The Good Dinosaur

There’s not much to say about this film other than it was a time-killer. You get a great comic sense in the opening sequence and more of that needed to be spread across the rest of the film. We see some great landscapes but I was really hoping for a volcano rather than flood after landslide after flood. The concept of dinosaurs as farmers is almost brilliant but a bit more realism is needed to make them more convincing. They’d be better off with a herd of humans using the dinosaurs as machines; but then they’d be in danger of plagiarising The Flintstones. There’s also a sense of loss as the ferocious Tyrannosaurus Rex is reduced to nothing more than a shepherd. It’s as if all dinosaurs suddenly decided to turn camp or take a vow of celibacy. I half-expected them to attack the whole herd; although that would wreck the story a bit since we’d just been introduced to similar predators.  And although Arlo has an epic adventure, I didn’t really feel that he did a deed great enough to help his herd. I blame Debbie. I’ve got no idea what they were trying to achieve with that Triceratops. 

Human Billboard

Our company wanted to raise some money for charity and came up with the idea of selling t-shirts for the staff to wear. We got shown a picture of models wearing the shirts and we had a choice of a short or long-sleeved garment. We’d pay a subsidised price and choose our size and they would send it directly to our store. Then the thing arrived and on the back was an advert for a product! We had no idea that we would be paying to wear something on our backs. And it wasn’t a printed drawing or text; it was one of those horrible iron-on labels that sticks to your back when you wear it and doesn’t do much good when you sweat. Over time, it dissolves into pieces and leaves bits in the washing machine. I just wished that they would have been upfront and honest with us when they were asking us to part with our cash.

 

Back in Brum

It’s good to be back in the city. It seems that a huge clean-up is taking place not just to welcome visitors back but to prepare for an amazing event that’s going to put it on the world stage. There’s been some major building work taking place and we’re witnessing its completion. A whole range of new buildings has been constructed, each with new and exciting stores and restaurants on their ground floors. Monuments and church spires have been cleaned and sand-blasted to make them look like they’ve just been built which makes it difficult to guess how old they are. And outside on the concourse, a huge paddling pool has been built for children to run across and get their toes wet without fear of drowning. There’s even a foundation for them to play with. And with the hot weather shining down on us it felt like we were in a foreign city rather than twenty miles from home. 

I can't Stand the Snow

 There’s some white stuff that’s falling out of the sky! It’s an amazing spectacle to watch when it first starts, but we’ve got no idea how long we’re stuck with it for. The worst part is when you’re at work and you can watch it coming down but if it continues then at some point you’re going to have to face getting home by travelling in it. Just watching it makes you more anxious. With each moment it’s only getting worse to the point that perhaps you should have abandoned your shift earlier. But when you’re responsible for other colleagues in the building too you have to act a little less selflessly. Of course, when you don’t have travel plans then you don’t have to worry. You can just be a spectator and everyone who is attempting to travel through it just becomes entertainment. Luckily, in this case it was too wet for the snow to settle.

The Betrayal #empress6

Zhong headed back to his farm. It took him a week to make the journey. Along the way, he had to pick up extra carts that the Empress had arranged for him. He wondered if his wife would expect extra gifts because of all the carts but he couldn’t afford anything at the moment. But once the farm was clear, he would be able to build a new farmhouse complete with a yard and stable for ferrying his future children to and from school. And think of how many labourers he could employ! This royal charter would benefit the whole village.

When he arrived, he saw his neighbour’s cart outside his house. He wondered why he was here. Slowly, he took off his shoes and ventured inside. He could hear a lot of noise coming from upstairs. As he peered around his bedroom door, he caught a glimpse of his wife and neighbour in the act. 

Petrol Prices

I like to get value for money in my car and make every mile count to be as fuel-efficient as possible. I never fill the tank to the top if I can help it as I used to own an old Astra that leaked fuel when it was overfilled. But unless I’m planning to go on a long journey; I never consider filling up until the car tells me that it’s running low to get as many miles as possible out of each tank. The car’s computer that estimates how many miles are left is usually pretty accurate and if I’m staying local I like to let it run into the low tens before I get my wallet out. Once I let it run into single digits as I knew that I was passing a fuel station on my way home; but I had to stretch that out an extra three miles to drive to another filling station three miles away because the garage closed earlier that I thought! But when you’ve been driving the same vehicle for a long time you know what you can get away with.

Why don't shopping centres in the UK give free parking?

That would be nice wouldn’t it? Not having to pay a fee every time you visit. But when you own a bit of land, there’s money to be made. You might be gracious and occasionally let people park for free when you’re encouraging them to visit, but sometimes charging the shops inside for rent doesn’t always cover the cost of powering those lights, lifts, fountains, and paying fat guys to walk around in suits all day long. Sometimes it’s nice to be able to spend a bit of money to organise events to encourage more people to visit the centre. But sometimes you want to keep your centre as safe as possible so you want to encourage them to leave or not take advantage of other nearby facilities whilst depriving you of any income and occupancy space. Of course, there are other ways of visiting. If you haven’t got a lot of shopping to do you could take the bus, or better yet go even greener and walk. Or you could even try somewhere else.