Ifrogman ifrogman

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Is it right?

Bob told me about something today that made my blood almost boil inside, and from where I'm sitting at the edge of my pond, I think that what was said, is a clear affront to all of you who have had damage to your homes due to the current flooding.

When Bob once spoke about your love of houses, he also explained that many are classed as listed buildings. I understand that such buildings, when in need of repair, have to abide by a strict set of rules regarding the materials that will be used, including those who are qualified to do the work? Further, this work is quite often very costly when compared to your everyday building repair work. Yet this is an expense that you, as the owner, must meet out of your own pockets. It doesn't matter if English Heritage has told you that you must get the work done. You have to do as you're told and lump it!

Well then, why is it that as soon as the Queen's Buckingham Palace, a listed building, is threatening to fall apart, does she go running cap(crown) in hand to your government, where she tells them that she needs three zillion pounds to do this work? It's a listed building and she is responsible for the cost of its repairs. Croak!!! I mean to say, Bob tells me that she is one of Britain's wealthiest women, so why does she suddenly need to scrounge off you good tax payers? Is it simply because you lot are her loyal subjects and must do as you're told? I ask you: Is she suddenly going dip into her purse and help all of you who have suffered damage to your houses because of this dreadful flooding? Too damned right she isn't!!! It doesn't matter that the Queen can just swan off somewhere else to live, after all, she has lots of other property she can use, unlike you lot. Croak!!!

Why is it that the more wealthy a person is in this country, the more they seem to want to rob the hard working people of their money? Leaping toads, you humans do have a strange way to live... Croak!!!

I think I'm going to take a few days off and rest a while, I need it!

Froggy

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Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Water, water everywhere...

Far be it for me, even as a frog, not to sympathize with the city folk of Sheffield, plus the others in numerous places around this fair land of yours, people who have suffered the brunt of the rising tide of those terrible flood waters. For as much as I personally love a good body of water, it's only because I'm an amphibian and need water in order to survive, but you humans, well you are different, your need is not quite the same as mine. You know, given the direct link between flooding and climate change, I see that those of you who have suffered, will continue to suffer if nothing is done to change things. Of course, you have but a single body to lay the blame upon for the mess this flooding has created, your government. Croak!!!

Villages, towns and cities in Britain rely upon a very old and antiquated system to remove rain water from your houses, businesses and streets. It was fine in the Victorian era when this system was first laid out for your use, but there was far, far less water being used and then poured away through toilets, sinks, drains and so on. The Victorian population was also that much smaller too. However, despite that the population has increased substantially during the last seventy years, most places still use these very old, inadequate, and quite often run down sewerage systems. Instead, your local government officials should have moved with the times, building systems that can more than cope with all that extra water that is now being washed away down the drains everywhere. Croak!!!

Further, let me tell you something very important, it's going to rain a darn sight more in the future than it is doing at present. Just how many more homes and businesses will be needlessly ruined by flooding, before your national and local government takes its hands out of it pockets, and spends your taxes in building what you absolutely must have in order to protect your land, your homes and businesses? Likely as not, they will completely ignore it, just like they have for the past seventy years or so. Croak!!!

Your government is far too busy wasting your money on bloody useless consultations that don't go anywhere. It pours money into quangos where the people who work for them do absolutely naff all. It gives incredibly high wages to thousands of useless top ranking officials, who, like most who think they are in charge, also do absolutely bugger all for the money they receive. These wages incidentally, are usually greater in size than the GNP of some small countries. Croak!!!

Bob thinks that there should be a non-governmental body of people, whose task it is to advise the government on the way that it spends the public’s money. This would cut down enormously on wastage and misspent monies. As a frog, I personally think that if a government wastes money, it should be accountable for it and replace it from their grossly over inflated incomes. Perhaps then it would provide them with an initiative to spend your money more wisely? Ribbit!!!

On a final note, Don't you think it odd that your government continues to help these Private Equity Funds escape paying their taxes, while it rips the heart right out of the companies they buy, sack those who work in them, then sell these companies off at massive profits, and all still without paying taxes? The worst thing is, you'll be paying more in taxes than they do.... but they are tremendously more wealthy than you'll ever be! Croak!!!

All this money is being thrown away, and yet it could be spent on protecting you from these ghastly floods...

There is a moral issue here, but I wonder if it would do you any good to know what it is?

In the meantime, stay safe and I'll see you all in the garden again real soon. Bye... Ribbit!!!

Froggy

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Highly desirable shed...

Amazing, isn't it? One minute the garden is full of sunshine and hotter than hell, the next, well from what Bob has told me today, some of you are experiencing floods. Floods! I ask you, how lucky can humans be. To a sexy frog like what I am, flooding is like manna from heaven. All that water to swim around in, wow!! Oh! But don't get me wrong, I do understand that for you humans, and the very fact that it floods, can often mean damage to your property. However, being a frog, you have to understand that I have to see it my way. Ribbit!!!

You know, if you didn't place so much desire in acquiring your precious houses at all cost, then the damage wouldn't seem as bad as it quite obviously is. Bob says that only a few years ago, most houses that you humans live in, were available to buy for under one hundred thousand, and in fact you could have bought a very nice pile in the country, along with acres of land for this sum, now, well Bob says you'd be lucky if you could buy a garden shed for this amount. Croak!!! Ah well, if you lot listened to what frogs have to say once in a while, you'd then understand that there's no need to get ripped off like you are at the moment.

I'll tell you something that you house owners have probably missed. All that money you think your houses are worth, is only a fraction of what they're worth to estate agents. These people, along with those greedy property developers, are the only ones to truly benefit from this incredible increase in house prices. Look at it this way, a few years ago, as I was telling you, Bob says that a very nice family house could have been bought for around fifty thousand. Also, at this time, if you sold up and bought say, a much more expensive house for around, one hundred thousand, you could be said to have made a half decent purchase, plus the fact that you would have gone up a few notches on that infamous housing ladder you lot keep on harping about. Right at this moment, you could barely even get a shed for this price, but that nice house at one hundred thousand would have increased in value to around a quarter of a million. Ribbit!!! Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? There's a darn sight more nice houses at around this price, than there are for one hundred thousand (if you can still find one that is!) Croak!!! Now you should be able to see why you're one of the losers of this country. Never mind eh!

I'm trying to think of something nice to say about that mister Blair... but only because he's leaving soon. Sadly, I can't think of a darn thing, so I won't bother...

Once again, that's all I have for this week. I’m going to hop off now, going to explore Bob's lovely garden again. In the meantime, stay safe and I'll see you all in the garden again real soon. Bye... Ribbit!!!

Froggy

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

You can work, but you can't retire...

All about the garden is looking really quite magnificent. Flowers are blooming everywhere, and the pond has the appearance of a true wildlife habitat, which it is for yours truly. My progeny are growing stronger as each day passes, and because food is once again plentiful, no one has to resort to eating the other just to stay alive. Ribbit!!!

If only I could say that life amongst you humans was as bright and cheerful, but as usual, you are all at each others throats, that is when you're not cheating on each other. I have always thought that in being a frog, life has always been fraught with danger of one kind, or another, but oh no, my life is far less stressful than the lives of you humans. Sometimes I wonder how it is that Bob manages to get from one day to the next, what with all the crap he has to contend with all of the time. Croak!!!

When Bob was watching his television late last night, late as far as I'm concerned anyway, he said that he saw yet another reason why it is, some humans enjoy their retirement years, while others carry on working because they simply don't have enough money to enjoy a retirement. This is a bit two-faced isn't it? As I said once before, I thought that the general idea behind life for you humans, is that after working for about fifty of your years, you are considered far too old to work, then as a reward for your highly valued contribution to society, your senior citizens were paid a pension that's good enough to live on. From what Bob says now, this is just another pile of crap you have to live with. Now, I don't know about you, but isn't there something wrong in society when, as your PM, mister Blair does ten years work, and I use this word rather loosely, and then he goes and helps himself to more than three million pounds to bolster his own pension? Leaping toads, most of you humans work a darn sight harder than he ever has, and yet you get paid peanuts for your pensions. Why, I doubt that many of you earn this much after fifty years of work? I guess that this is just another of those wonderful perks he gets for working in an official government capacity.

Are you aware that your government wastes enough money, with its frequent blunders in handling money that is entrusted to them, money that could give each and every pensioner a pension to the value of what you lot call the minimum wage? Yes, now isn't this a far better deal than the pitiful amount they pay pensioners at the moment? But instead, they continually make up excuses and say that they can't afford to do this. Horse shite!! If they can afford to give one man three zillion quid, and it's out of your hard earned taxes, then I feel pretty damned sure that they can afford to give a pension worth the minimum wage. And let's face it, even this amount is an insult to your integrity as human beings. Croak!!! Of course, they won't ever do it because it's easier to rob and cheat you lot than to be open and honest for a change.

It seems that you humans can work all that you want to, but you can't bloody well retire, and this is official. As a frog, I can see things much more clearly than you humans appear to. This class ridden society that you all live in, is completely your fault and down to what you are prepared to accept. Oh yes it is! A frog only needs to look at the way your MPs live, and then compare them to the way you lot live, and voilà, you have the truth. What I can't understand, it's why you all put up with it?

Once again, that's all I have for this week, so, stay safe and I'll see you all in the garden again real soon. Bye... Ribbit!!!


Froggy

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Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Warehouse Business at High Street Prices

Where do I begin my blog this week? Bob has told me so much about what has happened in the news of late, I'm fairly spoilt for choice. The main point is that I want to show you humans how you're being cheated every single day of your pitiful lives. Don't get me wrong, I like you all very much, honest!! But no matter how much information I put your way, you lot are very, very slow at learning about the important things in life. Croak!!!

First thing, let me tell you that life is full of people just waiting out there to cheat you. I must add here that they may not do this intentionally, but if this is the case, they really do need to take a good long hard look at what they're doing. Bob tells me that humans live in what is commonly known as the 'Computer Age', and as such, everyone should have realized by now that life should be a whole lot less stressful, demanding, and a whole lot cheaper to boot.

Let me draw your attention to the title of my blog. 'Warehouse Business at High Street Prices'. Now, you're probably wondering what this means, well it's simple. I understand that almost every town in the land has a shop known as 'Argos', which sounds impressive to a frog like me, but then what do I know about shops? Not a lot, but what I do know, I will share with you. 'Don't Shop For It - Argos It!' Sound familiar? Yes, of course it does. But why should you? (Argos it!' that is).

Bob's experience has shown that Argos prices are tagged with the label -Warehouse Business at High Street Prices- Because this is what you pay for your stupidity. Bob says that from the moment you walk into to an Argos store, you have to waste your time choosing your goods from a catalogue. Goods are not there on display for you to examine like most other shops, but yes, you can indeed request to see an item, but, think of the time it frequently takes for your precious item to show up for your perusal. You can be kept waiting for a half an hour or even more, just for the privilege of being served, and this doesn't include the time it takes to queue and then pay for an item, if you decide that you actually want it. So, I'll go back to the title of this blog. If the Argos business is indeed a warehouse business, and from where I stand on this subject, it damned well is, then why is it that their prices are the same as, or even higher than normal High Street prices? In those High Street shops, you can walk in, grab the item you want, check it over quickly, pay for it, get it bagged and be out again in less than ten minutes. You cannot say the same thing about Argos. Croak!!!

All of this brings me back to what Bob calls the Computer Age. Have you made your first purchase over the internet yet? Yes! Then you don't need me to tell you how much cheaper it is, do you? Anyway, for those of you who have yet to make this first bold step, you'll be wondering why on earth you haven't done so before now. I know, I know, some of you Doubting Thomas's think that the internet is not safe and that the sharks are there to steal your hard-earned money. That may well be so, but then you can get ripped off on the High street too, that is if you aren't careful enough. Take the appropriate steps, and you'll be able to shop in complete safety. Only shop where the business you are dealing with has a secure server logo, the tiny yellow lock that is displayed on the tool bar once you go to the check-out to pay for your goods. Oh! And beware of buying on the internet if your PC is operating Wi-fi. This system will allow anyone near your PC, anyone outside your house on the street for instance, to monitor your key-strokes and steal information from your PC without you knowing it has happened. So, Beware!! Croak!!!

I'm reaching the stage in my little lesson where I give you some prime examples of saving huge amounts of money against paying silly High Street prices. Last xmas, Bob wanted a SanDisk 512MB Flash Card, and this is what he saved by getting it through Amazon. Amazon's price £9.23.... here, the P&P was free. Jessop's price £35.99. plus time and wear on your shoes. The differences in price made Bob's hair stand on end, believe me! He has just bought a ByteStor 1GB High speed USB 2.0 Flash Drive for £6.00 P&P free from Amazon (again!). Jessop's own brand USB 2.0 flash drive, £44.99. I don't know about you lot, but aren't those High Street shops taking you shoppers for a ride? Last, but by no means least, he bought a set of Uniross AA 2700mAh Rechargeable batteries (Ni-Mh) including P&P through Amazon, but from one of their outlets, at £7.99. The same item from Argos will set you back £14.99. I rest my case... Ribbit!!!

Internet shopping is all about buying goods at honest and fair prices, which is quite unlike the prices of High Street shops. Give internet shopping a try, and make yourself some very big savings into the bargain.

That's all for this week, so, stay safe and I'll see you all in the garden again real soon. Bye... Ribbit!!!

Froggy