£1.09

I'm pretty sure that my grandmother didn't own a refrigerator until late in her life - if at all. I know she bought sterilised milk (it came in a distinctive long-necked bottle) because it didn't need to be stored in a chilled environment and her generation were used to shopping little and often rather than grabbing a weekly "trolley shop". She was born before Kitty Hawk and lived to see Neil's "small step for a man" but I have no idea how she might have reacted to this. It is a "mister"; it's delivering a fine spray of cold water to a display of salad stuffs in a local supermarket.

I don't doubt that it works in a number of ways - not least as a piece of theatre - but is it necessary? Goodness knows how much this kit costs to run but I'm prepared to bet that the good burghers of Royal Tunbridge Wells will be paying for it through the price of something or other in the store.

Not meant to be a grumpy blip so I'm sorry if it sounds that way - just puzzled about some of the excesses which we simply accommodate without question (or at least I usually do).

First day back in the office today and it's flattering to see the amount of work which has accumulated on my desk in my absence - it made me feel wanted (amongst a few other emotions :-)). Tuesday is out the way so that's another step nearer to the weekend. That has to be worth celebrating doesn't it?