L'Oréal Lashes

I think this is pretty old news now but only noticed the TV advertisement again recently. The leading lady from Slumdog looks all sultry and whatnot as she bats her lashes into the camera. Then a line of text underneath her tells us that the lashes used are FALSE! Point of the ad is exactly?!

Valet services

So, Ireland is in a recession... half the world is in a recession. Yet every car park in the greater Dublin region thinks now is the ideal time to install a valeting service! The Ilac Centre has one. (It actually has the audacity, read entrepreneurial spirit, to make you drive ALL the way around level 1 so that you have to drive past it). The Pavillions has one. Even our local bleeping Super Valu has one! What's going on? We are so cash rich now, coming up to Christmas, that we're all investing in valets? I think not. Get your hoovers out lads!

For real?

Bought a game, for the PS2, in Game Stop yesterday. Your man on the till asks me if I'd like to purchase insurance. I stare at him, like what the fluck? I say, FOR A GAME? He goes yeah. His co-worker grins. What the blazes is going to happen to a game over the course of a year? Sure, we could stand on it, but what's the likelihood of that? Is somebody going to rob it? Highly bloody unlikely! How many muppets out there purchase insurance for a game that retails at €34.99?

The fireplace fret...

So the plumber installs the gas fire for us... great, until I ask him where the fret is. The fret being the grate thing that completes the fireplace, or makes it look pretty; hides the knobs essentially. Apparently we are missing the fret. Ring up the fire people. Oh yeah we'll send it out next week when one of our lads is out your way. We'll ring you on Thursday to let you know. No apology, no nothing... did they ring today? No. I rang them, they were supposed to ring me back. Did they? NO. I am sick of blooming tradespeople.

You know what lads... we're in a RECESSION... sure, they reckon multinationals in Ireland are pulling out of recession, but IRISH companies are not... is it any blooming wonder with service like that?

Tradesmen

I can't make the complaint for ALL tradesmen but to date, apart from the blinds guy, every single one of them acts the same. Ring them up, ask them to come out. They say, "I'll be there tomorrow at 9am." You wait and you wait and you wait. Give them the hour. Ring them at 10am... there's no sign of you. Ah yeah, we got stuck on another job, we'll be there tomorrow... and on and on it goes... could they not pick up the poxy phone and let you know that they can't make it?

Snaggers

The tiger is back in it's box. Yet, for the 5 prices I was quoted for the snagging of a new house, none of them come back to check the list. One lad actually wanted €150 to come back. What's the story?

Weight Watchers Stall

Ah the irony of the layout in my local Super Valu. They've a lovely shelf space full of Weight Watchers products, all obviously emphasizing their low calorific count. And then... hanging from the front of it, what have they got? Loads of packets of marshmallows! Genius! What a way to keep the health conscious on track ;)

Swine flu and pregnant women...

... oh what to do. The risks are apparently enhanced in the third trimester. I am nervous though about this answer from the HSE via swineflu.ie:

Will vaccinating a mother protect the baby after they are born?
"Since infants less than 6 months of age cannot receive the vaccine, getting vaccinated against influenza during pregnancy may offer protection to the newborn baby too."

Why can infants less than 6 months of age not receive the vaccine? And it they cannot, why would anyone risk giving their unborn child a shot of something when there appears to be no conclusive studies of the effect of it on the unborn child?

Anomaly

Well... so much for the "daily" moan.

Anal or what?

I bought a new money magazine for the first time last week. The guy whose mug graces the front cover is a well-known personality from Cork.

I noticed at least 3 spelling mistakes throughout the text. I paid about 3.95 for it. Am I too anal in expecting them to turn on the spell-checker before publishing? Do they not cross-check each other's articles? I realise that I'm paying for financial hints and tips not good spelling. It's a pet hate of mine though. If they couldn't be bothered checking their spelling, do they bother checking that all their financial data is correct?

Pink to make the boys wink

Why is it that kids toy shops feel justified in making parents pay more for the so called girly colours? Smyths have the exact same baby walker type toy at 29.99 for the multi-colour version and 35.99 for the pink version. Parents dumb enough to shell out the cash is the answer I guess!