morganacademyfp

It's not true that all men sit fizzing in the car whilst the womenfolk spend their hard-earned cash. Some men actually enjoy shopping (well, I do), so if you've nothing better to do with your time, let's hear of your funny/tragic/boring visits to the shops. Be careful, though... remember the laws of libel!

To start the ball rolling...

Poor old Woolworths. Nearing its centenary and down it goes. Hope the shops can be saved; Britain isn't Britain without Woolies.

A similar fate for MFI. I'm just about to throw out my very first MFI purchase, due to lack of space, a chipboard-and-timber desk with four drawers, bought when the company only dealt through mail order. How long ago was that? I suppose it would have been around 40 years ago that the desk was delivered and assembled (obviously there were enough screws supplied), so it's done well.

Gwen and I went into as small ironmonger where a "nuisance" assistant followed us around asking if we "were all right, or "needing assistance," to which we politely replied that we were "just browsing." By a combination of this unwelcome attention and the fact that all the shelves were deep in dust we felt prompted to pay extra close attention to the display of kitchen timers, surreptitiously setting them all, about twelve of them, at a variety times then casually made our way to the exit. We have never been back !!

David

Ring-a-ding-a-ding-dong, David!

Shopping online is great for getting the best price, but for electronic stuff there is a lot to be said for the "old days" when we bought our first video recorder from a local shop and a man delivered it, connected it up and gave us a quick lesson on how to use it.

Today we have taken delivery of a new DVD player/recorder, and my husband has spent all afternoon trying to connect it and programme it, so far without success. Watch this space!

I had a similar frustrating session with the same equipment the other week. Got in touch with the shop and they talked us through it.

Yes, Kate, I know how your husband feels. We are lucky our Grandson lives nearby, he is 13. He has produced DVD of last year's holiday photographs with music

He's getting there - the thing seems to be connected, and he has programmed it with the date and time, but has a bit to go before we can record anything. The instruction book is 175 pages long - and that doesn't include foreign languages!

Shopping ................ bah, humbug .

We went to Woolies this morning and got a £23 toaster for £16. There were long queues at the tills, and I must say I felt sorry for the staff, run off their feet today but not sure if they will still have jobs by Christmas. On the news tonight bargain-hunters like us are being described as "vultures". I hope we didn't give that impression.

Had a look in Woolies, in Perth and it appeared to have had a good day. Not too many items at 50% off though. A bit of misguided marketing!

So that's that... nae Woolies. (See ma wee greetin' under 'New Year'.) A lot of people moaned about the lack of 50% discounted goods, but the same applies to all shops; the words 'up to' are always tiny. I think it's time the OFT made a rule that all potentially misleading words should be a certain percentage of the large lettering.

We've just taken advantage of an Iceland token to pick up a free reusable fold-away shopping bag. Believe it or not, the attached card had instructions on how to use it!
"Unclip press stud and open out, pull handles for bag use."
And to add insult to injury, this is accompanied with two illustrations. Unfortunately there are no instructions on how to fold it up again, so I'm stumped!!

We were back in the UK for our first grandchild's christening in mid-December: shopping for us was much cheaper than it has been of late due to the cheaper pound. Not much consolation for you lot back in the UK, but we are rubbing our hands in glee...

I pick up a copy of METRO on the bus each morning. That's one less copy to end up on the bus floor. This morning's front page banner caught my eye - "Get 2 main courses for the price of 1." Always interested in offers like this, I am. Inside was a half-page advert, offering an Italian delicacy at some place called STRADA. Never heard of, so I checked their website. Our nearest restaurant is in. . . NEWCASTLE!

So jump on a bus, pay with your travel card. Can you get there free?