, I suspect he's viewed as an oddity. A tall, gaunt old man who likes to wear short shorts with long green socks - a style he developed in India during WW2. He lives alone, which in these 'stranger danger days' means he's also treated with some suspicion.

What gets me, is that here's a man who who prefers his own company to that of others, who now through no fault of his own is feeling increasingly a prisoner in his own home.

Wouldn't it be nice if his neighbours, talked to their kids, explained that getting old happens to us all, and now and then, offered to help him keep his roadside verge as neatly trimmed as their's.

To blog or not to blog . . that is the question

Blogging is unlike almost anything else in life. It's something once started you feel almost honour bound to continue, even if you're getting no feedback from your readers.

I'm lucky in that I get lots of feedback, on and off line, but for some it must be a real challenge. Of late, I've simply not had time to post anything, despite having lots to say. I try to take it easy in the summer, less work, less noise and more time with family.

Does blogging do it for you? Are you busy because of your blogs or because you're busy blogging. Is it the next big business thing, or simply much ado about nothing?

Costa fortune!

Had my pocket picked and my wallet emptied in Costa Coffee's New Row cafe nr Covent Garden yesterday. To be fair, they had got a sign saying 'pickpockets operate here' but could they do more to prevent their customers getting robbed?

CCTV would help, as would approaching people who come in and sit down without buying a drink. After all, if you need to steal the money for your cappuccino then why are you there?

The staff reaction to my sudden poverty was rather worrying. It's clearly something that happens there every day. I began to wonder if they greet the regular pickpockets with a cheery wave; simply another London worker going about his daily routine.

I wonder if they'd show more interest if I'd been assaulted or mugged instead?I got the feeling that if I'd been stabbed, the staff would just drag me outside so I didn't make a mess on their floor.

Means tested consultancy quotes

I saw a brilliant example of consultant greed the other day. It was a piece of PR work for a charity. The organisation's Chairman, a wealthy entrepreneur had agreed to foot the bill.

The proposal outlined a fairly unimaginative list of tasks, including copying names of accountants out from the Yellow Pages. (Something most of us gave up doing ten years ago!)

The consultant, who shall remain nameless, priced this project at more than £20,000. I'd say it was worth £3,000 and only then if I didn't know that there was no point in chasing editors of weekly papers when all get their news feeds from their group HQ.

There's nothing wrong with discounting your day rate for a voluntary organisation. I do it on my website where I publish my day rates for all to see. But to inflate your day rate because the guy paying is wealthy? That's robbery!

Get bolder as you get older!

Prof Heinz Wolff is quoted in The Times recently as saying that: 'Timidity is very ageing. Fight it to stay younger. After all, with each year that passes you have less to lose.'

These wise words have really got me thinking. Am I getting more timid as I age? I like to think I'm getting bolder, but sometimes I do wonder. I certainly worry far less about what others will think and more than ever before, do as I please for most of the time.

But what about risk? When did I last really push myself far beyond what is comfortable? Of course I push myself to the limit in the gym, dizziness, nausea and floods of sweat are vital in my view if you're to keep your body young. But what about risking reputation, money, personal safety, sanity even? Hmmmmmmm let me think . . . . . . what shall I do first?