As readers of yesterday's blog will now know, I have put a link in my page such that interested viewers can click on it to see what all the fuss about 'Comic Sans MS' is all about. I do not intend to carry on any more discussions about this font here as the topic already occupies masses of space out there on the web but there is an interesting spin-off to this debate. I have started to wonder how many other artefacts are out there for which the designers had one purpose but for which every day users have another. The world of industrial products is full of examples of products invented for one purpose that ends up with another use (we might cite play-doh (children's plasticine), superglue, WD40 to mention a few. But there are some objects in widespread use that would not be invented today and I am thinking of the old-fashioned tin opener (the kind that leaves jagged edges) but is still retained in kitchen drawers for other purposes. I use one of these to make a prick in each end of an egg to release the bubble of air before I boil eggs for example. The other two things that I use for other purposes, the first of which are women's hair bobbles which I buy for about £1 and use in place of conventional elastic bands because they are less fragile. I would also mention the spring-loaded clothes pegs which I actually use to close half opened food packets and I am sure that there are many other well known products that people use for their non-intended purpose. I thought I would ask my Waitrose friends when I see them later on today to see what they come up with (if anything). Two more things occur to me, however. One of them is that the well-known drug Viagra started off as a treatment for high blood pressure and for angina but has since been repurposed with a generally elevating effect. The interesting way in which artefacts have been used in the regulation of the landmark, Big Ben. It is adjusted using pre-decimal pennies, which in turn regulate the clock mechanism. Adding one penny causes the clock to gain two-fifths of a second in 24 hours. Outside pressure like the wind on the clock hands can affect the clock's accuracy. I doubt that the makers of the currency had any thought that it might be used in this way.
After breakfast, Meg and I walked down the hill to Waitrose and we were delighted to meet up with our three friends for coffee. One of our number had been visited with her family who had passed on a whole series of family photographs so we regaled ourselves with looking how our friend looked from the age of about five onwards. We bought some much needed supplies of milk and then made our way home but the weather conditions were somewhat cold so we were delighted to make ourselves some soup as soon as we got indoors. The carers made their midday call and this was soon accomplished and then I went ahead preparing a meal of beef from Christmas Day, baked potato and some Cavolo Nero kale that needed eating up. Our son phoned up to ask if he and our daughter-in-law could call around this afternoon and obviously we are always pleased to see them. We had a jolly cup of tea and chitchat some IT things (how one appends an electronic signature, specifically). We had started watching 'Death on the Nile' for the umpteenth time but then the carers called around for the teatime calls so this needed to be abandoned. The carers were a couple of young people with whom we get on very well and when they have performed their tasks in making Meg comfortable, they always leave Meg in a relaxed and happy state which is always appreciated.
I have a subscription to 'The Times' and I collect my newspaper religiously every day, as part of our daily rituals. Having said that, I find the occasion to read it grows less and less each day but I do always rescue the 'T2' section which contains details of the Radio and TV programmes for the day. At the weekend, a special colour magazine is published and this does not contain a great of interest to me personally as it might be a feature of a personality in the news. But at the end of the year, the Magazine devotes most of the issue to the resident Times cartoonist, Peter Brookes. So what is published in this special end-of-year edition of the magazine are the most noteworthy of the cartoons that have been published over the year, usually selecting the 2-3 best from each month. The cartoons are rather special because Peter Brookes, the cartoonist, often pulls to current stories together into one cartoon. If you follow the news assiduously, then it is fairly easy to spot the two conjoined themes but sometimes it is not so easy. So what the cartoonist does is to add a commentary to each of the cartoons in this end-of-year edition which helps the reader to decode the cartoons in question. I always look forward to these cartoons which are both witty and acerbic so it is a magazine that can be read over and over again and each cartoon can be savoured as little details on the cartoon are revealed.
The Sky News political correspondent is making the telling point this weekend that both Keir Starmer and Liz Truss were desperate to pursue a growth agenda - and many of their utterances appear identical to the casual observer. Many of the noises the current government is making on growth and regulation are not so different to the ones that emanated from our shortest ever serving prime minister - a politician most in the Labour Party view as the antithesis of everything this administration stands for. Both prime minister were desperate to secure economic growth to cure the nation's problems - but in the case of Liz Truss there were unfunded tax cuts which took the City by fright where after all we are at the mercy of 'the kindness of strangers' who do not have to invest in the economy if it appears less than sound. The Labour government's increase in taxes via raising employer's NI contributions is not helping the growth agenda one iota and hence both prime ministers are prone to making pro-growth statements that do not seem to differ radically from each other.
© Mike Hart [2024]