Overpriced

   What price a cup of coffee? There been a lot of discussion this week about large multinational companies like Google, Amazon and Starbucks and their tax avoidance schemes. Whilst none of these schemes are illegal, much has been made about the moral aspects but if you were in the same position, wouldn't you be just as inclined to pay as little tax as possible?
 
    It does however seem a little odd that Starbucks claim to have made no profit whatsoever whilst trading in the UK. During all that time they have employed and paid a large number of people, traded from numerous outlets and been able to pay their shareholders a dividend. Now they have offered to contribute £20,000,000 over the next two years to the Treasury in lieu of taxes. It just crossed my mind that if they can afford to carry on trading here without making a profit and still afford to pay £20m that they don't need to, then surely what they charge for drinks must be a little excessive. So I ask again - what price a cup of coffee?

Zig-Zag

   So another week passes by, another wet Bank Holiday Monday due, another government fiasco regarding GCSE results - did they or didn't they influence the Examining Boards? Another Royal embarrassment by all accounts but I'm still puzzled by what the BBC described as a "naked photo". What on earth is a "naked" photo? I presume it is something different to a photo of a naked person - or am I just being my usual pedantic self?

   To top it all, yet more idiot drivers throughout the week parking on zig-zag lines and one in particular causing mayhem on Saturday. Some things change for the better, some things for the worse - some things never change at all but when an accident happens and someone gets seriously injured or even killed on the pedestrian crossing on South Street, don't say you weren't warned. See The Highway Code Rule 191.

Boxing Day

Today is Boxing Day. Yesterday couldn't be as Boxing Day falls on the first WORKING day after Christmas Day and is NEVER on a Sunday so the Boxing Day sales that started yesterday were jumping the gun. In Ilkeston today the sales were in full swing although you'd hardly know it as the charity shops, banks, mobile phone shops and banks were all closed and with all the empty premises on Bath Street there was not a great deal to turn out for. The usual suspects however turned the pedestrian area into a cross between car park and a race track and there was no one about to do a thing about it. It may be the season of good will to all men but inconsiderate drivers who ignore the traffic laws really test my patience.

Bumper To Bumper

If you were parking your car and there was no obstruction in front and you accidentally reversed into the car behind, wouldn't you at least pull forward again before getting out of the vehicle and going off somewhere? Maybe the driver of this car was taking too much notice of the sticker in the back window for "RAM FM" think it meant to ram into other vehicles but whoever it was surely has no right to own a driving licence let alone a car!

Black Friday

Friday the 13th was certainly unlucky for someone today as can be seen by the parking ticket on this illegally parked car.

It was quite a surprise to see this as there is hardly a day goes by that you don't see a traffic violation of some sort in the town but only very rarely do you see the law being enforced. We'll probably have to wait now for another Black Friday before we see it again.

If Only ....

Can't help thinking it would have been better if a policeman or a traffic warden rather than the community warden had stopped this vehicle that had gone through a No Entry sign to a pedestrian zone. When traffic is allowed it is one way in the opposite direction as can be seen by the white arrow on the blue circle. The hope is he'll learn from his mistake and won't do it again ... but I doubt it! After all, traffic laws don't seem to apply in Ilkeston.

Inconsiderate

It's turning into one of those whinging weeks but the driver of this stretched car is not only breaking the law by parking on a corner on double yellow lines but his/her inconsiderate actions mean the the dropped pavement access for wheelchairs, pushchairs, prams etc is also blocked. Nice car, shame about the parking!

Never mind David Cameron's "Big Society" and Theresa May's "get the community involved in policing" where are the Traffic Wardens when you need them?