Info and forum posts by 'Mercury In Glass'

RE: Got Racially Discriminated against by the Co-Op on Friday

There are different types of racism. I was referring to the subtle stealthy racism where the racist person acts in a strange manner, and invokes some form of rule, or asks me a loaded question.

I am 35 years old and look like I am in my thirties at least, so it is very insulting to pretend that I am a child of under 16 years of age. It is only acceptable to ask people for ID if there is reasonable doubt as to their age. It seems the policy of the Headington Co-op is to allow this racist to question people who he dislikes, under the pretense of asking for their ID, so that he can determine if they are worthy of participating in his lottery. He even stated that he thought that I looked 25.

There is no law yet forcing non-white people to have to carry their passports, driving licenses and birth certificates around with them for purity control, so it is very unreasonable to only ask people who are different for ID, and not to ask everyone. This is racial discrimination, since non-white people are treated differently from everyone else.

The National and EuroMillions lotteries are supposed to be open to UK and Isle of Man residents aged 16 years or over. The one in the Headington Co-Op is for white people only, and only for non-white people if they have ID on them. I will let the white people shop in their own shop, and will go somewhere else, since everyone else only checks IDs if there is reasonable doubt about someone`s age.

I would like to warn people about the racist operating from the Headington Co-Op. He is a youngish guy with a beard. I do not accept racist behaviour.

This item was edited on Tuesday, 31st August 2010, 01:56

RE: Got Racially Discriminated against by the Co-Op on Friday

I know it was racism because I was refused service by this racist, when other people were not, solely because I am different from him. However, as several people have mentioned it is not 100% verifiable, which is I was so shocked and confused that I did not realise what had happened until afterwards.

I have been on the receiving end of this type of racism before, where the racist person acts strangely and sometimes asks a loaded question, or in this case comes up with some sort of rule from above. I think racist people like to use this type of subtle racism, because they do not directly show their true colours, so they can continue to operate for longer without detection.

The last time something like this happened was in 1996, when I was at a job fair in London. I had already decided to do my PhD in Engineering, but had decided to go there with a friend. When we got to the Engineering section, I thought I might as well get some information from one of the companies, so I went up to one of the stands to ask one of the two people there for more information about their company.

I asked the guy for some information on what his company did. He asked me what I was interested in. I asked him again what his company did. He asked me again what I was interested in. By this time I figured out that he was not going to tell me what his company did until I mentioned what I was interested in, so I mentioned what I was interested in, and then asked him for more information on what his company did. He took a deep breath and reluctantly mentioned something about what his company did, and then told me that he did not think that his company was suitable for me.

Whilst he was being evasive about what his company did, someone else went up to his colleague, was given immediately a brochure and a job application form, and had moved on to the next stand. I contemplated asking his colleague for a brochure, but decided not to, since I was told that this company was not for me. Why is it that this person was so reluctant to tell me anything about his company, when they were advertising at a job fair, and when his colleague did not mind giving out information to other people without asking any loaded questions?

Why is it that no one else got asked for any ID at the cigarette counter of the Headington Co-Op? It is not because the guy thought that I was under 16, since I am 35 years old, and do not look like a young kid. The other people in the queue were not asked for ID. There is no law yet requiring non-white people to have to carry ID around with them, to prove their right to live in this country, so I feel that I have been discriminated against because I am different.

There is no point in complaining to the Co-Op, since their management have made it clear to me that they do not mind offending and insulting me, and endorse the actions of their racist employee. I think it is better to let the racist people shop in their own store with their own kind, so I will go somewhere else. The only thing that I can do is to close my Co-Op accounts, and to warn people about the racist operating from the Headington Co-Op.

This item was edited on Monday, 30th August 2010, 06:59

Got Racially Discriminated against by the Co-Op on Friday

I got racially discriminated against by my local Co-Operative supermarket in Headington, Oxford on Friday. I popped in to buy a Euromillions lottery ticket, but was very surprised when the bloke behind the cigarette counter, where the lottery machine is, asked me if I had any ID.

I am THIRTY-FIVE years old, and look like I am in my thirties at least. The last time I was asked for any proof of age was in 1992, when I was 18 and was at University, when I needed to prove that I was under 27 in order to get a Young Persons` Rail Card. I have never been refused service anywhere, and have been watching certificate 18 rated movies at the cinema since Total Recall in 1990, when I was 15.

I asked the bloke if he was joking, and asked him how old he thought I was. He told me that he thought I looked 25, and would not sell me a lottery ticket without seeing some ID. I told him that I am 35 and that he was being very insulting, and asked to speak to someone in charge. I then spoke to his supervisor, who told me that he was entitled to ask me for ID if he thought that I was under 25. I repeated that they could not be serious, since there is no way they could mistake me for being under 16 years of age, which is the minimum age for purchasing a lottery ticket.

I am not used to being insulted and disrespected in this way, and have never needed to carry ID around with me in this country. I showed them my credit cards, to prove that I am over 18, but was told that this was not good enough. In the end I decided not to bother to continue arguing with them, and went to the newsagent where I purchased my lottery ticket, without any trouble at all.

On the way back from the newsagent I realised why this bloke had decided not to sell me a lottery ticket. The people in the queue before me were not asked for ID when they purchased their lottery tickets. There is no way that anyone would honestly mistake me for being under 16, especially when the bloke said that he thought I looked 25. He had decided that he did not want to sell me a lottery ticket, because I am different, and had decided to make me jump through hoops to see if I am an immigrant, or a foreign student, and to decide if I am worthy of participating in his lottery.

I can not compensate for who I am, and am fed up of this kind of racist behaviour. Unfortunately no one was behind me in the queue, and I did not kick up enough of a fuss for other people in the shop to notice, since I was in shock for being asked to prove that I am over 16, when I am THIRTY-FIVE years old!!!!

The only thing that I can do is to close my Co-Op accounts, and to inform people about the behaviour of some of the people in this company.

If anyone who is reading this has any racist friends living in Oxford, then please can you let them know that one of their people is operating in the Headington Co-Op, with approval from the management. If they want to go shopping with their own people, then the Headington Co-Op is a good place to go to, since they will not need to interact with people like me.

Similarly, if anyone knows anyone living or studying in Oxford who is not a racist, then please can they warn them about the racist working in the Headington Co-Op. He is a youngish guy with a beard, but all these young racists seem to look the same to me nowadays. Many thanks.

RE: Anyone watching Reaper?

I was pleased to see Allison Hossack in the pilot as Sam`s tasty mum. I have only seen her play research scientist roles before, so it was nice to see in a different role, although she only seemed to be there for plot purposes.

However, I was a bit too distracted thinking about her throughout the episode, so I did not really get to appreciate what else was happening. I guess I will have to rewatch the episode again, and try to pay attention this time.

I looked Allison Hossack up on the imdb, which says that she only appears in three of the first four episodes so far, and that it is her birthday tomorrow (Happy Birthday for tomorrow!).

I am not too sure if I will keep watching after the first four episodes, since even though I may not need to rewatch episodes, there is only a limited amount of time to unwind after work, and I have fallen a bit behind with my current personal research project.

RE: Its my wifes birthday.........

You could get an edible pressie, such an Easter egg or giant Chocolate Orange, and wrap it up in a cardboard box, together with some ballast, so that the box feels heavy and rattles when shaken. You could then wrap the box up in successively bigger boxes, and perhaps put a note, or smaller pressie, between each layer.

Hopefully your wife will get more and more excited unwrapping each layer of her pressie, until she gets to the middle, which would seem disappointing. You can then either give her her real pressie, which you have hidden somewhere else, or get her to open her edible Easter egg to reveal whatever is hiding inside.

The biggest problem will be in finding a worthy enough pressie, which makes her feel as special as she makes you feel. I am really bad at choosing pressies, and always get something edible which alliterates with the letter T, for my pretty rose Tree, but she is really thorny with me nowadays, so I am not too sure exactly what you should get.

RE: POLL: WEA Vs A.C.C

Que?

RE: eBay problem/question - any advice...?

I had a similar problem with my T2 Extreme Edition DVD, with the Limited Edition tin, which I bought from fleabay a few years ago. I specifically asked the seller to use some cardboard, and not just a jiffy bag, because I was afraid that the tin would get squashed in the post.

The seller sent the DVD off in a jiffy bag, so naturally the tin got squashed, dented and warped in the post. The seller was genuinely sorry, and said that he did not have any cardboard, so used a jiffy bag, and gave me all the usual excuses, such that he had been using jiffy bags for years, and had never ever had a problem before.

Since this was his last copy, I ended up claiming against Royal Mail, and got my money back, since normal DVDs are normally sent in jiffy bags.

In your case, I do not think that the seller has bothered to sufficiently protect your LP from damage, so Royal Mail might not compensate you.

Since he does not seem to show any remorse for selling faulty goods, I think you will have to unleash your full wrath upon him, and neg him whatever the outcome, to warn other potential victims to stay clear.

RE: POLL: Best John Williams theme...?

My favourite John Williams theme is The Asteroid Field, from The Empire Strikes Back. Since the list is very sparse, I suppose the Star Wars main theme will have to do.

RE: Homework for my 13-year old niece - Blonkes

Drumly, in questions 3&4, refers to the drumly blonke.

It seems that the line
"the blonkes that were not drumly could iswonk in the wong but in the flosh"

should read
"the blonkes that were not drumly could iswonk in the wong, but NOT in the flosh"

Therefore, assuming that the drumly blonke is a fat mouse, this what I think, (apart from the fact this is a load of yarbles):

What is Drumly?
Fat.

Why were the other blonkes not lennow and samded?
The other blonkes had been given different nesh(food).

in what ways was the drumly like the others
The drumly blonke was maily(male), like all the others.

in what ways was the drumly unlike the others
The drumly blonke had sp*** crinet completely covering its fairney cloots(back feet) and concealing, just below one of them, a small wam(tail).

if nesh is venenated, is it wise to gaff it in the wong
Yes, because it says to gevel the nesh in the wong, and to gash it in. Also, if it was sparpled in the flosh(water) then the other blonkes, who were not drumly(fat) would not be able to iswonk(reach) the nesh(food), and it also says that, "it might not be wise to venente the flosh."

Describe the blonke in more detail.
Since this blonke has been given different nesh(food) he is drumly(fat). This means that he can he can iswonk(reach) the nesh(food) in the flosh(water), which the other blonkes can not iswonk. However he does not winx(respond) like the other blonkes, or even flerk(move), when yerden(called).

I have probably completely missed the point of this, since I am not too sure what venenated means.

I do know that this is giving me a pain in my gulliver, so as Dim would say in A Clockwork Orange:

`Doobiedoob, a bit tired maybe, best not to say more. Bedways is rightways now, so best we go homeways and get a bit of spatchka. Right-right?`

Cheesed off with the P.Off.

I have had a lot of bad experiences with post offices recently. Most of them are overcrowded and understaffed, especially at food time, and make pricing mistakes in their favour. However the one in Headington, Oxford recently accused me of being a software pirate!

I sold some software on fleabay the other day, to someone in Kalifornia. This was genuine, unused and unregistered, and did not have any import or export limitations. There were 2 CDs so I put Software (2 CDs) on the customs form. It did not occur to me to put Genuine Software, or some variation of this, since I was not sending illegal software.

Every time I go to this post office, they are extremely reluctant to let me know the weight of the item, and always refuse/forget to fill the weight in the box on the recorded/registered delivery slip. I had to ask them several times to fill in the details correctly, since Royal Mail will not pay any compensation if this information is missing.

I informed them that without the correct information, I could not claim anything, in the event of any loss or damage. The P.Off. bloke said that I was sending software CDs, which is illegal, and so I would not be entitled to any compensation!

I told him that I was sending Genuine software, and that most software is stored on CD, so it is not illegal to send software CDs to America. I told him that he was really out of order for jumping to conclusions, and falsely accusing me of sending illegal software, without having any proof. He then pretended that he had said the word, "IF", which he did not say, since he said, "which IS illegal", and not, "WOULD BE illegal". He did not actually apologise for his unfounded accusation.

I do not think it is acceptable to receive prejudicial behaviour from the post office from small-minded people, who do not know the difference between a CD and a CD-R, so assume that you are selling illegal pirated software. Anyway, it is not illegal to send CD-Rs, if you own the copyright to the data on them.

I expect an impartial, honest service from the post office, but perhaps I have not woken up to the harshness of this reality.

Am I awake... or am I still dreaming?

I think I am awake at the moment, since I am a bit annoyed with the P.Off.

RE: why?

The answer to all your succinct questions can be found in the program Matlab.

If you enter why in the Matlab command wndow, then you get a randomly generated answer, such as:

"Why Not ?"
and
"Pete made me do it."

"Why Me ? Why Me ? Why Me ?"
-Stuntman robbing convenience store in censored TV version of Robocop

This item was edited on Thursday, 23rd February 2006, 06:52

RE: Free (well kind of) Ipod Nano

This is not really a bargain. It looks more like a sweetener for someone, who hasn`t already sold their soul, to sell theirs for 18 months @ ~£33/month.

I have lost my empathy with the rest of society, but perhaps there are lots of people, with more money than sense, who have not already bought themselves an ipod.

Thanks for the info anyway.

RE: Reasons NOT To Shop At Morrisons

Quote:
Quote:
so not only do you end up buying two items, that you did not really want,
Er, if you don`t want it, dont buy it.

I think you may have missed my point. It is not a case of not buying something that I do not want. It is a case of buying something at the advertised price, which I do not want if the price has changed.

If an item is priced as BOGOF, then my decision to purchase is dependent on the unit price, which is half the usual price. If the price is very favourable, then I might stock up, and purchase several items.

When it turns out afterwards that the offer was false, or misleading, I do not agree to purchase the goods at the new price. If the store refuses to honour their offer price, then I do not agree to purchase at the full price, and therefore do not want the goods.

RE: Reasons NOT To Shop At Morrisons

What really annoys me are the fake special offers, especially when they deliberately place the buy one get one free sign next to the wrong item, in an attempt to increase their revenue by deception.

They have done this a lot in my local Morrisions, so not only do you end up buying two items, that you did not really want, at full price, but you also buy them for an unknown price, since the actual price has been covered by an offer sign for an item on another shelf.

The other thing that really annoys me, is that they seem to mix everything up every few weeks, so that you have to spend ages looking for your food, and are therefore more likely to notice the other food that they are selling.

I also hate it when they put the old fruit, or bread, on top of, or in front of, the new food, so that you have to take everything out first, in order to get to the newer food. This is ok if there is a high turn over, but in smaller shops, where the fruit and veg is much cheaper, it is not very much fun searching for a decent non-chocolate orange from a pile of rotting fruit.

RE: What can i buy a girl friend (NOT my girlfriend), its killin me ?

Quote:
Quote:
because I had caused her to put on a tiny bit of weight.


About 9.5kg?

I didn`t notice anything, but apparently it goes onto the hips and thighs with Women, and I am not very good at telling anyway. She did have lots of help from her housemates, but she managed to finish it off in less than four weeks, and wasn`t very happy with me afterwards, so she might have temporarily put on some weight.

Anyway, this was a special limited offer from Tescos, and I am not too sure where they can be obtained from, apart from possibly Harrods, so it might be better to give something smaller and less over the top, if you are going down the edible pressie route.

RE: What can i buy a girl friend (NOT my girlfriend), its killin me ?

Quote:
Toblerones for Amanda, Cadbury`s Flakes for Anthea

It says Chocolat au Lait Suisse avec Nougat aux Miel et Aux Amandes, (Swiss Milk Chocolate with Honey and Almond Nougat), on the side of Toblerones. I think Toblerones are more yummy than Almonds, so prefer to give Toblerones.

Most of the Women that I know love Baileys/Champagne filled Truffles, Chocolate Oranges, Toblerones, Cadbury`s Mini Eggs and Jelly Belly Beans, so I usually give edible pressies to all the Women I know.

There is also a psychological association between food and love, but there is usually a price to pay if you give too much chocolate, since quality counts more than pressie size.

I once gave my Pretty Rose Tree a Huge 2`6" 9.5kg Toblerone for her surprise after Easter T-Pressie. She really loved it, but was a bit thorny a couple of weeks later, after she had eaten it, because I had caused her to put on a tiny bit of weight.

Cadbury`s Flakes was an obscure reference to Anthea Turner. Sorry for being a bit opaque.

RE: What can i buy a girl friend (NOT my girlfriend), its killin me ?

You could give her something edible, such as £20 worth of Jelly Belly beans, or some Swiss/Belgian alcohol filled truffles.

Otherwise you could get her something edible that rhymes or alliterates with her name, such as Spam for Anne/Pam/Fran/Sam, Something Bendy for Wendy, Chocolate Eclairs for Claire, Milk Tray for Tracy, Belinda Chocolate for Belinda, Chocolate Oranges for Terri, Toblerones for Amanda, Cadbury`s Flakes for Anthea, Humbugs for Ebeneezer, or Frosties for Toni.

RE: "Fried Green Tomatoes" dvd free with Mail on Sunday -NOT Saturday.

Thanks for the information peterman. The DVD is 1.85:1 Anamorphic PAL, Dolby Digital 2.0, and runs for approximately 124 minutes.

This is a pretty good movie, since my favourite actress, Mary-Louise Parker, is in it, and does a really good acting performance, although her best performances always seem to occur when she plays a sufferer.

The R1 version has a commentary track, isolated score and 7 extra minutes of footage, but since I recently spent all my money on a DSP board and USB JTAG emulator, I can not afford to buy anything for a very long time.

RE: URGENT, please recommend your washing machine (around £200)

Don`t buy Zanussi, unless you enjoy having to get them repaired all the time. Hoover is better to get.

RE: how LONG have you had a computer??

My cousins gave me their Sinclair ZX81 in around 1986, and I got an Amstrad CPC464 in around 1988.

My first PC was a 386SX 25MHz mono notebook, with 2MB RAM and a 60MB HDD, which I got second hand around 1993, when I was at university. This was running Word 2.0 and Excel 4.0 under Windows 3.1, but since it lacked a maths co-processor, needed a floating point emulator in order to run Matlab 3.5 and Orcad.

It was pretty useful until Matlab 4.0 and Windows 95 came out, since there weren`t enough PCs to go around in the engineering department at university. As a result, whenever there was a project due in, everyone on my course, who didn`t have access to a PC, had to get up earlier than the art students, in order to find a PC somewhere on campus.

RE: Blind Purchases - any stinkers?

Evil Dead Book of the Dead Limited Edition.

Good movie, but missing the Within the Woods prequel, and packaged in a super stinky rubber latex book package.

RE: What`s the most cringe-worthy line you`ve heard in a movie?

From Con Air:

Soon to be set on fire bloke, "Cy!, Cy!"
Cyrus `The Virus` Grissom (John Malkovich), as he tosses a lit match, "Anara".

This is the silliest, most stupid line I have ever heard, and is not even remotely funny.

RE: ANYONE HERE.?

I am not here. If I find myself I will let you know.

RE: Terminator 3.5

I was wondering whether any future writers of any future Terminator films, will decide to send an older Kyle Reese back in time, in an attempt to close the causality loop. Since the end of the future war has now been delayed by several years, from the original 2029 date, if an older Kyle Reese is sent back, then all the films, especially the first film, would depict events from an alternative reality.

I think it depends on the model of time travel which they are using. There are two main models of time travel that I have seen: the single universe model, and the multiple universe model.

The single universe model has one universe, with one timeline in existence. When you travel backwards in time and change something, you change the timeline to a new timeline. In this model you can not kill your grandfather, before he has fathered your father or mother, since this would cause a paradox. There are also causality loops, although sometimes cause does not follow effect.

In the multiple universe model, there are an infinite number of parallel universes, so when you travel backwards in time, you travel to an alternate universe. Since you come from an alternate universe you can kill your grandfather, since he is from an alternate universe. You can also create an army of yourself, by sending yourself back in time several times.

I once saw this movie where this team of people went back in time to stop some event happening, but failed, so they went back in time again to just before they had originally gone back. They then told themselves not to bother with the original plan, and then teamed up with themselves to save the day. I can not remember what happened in the end, and if there were any Timecop style rules about like matter not being allowed to occupy the same space.

If the multiple universe model is used, then the younger Kyle Reese from 2029 has already been sent back in time, and so there is no need to send the older Kyle Reese back in time again.

However, if the single universe model is used, then Kyle Reese is predestined to be sent back in time, so a new timeline would be created, when the older Kyle Reese is sent back from the later time. Thus all the films would depict events that occurred in an alternate timeline, which could have happened differently in the new timeline. Therefore there might be a need to further update T3.5, based on the butterfly effect caused by an older Kyle Reese traveling back in time.

RE: Bargain Basement Offers at Play

Thanks for the information.

I bought The Beatles - Let It Be...Naked (2CD).

I stopped listening to music a few years ago, so this is the first CD I have purchased since Saint Etienne - Places to Visit in 1999.

RE: The `S` word...

What about yarbles or yarblockos, as in:

"Yarbles, great bolshy yarblockos to you!"
-Dim. A Clockwork Orange (1971).

I personally prefer to use sloblock, or yarbles, whenever I experience any unexpected, sharp, excruciating pain in my gonads.

RE: The Sun - 4 Free DVDs

I got my DVD today from Blockbuster London Road, Brighton at 10 a.m. Lots of people were queuing up as well.

DVD is Region 2 Dual Layer 4:3 Stereo. Not too bad for 45p, although cheap toilet paper only costs a bit more.

RE: Master & Commander Region 2 **SPOILERS WITHIN**

It was gourmet night last night, so I watched Master and Commander at a friend`s place.

Did anyone have any Blackadder 3, Monty Python & the Holy Grail, or Robocop 2 memory flashbacks during the movie, or was it just me?

Does anyone know if there are any plans to film any sequels, since the ending was very abrupt. I checked the imdb and most people said no, because the film did not make a big enough profit.

Cheapest English Cover R1 DVDs???

I was wondering if anyone knew the cheapest place to obtain R1 DVDs of English language films, which are not Canadian versions with French written all over the cover.

The only sites which I know sell American R1 DVDs are Movietyme and Amazon.com. However Movietyme seem to price all their DVDs at £17.99 for the customs, who always do me when I order from Amazon.com. All the other sites such as Play, Future Entertainment, CD-Wow, etc. seem to stock Canadian R1 DVDs, or whatever can be sourced for the cheapest price in the case of CD-Wow.

I usually stick to the same sites when ordering my R1 DVDs, but it seems time for me to move on, since I am fed up of Fiction Pulpeuse or L`Extraterrestre DVDs, which were advertised with normal English covers when ordered them.

I do not mind French writing on a French language DVD from France, but do not see why there should be French writing on English Language DVDs from Hollywood. I also wonder what has been removed from the DVD in order to incorporate the extra French audio track, which I will never ever listen to.