I've just...

Been told off for objecting to someone feeding a 20 month old Quavers. Have you seen what's in them? It's not just a one off either.

And pointing out that at 30 pence a pack (six bob in old money) would they seriously consider buying them if they advertised them on the shelves at the real price? £5.15 a pound? Or to put it another way.

£11.33 a kilo for Quavers.

"Dray, for gods sake, you've got your head stuck in the past. Thirty pence is nowt nowadays!, besides she gets hungry" Hungry? don't get me started on that one.

But Nowt? You try catching a bus without it. I know what the driver will tell you. I'm serious.

Or if you pay your leccy bill, and you're 30p down. The power companies will spend more than that in phone calls and letters to recover it.

A quick look at Asda's web site shows, random pick :-

Beef frying steak £11.50 a kg. Braising Steak, £8.60 a kg. Chicken, £8.48 a kg.

Carrots, 91.7 pence a kilo. Potatoes, Maris Piper, £1.25 per kg. Need I say more?

Thirty pence might not sound much nowadays, but it's heck of a lot if you haven't got it. The problem I have is that it isn't the value of a few bob, it's the perception of the value of that few bob out of context.

I know where my head is. It's stuck firmly in my wallet, and I fully intend to keep it there. There's an old saying that if you look after the pennies, the pounds look after themselves.

~~~~

Update on my mate Daz.

The Bear went to visit him with his mum and dad last night, and she reports he has an oxygen mask on, tubes up his nose and drips in his arms, which she found quite distressing. But then a nurse nipped in, and asked how he was, and he said "All the better for seeing you sweetheart".

Everyone sighed a great sigh of relief and told her, "Yup, that's the Daz. He's feeling much better". Bear handed him a print of the cartoon above (his love of sugar free Dr. Pepper is legendary) and apparently I'm a dead man when he gets out. That's cool :)

He and the nurse explained that there's a shortage of Intensive Care nurses. Seems there's a policy of one patient per nurse in intensive care, but staffing levels have been reduced by 50%, so she has to care for Daz and a lady, and it's very stressful for her. Wants the word out.

Glad to oblige.