Sticking it to the Stickman

The countdown is very literally on, in Petone. On Tuesday the new Countdown supermarket opens. Today I was obliged to shop still at Pak 'n Save. I spent more time in the car park than I did inside the store. For some reason, Pak 'n Save have decided this winter would be the perfect time to close half their carpark for 'improvements'. I believe they are creating a huge carport structure to provide quasi undercover car parking. It won't be like the underground parking at their Lower Hutt branch, which I have to say I do like. Petone's version will protect only from rain, but not from wind. Since it's rare for it to be actually raining when I supermarket, the advantage is minimal.

Chaos in the car park.

Everything they do, they do to save me money!

Meanwhile, almost directly across the road the competitor looks very ready. The car park is open air, and looking very pristine.

But it isn't the battle of the car parks that will have me changing to Countdown. There are two far more compelling factors. Countdown offer free farmed pork and organic, free-range chicken. I'm not interested in saving at the expense of animal welfare. Currently I have to buy these in Lower Hutt on my way home from work. The other reason is the whole trolley situation. Let's face it - supermarket trolleys are dodgy at best. You have no idea who last touched them, or what was last in them - grubby, nose-picking toddlers, mud splattered ten year olds who treat them as a fairground ride, you name it. On entering the supermarket the trick is to pick the trolley that looks least likely to have been recently retrieved from the local creek. The problem with Pak 'n Save is that once at the checkout your groceries are transferred into any random trolley. 

At Countdown some pristine new trolleys are already enticingly on display. Virgin, unsullied and once selected will be mine for the whole visit. It all makes one almost look forward to next weekend's shopping.

Advertising

I'm glad my telecommunications are with Vodafone. Of course I used to be with TelstraClear, but I'm getting used to being sold on as a customer here and there. It turns out the new plans are much better, and what I was paying has dropped by almost forty dollars for the same services. Actually, more services. I used to get 20 mega-somethings of broadband, which I rarely exceeded. Now I'm getting 60 mega-somethings thrown in as well. To celebrate, I had a second decoder installed on Saturday. I'm still paying way less and don't have to worry about Freeview aerials or new televisions now, as the analogue turn off looms ever nearer.

Old tv, new decoder, many channels.

But the real reason I am happy to be a Vodafone customer is it means I'm not a Telecom customer, and this has nothing to do with their service provision. It's about their advertising. I just can't abide that turtle torturing Tommy they use on their ads. Pets are not toys, but no-one has told this to Tommy or Telecom. Tommy's not cute, in fact on another blog he was referred to as 'an odious little snot'. I have to concur, this sums up the advertising character very nicely without using any of the expletives that come readily to mind. (I say character, because the child actor could well be a delightful, caring boy.) How do advertising executives come up with these dim campaigns?

"How can I make your life a little worse, Boris?"

Must Focus

I never usually buy a newspaper on a Saturday, but today I felt I really needed a nice long lounge and read. That's where I read this quote, and it seems very apt for my situation today. It's almost three o'clock already. The whole morning was taken up with a long brunch and window shopping, followed by supermarketing. The actual purposeful elements of my outing could possibly have taken well under an hour if I had chosen to focus on priorities. The priorities are class reports. I have dedicated this weekend to their completion. And it isn't just idleness that is conflicting with the task. Other tasks, that usually hold no delight at all, suddenly seem so much more interesting. Vacuuming, cleaning, washing, even cooking, all seem suddenly compelling and urgent. I know that once I get started all will be well. It's just really hard to get started when your light shades are just screaming to be dusted and you know your pantry could really do with re-organising. Not one to be defeated, I have just taken decisive action. I have eaten the entire contents of this packet.

I'm sure the magical properties of the ingredients will kick in some time soon. In the meantime I'll get on with some ironing, which normally gets left until late Sunday!

Win Win

A little shopping in Wellington resulted in a new box for Millie,

and new boots for me.

In an earlier post, HERE, I touched on the dangers of poor boot selections. I'm very happy with today's purchase. 

In other news, this movie was brilliant ...

... and this one was interesting, not as good as all the reviews would indicate, but okay.