Spook the Avenger, Destroyer of Consumer Electronics

Back-story: Spook is a midget vandal disguised as a domestic cat. She is four months old, about five in cat-years, and reaching the height of her destructive powers.

A week or so ago I foolishly left my MP3 player on the bookshelf, and, not considering that I am now the proud parent of a hyperactive kitten, left the earbuds dangling down over the edge.  The next morning when I got out of bed I immediately stepped on a small hard object that gave way with a crunch.  One of the ear buds.  The other was never found (I think she ate it).

This was one of those times when you dearly wish that cats understood English.  There I am, in my underwear inspecting my savaged MP3 player. Sharp kitty teeth have snipped through the wires effortlessly.  Spook comes bounding up to me in joy and hugs my leg – her signal that I need to pick her up and cuddle her.  I would have yelled at her if there was any chance of her understanding why.

Never mind. I rooted through my junk box and salvaged a pair of old earbuds off a CD walkman I’d forgotten I still had. This time I stowed the MP3 player securely in my bag, with the earbuds wound round it.

An hour later, I returned to find that Spook the Avenger had struck again. My bag had been knocked off the table, and it’s contents scattered across the living-room floor.  Picture Spook lying on her back in the centre of a swathe of  destruction, displaying her fuzzy spotted tummy and waving her paws in a display of kitty-cuteness.  One of the earbuds is half-severed. The other is in my shoe.

I bought a new pair of earbuds, and much to Spook’s disgruntlement, my bag now lives on a coat-hook far above her reach.

I thought that this was the end of her fascination with electronics, but no. Yesterday I awoke to find that during the night,  Spook had chewed through the powercable to my wireless router.  Following online advice, I have now rubbed soap on every exposed cable in the house.

Spook: 3, Consumer Electronics: 0.

M&S Bra ‘Tax’

The issue:

M&S charges £2 more for a bra sized DD or over than a smaller bra. The Busts 4 Justice protest group claim that this is an ‘unfair tax’.

M&S respond that the higher price is due to the extra material needed for larger bras.

Protestors say that this isn’t a consistent policy – for other clothing you pay the same price, whether it’s size 8 or size 20.

Full article here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7501911.stm

My question:

Does anyone believe that the additional two square inches of material and padding in a DD bra costs M&S £2?

The bras are probably manufactured in some third-world country for 50p each. The real reason M&S is charging more is that they can. There are two factors that feed into this:

1) Larger sizes of bra are less readily available, so shoppers have less choice.

2) Quality is more important for larger bras. Ladies, I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. A bigger boob requires better support, and a better fitting bra to prevent back-ache.

For the smaller sizes, M&S is competing against the supermarkets, and so must price more competitively.

Why Blog?

Why the hell am I writing a blog?

Basically, my life currently sucks and I want to rant about the things that annoy me, share the funny things that inspire me, and generally inflict my opinions on an uncaring world.