Friday 30 April 2010

My Boiler's Not Working Properly



We had a call from an engineer customer the other day. "I just can't fix my customer's boiler" he said. Although we no longer have a service department we offered to take a look and this mountain of scale was the cause of the problem. This serves to illustrate the damaging effects that limescale can have on a boiler and why we make huge efforts to provide customers with early warning of limescale build up. OK it's a pain to have to keep cleaning the boiler and the probes but it's a lot better than shortening the life of your machine. And if you can't be bothered with all that regular cleaning you can always buy a decent filter.



Regular blog readers might recall that we suffered a night of sleeplessness at the Ramada Bolton a few months ago due to being put in a room immediately above the dance floor on a night that an Abba Tribute band was performing. I asked for our money back but was offered a free night instead. We'll find out if that was a good thing or not on Sunday as there is an antique fair on at Bolton's Reebok stadium on Bank Holiday Monday and by staying at the hotel we can get to the fair early without having to get up at six o'clock. I'll reserve judgement.




I've got eleven items listed on eBay at the moment. It's my first step back into eBay selling since last summer. Because I always start the listings at £0.99 it can be quite nail biting as hardly anyone bids until a few minutes from the close of the listing and until then everything is showing a price that would bring a loss. At least the number of people watching a particular listing can give you an indication that there are going to be a few bidders. Most of my eleven items have between twenty and forty people watching them but this lovely little dish by famous art potter Bernard Leach has a massive one hundred and nine watchers so I have high hopes for it.



It's the last day of the month and I am delighted that the lads in the factory hit this month's production target with a day to spare. Congratulations Tony and Jason for achieving this and to Dave, Gav and Jenny for making sure that it could happen. Sadly we won't hit my sales target on the invoicing side as, although we hit our sales target for orders, for some reason a lot of orders were wanted for delivery in May and not April. But on the positive side, this should give us a very good May.

There's a big event next week. No, I'm not talking about the antiques fair at the Reebok or Liverpool's visit to Hull. I've steered clear of commenting on the election so far but have been itching to put something on the blog. Without wanting Instanta to look partisan and, in the interests of impartiality, here are three short videos that I enjoyed. They rubbish the lot of them.





Thursday 29 April 2010

An abject lesson on digging oneself into a big hole






Poor old Gordon. I didn't think I would ever find myself writing those words but if there was ever a case of digging oneself in deeper and deeper,the Rochdale blunder or Bigotgate as it will probably be known henceforth was an absolute classic. Anyone listening to the Labour supporter's comments about immigration would probably agree with Brown that she did sound a bit of a bigot and plenty of people would have laughed at the blunder and forgotten about it. But not Gordon. He had to go and try and wriggle out of it and ended up having an unscheduled forty minute meeting at the woman's house and writing apologies all over the place. Why? OK he was overheard and nobody likes that but I suspect that a huge number of people would sympathise with him and he just needed to make a very simple apology and move on. Instead he has found himself all over the media over twenty four hours later. An abject lesson in crisis management.



And poor old Greece too. What a beautiful country and what a disaster for them to find themselves in such a financial mess. On the old edict that there's no such thing as bad publicity Greek ministers and diplomats should henceforth insist that all press conferences and interviews are conducted in beauty spots such as this one in the hope that the worldwide publicity will bring the tourists flocking this summer.



Remember at the start of the recession how it felt like the newspapers were revelling in the bad news and talking it up and up until the whole thing became inevitable? I get that horrible feeling that the media are trying to do it again with the current European economic problem. Why are they doing this? Trying to make us all feel better? Or is it just easier to write negatively than it is positively. Come on press barons and media moguls, sort yourselves out and put a more positive spin on things. We can all do without this double dip stuff.



Sitting here in my cell like office I have to communicate with everyone else here by email. I just got one from Marion sending me a great story and video to put on the blog. It's the new John Lewis ad. Would that be the new John Lewis ad that I featured on yesterday's blog Marion? Come on now. Keep up.



Off to Anfield tonight to watch the semi final of the Europa League against Atletico Madrid. Liverpool are such a Jekyll and Hyde side at the moment that it would be a fool who bets on the outcome. My big problem is that it will be standing up all night which plays havoc with my hip. I still don't understand the phenomenon. The view from a seated position is perfect.

Whilst on the subjects of football and Greece what better than to close today with a clip highlighted in today's Guardian. Vassilis Hatipanagis Greece's greatest ever footballer and (as they said in the paper) the best player (probably) you've never heard of.



Tuesday 27 April 2010

It's Still Vacant



I thought that with the huge volume of traffic that we see on here, one day on the blog would have sorted us out with our new Sales Manager but, despite one or two mentions of interest in the position, we've no firm applications yet.So, as I said yesterday, if you're good at sales and based in the south, get in touch.



I am indebted to our ace local photographer Peter Raymond for sending me this photo of an advertising billboard for an airline. Now who came up with that slogan? Quite brilliant.




I had a nice phone call from Calomax MD Tony. He phoned to say that he appreciated my gift of the last copy of my novel and was kind enough to tell me that not only had he read it but that he actually enjoyed reading it. The lady who painted the cover picture also emailed to say that she loved it so, apart from a few lukewarm and one hostile response, I've had a fair percentage of the twenty who I gave copies to who have given me positive feedback. The artist has suggested that I send more copies out to her and she has a friend who will sell them on the island upon which the island in my story is based.



Next weekend will see me as the Jamie Redknapp of the BBC's new antiques show. Regular readers will have seen that I recently applied to compete in their new Antiques Master quiz. I didn't make the first team but I am on the bench and am going to the recordings in case one of the other contestants drops out (and having seen the typical age group of antiques collectors at fairs, that is not beyond the realms of possibility). It will be an interesting couple of days and I am looking forward to it.

Finally hats off today to Steven Mulvain who wrote the briefing re the pope's forthcoming visit. I notice that Steven, like our son Paul, graduated at Balliol and it's good to see that the typical Balliol sense of humour is still alive and kicking. I'm glad that the Catholic church has not made a big fuss about it. Maybe they have got a sense of humour too - something that is sorely lacking in some of today's world religions.


We're off to John Lewis on Sunday as our sofas are in need of replacement. Have you seen their new ad? Good isn't it?


Monday 26 April 2010

Good At Sales And Living In The South Of England?




We are looking for a conscientious sales professional to join the Instanta team as our Southern Area Sales Manager. This is a new position within Instanta. The successful candidate will cover the area south of the M40 and, ideally, will live within that region. This is a wonderful opportunity for the right person. You will be selling products that are both the best in their field and can be used in virtually every workplace in the country providing fabulous potential to hit sales targets. Whilst we expect our new manager to have outstanding sales ability, past experience does not necessarily have to have been within our markets. If you are interested contact me via the blog or by telephone here at Instanta. A very attractive pay and remuneration package is available.



Here is just one of the products that the successful candidate will be promoting. The new WA range of economy wall mounted water boilers with their stylish new front fascias that both look good and keep the user fully informed on the boiler's status at all times are proving very popular.



Quality Reliability And Value For Money

I came up with that simple phrase to accompany our logo around twenty years ago and I was fascinated to listen to one of the speakers at the CEDA conference on Friday. He was talking about a survey that his company had recently carried out on the most important factors taken into account by buyers when deciding upon new equipment. And which was top and classed as very important by about 86% of respondents? Quality (which encompasses reliability). And second at well over 70%? Value for money. Which shows that for years Instanta has been taking into account exactly what the customer really wants.



This time last year we had our brush with fame at the CEDABOND conference at the Celtic Manor. Regular blog readers may recall that Britain's Got Talent star Greg Pritchard was working as a waiter at the hotel. Well, at this year's dinner, I was seated beside the charming Blanco MD Robin McKnight who told me all about his son Graeme (above). Graeme has been successful in landing a place at RADA and his proud dad told me about his (and his daughter's) progress to date. I will be looking out for him in the future and wish him very well.

Unlike a couple of other people who were at the dinner and who shall remain nameless. One of them asked Marion "Is he with you?" looking me up and down. When she nodded in confirmation, his retort was "you could have done better." Laugh? The tears were running down my face - I don't think. Wars have started over less and I can only say that I am glad that I had not drunk enough to start one then. What a relief that I won't be going again next year.One other point. If you are successful enough to qualify for tickets for an important match for your football team and you can't make the match, what do you do? You sell them to another loyal fellow supporter at face value. You don't boast about selling them for thousands. Do you?

Mind you, that particular guest said that he was off to the airport in the morning.









Thursday 22 April 2010

Getting The Hang Of Using The Prius Efficiently



I've been driving the Prius for almost four months now and have heard all the jokes. I didn't buy it as a status vehicle. I bought it to simply try and be green and reduce my carbon footprint. Drivers are encouraged to improve their fuel efficiency by trying to beat their past best trip mpg and this becomes quite addictive. It's a little like a computer game player wanting to beat the high score. Until today my "scores" have always been around the 64mpg level on long trips and I was a bit disappointed with that but I have started to appreciate exactly when the car is driving efficiently and when it is not and made a big effort on the trip across to the CEDA conference here in Lincolnshire. And the result? 78mpg. That's a big improvement.



75 is what the manufacturers state in their literature so I was pleased to beat their figure. How was it achieved? Well, the most important factor was keeping to 60mph on the motorway. Now I know that that sounds a bit boring and some would say it might be dangerous but I made sure that I did not cause any lorries to slow down and sped up if that looked like it might be a possibility. The traffic was pretty heavy anyway so we kept catching up with those that overtook us and we arrived at our destination just 12 minutes later than we would have done if we had stuck to the sat nav forecast which puts in motorway speeds at 70. It also helps to drive behind (not on the tail) a big HGV as the slipstream seems to help fuel use. There are other minor tips to help but now that we've scored 78, I've got to aim for 80 on the way back.



Here at the conference, we arrived for lunch and then went into the first big meeting with CEDABOND. The meeting lasted a full er twenty minutes leaving us somewhat short of things to do business wise this afternoon so I'm writing up the blog. I expected a full afternoon of input from the meeting so was a bit disappointed that we could only stretch it to 2.20pm. Never mind. There's a big dinner tonight so perhaps we can sell something then.



I spoke to Gavin at the office earlier. The good news is that more circuits have arrived today and the factory can get on with catching up on the order backlog. The bad news is that the price of nickel is set to double and that will put our stainless steel up significantly. That makes it look like the recession is clearly on its way out. Last year the price fell so we held prices in a lot of cases but this will make rises inevitable when the steel price filters through.


Tonight's dinner is advertised as a "networking" dinner whatever that is. I checked it out on youTube and came up with this.

Wednesday 21 April 2010

All Set To Give eBay Another Try



My photographer friend Peter Raymond emailed me after yesterday's blog and told me what was wrong with my photos and offered some advice on correcting them. As always his advice proved invaluable and I have tweaked a hundred or so pictures and am ready to put eleven items, including this super Art Deco vase designed by Charlotte Rhead, on eBay tomorrow. It seems that the ideal listing time is still Thursday evening (it has been for years)as it ensures that a ten day listing gets two weekends' worth of visibility and finishes at a time when most people are not at work. So tomorrow evening whilst I am at the CEDA conference eBay will put them on line and we'll see how things go.


Whilst on the subject of Antiques, I am enjoying the new BBC show "Cracking Antiques" (great name by the way as it works on several levels). The show has two knowledgeable presenters in Mark Hill and Kathryn Rayward and it shows how it is possible to furnish your home with antiques without spending a fortune. And the great thing is that when you want to change a room again there is still some value in the furniture (unlike modern items which are usually worthless in a few years). I haven't heard back from the BBC re my recent application so it looks like I won't be competing in their new up and coming antiques quiz which is disappointing as I enjoyed the audition.



We didn't escape the fall out of the Icelandic ash completely here at Instanta. One of our suppliers suffered delays in receiving components which had a knock on effect in getting the finished article to us so we are having to work overtime to try and catch up and fulfill outstanding orders this month. At least we have orders to fulfill and, although the month won't be as good as March it should be OK if everything arrives. At least we make our own boilers and don't import them.



Tomorrow we are heading for Lincolnshire for the big industry conference at the Forest Pines Hotel in North Lincolnshire. Nick and his wife Colette will be joinig me and Marion for this big event which runs over two days. Will Instanta be winning any prizes at the last big event of this sort of my career? All will be revealed at the black tie gala dinner on Friday. Should be fun (honest). Here's a novelty black tie do.




Tuesday 20 April 2010

Happy Birthday Craig






It's a bit late in the day but I would just like to wish young Craig Mercer from our lathe department a very happy birthday. He's on holiday today so I have had to use an older photo and his lovely little daughter Amelia is a bit bigger than this now. Keen sportsman Craig who joined us almost seven years ago won both our pool and golf tournaments last year and is favourite for a repeat performance in 2010. The weather is fine so I hope that Craig and Amelia are having a great day.



Orange Wednesday this week and there are a few choices. I quite fancy seeing Date Night as I have read that it is very funny but Roman Polanski's The Ghost has got very strong reviews and I think that we'll give it a try.



It has been over ten months since I last dipped my toe in the eBay water. I had no time during the recession and during the time that we were negotiating the sale of the business although I did continue to buy in the interim period and have accumulated a stock of about seventy items. I have prepared listings for ten of these and they will start on Thursday evening. Peter Raymond helped me with the camera settings but I am afraid that the photos are still not great as I used a different monitor for uploading than the one that I first used and there is a slight colour cast.



I didn't go to Anfield last night (along with over 6,000 other regulars it seems with their lowest Premier League attendance for six years). But I did watch the match on the TV and have to say that West Ham put up the most inept and feeble display of football that I have seen from a Premiership side in years. Talk about rolling over and surrendering! West Ham even managed to make Liverpool look good and I can tell you that takes some doing this season.

I'll finish with a song for Craig.



Monday 19 April 2010

This could be very costly




We're still in the early days of the volcanic dust crisis but the fallout from this could be far higher than we ever imagined. Being a British manufacturer we are not reliant upon bringing our boilers in from overseas but if we run out of the tiniest imported component production will dry up. And it is the tiniest components that are most likely to be shipped by air. At the moment things are OK but we buy our taps from the USA and some of our electronic components originate from the far east. As we have had an exceptionally busy period lately we could see a shortage. So come on all you politicians. This is an ideal opportunity for you to sort things out by putting emergency procedures into play and boost your election ratings. The election could swing on how this one is handled.



One advantage of life here in my solitary office is that I was able to complete the management accounts for April without any distraction. This meant that I finished them in half the time that it usually takes and, what's more, they balanced to the penny. That's a huge relief as I am one of those accountants who can't live with discrepancies even of a few pence. When I started out as a cashier in Barclays in the early seventies I was always proud of balancing my till to the penny. This tended to get up the noses of some of my colleagues who, after months of accuracy, contrived to pinch 5p from my till and then fell about laughing when I spent over half an hour trying to find my mistake.



Liverpool entertain West Ham United at Anfield tonight although whether or not they will entertain the crowd is another matter. I was impressed by the Hammers' performance at Everton the other week and with Torres out for the rest of the season I wonder who is going to score for us. I have given my seats on the Kop up for a customer tonight. He is taking a relative to celebrate his 30th birthday so I do hope that they both have a good time. Now that's what you call good customer relations.



It's a big day today for Mark and Nita from Workhouse Marketing's young son Tom. Tom is opening The Whalley Wine Shop today. In case you don't know it, Whalley is a pleasant and thriving Lancashire village with an ancient abbey on the banks of the river Ribble. Tom used to manage the premises for a major off licence chain but they closed last year and Tom has made the bold decision to take the shop on as an independent. Good luck Tom. We all wish you massive success and will be coming to you for your advice and some of the excellent wine that your mum and dad have told us about.

We missed the new Britain's Got Talent this weekend. I read that the star of the show was a dancing dog. So let's see what we missed.

Friday 16 April 2010

I've Ordered The Canary




After four days in solitary I have taken to answering the phone "Good Afternoon Alcatraz" so it only seems sensible to follow the famous bird man's lead and get a little feathered friend for company. The only positive so far is that I can hear the radio. The negative is that I can also hear the lads in the factory singing along to it. It's a bit like having the Seven Dwarfs out there. I'm expecting Snow White to turn up any minute. Hi Ho.



But nobody can accuse me of being lazy. Over the last twenty four hours I have labelled over two thousand envelopes for a mail shot and then put a newsletter in each and sealed them all. At least Phil was kind enough to frank them for me. There again the franking machine is in an area with people in it so Phil was probably just making sure I remained in Purdah. At least I've got the Internet which is a bit more interesting than a canary. I mean there's only so much that you can do with a canary and I imagine that after a week of its incessant cheerful chirruping, frying it would be the top option.



I hear that Clegg won the debate on the telly last night. I didn't watch it as I was busy watching Paul's show. I phoned him up to tell him how good it was and he told me that he was watching the political debate and watched his show on Sky Plus later. It's just not the same son. You don't get the same atmosphere when you watch a recorded version. I did like Jimmy Carr on last night's show. He really is a brilliant comedian. I watched Charlie Brooker's "You Have Been Watching" later.



He reviewed "Spartacus Blood And Sand" which is coming to your screens on Bravo soon. It appears that the title understates the content somewhat with the scenes that Charlie showed containing a lot more than just blood and sand and a lot more of Spartacus than you would normally expect to see on TV unless you subscribe to the adult channels. I think I will be giving this one a miss. Oh well it's almost four thirty now. That means just one thing a bit of freedom.We've got a bloke coming to sing for us here's a preview. Back in the cell Monday.





Thursday 15 April 2010

The Big TV Event Of The Year







I refer of course to show six of A League Of Their Own on Sky1 and Sky1 HD tonight at 9pm. The series is delicately balanced with Freddie Flintoff's team just ahead at the moment but I'm expecting a late sprint from Jamie Redknapp and John Bishop. Tonight Jimmy Carr and Karen Pickering join the teams and it promises to be a lot of fun. Son Paul, who devised this show, has been very unlucky with Liverpool's run in the Europa League taking away the target Thursday audience. But surely they'll be back in their droves tonight when the competition is....



Three blokes in suits, I'm feeling sleepy already. It must be great being the Lib Dem candidate. You can promise whatever you want in the comfort of knowing that there is no way that you are going to have a majority and will never have to do what you suggested. I'm surprised that they haven't included something really outrageous in their manifesto like two weeks in Benidorm for all pensioners instead of the fuel payment, increasing the speed limit to 100mph on motorways and abolishing tax on fuel and booze. Cast iron vote winners all.



And speaking of Benidorm, we've been invited to go and visit family out there when we retire. I'm looking forward to it so much. It will be nice to experience the relaxation of a cup of coffee in the cool shade in the knowledge that work is over. Until then we'll just have to dream.



We managed to catch Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchants' directorial film debut "Cemetery Junction " last night before it is savaged by the critics. I'm pretty certain that it will be described as predictable and sentimental but we loved it. OK so it does use stereotypes but so what! As the film's young heroes are settling into their working lives in 1973 (exactly when I was 19 and putting on a suit and heading for Barclays), the film was pure nostalgia for me and for Marion and I think that Gervais and Merchant captured the era beautifully. The rose tinted slightly washed out technicolour filming added to the sense of time and I loved the Black Tie Insurance dinner that played an important part in the plot.The spirit of this was captured perfectly (cue CEDA do next week).The racism and anti-feminism of the time was spot on and the soundtrack a perfect wallow in the sounds of the seventies. A very attractive cast of unknowns play the main roles and there are a few good jokes too. "Why does Noddy wear a hat with bells on?".I'm sure that the film will be panned by the critics but those of a certain age will definitely enjoy it.

And speaking of jokes. Who said that the Germans don't have a sense of humour?








Wednesday 14 April 2010

Short Term Loans Advertised On TV



I could hardly believe what I was seeing last night whilst I was watching Five. It wasn't the building suppliers in "Cowboy Builders" giving away stuff when asked very nicely by ex page 3 girl Melinda Messenger. No, it was during the ad breaks when a short term loan website (which shall remain nameless for now)was advertised. The advert explained how simple it was to borrow a few quid to tide you over for a short time. And the money would be in your account in fifteen minutes. Now I can see that being very useful. But if you looked closely at the screenshot from the website there was a very interesting figure "Typical Apr 2689%". Now I don't know what you think but didn't such lenders used to be referred to as loan sharks? If you visit the website you will find the lenders' explanation as to why the rate is so high but there is no escaping the fact that if you borrow the maximum £400 for the maximum thirty days you will pay £125.48 in interest and charges. If you borrowed the same sum on a bank overdraft at say 12% you would pay £3.94. That makes the web site's charges 31 times the going rate.Even at a ridiculous 34% credit card rate it would only cost you £11.17. The site hides behind a ridiculous explanation for their charges but there's no escaping the fact that this is exploitation pure and simple. If you really need a few pounds to tide you over until pay day this has to be the very last resort. Please don't be taken in. There is no justification whatsoever for these rates. And as for FIVE? Shame on you for accepting their money.



I'm into my third day of my stint in solitary now. I'm not sure that I will last eight months but at least Dave Wilson and Gavin are getting the opportunity to learn the ropes in the office and I hear that they have already picked up a fair deal. We've got a Dealer Newsletter going out this week so yesterday I spent a few hours sticking labels on envelopes. I've got a few thousand more to do today and then there's a big pile of filing so I've got a really exciting week ahead of me.



This week's Orange Wednesday cinema trip is to the new Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant film "Cemetery Junction". The newspaper reviews won't be out until Friday but I caught a radio one on "Front Row" last night and Mark Lawson was not exactly gushing. Comparisons with Richard Curtis were made. I know that Curtis' films are very unpopular with the broadsheet critics but I'm one of those lowbrow people who enjoy a bit of sentimentality (as anyone who has read my novel will know).So I'm quite looking forward to it. Not expecting a lot as their directing experience is in TV but it may be a laugh. The other choice was "Whip It" starring Drew Barrymore but after feeling like a granddad in "Kick Ass" last week we'll give that one a miss until next week.




As soon as I saw it, I thought that the cover of the Labour Manifesto had echoes of Chairman Mao and I wasn't alone as a number of newspapers made the same comparison.This is not a political comment, merely an observation. As usual the Guardian's ace cartoonist Steve Bell made a perfect parody. I can't reproduce it without permission but you can check it out by clicking here


When I tidied out my desk the other day I fond hundreds of business cards. I always thought they might come in useful one day. I might have a try at this. And if you are one of the fifty people that I actually gave one to in the last twenty years, congratulations, you may have a collector's item. And no it doesn't have my mobile number on it.




Monday 12 April 2010

It's Going To Be Lonely


I have just finished emptying my desk and have moved everything into the office that is currently used as our board room and meeting room. From tomorrow I will no longer be here in the hub of things and listening to everything that is going on but stuck in a dark cell in solitary confinement. You may wonder why I am committing myself to this solitude (a question that I am asking myself) but it is all in the interest of the company as Marion and I won't be here in eight months' time and I want everyone to be used to life without me in plenty of time so that I don't just not turn up in December and everyone starts scratching their heads and finding out that I did actually do something (sometimes).So what am I going to do in my solitary confinement?



Internet poker? Well, I suppose I could give this a try. I have always enjoyed a gamble in a small way and I've watched my son playing this online but I'm not sure that I can get into it. I've tried playing it for free but I'm not sure that people are playing in the same way when they aren't risking any money.



eBay? I've not done much of this lately and Peter Raymond has shown me how to take better photos so maybe I can list some of the seventy odd pieces that I have bought in the last twelve months and not got around to selling yet. I've got some really nice items so my time won't be wasted.



But let's face it, I'm not being retained to mess about on the Internet so I will probably devote my time to some book keeping and working on figures to make sure that the company continues to move in the right direction. We are certainly moving in the right direction at the moment as the bank account is in credit even though we have paid the VAT bill and paid all our suppliers bang on time.It's causing some confusion in the accounts department as they are so used to us being overdrawn they can't always get the hang of adding the credits onto the balance rather than taking them off. I think we'll be implementing a new computer system before we leave so maybe I will devote all my time to that.

I'll finish today with a dedication to myself.



Friday 9 April 2010

Ole Ole Lucas Leiva Lucas Leiva





When I heard the Kop singing this tribute last night I had to pinch myself in disbelief. A player who has single handedly created a new meaning for the word mediocrity being lauded to the heavens. At first I thought it was some sort of joke like the sympathetic mock enthusiasm shown for Eric Myer ten years ago but when the crowd continued with a heartfelt chant of "Rafa Benitez", I realised that they had lost their collective minds and wondered if Rafa has been putting some sort of mind changing drug in the pies. Mind you a 4-1 win against a top team that had been unbeaten in months was an achievement and the records will show that Liverpool (and Fulham) are the last English teams in Europe this season.



Liverpool's progress in the Europa League will hit the ratings of Paul's show Sky1's "A League Of Their Own and I was half hoping that they got knocked out last night as that will mean another two Thursday nights when the programme will be up against live football (and who are the target audience? sports fans). Last night's show was great and I watched it this morning whilst eating my bowl of cereal and then I went and watched it again while I was doing the crossword upstairs so that should be another two on the ratings. This young chap, Jack Whitehall was very good and the show was laugh out loud funny. Come on Sky, now that Manure and Chelski are out of the Champions League, why don't you move A League Of Their Own to Tuesday.



I've just given the go ahead for the dealer newsletter to be printed.The letter is to advise everyone just how fantastic the new boilers are. In fact they are so fantastic that we have sold out already and some customers may have to wait two weeks. "Two weeks!" I hear you say? "That's nothing!" But regular customers will know that two weeks is an eternity here at Instanta. Victims of our success I suppose but we are doing our best to get everything in stock as soon as we can.



You really start to feel your own mortality when all the obituaries in the papers are people that figured large in your youth. Yesterday was no exception with the sad announcement of the death of Malcolm Mclaren. Love them or loath them, nobody over fifty can forget the impact that the Sex Pistols had when they arrived on the scene and I was very sad to hear of the death of someone who contributed such a lot to the country's arts scene. And even if you didn't like punk, you can't fail to raise a smile when you watch this.