It Was Fifty Years Ago Today

It was fifty years ago today that a young Anthony Mercer arrived in the world and I am sure that all blog readers will join me in wishing him a very happy birthday in his holiday resort of Alcudia in sunny Mallorca.(He's changed a bit from the cheeky little chappy above) I am sure that Tony will be too busy holidaying to read this so I might get away with taking a few liberties. (Only kidding Tony I know there's an Internet cafe just down the road from the hotel).Tony has spent 35 of his 50 years here at Instanta and has held the role of factory leader for over twenty of those years. Married to Linda and proud father to Gillian, Rachel and Craig and granddad to Craig's lovely daughter Amelia, Tony has led the factory to hitting all production targets in every month of our last financial year bar September. And when did Tony take his fortnight's holiday? You guessed. September. If you are reading this Tony. Have a good one.



He went from cheeky schoolboy to suave and sophisticated with the smouldering look.



And here he is with son Craig who now works in our machine shop and had the sense to support a decent football team instead of his dad's beloved MU.

Have a drink on us Tony.



I learned an important lesson in humility in Tesco on Friday evening. Anyone who knows me will also know that I am not the most tolerant and patient where queues are involved and I can be seen trawling the checkout area in search of the fastest cashiers with the shortest queues. On Friday we found the perfect one - just one customer ahead and a young lady on the till. But we were there for an eternity as the customer she was serving queried the bill and the special offers and the price and just about every bloody thing he could query. I was doing my rolling eyes act, arms folded and shifting from foot to foot when I realised that the poor customer had special needs. The trip to do his own shopping was probably a huge ordeal for him and it was one that he overcame with success. Marion got chatting with him and I felt very small at my impatience.I think that the lesson I learned was to try and think twice before forming an impression. We were still late home with the shopping though.



For fear of looking like a stalker I have resisted the urge to write to Kathryn Flett of the Observer to tell her how brilliant her writing is. So I'll just have to say it here. Her weekly column in the Observer magazine is an exceptional example of humorous writing at its very best and this week's article about her being invited to open an arts festival in her home town of "Random on Sea" was beautifully observed. As a star of "Grumpy Old Women" she was given more ammunition when she was referred to as Random's "crankiest" old woman and introduced by the mayor as Carolyn.You can read the full column here and if you like a good laugh, buy the Observer. You won't be disappointed. PS Her TV column is wonderful too.



Did you see that the BBC has discovered a new species of giant rat? No it's not Chris Moyles but it seems that a Beeb film crew explored a volcano crater in Papua New Guinea and it was like The Land That Time Forgot with scores of new creatures being discovered. Well done BBC but please, whatever you do, don't bring any back here.

I'll finish with a little film for Tony.