While shopping at the local ASDA the other day, we reached the checkout only to be told that there was a three carrier bag limit. As in, no matter how much you have bought (or, how much you have spent) you could only have three carrier bags.

Oh dear.

Not so bad for us, I grabbed the last reusable (fabric) bag from the adjacent checkout – and as we noticed on the way out, the last fabric bag in the store – and we just about made it work. However, there were people behind us with full trolleys who simply weren’t going to manage.

I think the phase-out of plastic bags has to happen eventually, and I can’t help but applaud ASDA for taking the initiative. But I have to criticize the way they’ve gone about it.

Me, and the girlfriend, spent some time near the entrance of the store as we had to go in to get change for a trolley and not once did we see a sign alerting us to the change in carrier bag policy. I noticed they’d also taken the carrier bags from the self-service machines, and everyone using the machines was simply piling their purchases on the scales and carrying them out sans-bag.

Oops!

So, is this just a one off pilot store – or is this nationwide? And if so, is it just Hulme where they didn’t feel like warning their customers?

[Update]
It looks like they don’t do plastic bags at all anymore. Especially weird since the ASDA near work is still handing them out. Perhaps this is a pilot store?

Normally being second in the google ranking for something would make me happy. Not in this case. I had ordered a stand, until the company emailed me back and told me that it was £25 more expensive than listed on their site (their awful early 90s site) …

So I did a search for somewhere I could just walk into and then leave with a stand in my hand. I guess this means I’m not going to have much luck!

Does anyone know where I’m going wrong. I’ve tried alternative words to “anglepoise”, but they’re not having much luck either.

i guess this is the first official announcement, though it’s technically more of a “by the way”. i have finally started work on my latest, and i think most interesting (to others), project.

i’m not *quite* ready to reveal all the details yet, but i’m hoping that i will have the first alpha/prototype ready to put out there within the next two months.

giglr.co.uk work is only in my spare time, and it’s a not-for-profit idea, so i can’t quite devote every waking moment to it… but i am hoping to spend as much free time as possible.

my concentration should really be on finishing up this site too, so that i can port the style back over to robgough.net, but i don’t see why both projects can’t coexist.

i’ve also, finally, taken the plunge on an anglepoise mic stand… so maybe, just maybe, my long neglected podcast idea will finally come to fruition.

this blog will, of course, keep you up to date when there is some actual news (a private beta perhaps) – but until then, i just wanted to share my excitement that i’d bought my first domain in several years – mostly so that it finally had an official name… which is helping me focus on getting it done.