Tag Archives: shopping

Snow

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A lack of musak.

No ghost, for spirits are immaterial as the wind

and here is a material world.

Aisles empty as the minds of the robots who patrol

for security has no soul.

Automated tills say

“have a nice day”

in a voice as caring

as the check out girl who is inwardly swearing

at her bloke,

“the guys a f..k joke”!

“Big Issue?”

the girl outside the store asks.

it’s a hopeless task

For the issue has been lost

and tossed

with the needles and dodgy cash

into the trash

Long ago.

Clubbers admire the snow, so pure and white.

It will be a delightful night.

Out of mind, out of sight

Of Books And Fruit

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I had hoped to receive a further stock of my book, “Dalliance; A Collection Of Poetry And Prose” on Friday 19 June. However on telephoning Berforts (the publisher of the print edition) on Thursday 18 June I learned that the little elves who print books are all on strike. Well, to be honest it is a little more prosaic than that. The machine which prints the books has broken down and “Dalliance” will now be printed and shipped in week commencing 22 June.

On Monday I am scheduled to break the camera as my photograph is being taken to accompany the author interview a colleague conducted with me on Monday 15 June. The interview appeared here on 16 June and will be published on my employer’s website in the next couple of weeks. I had hoped to have a copy of “Dalliance” to hold up for the camera, however I have no copies, meaning the picture will be dallianceless (well if Shakespeare can make up words so can I)!

On Thursday evening I popped into my local supermarket and purchased a substancial quantity of oranges and apples. I had just reached home when a dull thudding sound reached my ears. “how odd” I said to myself “perhaps I have kicked a large stone”. I bent down to investigate only for several thudding sounds to follow on from one another in quick succession. Putting my hand to the thin plastic bag provided by the supermarket I discovered the cause of the problem – a hole had developed allowing my fruit to cascade with gay abandon all over the car park of the flats in which I live! I did briefly contemplate letting my trusty lab/retriever guide dog Trigger loose in the hope he would follow his retriever instincts and bring the fruit back to his master. I quickly dismissed the idea as Trigger is fond of apples and while I’m sure he would have retrieved them the fruit would have been conveyed to his rapacious stomach rather than my eager grasp. All ended happily as a neighbour kindly retrieved my apples and oranges. The moral of the story is to never trust to those flimsy plastic bags provided free by supermarkets but to bring one’s own carrier or invest in a “bag for life” which many stores now offer.

I wish you all a very fruitful weekend!

(for my author interview please visit http://newauthoronline.com/2015/06/16/interview-with-author-k-morris/).

One Of Those Weeks

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It has been one of those weeks when, as the bard of Avon says, troubles come not in single files but in batttalions! On Monday the “f” key which usually resides comfortably on my laptop suddenly developed a wander lust and in a bold bid for freedom detached itself from it’s fellow keys. The wanderer is now confined in an envelope in my desk drawer which should, I hope curtail any further yen it may develop to head for the open road! I’m typing this using an external USB keyboard which is working well. I will, however investigate the cost of affixing the key back where it belongs, on my laptop!

On the same night that the “f” key made a bold bid for freedom, I became aware of a strange sound in my flat. I couldn’t determine its source. However on entering the living room all became clear. My hungry hound had extracted a packet of sweets from my friend’s bag and was happily munching on them. I did rescue the remainder, however, for some unaccountable reason my friend didn’t seem to be struck by the idea of consuming the leftovers …

On Tuesday my trusty vacuum cleaner joined the heavenly choir and is now singing tunefully (or not) with other dearly departed and much lamented household appliances. The sad demise of my vacuum cleaner necessitated a trip to John Lewis yesterday evening and I am awaiting the arrival of a replacement on Thursday 30 April. I can hardly contain my excitement …! What, I wonder does next week have in store for me?

KDP Select – An Evaluation

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The results thus far of the free promotion, using Amazon’s KDP Select programme (https://kdp.amazon.com/select), of my story, Samantha have been disappointing. For anyone unfamiliar with the programme, KDP Select allows authors with books enrolled in it to offer their titles free for 5 days in any 90 day period. As an alternative writers may sell titles at a reduced price (known as a Kindle Countdown Deal) for up to 5 days in any 90 day period. To qualify for KDP Select books must be exclusive to Amazon.

The free promotion of Samantha began on 19 November and ends on 23 November. Despite the book being free in the Kindle store and the kindness of other bloggers in publicising this fact, Samantha has, at the time of writing been downloaded 5 times from amazon.com and 3 times from amazon.co.uk. Both sites show that my book has sold 4 copies of Samantha (2 on both sites) in November.

The results thus far are causing me to evaluate the effectiveness of KDP Select. Samantha has a total of 6 reviews (counting both amazon.com and amazon.co.uk. Just over half of these have been generated by fellow bloggers while the remainder have eminated from people who, to the best of my knowledge have come across my book as a consequence of previous free promotions of Samantha. The position is roughly similar with my other titles (approximately half of reviews coming from bloggers and the remainder from readers who have, I assume come across my titles via KDP Select promotions).

The results of the current free promotion of Samantha are, as I say above disappointing. Where I to take a decision to remove Samantha and my other books from KDP Select the incentive to do so is compelling in terms of the current promotion. However, standing back and surveying the bigger picture, reviews have been forthcoming as a result of previous promotions, consequently I am not inclined to dismiss KDP Select out of hand. I will monitor how the remaining days of the free promotion of Samantha pan out and look at the results of the forthcoming free promotions of An Act Of Mercy and Street Walker to ascertain number of downloads together with any reviews generated. On the basis of these results I will take a decision regarding whether to keep my books enrolled in KDP Select. The evidence thus far seems to indicate (despite the current slow downloads of Samantha) that the use of both KDP Select free promotions and social media help in obtaining downloads and reviews.

 

(The 4 sales refered to above entail people purchasing Samantha, while free downloads are, as the name suggests just that – readers downloading Samantha at no cost).

BlindStudent Refused Entry To Tesco Because Of Guide Dog

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Last night my friend, Brian drew my attention to the case of a blind student who was ejected from Tesco’s supermarket for bringing her working guide dog into the store, (http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/oct/17/blind-student-banned-from-tesco-for-taking-in-guide-dog). Under the UK Disability Discrimination Act (now subsumed into the Equalities Act) assistance dogs (including guide dogs) are allowed to enter premises selling or serving food and it is an offense to refuse entry. Tesco and those employees who threw this lady out of the store where therefore guilty of breeching the legislation. To compound matters the dog was wearing it’s distinctive high visibility harness thereby clearly marking it as a working animal.

Initially Tesco offered the lady a £20 voucher. However following the BBC picking up on the story Tesco has, I understand agreed to pay £5000 to the Guide Dogs For The Blind Association (The UK charity which trains guide dogs). The supermarket has also said that it will “remind” staff of their duty to admit assistance dogs.

As a blind guide dog owner I am afraid that this incident does not surprise me. On several occasions I have been refused service in restaurants when accompanied by my guide dogs (my current dog is called Trigger). I have, however had 3 previous dogs: Nixon, Zeff and Drew all of whom have been wonderful companions and have provided essential assistance in finding my way around London together with other cities.

In most instances the issue of my guide dog has been resolved amicably by me politely explaining the law and producing a letter from the RNIB which furnishes a brief description of the legislation as it relates to blind people (including their working guide dogs). Unfortunately, in a few instances I have had to invoke the threat of legal action which has proved effective in ensuring the future admittance of my guide dog and I.

It is incredible that a huge multinational like Tesco can not provide adequate training to it’s employees regarding their duty not to discriminate under the Equalities Act. Despite the company’s assurance that they will “remind” their employees of their duty to admit working guide dogs I feel in my water that incidents such as this will continue to happen.

Tesco is not the only company guilty of such actions. Many other organisations have (and continue to practice) discrimination against disabled people.

Ironically I visited my local Tesco (it’s about a 30 minute walk from my home) on Friday and had no problems in gaining admittance with my guide dog, Trigger. Indeed the staff where extremely helpful and I was escorted round the store as I can not shop independently due to my poor vision.

I hope that Tesco and other similar organisations get their act together. However, as I say above I fear that articles like this will continue to appear.

Dogs Are Not Allowed

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On the way home from work this evening I popped into my local Sainsburys with my guide dog, Trigger for a few items. On reaching the till a young boy announced, in a voice which would do credit to a sargent Major

“Dogs ar not allowed!”

The obviously embarrassed mother reprimanded her son, (I could detect the rebuke by the tone of her voice but, not being able to understand French I was at a loss to know what, exactly she said). At the time I just smiled. However, in retrospect I ought to have said something along the following lines

“Pet dogs are not allowed in supermarkets, however, my dog is a working guide dog who helps me to find my way around. Because of his special training he is allowed into shops, restaurants and other places which pet dogs are not allowed to enter. All guide dogs will have on a special white harness so you will know (if you see the harness) that the dog is a working guide dog”.

Obviously I would have phrased the above in a manner easily understood by a young child and my words would have been accompanied by a smile so as not to intimidate the little boy. As I said above I don’t know what the mother said to her son but her words where brief and sharp which leads me to believe that the child was admonished for his statement rather than having the role of working guide dogs clearly explained to him, It is only through patient explanation that children learn and shouting at youngsters is not the way forward. Education is, as with so many other issues the answer.

For my Amazon Author Page please visit http://www.amazon.co.uk/K.-Morris/e/B00CEECWHY/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0