Thursday 25th January 2007

discriminate verb {I} To treat a person or particular group of people differently, especially in a worse way from the way in which you treat other people, because of their skin colour, religion, sex, etc:

Discriminating against people because of the colour of their skin is obviously and rightly unacceptable in today's society. So why do businesses and government pursue policies that they clearly class as 'positive discrimination'!

positive discrimination noun {U} UK the practice of giving advantage to those groups in society which are often treated unfairly, usually because of their race or their sex

So this form of discrimination is for the good of society and I agree. However this should not be at the expense of any other group of society be it British, English or man! That is also discrimination!

I'm not ignorant. Yes police forces such as those in Northern Ireland would benefit greatly by recruiting more Catholics to help increase public confidence in law and order. If I was a Catholic I would want to be of the opinion that I was recruited because I am the best candidate for the job rather than the one with the right parents!

No discrimination is positive. At the end of the day you are discriminating one section of society negatively if you are giving advantages to another simply because of their race or sex.

Apparently our time is running out...

Maria Sharapova continues to prove how hungry she is for winning, powering her way past Kim Clijsters 6-4, 6-2 in the semi-final of the Melbourne Open. It was Clijsters last crack at Melbourne as she will retire at the end of the season. Sharapova will play the big ugly Serana Williams in the final.

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Wednesday 24th January 2007
On the 21st of December I became the 3rd owner of a nie on mint Mazda MX-5 2 seat convertible. The car is great fun to drive and she shines up well especially considering this car is 10 years old!

Today we had quite a bit of snow and, being one of the first cars on the road at 4 in the morning, many of the roads to work were untreated. With the car being rear wheel drive I got it very sideways today so it is more fun than practical in the snow! It comes into its own when the sun is out, with the roof down and country roads its a blast!

The Worlds Largest Slingshot

For obvious reasons Christmas was a bit strange this year. We chose to eat out at the Lambert Arms in Oxfordshire. With several family and friends it was a lovely meal albeit 4 hours was a bit much to be squashed between a table leg and a wheel chair. It was a nice journey up the M40 to meet Tara at her Grans but the subsequent dash for petrol resulted in a tour of Banbury and just about every Petrol station that doesn't actually open 24 hours.

Royal Mail have lost some massive contracts with BT and a number of banks. They have turned to our 'rival' TNT who are able to offer a cheaper price. TNT pick up the mail and deliver it to the nearest Royal Mail sorting depot where we obviously sort it and deliver it across the country. For this we get 18p per item which we have to deliver the following day. So for 18p TNT get a service which our normal customers like you and I pay 32p for. These prices are set by our regulator so we have absolutely no control over these companies understandably changing to the cheapest.
In better news some customers are staying with us because our quality of service is far better than our competitors, I must have made about 300 pound in christmas tips and a rather nasty piece of work has been dismissed from our office!

Take care,
Robert Maris

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