Time To Reflect

As retirement rushes towards us like a rip tide Marion has been busy tidying up the office and shredding stuff that has been here for donkey's years and is no longer needed (not, of course, as any sort of cover up). From time to time she picks out a little blast from the past such as the letter I wrote to our insurance brokers in 1996 when I had to notify them about one of our driver's convictions. "Mr x had been to a pub and was returning home when he saw a police car behind him in his mirror. He knew that he was over the limit and decided to take the next turn in the hope that they were not following him. Unfortunately the next turn was a one way street and he realised immediately that he had entered at the wrong end and was stopped."

Or the letter in 2010 when I wrote to another motor insurance company who were accusing one of our staff of causing an accident. "How your client is claiming against us when she attempted a U-turn on Lord St and was hit at the rear side (not the back as stated in the letter) is beyond me but it seems that any accident nowadays is sadly seen as a chance to make money. You may note that our driver, who was not at fault, has not suffered from whiplash, which today seems more common than the common cold and much more difficult to diagnose."


Oh well, off the soap box and back down to earth where I find that our turnover for August was up by a considerable percentage on August 2009. I am pleased to see those figures which, in conjunction with the one week factory closure, have left the cupboard a little bare when it comes to boilers on the shelves. However, we did not let any customers down on deliveries last month and ,thanks to Dave Wilson's meticulous planning, I expect the same in future months and that Marion and I will leave Instanta with our legacy of prompt deliveries and excellent customer service running on well into the future.

Wednesdays usually mean only one thing - Orange Wednesday at the local cinema. However, this week, yet again, the films on offer don't really excite. "Scott Pilgrim" got good reviews in the Guardian but most of the other papers gave it a thumbs down and we've already seen "Kick Ass" this year and, much as we like Michael Cera, I think we'll wait for this one to come on Sky.



And speaking of Sky, Marion and I are putting the best part of £90 a month into Murdoch's coffers. I don't like doing this but the service is, unfortunately, the best there is. The sports coverage is second to none and even the normal schedule has some real pearls with the wonderful "Modern Family" and with the purchase of the HBO catalogue this can only get better. And that is without even mentioning "A League Of Their Own" in which we have a family interest. But, however good a channel might be, it is extremely upsetting to note that the Murdoch newspapers turn a blind eye to news that doesn't suit them and this is a worrying and undemocratic trend. Last week Mark Thompson had a go at Murdoch in the McTaggart Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival. His words got wide coverage but The Times was strangely silent on the matter although they reported heavily on anything that came up at the festival that cast the BBC in a bad light. This is how censorship starts. You don't want to upset your boss so you only print what you think he would like to read. A very worrying thin end of the wedge and, now that Channel 5 is owned by Desmond, one that could become pretty thick within the next few years.

I'll leave you today with a little video that caught my eye. Now I could start making these when we retire. We have the technology.