Bob's Blog ;)

Apart from pottering around in my garden this past week, I thought I'd just let you know that for once, which is rare for me, that I didn't stuff myself to the gills over the Christmas period with tons of food. Oh yes, I enjoyed the usual turkey, (Hush now, not so loud.) I'm sorry, but froggy wouldn't like me saying anything about eating other creatures, even if they aren't various shades of green and just a little blotchy too.

Now, where was I, ah yes, food. I didn't eat as much as I usually do over Christmas, but this was from choice, nothing more. Have you ever noticed that just because the shelves in the shops are full of Quality Street, Celebration, Cadbury's Roses and loads more, one's relatives think that this is a wonderful excuse to fob these tins off on you as gifts? It's not that I don't appreciate the odd tin of choccys, slurp! slurp! but I'm really not looking to stock up my own sweet shop. :(

Another thing about the Christmas period, isn't it supposed to be a time of peace and goodwill to all? Thank goodness I live in Britain, because for all of its troubles, the opposition supporters don't go around blowing people up simply to reduce the oppositions chances of being voted into power and having a democratic government. Of course, it wasn't exactly like this centuries ago, when it was likely that the person with the mightiest sword decided who was placed in charge of we serfs. We've hopefully become just a little more civilized since then, thank goodness. Nudge, nudge.

I see that the shops are up to all their old tricks again, selling their wares to us at these so-called muchly reduced prices in their sales. Did it ever occur to you that the sale price is about all it's worth anyway? We British are mugs for a bargain, or at least what we assume is a bargain, and I'm no exception. The trouble is, if you take a look at consumer prices on the global market, Britain's always pay much more for their goods than anywhere else in the world. Honest froggy! I'm only adding this because I know that he'd agree with what I've just told you.

Now, if you don't believe me, just take a look at the prices of products by companies like Sony, Microsoft and their ilk, then tell me that they're not more expensive here than anywhere else outside Britain. Then there's another concern. Why is it that a company as big as Microsoft can sell its products, even when they don't work properly, in Britain at highly inflated prices and actually get away with it? Take their famous, or rather imfamous X-Box 360 games console. Even though this product has an inherant problem, or problems, picked up on and written about in several games magazines, our government's own watchdog, the OFT has never thought of preventing these machines from being imported into the country. Why not?

Crikey, Chinese manufacturers have only got to send something in the wrong colour, or with faulty packaging, and they're jumped on from a great height with the end result that their products are being sent back to China. I'm not saying that this is wrong, but merely proving a point. But Hey! It's damned well okay for Microsoft to rip off the British with their shoddy products and ask a premium price for doing so. They continue selling the X-Box knowing that it has a fault or faults. Someone I know is already into their second X-Box 360 in less than nine months, despite my advice not to waste his money. His first one packed up well before the guarantee ran out, but because he lost his till receipt, he couldn't get it seen to by the shop where he bought it. Now, you may just be thinking, he wouldn't be able to prove when he bought it? True! But there is one thing about his X-Box that could prove that it was still under guarantee no matter where he bought it. Surely the batch and model numbers will prove where it was sold? All X-Boxes are date stamped at the time of manufacture. His gave up working in less than nine months from the manufacturing date. Now, he's more than three hundred pounds out of pocket. Nice one Bill! This is just one of those products that are sold more expensively here in this country than anywhere else. Froggy was right, we humans in Britain have indeed got more money to spend than we should have.

Just to prove another point about Microsoft products. Can any of you say, hand on heart, that Microsoft's Operating Systems actually work perfectly,and without the need to almost constantly patch them up once you bought and installed them on your PC? Anything that is sold openly on the market that is proven to be faulty, should be withdrawn from sale. My case rests...

I guess that once you are as wealthy as Bill Gates, well, you'll likely feel that you have the absolute right to walk over everyone and get away with it.

Happy New Year Everyone.......................

Mind how you go now...


Bob