The return of the call centre

Powergen is to expand call centres in the UK and close it's centres in India after a record number of customer complaints. Centres in Bolton, Bedford, Nottingham, Leicester and Rayleigh will recruit another 980 staff in an effort to improve customer relations.

Powergen answers call to handle phone inquiries closer to home

Bully boys to be investigated

The large supermarkets are under investigation for using bully boy tactics in the High St. Under investigation will be their tactics in buying up small sites and driving out genuine small convienience store, the relationships with suppliers, the building up of 'land banks' to prevent other competitors moving into the area and to see whether or not supermarkets "prevent, restrict or distort competition" in local areas. As potential witnesses are being assured of their anonimity, lets hope that enough small suppliers, businesses etc will come forward so that the predatory tactics of the big 4 can be shown in their true light.

Watchdog outlines concerns in investigation of big supermarkets

Sweeter smelling cow poo

Toyota have developed a new process that speeds up the process of converting cow poo into useful compost in 45 days. The new invention cuts down on the noxious stink, and also reduces the amount of harmful greenhouse gases released. Considering that the average cow deposits 50kg of cowmuck into the environment each year, it has to be a good thing. What puzzles me though is WHY Toyota are investing in cow manure? Is it to harness the methane given off by the steaming piles to power their next generation of cars?

Toyota reveals dung development

Two nosed dog seeks new home

A Staffy with a hare lip needs a new home. The animal shelter which is looking after him, are finding it difficult to rehome home, as his harelip gives him the appearance of having two noses. I hope he finds a caring home soon.

Unique-looking dog seeks new home

Digbeth to be revamped

One of the worst ways to get a bad impression of B'ham is to arrive on a National Express coach. The coach station at Digbeth is well past its sell by date, and is a shocking introduction to the 2nd city. Plans have been announced that will see a new coach station in the so-called 'Irish Quarter' [what Irish Quarter? do 2 or 3 Irish theme pubs make a quarter?], that hopefully will make travel into the city a more pleasant experience.

City bus station revamp go-ahead

Crash landing at B'ham

What a piece of luck that my stepmother returned to Paris from B'ham airport yesterday, as a cargo plane crash landed there at 6am this morning shutting the airport until this afternoon! Luckily nobody was hurt, but it caused a massive backlog of flights, and the logistical nightmare of shuttling passengers to other airports, and planes being at the wrong place at the wrong time is one I don't even want to think about. I did feel sorry for my postman though. I met him running down my drive with the post this morning, and he was telling me he had to be at B'ham airport by 11am to catch his flight to go and watch the football. somehow, I don't think he would have made it to the match today...

Crash landing causes mass delays

Making glass from carbon dioxide

Scientists in Italy have created a very hard glass from pressurised carbon dioxide. They squeezed dry ice under immense pressure to form amorphous carbonia. It could be one solution to the excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere due to global warming. They just need to work out how to keep it stable when the pressure returns to normal...

Dry ice creates toughened glass

A new butterfly

Two South American butterflies have been bred in the lab to make a completely new species. How exciting! It shows that evolution can work the other way - not just one species diverging into two. Pretty colours of the original butterflies - the hybrid is also very striking in appearance.

Two species become one in the lab

World Cup

This is the only post I will make about the football World Cup currently running in Germany. I would rather watch paint dry. At least, when there is a "match" on that involves England - or should that be 'Ingerrland'? - the shops and roads are empty - great! If one other person asks me why I don't have a flag on my car - I will kill them. I just point to the flag on the rear of my car... and no, I didn't take part in the office sweep either [the two that did got Iran and South Korea!]

Baa baa black sheep

Traditional English nursery rhymes are now all black sheep. School children in a state in central India are no longer to learn English through nursery rhymes - they will be replaced by rhymes from the life of Ahilya Bai - a legendary ruler, to reduce "Western influence" on the children. The legacy of the Empire - I find it amazing that it has taken this long to boot the relics of empire out.

Humpty Dumpty ruled 'too Western'

How energy efficient is your home?

Good news. Sellers will have to include an energy efficiency rating in their 'sellers pack' from 2007. Houses will be rated from A-G, just like our washing machines, fridges etc. It will also include how much the energy bills cost, and advice on how to reduce them. Not sure what my house rating would be - but i think it would be quite good, as we do have insulation, a new - efficient boiler, some double glazing and the house faces south, which helps keep it warm in the winter. We can all do our bit to help slow down global warming. Perhaps it will also show how inefficient some of these big, expensive properties are, and help the market for smaller, more efficient properties.

Feeling physically sick

Japan looks as if they have bought enough votes to resume whale hunting. I cannot believe that they really believe that there are enough whales in the world to sustain them hunting them. I think it is barbaric, and intelligent humans just don't need to eat whales. The way they kill them is horrible as well. I just hope they don't get enough votes when the International Whaling Commission meets later this week...

Japan seeks return to whale hunting

Boys need to do more housework

Boys are not doing as well as girls in school. The latest suggestion is that they need to do more housework to get them into a work ethic. I am not sure that doing housework gives ANYBODY a work ethic. It is boring, soul destroying and a complete waste of time [especially in this house, where I spend my time cleaning up after two muck magnets, aka Ferret & Silk...]. I agree that boys should do housework, as their parents are not there to wait on them hand and foot, and neither are their sisters, but I don't think it will improve their GCSE performance. It is strange how there is all this concern about boys underachieving - nobody has ever really been that concerned about girls not achieving their full potential - now or in the past...

Housework proposed for failing boys

Au revoir

Today, I bid farewell to my visitor from Paris. She arrived on Saturday in blazing sunshine, but by yesterday, it was grey, with a bit of rain, and today was positively cold! Never mind. It was a good flying visit, and it was pleasant to have a few days off from work. Sunday lunch on the lawn was good, even though we all had to move en masse into the shade under the trees - it is not often in the UK that it is hot enough to do that!! This afternoon at the airport, there were 2 flights to Paris at similar times - and she went to catch the Air France one instead of the British Airways one, but managed to acquire 3 French newspapers on the way through to the wrong departure gate! Despite this hiccup, it was a relatively uneventful journey back to Paris [and the weather was better when she arrived!]. One positive thing that came out of the trip was that I have the keys to her apartment for the summer...should be fun...

No Google...

Were the 60s and 70s better for students and young people than they are now? The London School of Economics was a hotbed of radicalism, and the BBC went back to talk to the current crop of student activists. Opinions is divided - with one thinking it was a better time, the other thinking the late 70s were shabby, full of people with beards, shortages and the three day week. Umm. I think students were more relaxed, were not obsessed with designer labels, and were prepared to rough it a bit. We certainly had less money, most of us could not afford to fly abroad for holidays - Inter Railing round Europe was the big thing, and vinyl was still big! There was less television, less radio, no internet, no fancy coffee, less spending power, less travel, less eating out, fewer cars, no mobile phones, shorter shopping hours and no computers - even electronic calculators were phenomenally expensive and were the size of a brick! As for computers - they fitted in large air conditioned rooms, and ordinary people just didn't get near one. The current students can't imagine how we managed without - "You couldn't even Google something. I think we'd miss that". I think that sums it up - despite all the nostalgia, life moves on, we wouldn't really want to go back.

Look back for anger

But is it art?

Some final year art students at the university where my son is doing his photography degree have had their caravan towed away. Problem is, it is part of their final degree show, and now they have nothing to show their tutors. Southwark council say they haven't towed it away - but it has gone, and the poor students DO need it back to enable them to graduate. It raises the question, is it art if it is parked in a side street in Camberwell?

Caravan art towed, say students

Growing

Juneau is growing - but is still a small kitten - but it was great to see him on bank holiday Monday/Tuesday. It was also good to see Ceri - as on his last trip home before Easter I only actually saw him for about 4 hours!! It was a very expensive trip though as we visited Ikea [I must be totally insane to venture anywhere near a shop like that on a bank holiday - it was absolutely STUFFED with noisy people when we arrived, and we were there for 10.20am!], a trip to Sainsburys and then I was expected to pay for a meal out in the evening. But hey, that's what mothers are for - they have credit cards...

But Juneau is gorgeous. I fell in love with him - and even let him sleep in my room one night. He curls up in your neck and purrs like a rusty engine in your ear. So sweet... and then he attacks you with his razor sharp little claws and teeth like needles! The scars are still there... Chewing is a favourite pastime - especially if they are straps of new leather sandals, electrical leads or the handles of shopping bags! I still feel though that it probably would not be a good idea to take Ferret and Silk to see him, although he is a feisty little bugger and would probably scratch their noses before they had a chance to even realise he was a cat!