Posts categorized “Anecdotes”.

Koumpounophobia: Fear of buttons

The fear of buttons on clothing, known as button phobia or koumpounophobia, is an irrational phobia which is, perhaps surprisingly, a fairly common fear.

Most people who suffer from this phobia are convinced that they are the only ones in the world to suffer from such a strange fear, and they are often teased or taunted by others who do not understand or believe that they are telling the truth.
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Successfully claiming back money from my over-charging bank

On the 27th of February, T Mobile charged me for my mobile phone bill. It was £51, and I only had £44 available in my account. However, my bank rejected the direct debit, and charged me £38 for the privilege. So I threw a hissy fit at my bank, but “tough luck” was the general response.

Around the same time, however, the Observer ran an article, “Customers urged to sue over overdraft penalties“. Obviously, these two actions together had to be an omen from the Gods, and I decided to write a letter to my bank:
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The Seven Song Meme

List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now. Post these instructions in your blog along with your seven songs. So I did. But I got a bit verbal about why I like the various songs. And it makes a half-way inspiring read. Have a look!
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No sane people at Capital One

Musings on why no sane people work at Capital One

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Being breathalysed in your own home

Today, when driving home from Manchester at about 10 o clock or so, my driving was not particularly sharp. I had just eaten a massive Indian meal at a nice-looking (but not nearly as nice-tasting) indian restaurant, and my stomach was holding its own private little revolution. It felt as if the stomach acids tried to chew their way through my spleen and onto the car upholstery, to be honest, and I wasn’t having any of it.

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Crowd Surfing

So. You are at a rock concert, and you decide it would be a good idea to let a bunch of people hoist you up on top of all the other people, and get lifted across, eh?

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The meal of a lifetime

One of the great things about travelling is that you get to try other cuisines. So it should come as no surprise that if you are invited to a barbecue with a bunch of American expats in Trinidad, you are in for quite a treat. Or should it?

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Cheating Death and other tales

The story of how I had a head-on collision with a trailer in my 1990 Mini Cooper, but lived to tell the tale

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The Lions might have a thing for Minis, but the monkeys destroyed my car.

I haven’t seen my sister for ages, as she lives in Australia. She decided to grace me with her presence, and hence I decided to take her out for some fun. Shock! Horror! What kind of fun stuff can you show someone in Liverpool? After we did the Beatles Museum and the Tate modern, we kinda sorta ran out of ideas, until I remembered the fact that there is a safari park only a few miles up the road, in Knowsley.
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