No. 15 Thursday 22 September 2011
I really must concentrate on details of what I'm buying!! In my last blog (No. 14) I mentioned that I had ordered six CDs of dance music. When they all turned up I discovered that the total was actually eleven - one double CD and two packs of three CDs and three single CDs. This is, in fact, all to the good because it widens my repertoire even more. I even have a smallish blank spot in my shelving which will become their home. In addition to the two occasions next month for which I will be providing music, I have also been asked to come up with some music for a firework gathering which the Quaker Meeting (to which I belong) are having on, or about, firework night. I must check my classical CDs to see if I have the famous 'Music for the Royal Fireworks' - and, to display my ignorance, I have no idea who is the composer although I suspect it may be Handel.
There was a small matter I needed to discuss with HMRC so I got their 'phone number from their very easy-to-use web site, and 'phoned them yesterday. After working my way through the recorded choices I contacted a helpful agent who was obviously well versed in his subject because he explained everything clearly so that I was able to make the necessary calculations. These completed, I rang them again and spoke to another agent who was equally on-the-ball. She took my figures and cleared the whole matter up by adjusting my tax code. There have been many complaints about HMRC but my, admittedly limited, experience shows that they can be very helpful as well.
In sorting out some CDs for my talk 'Humour on Record' I was reminded that Gilbert & Sullivan had the occasional dig at people in high places such as the Admiral in 'HMS Pinafore', the Major General in 'Pirates of Penzance' and the Judge in 'Trial by Jury'. It set me wondering what they would have done to the RAF if it had existed in their time!! It is a little surprising how much humour there is recorded. It is mostly very gentle humour, and some is quite subtle but some takes everyday situations and expands the possibilities a little for example 'The Gas-man cometh' by Flanders & Swann or 'The Driving Instructor' by Bob Newhart.
As you can see, from this and previous blogs, music plays a large part in my life - as it always has done. It isn't that I actually play an instrument, but I have very wide tastes in the various fields. I don't have a lot of classical music and I thought I had no modern jazz (deliberately) until I found one CD which I must have bought by mistake thinking the artist played traditional jazz. The variety that I have makes filing the CDs is some sort of recognisable order quite an undertaking. However, I developed a system which worked when I was using vinyl records so I adopted it for CDs as well. I won't bore you with explaining it, but it works - for me at least.
One little thing puzzles me. Why are things sometimes dearer when bought from the manufacturer than when bought from a large supplier. I was looking for printer paper to replenish my stock when I saw that the supplier also sold printer inks. I checked the price of those which I am using on my printer an found that they (black and three colours) are nearly £10 cheaper than those I bought from the maker of the printer. It was exactly the same ink in the same packaging so I can only assume that either the supplier was able to get a special bulk purchase deal or that was prepared to take a smaller profit - or a bit of both. It's a funny old world!!
Mike
No comments:
Post a Comment