IT'S WEDNESDAY - SO IT MUST BE.....

….."Girls About Town".  We were a little depleted today with just Nichola and me, but we had an interesting guest, Steve Keye, who has a small business called HandyPlus.  

Steve told us that his company does electrical repairs, particularly for small household appliances.  He told us that as he has had experience in the building trade, he could also do building work, but his main focus is on electrical repairs and any small DIY job that his clients want, even down to changing a light bulb or smoke alarm - and speaking of which, when did you last test yours?

It was good to hear from Steve that he has what we would call “old-fashioned values” meaning that he calls back when someone rings him, gives a quote and then does if asked, does the job with a minimum of fuss and hopefully he and his client are satisfied.  He obviously loved his job and told us that his aim every day was to make someone smile - what a great attitude to have to work and life!

I learned what a PDA was - and if you don’t know, it’s something like a smartphone or a tablet - and the initials stand for Portable Digital Appliance - so probably most of you reading this have one.  I also learned that PAT testing actually means Portable Appliance Tester - the machine that is actually used to do the testing.  This is a recognised inspection and testing of portable appliances such as kettles, coffee machines etc that might be found in a professional environment, to ensure that they are safe to use.

I did feel that Steve was a tradesman worth knowing, and made sure I got one of his cards - so many trades people these days don’t return calls or don’t bother to turn up to give a quote, so it was good to hear that Steve doesn’t run his business like that.  

Karen, the Radio Station receptionist, joined us in the second hour and we chatted about random things such as penguins and how scientists have discovered that they follow the same principles of human language, namely that the sounds they use most often are short - especially to warn other penguins of danger.  It reminded me of when my boys were grumpy teenagers, when a terse, one word response was often given to a question I asked!

We also talked about codes of dress for particular situations after a Labour MP faced criticism on social media for being unsuitably attired and also whether we wanted our young children subjected to provocative and sometimes shocking lyrics in songs - particularly on television shows in the early evening.  I’m not a prude, but I do feel that sometimes we need to remember that those watching or listening could be really young and therefore the content of such shows need to be beyond reproach.  I think Steve was right when he said it was a generational thing - because something that I found offensive might not be considered so in this day and age.  I’m sure we will come back to this discussion on another occasion.

“We are not living in 
     a private world of our own;
everything we say, do and think
     has its effect on 
          everything around us.”
John Galsworthy

P.S.  If you want to hear my "shout-out" for Blipfoto on one of our recent "Girls About Town" radio programmes, look on the Blipfoto Facebook page - I also gave another "plug" for Blipfoto on today's programme.