Ah, Claire's Accessories

When I first became aware of Claire's (about 12 years ago), it was new and different and a great place to pick up basics. Then they pierced my ears for me and I had 7 months of infections and medical treatment. 11 years later, I am still struggling with them...

The stuff got a bit cheaper and nastier over time so while I took the kids there to spend their pocket money, I never bothered with anything myself.

A couple of months ago, my niece was in Claire's in Newport with her friend. While my niece was picking out some earrings, her friend said she would wait outside as she wanted a drink. After the girl left, the woman behind the counter got on the phone to security and said the friend was shoplifting. My niece clearly heard this and so left and she and her friend went to various other shops in the area, all the time being followed by a security guard who stared at them through shop windows. Yeah, the girls are 11.

Anyway, that kind of ruined Claire's for us so none of my family have bothered going in since.

No great loss.

Then last night, Tatty Devine posted this on their website.

So Claire's Accessories have young girls harassed and labelled as thieves for nothing when they are very busy stealing from other designers?

All Claire's have said is they will look into it. That helps. How about paying for original designs?

I mean, they have not even tried to hide the copying. Unfortunately, Tatty Devine are still not widely known enough for the general public to realise what Claire's have done. At least the story is being picked up by the media.

It is like Topshop and their thieving all over again...

Immoral?

On Saturday, a man was killed on a road not far from where I live. Details are still sketchy right now but apparently the weather was a factor. There is a wire fence set up covering the hole left behind by his car and family and friends have been leaving flowers and messages for the victim.

What I find absolutely terrible, though, is that the local paper went down and published all of the messages that were left by the bereaved. Is that not REALLY bad???

I mean, I would be devastated if something so personal for a dead family member was broadcast in that way.

There's the search for journalistic exclusives and then there's THIS.

Of course, you cannot leave comments on that particular news story...

I have always wondered what goes through peoples minds when they hear of a death.

When my uncle died, someone stole the flowers the family left for him at the place his body was found.

How can people be so sick and twisted?

So long, Barclays...

So this day has come... My Barclaycard has finally been paid off...!!!

Same old story, really. Took out the credit card as part of my student account when I was 18. Used it regularly but always paid it off so they started sneaking my credit limit up. Suddenly it was 4.5 grand and I had tuition fees to pay... Then, of course, I lost my job and could only pay off a small amount each month.

Aside from my outstanding bank loan, this was my largest debt and it has taken me the (second) longest to pay off.

Finally managed it, though.

Good to see the back of them.

But this is not all of it...

I banked with Barclays until I was informed I could not have a professional studies loan with them because my chosen subject for my Masters was "not professional enough"... I switched to HSBC for my daily banking needs.

Then we had the bank charges fun when I reclaimed everything I had been stung for. What surprised me was that I only had one charge with Barclays in all my years of banking with them whereas I had a stupid amount with HSBC in a short space of time... HSBC paid up straight away but I had to take Barclays to court for £25 (plus about 3 quid statutory interest).

I won.

So anyway, I kept my ISA and my savings account with Barclays and transferred in money when I could spare it.

Then two weekends ago I decided to stop swearing so much and every time I swore, I put money aside to go in my ISA... £100 later... All good, except Barclays decided to bounce the payment to my savings account and sent me a letter stating that because I had not recently made a deposit, I would have to send a cheque... Where am I meant to get one of those from??? I do not have an account I can issue cheques on as I am paperless...

I thought balls to all that and closed both account with them. At least with HSBC I can do direct transfers without the hassle.

So nearly 13 years I have had some sort of account with Barclays...

I wont miss them.

Adventures in the Business, Part 3

Thought I would dust off this old relic! This series never really took off because I could not be bothered to attempt to remember what we used to get up to but I am in a mellow mood tonight...

Working for a band, you would often be introduced to other celebrities.

This is going to sound horrible but I just didn't care...

(Employer, all excited) "Do you know who this is???"

"Yeah it's Gwen Stefani's old man"

"It's Jude Law..."

"Oh..."

Don't get me wrong; I will be civil to most people (unless they are asking for it...) but I could never get excited about someone who was famous.

I managed to offend more than a few over the years by not kissing arse but I like to think my down to earth nature kept them a little more grounded...

A few celebrities have managed to piss me right off over the years due to their rudeness *ahem* Miley Cyrus, Brittney Spears, Charlotte Church... but mainly they are just people I drifted past along the way.

I sometimes get asked to share celebrity stories but I just can't remember any; that is the number one guaranteed way to make my memory fail.

Oh, go on then!

Hollywood bar. Vacuous bitch from a certain heavily-scripted LA-based reality TV show that is no longer on the air. My martini looked so much better on her than in my glass. And she still owes me for the designer shoes she ruined when she randomly vomited on me...

Living the dream.

Ways to improve Newport, Part 1

Dog mess bins.

Seriously, there are none.

When I lived in Swansea, you had dog mess bins every couple of blocks plus there were places where you could get free bags along the beach so you could clean up after your hound. The streets were pleasant and the city looked cared for.

Newport.

Hmm.

I guess no one does care but still...

I once took my dog out for a walk and he performed about 10 minutes in to the adventure. I (obviously) cleaned up after him but there was no bin. I actually walked 3 miles before I found any bins and this was just a regular one at a bus stop, not a doggie one. No wonder the streets are filthy!

There are places I will not walk any more because it is just so dirty. In fact, the next street over from me is so piled high with crap that you can no longer walk on the pavements. People can't think this is acceptable!

The council need to invest in some bins and actually enforce the fines for people who do not clear up after their dogs. The revenue from that would easily finance the cost of the new bins. This little effort would create a city of responsible dog owners and make Newport look like someone believes the city is not going to die.

Come on, now.

I'll even sponsor a dozen bins if it helps.

Facebook ads

I cannot be the only person who has noticed that the Facebook ads that appear down the right hand side of your screen are getting more and more invasive. I am sure you only used to get two or three but they seem to be multiplying at an alarming rate...

Today's selection include a Capital One credit card that demands I APPLY NOW because THE CLOCK IS TICKING. No. Then we have O2 suggesting we make a Facebook poll to help us decide what smartphone to get. I assume this is aimed at people too stupid to do independent research on Google... Ooh then there is eBookers with their "Only 1 days to go". One days until what? Until you can hire someone that understands basic English?

Moving on...

"A diet trick that has helped celebrities lose 1 stone per week". Wow. That sounds... healthy... There are also ads for BBC learn Spanish (I am listed as fluent on my profile), learn to sail in Greece, and hair dye.

What I don't get is that Google are able to tailor their ads to suit your profile in gmail. As Facebook evidently cannot survive without the revenue, why can they not do the same? I mean, I would still ignore the ads but I find unsafe diets and general vacuousness annoying...

The classic one was this, of course -

Discover Fleurcup!

Discover the many advantages of the menstrual cup Flerucup for only 14,99 (around £13). Available in 6 colours and 2 sizes".

Umm... what? You insert it into your vagina. Why does it matter what colour it is? Are the dyes used even safe? Mooncup comes in one colour. You don't need more than that. It is not a fashion accessory, after-all.

I have never been one for adverts at the best of times but fuck me, Facebook, you can do better than this!