bargain?

We did another carboot sale today and I can now spot a buyer, from a browser, from a bargain hunter from a chancer.

Buyers - attack your car before you unpacked it - looking for anything collectible. Their favourite thing is to ask have you got any instruments, Lego, mobile phones...

Browsers - these are the people that come to see what other are selling, they maybe looking for a specific item but generally just like to have a look a round. Most people fall in to this category.

Bargain hunters - these are regular at car bots an will knock some money usually 50p off whatever you say the price is. this is not to bad cos as a seller you have just added an additional 50p to the price.

Chancers - these people amaze me, the will ask for a ridiculous amount items. A lady next to us was selling a large piece material, which could have made several cushions and she had told us earlier in the day that she wanted to get rid of it so was selling it cheap - 30p. She was asked how much, said 30 p and chancer said that was too expensive!

Another lady was selling cushions at 50 p each (a reasonable price for a cushion), when asked the price she said '50p each' the chancer then said "50p for 5"!

Finally, in a personal case, we had a fan heater that we where selling a 3 pounds, we were asked how much? "£3" we said - 50p said one guy, £1 said another Chancers! "no" we said.

It surprises me every time we sell stuff, that what we think are good/bargain prices then some others think are ridiculous high and will chance their arm with a stupidly low price.

‘Mickey Mouse’ degrees should be kicked into touch

Richard Pike, Chief of the RSC has issued a statement on Science education


‘Mickey Mouse’ degree courses should be swept away, and priorities in university education and research should reflect the challenges facing the country over the forthcoming decades.
No longer should the government be paying 18-year-olds to start courses on celebrity journalism, drama with waste management, or international football business management. These courses should be kicked into touch, especially at a time when the UK is desperately short of funding research into Alzheimer’s and other diseases of ageing, alternative energy sources and wider, more effective health care provision, all of which depend on leading-edge work in the fundamental sciences.
Massive cuts in the science budget have already been announced in this country at a time when President Barack Obama is seeking $66bn, an increase of 5.9% over 2010 levels, to address the strategic priorities on the other side of the Atlantic.
The number of undergraduates studying chemistry, physics, biology and mathematics here had stayed relatively constant over many decades, and the enormous expansion witnessed in tertiary education was largely in the non-science sector. This sector, too, played a vital role in the development of the country, and our future relies on exploiting the synergies provided by a workforce with a wide range of skills, but we now need some realism over the way ahead.
We need a population with an enduring set of skills, such as an understanding of the physical world around us, literacy and communication, numeracy, how to function and continue to learn in a complex society, and above all creativity, rather than an ability to satisfy some ephemeral demand that in ten years time will be viewed as a curiosity.
To take a leaf out of the US’s book, that means that science must not be cut in the same proportion as other subjects at university, but its central role for the future of this country recognised, and funding effectively ‘ring fenced’, so that in effect it becomes a more dominant component.
This is not a question of pleading a special case; such a move is essential if we are all to enjoy the lifestyle we have become accustomed to, and to ensure that we are prepared for the changes that will affect us all in the future. '

Here here Say's I

Chemistry: A Volatile History

Yes I am still alive...

Anyway here is a good science program for you to watch either tonight on BBC Four or on iplayer.

It is Chemistry: A Volatile History www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00q2mk5

Well it should be good, the Rsc are raving about it.

personally I think the BBC should move these types programmes from BBC 4 to BBC 2 where more people are likely to watch something and maybe learn something interesting too....

but that's just my opinion

Priorities

The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus: Contains infrequent strong language, scenes of threat, hanging and smoking

we need warnings in case people are smoking now! seems a little OTT to me.

pictures

Wayne needed the camera for the weekend so I downloaded the camera so that I could blog last weekend and sort out my pictures for Stu's summer challenge, I thought that I had put them on my pen drive but there not there :(

I will have to check the laptop but I think all is lost.

DOH!

The big question...

I watch the big question (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007zpll)this morning, mainly because a James was on there. (well done James, I thought you did really well)

The question they where meant to be debating was 'is the pope a liability?' However I thought the question turned rather quickly in to what is wrong with the catholic church. However moving aside from that, the whole debate annoyed me for several reasons;

1. Why were there so many people against the Church/Pope and only a few there to defend
2. Why do people not get that the Pope is head of the Church and not a political leader. They are do not work under the same rules
3. Why do people criticise the Pope (and other western christian leaders, to an extent) but they don't criticise other religious leaders for fear of offending people
4. Also people rally against the catholic faith because it is steeped in tradition and ritual and old well know beliefs, but there are several evangelical groups who follow there beliefs, many of which are more extreme than those of the catholic church.
5. Why can we criticise Christianity but not other religions

If the Church was to change its core beliefs because of the pressure's of today's society then I feel this would be bad move for faith that has survived 2000 years. Would they expect it of any other religion - I doubt it.

http://prospect.rsc.org/blogs/rsc/2009/04/17/nevillereed/no-courage-on-chemicals/

leading on from Stu's Personal Responsibility note the above link is just as rediculus!

Beer gives you courage!, you can create an 100% chemical free fertilielser and it is someone elses fault if you get hurt doing something you souldn't have been doing

What a wonderful world we live in.

Piping Hot Tea Can Give You Cancer: Study

I support science but do they have to make everything dangerous...It is depressing!

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20090327/tuk-piping-hot-tea-can-give-you-cancer-s-45dbed5.html

I need a cup of team that will make me feel better!

Wenged!

more criticism from my old boss...
if I didn't know better i would say I still worked for him,