The Grumpy Old Blog

I have actually discovered a rapper who I have respect for! Yep, you read that right! A chap called "Booba", who is not at all keen on conspiracy theorists and supporters of Russia, wants the world to follow France* regarding "soshul influenzas" and the ridiculous claims they make based solely on who will pay them the most money. He says: "𝙄𝙣𝙛𝙡𝙪𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙨, 𝙖𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙚 𝙖 𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙥𝙞𝙙𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙡𝙚 𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙯𝙚𝙣𝙨, 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙣𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙨, 𝙗𝙮 𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙠." I love the latest conspiracy theory doing the rounds - someone I know is convinced (mind you, surprisingly she won't disclose where she got the info from) that all councils in England are going to bring in legislation that requires citizens not to travel mo...

    I have to be otherwise convinced that some people are destined for greater things. They just don't know it yet. I was in the great emporium of retail wonder that is Asda a little earlier. It's a veritable Poundstretcher on steroids. Two young ladies, demonstrating the versatility and fine art that is shopping while on TikTok and pushing their screaming snot machines who were intent on grabbing anything they cculd reach from the confines of their strollers. These unwanted goods, on their eventual discovery, were placed by their respective mother on any convenient shelf to presumably confuse the illiterate who may then wonder what a tin of chickpeas has to do with Cadbury's Creme Eggs. These two ladies seemed to be intent on shopping not for necessities, but for anything that gained more Asda Reward points than un-extra-pointed stuff they actually needed. Ramen kits were offering £1 reward on their £3.35 retail price, at which point I heard "ask the auld [me, auld? ...

    Brilliant! February may not quite be finished, but spring MUST be on the way, as the first leaflets 'spring' through the door for the 4th May local elections. Almost 10 weeks to go, and some Labour oik who I have never heard of or ever seen before is having a go at gaining my vote. I have every faith that the respective Conservative and LibDem oiks as well the one of five-a-day, thoroughly detestable Greens will be shoving their recyclables through my letterbox soon too. I don't know why, but my paper recycling bin is to the left of my front door. Just cut out the middle man - me - and put your electioneering rubbish straight in the bin. Unlike some friends of mine who have become councillors, with their hard work benefiting the residents of places such as Swinton, Crumpsall and Prestwich, I am not interested in some oik whom I have never seen before, with his ridiculous footballer haircut and man bun, and a stupid curtain-ring earring in both ears, representing me. I ...

A little bit of retail therapy was required this morning to keep the fridge and cupboard shelves happy and content. So utterly depressing! In the supermarket, two full rows of unimpressive Christmas tat out already, pushing the Halloween tat to the further end of the shop. Why they think I need Christmas crackers, selection boxes with chocolate responsibly sourced from farmers in Ghana who are paid so much from the 2021 $7.24bn turnover of Cadbury owner Mondelez that they have to have their 12-year-old children splitting cocoa beans with dangerous 3-foot machetes because they can't afford either schooling or school books, is beyond me. Or a very plasticated door holly wreath that looks like it is made in China (it is made in China - according to a David Dickinson-lookalike on Tik-Tok with no visible neck and built like an outside sh*t house, Mary, or was it Joseph, was Chinese and followed the three wise men, Wing, Wang and Wong to Bethlehem all the way from China). And d...

Firms are becoming extremely silly. Extremely. Beyond-belief silly. Sending out vacuous emails and surveys before the money you have paid for their goods or service has even left your bank.   " Based on your experience, on a scale of 0 to 10, where 10 means orgasmic and 0 means sh*t, would you recommend Curry's to a friend? " As a rule I tend not to recommend anything I pay for myself to anyone, especially if it is from one of the internet giants or one of the many impersonal multi-million pound large businesses. They have marketing and advertising budgets smaller enterprises could only dream of as their annual turnover, let alone for advertising and marketing. And I also work on the basis that if I recommend a firm to family member or friend whose products and/or services turn out to be Currys, I would then have to go on a guilt trip and spend the next three years apologising.   Ah! That caught your attention, didn’t it! “Currys”.   What the blazes do I mean by “C...