Given my experience with the NORAs, I am intrigued by awards events. Add to that my fascination with stand-up comedy, and the increasingly prestigious Malcolm Hardee Comedy Awards 2012 event, at the Edinburgh Festival, was a date I couldn’t afford to miss. I know the organiser, John Fleming, fairly tenuously via Facebook, so offered to...
Just as Mondays are traditional starting employment days for new members of staff, Fridays are most commonly seen by the HR department (and recruiters) as Resignation Day. In fact the last Friday of the month, immediately following payday, is usually that day. However, being Lords of all they survey, HR Managers would prefer that they...
We will all have witnessed the spectacular events of the 30th Olympic Games, over the past 17 days, from the outrageously lavish and theatrical opening event, to the jumble of imagery (from amazing to banal) in last night’s closing ceremony. No-one can deny the outstanding success of this Olympics, on almost every level. I believe...
“Do you know what I mean? D’ya get me? Know what I’m saying?” Confidence comes from knowing that others understand us. So much so that we use countless phrases every day to check that we are being properly understood, and not misinterpreted. Even those with a vast command of English, and the ability to employ...
As an instinctive pedant, I often find myself on the wrong side of an argument, simply because the “right side” hasn’t argued their case properly and logically. As any lawyer might say, it’s not for me to argue their case for them, even though I am open to persuasion. The topic of same-sex marriage doesn’t...
I am not a generous person, ask anybody. At least not with cash anyway. I love a bargain, and more than anything, always look for value for money. So please don’t mistake this story for an attempt to put myself in a good light. I think I was an idiot. Remember 10 years ago,...
I agree that Jimmy Carr hasn’t done anything wrong, morally or otherwise, and should not be castigated for keeping within the law. It was outrageous that the Prime Minister should choose one person to name in this way. As with any tax system, there are a myriad of allowances, incentives, penalties and pitfalls. HMRC are...
I don’t have a qualification to my name (past high school anyway). I am capable of a great many things, but just don’t have the paperwork to prove it. But who do I need to prove it to, myself, or everyone else? Is it the education or the certificates that I regret not attaining (because...
For many people, in order to comprehend the world, they need to travel through it, whilst others seem to have the ability to understand from the viewpoint of the place grew up in. Whether we like it or not, we all have a relationship with our hometown. We can be on the other side of...
Throughout the ages, there has been a long history of segregation of the people we share a planet with. In most instances there is an accompanying ”plausible” explanation, where we are told that certain people, of differing cultures, sex, ethnicity, race or religion need to be kept apart. We are all aware of the effects...
