Morning:
9°c
I HATE the January sales but this year they are more heinous than ever. I suppose it stands to reason: shops have been on sale for so long that only the truly gruesome tat is left - tat that even a Celebrity Big Brother contestant might reject as too minging.
But even the dimmest chains have now cottoned on to the fact that, in today's era of fast fashion, women expect to see new stuff even as the old stuff lingers around like a bad smell. And so we have the curious spectacle of H&M, windows ablaze with shiny new spring clothes in cream and pastel pink, while the shop floor is still an Armageddon of black lace.
Sweeping a cold, analytical eye over the rails, I can't help but hope that the current sale-to-end-all-sales acts as a wake-up call to retailers. The rows of unloved sequined party dresses, as jarring as Christmas trees in July, state the obvious far more starkly than any trading figures could ever hope to: that customer needs are not being met.
Anticipating the downturn, and in a bid to protect their margins, most high street retailers started using cheaper fabrics and lousier finishes many months ago - the results of which are now languishing on the sale rail.
Whatever the retailers hoped, women aren't buying things made from nasty acrylic with threads dangling off. The recession's most surprising revelation thus far seems to be that cheap doesn't always equal cheerful. Up to 75 per cent off? Darling, I wouldn't wear it if it was free.
* Shhh ... can you hear that? It's the sound of a pigeon winging its way to Hemel Hempstead to deliver my Ocado order. Lord knows it would be quicker than my internet connection, which has reached new lows this month. Am I alone in being virtually unable to use the internet on a Sunday evening, or do I just have the misfortune of being a BT customer?
Apparently, it's all because I live "too far from an exchange". Here's an idea: start making public the location of these mysterious "exchanges" and it might cure the property slump overnight. Londoners part with fortunes to be near a good school: imagine what they'd pay to have faster broadband.
* Rachida Dati: stone-hearted career bitch or pioneer for "have it all" women everywhere? However much her chic back-to-work outfit might suggest otherwise, I honestly don't think it's possible to be anything other than strung-out five days after a Caesarean, unless they have invented radically different drugs since I had mine. Dati might be back behind her desk but I'd seriously question whether she's of much use there. Clearly, she has made this Herculean effort for one reason only: to get some "me" time.
Never mind the weeping stitches: compared to the exhaustion of caring for a newborn, any day job is a cinch.
Reader views (4)
RE: Broadband, well, vote with your wallet.
"Apparently, it's all because I live "too far from an exchange". "
If that were the case then your broadband performance would be similarly poor the whole time, NOT specific to Sunday evenings (peak time).
Register with speedtest.net and thinkbroadband.com, then run as many speed tests as you can with their tools. The registration means you can record the speeds you get, then graph them over time. You can also give your ISP the web address of your speed results if they want evidence. Many of them vastly under-invest in support, so it's hard to sort the virus-infected slow internet connection (user's fault) with the dodgy phone cabling / ISP congestion (BT / ISP's fault). Evidence and persistence is key.
Or just pay a bit more, and go for a quality service provider. The thinkbroadband.com website is a good way to find one.
By the way, the ISPA's site has a handy complaint form that gets noticed at the higher levels of ISP support. ONLY use it if you have good evidence that the slow speeds are nothing to do with your home side of things.
RE: babies, well, would you like another?!
- Ben, London, England, UK, 13/01/2009 01:24
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Laura, distance from your telephone exchange DOES affect the maximum speed that broadband can run at, but I don't think it explains slow speeds on Sunday evenings. (My guess is that the slow speeds are either the result of interference on your line or because of an ISP-related bottleneck.)
If you post on one of the broadband forums (e.g. thinkbroadband), I'm sure you'll get some suggestions as to how to "troubleshoot" your broadband connection.
- Richard Hancock, Bracknell, UK, 12/01/2009 20:54
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The comments about slow BT broadband on Sunday nights struck home as it took over 3 hours to send a large file last night with speeds varying from 7kb per second at 7:30pm up to about 30kb per second by 10:30pm. We have an SE postcode
- Jo-An Jenkins, London UK, 12/01/2009 13:58
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50% off selected rubbish! Come on Down.
- Ted, London, 12/01/2009 13:36
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