Sick as a parrot!
June 30th, 2006
Not me thankfully, but my wife. 30c outside and she’s chilled through…
Get Well - I’ll think of you whilst out in the garden with an ice cold beer tomorrow 
Archive
Archive for June, 2006
Live Events at Waterstones
June 29th, 2006
Tonight we attended a presentation and book signing by Francesco da Mosto (and family) of BBC Francesco’s Italy fame.
Francesco’s knowledge of history, art and architecture as well as cultural differences between the regions is quite astonishing. His passion for his homeland is not a tv stunt and he’d love to travel on around Italy, bringing more places to our screens.
Francesco’s family were on hand tonight and even took part in the book signing, a nice touch.
We bought ourselves a copy of his book, and not only got it at the discounted rate, but recouped our meagre entrance fee too in the form of an additional discount.
We might keep an eye out to attend further events like this. Lets hope the presenters are as lively as Francesco!
The only downside is that we have seen more places in Italy to visit. Right, off to rethink the finances to squeeze in some more travel!
Job Creation Scheme
June 28th, 2006
I feel like I am a one-man job creation scheme at present.
My new role at work is allowing me access to previously off-limits parts of the business, meaning I am identifying challenges we face, that when we overcome them will allow us to do a better job with less resource. In the interim however these challenges need to be mapped out and delegated.
I’m certainly learning the art of delegation in a short-timeframe.
Next week I am at Wimbledon (working) so will have a bit of time away from the phones to put procedures in place affording me more time-freedom in July/August.
Tomorrow night I’m off to Waterstones Piccadilly, where Francesco da Mosto will be recounting tales from his travels around Italy. Hopefully we’ll come away with a signed book (or two)
In the company of great marketers - Seth Godin
June 27th, 2006
I stumbled across a blog about my blog and experience with Squidoo purely by coincidence (whilst checking my stats)
Seth Godin and my site, both mentioned in the same blog, well that’s an accomplishment!
The link to the site is here. Worth a read for a different viewpoint. And don’t forget to hop along and visit my Squidoo site and rank it too!
What would YOU do with a Million Pounds?
June 27th, 2006
Have you heard about www.BeingAMillionaire.com? They’re giving away £1m notes! What would you do with yours, apart from flash ‘em at your mates?!
Here are some of their ideas. Can you think of more?
1. Use them as bookmarks
2. Insert them into birthday cards
3. Leave one together with your restaurant tips
4. Put them in your wallet or purse
5. Enclose one in the envelope when you pay bills
6. Give them to anyone who needs cheering up
7. Put them in frequently opened drawers around the house
8. Put one on the front of your fridge
9. Put one on your bathroom mirror
10. Put one on the ceiling above your bed
11. Give one to your kids whenever you give them pocket money (instead of or as well as!)
Go and get yours and let me know what you do with them!
Better still, pop along and purchase 15 for £10 - They won’t last long at this price!
Going green - think organic, think organictalk
June 26th, 2006
I’ve offered to write a piece for OrganicLinker’s Blog on a weekly basis.
Mike and the Team at OrganicLinker are making ripples in the green community, helping to raise the Organic profile in the Swindon area and uniting friends of the earth UK wide.
To see what I and others write about visit http://www.organiclinker.com/talk and help make a difference.
OrganicLinker is currently my Site of the Week on Squidoo as well.
Game On!
June 25th, 2006
All Blacks 25 - 19 Argentina
Phew, that’s a relief… come on lads, make it more convincing next time!
England 1 - 0 Ecuador
nuff said.
Come on All Black’s
June 25th, 2006
The All Blacks are playing Argentina on their home turf tonight, and kickoff is just minutes away.
Argentinians are already on a high having claimed the scalp of Mexico in the football World Cup. Lets hope they don’t claim 2 crowns in a day.
Go AB’s!
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
June 24th, 2006
There’s a huge marketing push regarding Recycling and reduction of food packaging at the moment, and all the directives are coming from consumers, not industry. Consumers have cottoned on to the fact that price rises cannot be the result of fuel prices alone. Packaging and supplementary marketing materials all add to the cost of the product.
We are filling an extra 1-2 recycling bags a week now compared to this time last year, and we’re not buying a noticeable amount more than usual. The only factor we can attribute this to is the increased bulk caused through packaging.
Yogurts and dairy products are now being shrouded in cardboard and individual serves of food contained within an outer are all adding to the waste products making their way to landfills across the UK.
What can you do to help reduce waste?
Buying larger serves of products then dividing them yourself is one option. For example, why buy 4 individual serves of yoghurt when you could buy a large pot, and the same goes with soft drinks too. 500ml bottles are 88p each whereas a 2 litre bottle is often £1.20 or less.
Switching to products that have responsible packaging practices will help alleviate the problem, and force rival companies to follow suit.
An initiative we will be trialling is shopping bi-weekly, purchasing larger servings and dividing them, reducing the CO2 emissions caused by transport and buying our groceries from market stalls every other week. Our delivered groceries are packed in more bags than is really necessary, and we already hand unwanted bags back to the driver and recycle these at the supermarket where possible.
Our council (Wandsworth) takes an active role in recycling, delivering plentiful supplies of recycling bags every 6 weeks, yet some councils in the greater London area have no recycling facilities at all (the residents struggle to get these services provided).
It’s never too late to start recycling, but don’t wait longer than you have to. By changing your buying habits or actively recycling packaging you are doing your bit to reduce waste and harm to the environment.
We’re off to see Francesco
June 23rd, 2006
Francesco da Mosto is going to be in London next week, promoting his book and giving a talk on his travels throughout his native homeland.
We’re popping along for the evening and hope to buy a copy (and maybe if we’re lucky get it signed too)
To see what all the fuss is about, tune in to BBC2 and watch Francesco’s Italy - Sunday evenings…