WHERE IS MY PEN?

Working in retail, it is becoming more and more difficult dealing with the public, it seems some people are becoming less practical, less caring and less considerate.

Alot of people are time poor and use the telephone to do their walking, but when they call back they have no idea who they had been talking to. Surely it is commonsense to make a note of the salesperson's name so there is no time lost at either end of the call.

Also, if you call to enquire about a person's name and phone number, wouldn't you first have pen and paper ready. It seems not, the majority say "hold on until I find a pen."

Even though there are clearly signs stating "no eating in the store", more and more people are eating pastries out of paper bags from the bakery next door. The worst was a lady trying to talk and chomping loudly on a carrot! Today a lady came into the store holding a glass of coke, right on closing time and began to shop.

Where have our manners gone and our consideration for others.

Oh, I nearly forgot the long, loud conversations on the mobile phone - often in a foreign language!

STOP SIGN

On my day off I often meet up with friends for coffee or in my instance green tea. The restaurant sits right on a corner, where there is a STOP SIGN. It seems that not many drivers these days know or understand the meaning of STOP, as car after car zoom straight through the intersection.
Is it a case of ignorance, stupidity or just being in a hurry?
The point is, a STOP SIGN is put there for a reason and you are breaking the law if you do not stop. Many accidents are caused by inconsiderate drivers, who don't obey the road rules and sadly most get away with it!

Responsibility

The word RESPONSIBILITY came to light tonight when I was watching TV and found numerous people complaining about being fined for driving unregistered motor vehicles and the ensuing fine that was unfairly issued to them. The so called problem has been caused by the discarding of the Registration Sticker from the windscreen and now they cannot remember when the vehicle is due for registration and it is not their RESPONSIBILITY!

I have always received notification by mail of my impending Registration and if by chance that did go astray, surely it is my RESPONSIBILITY to remember this important date.  If your car is not registered, then you are not covered by 3rd party insurance.

These people who are seemingly NOT RESPONSIBLE are arguing that it is a 'revenue raising exercise!' It is easy to blame everybody else but themselves.

I personally do not have a problem with not having to clean off the old sticker and re-apply the new, as it was always a messy procedure and one I can do without.

We all have to be RESPONSIBLE for our own actions and keeping our motor vehicle registered and driving lawfully on our roads seems to be pretty high on the list, blaming the abandonment of the "registration sticker" as an excuse does not cut it!

Dining with Dogs

Firstly, I want to make it very clear that I am a dog lover but there is one circumstance that has me slightly disturbed. With footpath dining being so popular, alot of diners are now bringing their dogs along for the occasion.

With food hygiene high on everybody's thoughts when dining out, hand sanitisation is very important.

I am not a frequent diner but on several occasions I have witnessed the waitress patting a dog and then going straight back to serving customers and/or food. On the weekend I not only witnessed the dog patting but also the handling of the doggie water bowl, which was brought from near the footpath to inside where the dog was lying. On both occasions no hand sanitisation was witnessed.

Is it too much to ask that people handling dogs and/or doggie water bowls could wash their hands before resuming food preparation and service?

What is your view?

Supermarket watch dog!

I can't believe it has been 7 months since my last blog, I have had lots of topics in my head but have not put fingers to keyboard, but today my experience at the supermarket was the trigger to bounce back!

Firstly, I bought 2 Dettol surface wipes 80 pack, which were on special for $5, a saving of $2.80 and luckily I looked at the register as $7.80 twice appeared on the screen. Feeling sure that I hadn't misread the sale ticket, I queried the price and the shop assistant came back and said 'charge her $5 for one and one free'. No Apology!

Next was the biscuits, stock at the end of the aisle with $1 ticket. Marie, Arrowroot and a few others were one side of the display and Butternut Snap and Choc Ripple on the other but still under the $1 price.  Yes, you guessed it the latter two came up at the normal price of $2.85 each, I politely declined that purchase.

So to put this in perspective, had I not been alert and checked, I would have been overcharged $9.30 on 4 items.

Ok, the price on the wipes was obviously a computer error, being the first day of the specials but the positioning of the biscuits seemed like a deliberate ploy to catch out the unwary.

My husband recently bought a packet of 4 bread rolls and when he got home found the price ticket on the packet was priced for 6 rolls!

Busy Mums with children may not have the time or inclination to keep an eye on the register and once you are home, who is going to make a trip back to the supermarket.

Do you have any stories to tell of being overcharged at the checkout?

Curtain Length/Puddling

I am a lover of all the Renovation type shows and have noticed that  the curtains are long and spilling onto the floor, which is called 'puddling.' I have always believed that the best look is just above floor level. It looks good and is practical

Lots of home decor is purely for looks and lacks user friendly type requirements.

I can imagine trying to hold up the curtain with one hand whilst trying to juggle the vacuum with the other and the added risk of the vacuum sucking in the curtain!

Puddling refers to the amount of extra length of fabric that is spilled or puddled on the floor - adding opulence and style to your drapes.

'Puddling' originated as a means for the rich to show off their wealth as they were the only ones who could afford the extra material to lay on the floor.

How much puddling:

1" - a clean look where the draperies just rest on the floor, also called a break or 'trouser break.'

2"-4" Puddle - the most popular today, having adequate length to spill nicely onto the floor but still not a large puddle.

6"-8" is a true Puddle with enough length to fan the draperies out onto the floor.

What look do you like?

Nasty Comments

It seems that no matter what the topic on Facebook, it brings out the 'nasties' in droves.

Joe Hockey's win against the Fairfax media brought out 311 comments (so far) and most of them were as you would expect in this day an age - full of derogortary and uncalled for comments.
If anyone dare make a comment agreeing with the decision, look out as you are in the firing line and will cop abuse as well.

Today, I made a non vendictive comment on the 'Over Sixty' site and was told by a sensitive reader that I looked overweight,  to which she repeated to other writers who dared disagree with her point of view.

Please keep the nastiness out of Facebook, as in a debate there is always the for and against without any nastiness, just well thought out negative and positive comments.

TOOTHPASTE

There is no such thing as one simple TOOTHPASTE - on checking the supermarket shelves, there are many varities available eg whitening, mint flavoured, gel, sensitive, triple action etc. These are encompassed in many brands with the all time favourite Colgate as well as  Macleans, Oral B to name a few.

There is also the question about fluoride, but most toothpastes seem to contain it, like it or not but that is another option for those who are totally opposed to fluoride.

This leads me to our household, and likes and dislikes of toothpaste. My husband and I agree on most things but the flavour of Toothpaste is not one. So instead of one enjoying cleaning their teeth and the other loathing it, we have recently resorted to HIS AND HERS TOOTHPASTE.

My favourite at the moment is Oral-B Pro Health and my husband's Colgate Total. I feel it is also more hygienic having our own tooth paste.

So the only thing missing in our bathroom to go with our HIS AND HERS TOOTHPASTE is our His and Hers basins!!

What toothpaste do you prefer, would love to hear your preference.

MAZZA'S MONTHLY REFLECTIONS PART1

Well here we are halfway into the second month of 2015 already and this year I thought I would write a blog where I look back and reflect on the previous month, somewhat like a monthly diary.

January started in bed sound asleep, the first year in many that we have not dined and danced into the New Year with the Congo line keeping in beat to "Running Bear." The main reason was that my husband was recovering from a Hernia operation and we had all the family home so it was nice to spend time with them.

I live in the beautiful little seaside town of Brunswick Heads which takes on a more vibrant atmosphere during January. Just before Christmas the "Housie Tent" is erected and is run nightly as a fundraiser for the Brunswick Valley Rescue Club  until around the 20th of January. Next to that we have the Carnival with all the fun rides for the kids and the young at heart. Then mid January we have a massive fireworks which heralds the start of the Fish'n'chip festival and the Woodchops.

I love to partake in a few rounds of Housie and  to attend the Woodchops, especially the State of Origin on the Sat night where QLD and NSW fight it out in a marathon effort with alot of encouragement from the crowd. All the events are organised by a bunch of dedicated volunteers who give their time generously.

Late January, my sister and her eldest daughter visited from Grafton, which was a lovely.

I ventured into the river on one occasion where I met up with two acquaintances and spent some time catching up on what was happening in our busy lives etc.

Also celebrated my Husband's birthday on the 10th and after dining out in Mullumbimby, headed to Brunswick for some Housie and Fireworks, which this year was spectacular.

My little grandson successfully started prep, which was a big milestone for him and his family.

So January was all about family, recreation and enjoying the festival atmosphere in my little home town of Brunswick Heads.

Photo of the Brunswick Heads foot bridge.

Fruit Cake

It has recently come to my notice that the humble fruit cake has lost it's popularity with the younger generation.

For some time the composition of the wedding cake has changed from the traditional fruit cake to the mud cake, the white mud cake, carrot cake and various other alternatives.

We sell the 'Lions Christmas cakes' at work and the comments from my younger colleages was 'who eats fruit cake' as if it was a crime to do so.

In keeping with this new trend, it was difficult to find a Christmas cake in the stores this last year. I remember my mother making up to 9, 2 pound cakes as well as the traditional fruit pudding in the cloth bag every Christmas. She gave some away but we all enjoyed our fruit cake for afternoon tea.

As I ponder the reason why our humble fruit cake is losing it's popularity through the generations, I wonder will it ever make a comeback or be lost forever?