By Stephie, on Friday 13th August, 2010 at 16:48 pm
Humph. The Mac is back in the shop and I’m back in the library. I hate this flipping library; the computers here are useless and the staff are useless too. I just spent 10 minutes trying to use a ‘book and pay’ machine (all I wanted was half an hour on the computer) and the damn thing kept telling me I was already booked (which I obviously wasn’t), so I trudged back down stairs for the third time today to find out why. “Oh you have to come down here to book the computers, the machine isn’t working yet,” said the vague looking woman behind the desk. “You can only use it for paying for printing at the moment.” Oh, really. “Well, it might be helpful if there was a SIGN on the machine to indicate that,” I said tetchily. “There was a sign to say that you could pay for printing. We’re just waiting for some software I think.” Did she hear what I said, I wondered? A. Sign. To. Indicate. You. Can’t. Book. Computer. Time. On. This. Machine. If she heard she didn’t give a damn. I suspect she heard the words and didn’t understand. She didn’t look like she understood much. I was/am irritated. I’m now back upstairs on the computer and have spent the last 15 minutes of my paid-for time waiting for pages to load. I could scream. I do not have a life without my Mac. I’m not sure I have much of one with it, but you know, without it, it sucks! And to cap it all, I’ve just spent another 5 minutes of my paid-for pc time venting!
Breathe deeply, 1, 2, 3, hear the babbling brook…
Hopefully back soon,
love Stephie x
By Stephie, on Friday 24th April, 2009 at 23:44 pm
You may have seen me moaning about Oxfam on Twitter. I was shocked at the prices they charge in my local store; it’s not even as though they’re in a prominent place on the high street with high costs. No, they’re tucked well away at the end of a secondary trading area. So how do they make any sales? Truro is not a wealthy place; people in Truro (I assume) probably shop at charity shops because they can’t afford to go anywhere else, not because it’s a trendy thing to do or they solely have some kind of community or eco reason for shopping there.
My local store is selling supermarket branded shirts for £5 or £6 – probably only a couple of pounds less than they cost in the first place and now past their best. Dresses were £15, coats even more! It’s nolonger the sort of place you can go and spend a few quid and revitalise your wardrobe, and know that you’re still helping others. No, now there seems to be a trend for putting the word ‘vintage’ on a label and, regardless of quality, charging a large premium for it: £50 for an old suitcase; £20 for a 1980′s polyester dress.
Shopping at Oxfam has changed, for the worse. Now it feels no different from going into any other high street shop: you feel like a. you’re buying into consumerism; b. you’re likely to be ripped off; and c. it makes you feel bad.
That said, I did come away with one small treasure today, for the princely sum of 99p… Come back tomorrow to see a ‘vintage’ copy of The Quilter’s Guild magazine.
What do you think of your local charity/thrift shops? Do you think they over charge or do you think you get a fair deal? Am I just mean spirited? Should a charity shop be somewhere that the ‘poor’ (ie people in the West in poor financial situations) can nolonger afford to shop?
By Stephie, on Monday 6th April, 2009 at 21:59 pm
A weekly post of inspiration
Aaaaargh!!!
This week’s pinboard is a little different…
 These words get on my tits! Is it just me, or do you also go from craft blog to craft blog and come across these same boring, trite words that drive you up the wall? Once or twice in a blog I could cope with (I may even have committed the sin myself…well, ok, I know I have!), but is it really necessary to ladle them on thick in every other post (especially the comments)? Using these words does not make me think “oh, it’s soooo adorable, what a darling little quilt, the colours are just so charming and that appliqued house is delightful. It’s too darn cute, I have to make it for my bed”. No, what these words make me think is “oh god you haven’t got an original idea in your head, I’m off before I vomit.”
What words do it for you? Leave your pet hates in a comment!
And here are some lovely blogs
For good measure, and a thing called balance, here are five inspiring craft blogs that really don’t get on my tits! They are an absolute delight to read, with charming pictures, adorable authors (some with darling children) and the cutest quilts and stuff you ever did see. Seriously. I mean it, these ones are excellent. Go take a look for yourself if you don’t believe me.
By Stephie, on Saturday 2nd February, 2008 at 15:27 pm
 Cabbage White I’ve just spent the last half hour or so reading about cabbage white butterflies on the web; I was shocked to discover that all most sites talk about is how to kill them. The one on the left, I can assure you, died a natural death and now lives on as a work of art. It was sent to me via post by Chantal of course, and I hope she’ll forgive me for the fuzzy photo, because it is a very beautiful thing. My little bit of research has revealed some interesting facts about this lovely insect though, not least that the one pictured is female (because she has two spots on each wing – well she would have wouldn’t she!), and, according to the BBC, they’re also known as ‘summer snowflakes’ – how beautiful and descriptive is that! Why anyone would want to kill them off in favour of a cabbage is beyond me…one of the most foul tasting things on this earth. I bet even the butterfly tastes better, though being a vegetarian I’m not about to try it and find out for you, even for the sake of art.
As part of my ‘research’ (very loosely termed) I did a picture search for the cabbage white and what I’d like to know is, just where do other people get all those lovely images from that they post on their blogs? Do they actually pay Getty or what? I can’t believe they do, so where do they get them from? Are there a whole load of copyright-free images out there that I just can’t find, or are there lots of blogger thieves, denying artists and photographers some control over how their images are used and a right to their meagre livings?! I mean, if artists and photographers, or whoever, were actually paid for their images it might mean that they could make more lovely images for us instead of having to do the whole gamut of low-paid, desperately un-creative work to keep the wolf from the door. The amount of exceptionally talented people out there that have to waste their time behind the counter at the local Spa shop is criminal. If you can’t afford to pay the artist then take your own photos.
Well, I didn’t know I was going to rant about that today! I think must’ve had a good week this week. I’m sure I only rant when I’m in a good mood; it’s just too much effort when I’m not.
By Stephie, on Tuesday 23rd October, 2007 at 13:25 pm
did you know that Jesus died on the cross for your sins?
There I was sitting on a curly bench on the Plaza in Truro this morning, enjoying a cup of coffee in the sunshine, when I was accosted by an old man in a blue cardigan with a rucksack on his back. I thought he was going to ask me the time or directions, but no, he said to me “did you know that Jesus died on the cross for your sins?”. As you can imagine I almost choked on my coffee and spat it all over him. As it was, I looked him straight in the eye, grinned (trying desperately not to laugh) and said “I’m an atheist”. He looked back at me, incredulous “Really? You don’t believe in any sort of God?” Then I did laugh “No!”. He turned his back mumbling “What a shame, that’s so sad”. As he waddled away I wanted to shout back “you’re the sad, deluded one mate”, but I thought maybe that would be just too cruel… now I wish I had, ‘cos this afternoon a lot of frustrations have built up that might’ve been better vented on some old man who would undoubtedly have shaken it off like water off a duck’s back. Instead, I’m now sitting here wondering which poor, unsuspecting soul (I don’t believe in those either!), might end up the focus of my welling frustrations. I think the best policy will be to avoid everyone at all costs; though I wonder if I might interest you in a rant later?
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I'm running a 28 mile marathon in memory of Josie this February. Come and find out why.
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