Archive for April, 2006
Unsolicited and unaddressed junk mail
A concerned consumer asks
The benefits afforded by registration with the Mailing Preference Service are clear; I now receive no personally addressed junk mail and rejoice in this fact every other day. I have however, become increasing frustrated by the volume of advertising mail addressed to “The Occupier”, “The Car Owner”, “The Householder”, or other some other generic recipient. I have dug deep into the bowels of the Royal Mail and found an email address opt_out@royalmail.com that upon enquiry sent me a form allowing me to register to prevent such mail from being delivered to my home. However, by specifying this preference I will also not receive any unaddressed communications from the Government, Council or other public bodies; The Royal Mail rather disappointingly cannot separate advertising from public service mail. Does the public service ever send anything of great import that you can recall? Am I safe to register to remove this last section of junk mail from my life?
6 lacklustre pieces of inspiration on “Unsolicited and unaddressed junk mail”
Provide common sense...
Death of a Deer Friend
A pet owner asks
is there a set way in which you should deal with dead pets? Tradition states that fish should be flushed, hamsters buried and dogs taken to the incinerator. Could you flush you muntjac if you had a toilet large enough?
2 lacklustre pieces of inspiration on “Death of a Deer Friend”
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Consultant G Says:
April 21st, 2006 at 1:25 pmDisposal of dead animals is a tricky one. If the animal is consider livestock, then you should look at the defra regulations for guidance (http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/animindx.htm). However, small animals can be disposed of in a number of ways, some of which are more questionable than others. For instance, you may be able to eat a dead rabbit. However, this may not be an option for a dead dog (unless you know a good Korean recipe). In general, your local council should be able to help. As for a muntjac, you could get it stuffed if it was a good pet.
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April 21st, 2006 at 1:34 pmPerhaps I can suggest a nice soup?
Abbots Ripton Muntjac Soup
Ingredientslb diced venison (joints or off-cuts)
1 large onion
2 medium carrots
2 large potatoes
3 pints of stock or water
1 glass of red wine
1 bayleaf
salt and pepper
mixed herbsMethod
Place the venison in a large pan over a moderate heat. If possible, include the bones, as this creates a natural stock and improves the flavour. Finely chop the onion, carrots and potatoes, and add them to the pan. Add the stock or water - if you wish to use a stock cube, use a vegetable one. Let all this cook until the venison is tender. Then add the wine and seasonings to taste. Cook for a further 10 minutes. When it is all cooked, remove the bones (if used) and liquidise. If you find the soup is too thick, add some more liquid until the right consistency is reached.
For this and other recipes try
http://www.shootingtimes.co.uk/stimes/gamerecipes.php
Provide common sense...
Carbon a Go-Go
A British opposition politician asks
We are currently looking to create a fairer system of taxation that the current Climate Change Levy which charges business per Kwh. Could you come up with a better system. We are currently looking at a system where we charge depending on the system of generation. Any advice is good!
One pearl of wisdom on “Carbon a Go-Go”
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April 24th, 2006 at 8:14 amHmm, tricky one this. This type of issue cannot be rushed and probably needs careful consideration. My first bit of advice would therefore be sit down, talk to climate change scientists and economists and think it all the way through carefully before making a rash policy decision. Oh, too late ? Oh well.
Provide common sense...
Uncertainties over travel
This from The Clash
Should I stay or should I go ?
3 lacklustre pieces of inspiration on “Uncertainties over travel”
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April 15th, 2006 at 8:52 amstay, you hope nothing bad will happen, go and something bad might happen. In reality you will only regret not going
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April 17th, 2006 at 11:23 amif you stay there will be trouble, but if you go it will be double
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April 21st, 2006 at 9:09 amThank you for your gems of wisdom CSC. I appreciate your sound advice. Now, if you will excuse me, I hear London calling.
Provide common sense...
Omission of Human Emissions
An Environmentalists asks
What are we doing about the fact that the average human gives off 1.1kg of CO2 per day. Should we maybe do something about this as my house plants are not making up for all this gas!
One pearl of wisdom on “Omission of Human Emissions”
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April 11th, 2006 at 8:09 amWell, the solution to CO2 production by animals is pretty terminal - stop respiration. Idiot !
April 25th, 2006 at 8:58 am
There are a variety of potentially useful things that local authorities send out some of which include; bin collection dates, planning notices and changes to services. All of these things are available on the web but how you hear about them is the challenge.
I do know that in large parts of Europe you can put a specific sticker over your letter box and it is then an offence to deliver junk mail to them.
The problem is the definition of what is junk mail? For most it is clear but there is a middle ground that is unclear
April 25th, 2006 at 10:05 am
This morning my postal delivery consisted of:
1. Everest double glazing addressed ‘To the home owner’ emblazoned ‘Hand delivered by the Royal Mail’
2. A Hillarys Blinds spring sale A2 spread
3. Skills Train Fast track to a new career bumff.
Nothing addressed to me. Are you sure I need this?
April 25th, 2006 at 1:53 pm
I got
- a pizza menu
- a visa offer
- a bathroom offer
Nothing addressed to me or wanted
April 26th, 2006 at 8:29 am
You can alweays return the mail in the free post envelope often provided, but make sure the returned content is heavier than the post allows. If we all diod this, the junk would stop.
Perhaps we should start a web site where folk can name and shame the companies wasting paper and energy by sending rubbish that cannot even alowys be recycled.
April 26th, 2006 at 8:33 am
Can we start such a service for e-mails too ? It would have to filter out all those that you do not need, and those that you do not want. My life would be simpler than.
April 27th, 2006 at 10:01 pm
Living in a halls of residence has its advantages and disadvantages in this case - I can ignore the rubbish mail that Royal Mail kindly put through the letter box (including very useful ones for conservatories and double glazing) and leave it for others to deal with as they see fit. However as a student lodgings we also get far more junk ‘mail’ in the form of flyers advertising exciting evenings out such as Ibiza foam parties - what fun, count me in….