The Random Blogger

All of us, I suspect, have things that, at best, irritate us, and at worst make us practically explode with anger.

And I’m no different to most - especially during the last ten years of my first marriage when life was a living hell. With hindsight, I’m not really sure how I retained any shred of sanity at all (and there are undoubtedly those, probably including my ex-wife, who thought I didn’t).

Anyway, I digress (just for a change).

Out of all the things that get up my nose, the one thing that I really hate above all else (and I use the word “hate” advisedly, as I feel it’s one of many words that has been diluted over time because of sensationalism and a desire to exaggerate constantly, but it’s definitely apt here) is when (more…)

If there’s one thing I really dislike when I’m out at any social function, or even a meal out with family or friends, it’s what people often incorrectly call “background music”.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve nothing against real background music, but if it’s (more…)

Something I’ve really disliked (I almost used “hated”, but this is such a strong emotion and it’s such an overused word that I’ve kept it toned down) for a long, long time is when people say things like “Everybody likes …” or “The nation mourns …”.

Quite frankly, such people, who are usually members of the Press, have no knowledge of what’s in everybody’s minds, and have no right to attempt to speak for “everybody”.

I think my feelings on this really hit home when (more…)

On the face of it, audio books (e.g. standard novels read aloud and played using audio cassettes, CDs or maybe even MP3 files) sound like a great idea.

But although they’ve been around for many years now, and are a natural extension of books being read aloud on both radio and television, they don’t seem to have taken off to the extent you might expect.

I fully accept that for certain people, such as the blind and visually-impaired, they probably provide access to literature and entertainment that would otherwise be denied them.

But for those, like me, who are fortunate enough not to suffer from such disabilities, I’ve always found there to be something sadly missing when listening to an audio book.

(more…)

Is it me, or do people just not care any more about customer service?

It never ceases to amaze me when I send an email to a company, asking a few simple questions, how few of them actually take the time and trouble to read and answer every single point.

Some may answer part of my email, while others don’t even address anything I actually raise, preferring instead to respond with some boilerplate BS that is nothing to do with what I really want to know.

As somebody who co-owns a company and who is responsible for almost all of the customer service, via email, live chat and telephone, (more…)

Part of the success of entertainment media such as films and TV is that they allow you to escape reality, to become immersed in another world.

This is especially true today, with special effects that would be unbelievable to both actors and audiences just a decade or two ago.

And yet, I’ve always found it difficult to forget that what I’m watching is just an illusion, and that’s because many programmes and movies make mistakes that jar and snap you back to reality.

There are three mistakes, in particular, that always have this effect on me.

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I’ve commented before that I don’t like my time being wasted, and yet these days, if you have an email account, you’re likely to be suffering from another huge time-waster, a problem that is so large that some of the brightest boffins on the planet apparently can’t solve it.

I am, of course, talking about (more…)