scratch - incision: a depression scratched or carved into a surface

Nothing irritates me more than scratches. It’s the fine scratches from poor cleaning techniques that are the worst. People tend to use a grubby cloth that has been dropped on the floor to clean their precious belongings, and then wonder why things get scratched.

Today I went to Tesco and purchased 2 electronic photo frames, one for me and one as a gift. The frame itself is made of black gloss plastic – the kind that is very easy to scratch.

Anyway, I unpackaged one and set it up for myself. After loading some photos on and playing around with it, I used a clean microfibre cloth to wipe off any finger marks, and the gloss plastic is still highly reflective as it’s supposed to be.

Later, I unpackaged the other frame which is intended as a gift, only to find it had a scratch on one side of the frame. So, I return it to Tesco, and swap it for another. The guy behind the customer service checkout opens the new frame, and we find two scratches on this one.

After opening a third frame only to find scratches in the same place, the checkout guy remarks that it must be part of the design. I explain I have another frame at home exactly the same, purchased from the same store at the same time, which is absolutely mint with no scratches. He remarks that the other frame I have must be an older design. If I ever find out who designed them, I’ll be sure to commend him for making the design improvement of including scratches on an apparently “updated” version of the product.

So, I had no choice but to either ask for a refund or keep one of the scratched frames, and as I was running short of time I decided to keep it. However, when I returned home I decided to open the frame to clean off the Tesco checkout man’s grubby finger prints from where he had inspected it, only to find a myriad of scratches and swirl marks that had not showed up under the store’s bright lights.

It makes me wonder if Tesco have a batch of refurbished frames which had been returned to the factory, and cleaned by someone using a pair of old underpants dropped on the floor?

Last year I parked in town, at 11:45pm. The car park became free at midnight, and I didn’t fancy forking out a couple of quid for 15 minutes worth of parking.

Assuming there would not be a traffic warden around at such an hour, I left the car and headed to meet some friends. As if paying £8 to get into a club and drink tap water wasn’t bad enough, imagine my shock when I returned to find a council parking fine on my windscreen. The ticket said I was observed at 11:50pm and ticketed at 11:55pm (5 minutes before it became free).

Anyway, last month I parked in a different council owned car park which is situated above a shopping centre. After putting £2.50 in the meter I then spent just under 2 hours in town.

Upon returning to my car, there was a parking fine attached to the windscreen yet again. I examined the ticket I had purchased and it said I had paid £1.50, NOT £2.50, meaning that a quid had dropped through the machine without me realising.

I wrote to the council and explained I was thoroughly miffed at losing £1, let alone getting a £25 fine on top. Of course, they explained it was my responsibility to check the fee paid and the fine still stands. But it got me thinking, when you consider the cost of council tax, not to mention the hefty rates that the shops in town must pay to the council, it begs the question why we have to pay for parking at all?