Monday 9 January 2017

Must try harder


Good morning. What terrible weather we are having. They say it will snow at the end of the week. This is how all English conversations begin.

The worst thing about the first week of January is having to listen to everyone vowing to improve their lives in some worthy way, as if they blew all their credit for a year over the Christmas holiday. So you want to stop smoking; drinking; eating? Go ahead. Do what you like, just don't bore me with your broken promises to yourself. Yule isn't Lent, you know.

They say that the Victorians invented Christmas, but they forget to mention that they destroyed Twelfth Night in the process. Twelve days of mayhem and non-productivity were condensed down into one, and that was immediately followed by a worthy day of charity towards Tradesmen. How utterly middle-class can you get?

Twelfth Night was not the only thing destroyed by the Victorians. Up until them, Christianity contained a healthy measure of Paganism, then the architects arrived and stripped the walls of all the colourful medieval paintings. Did you know that the front of Wells Cathedral was originally as brightly painted as the inside of an Italian church?

Most people who I have met since the end of last year say, "It's good to get back to normal," by which I suppose they mean that it is good not to have to pay out stupid amounts of money for one night, as opposed to the other 364 days of trying to earn it. Things are actually worse now than they were in Victorian times. Politicians and pundits are saying that the only certain way out of the uncertainty caused by our imminent tearing-up of the European Trade Agreement is to increase productivity. Ha Ha!

Ken Wood (of Kenwood food processors) said that his products were appreciated so much because of their durability. They came into their own in the 'make do and mend' austerity of post-war Britain, and I know people who are still using mixers that were built in the late 1950s.

Now, because of the relentless drive for increased productivity, if you don't build-in obsolescence you go out of business - or worse - become non-competetive for many years before going out of business.

It is mad that I can buy a car for £1500 which only a couple of years before sold for £35,000. It means that someone else has subsidised me by being shamed into trading it in for a new model, usually on credit. They are still subsiding me, as I drive their old car into a scrap yard and buy another.

I am blessed by only making things which ordinary people do not need. Any guilt I may fleetingly feel by making my clients wait for the objects of their desire is offset by the knowldge that nobody is physically suffering from the waiting. Not many global pharmecutical companies can say that.

OPEC have responded to the loss of revenue from the drop in the price of oil by reducing production. Gem dealers keep prices high by limiting sales. The rest of us must work harder and increase our productivity. Someone has got to buy all those cars, washing machines, food mixers, etc. etc. and they need to - somehow - find the money to buy them.

15 comments:

  1. I just posted the above then I heard someone on the radio talking about 'consumer-generated advertising platforms'...

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  2. Tom, I hope that the -8 degrees we are experiencing over here this morning warm up a bit before reaching your side of the ocean. Too darn cold.

    Establishing prices and values and productivity goals and creating demand are such powerful influence on our lives. I've never quite bought into most trends or propaganda, but sometimes do compromise some of my ideals. It doesn't take long for me to realize my error and try for a correction.

    I would have liked to see the colorful Well Cathedral facade!

    Before I forget, it's finally occured to me what yoru fairgrounds music reminded me of. It got me remembering the Kinks' tune Come Dancing.

    Best wishes.

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    1. It is rumoured to reach -13 (C) in exposed areas. I don't mind that. I was in Canada during -40 once, and it was a bone-dry cold! Dangerously deceptive.

      The older I get, the more I appreciate not being targeted for anything other than Saga cruises. I love owning an old iPhone which cost the original owner £600. It does more than I will use it for.

      The Kinks did experiment with a bit of white Reggae once, and it wasn't very successful to my mind. Leave it to the experts, I say.

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    2. Actually, I am also targeted by investment companies. If they only knew what a waste of money it is to send me those glossy brochures!

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  3. A bits and bobs comment from me (It's the meds, I tell you) You mentioned Paganism, and I'm a Pagan, As for the weather, I'm buying a larger woodburner this week, and moving my present one into my studio. As for investments, the only things that I invest in are modern art and diamonds. PS I have never had a mobile phone. Rambling as usual but a very nice Premier Cru on top of meds will do that to you! (or rather, me)

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    1. Don't apologise, I like rambling. It suits my state of mind. So you are a Pagan? What does that involve? (Ok, I admit to having images of you carvorting naked amongst standing stones, as in The Wicker Man. So you invest in diamonds too? How many have you got and where do you live?

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  4. This is a bit off-topic, but I could not understand how or why my iMac pings in messages in a corner of the screen, even without WiFi. Then I got a call with WiFi switched on, and the computer rang as well... It turns out to be all to do with Facetime (if you know what that is - Skype for Macs) and has now been disabled. I don't know how this stuff works at all - it's a little scary.

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  5. I always believe to hear the Wild Riders in those Rauhnächten (well, just stormy weather).
    What I think really funny, Tom, is that in olden times the ancient ones used each of the twelve nights - true!! - to foretell -- the weather! First night: January, second February and so on -- maybe they needed it for their 'cultivated conversations'?

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    1. I am sure it served some purpose, even if it was not accurate!

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  6. My husband being the man he is, we have lots of old stuff. Including a fridge that he bought 20 years ago at an auction for 3 pounds. It is in the utility room now working away keeping the wine and the beer cold and the freezer is keeping whatever is in there frozen. I wonder how old it was at the time of the auction. He also has two Volvo estates -- both over 20 years old. He often laments the loss to rust of his 1959 Sunbeam Rapier ...

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    1. Our fridge is over 40 years old and given to us by a wealthy Kuwaiti lady who still visits occasionally. It works fine.

      My brother in law used to have BMW Isetta Bubble Car. They are now worth about £20,000. I have a friend who once owned a Vincent Black Shadow motorcycle. They now fetch about £150,000. Ah, hindsight...

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  7. I have decreased my commenting productivity as a subtle protest against you peeps leaving our dear Union. Not that your Department for the Leaving of Same will notice or care.

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    1. Don't blame me - I voted remain. Actually, you may justifiably blame me as an Englishman for compelling you to come all the way over here to Nailsworth just to dig up a few spuds. We sold the seeds to you in cynical opportunism, then refused to impart the secrets of GM protection and procreation. For that, I truly bear the weight of a national guilt.

      Now that the Celtic Tiger has starved to death, I don't think that us peeps will will take any customers of an Irish Tea Shop seriously until the true union between North and South has been welded. When this happens, I will move to Belfast and expected to be welcomed with open arms when I come down to visit.

      Put the scones on.

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  8. A tiny piece on my Kenwood broke, so I phoned the company. What does it look like? asked the nice lady. It's the blueish round bit just under the red bit, I replied. I'll put one in the post, she said. The CORRECT piece arrived the following day, with a small bill; it was the very best customer service I've ever received!

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    1. My father briefly worked for Kenwood in Surrey. He used to come home saying, "Ken Wood said..." and even then I didn't think he was a real person. We had the full kit.

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