I’m fascinated by brands. The managing director argues that this personality flaw (her words, not mine) is a sad reflection of my desire to be seen by the great unwashed as a successful, cool and groovy bloke.

This sort of “let our machine be your friend” strategy might appeal to a certain demographic but it sure ain’t me. The message it sends is not one of customer care or even a desire to sell a product. For me the message is, we care so little about you that we use a machine to save us having to pay a human.

Unlike fear of flying, fear of airports seems to be a largely undocumented and under researched condition, manifesting itself mostly by a need to visit many many washrooms.

When I’m thinking about a problem or challenge, I like the old consulting ploy of stealing someone’s watch and then asking them the time.

I’m sure we can all think of a product where the designers clearly forgot (or ignored) the primary needs of the user.

When I’m thinking about a problem or challenge, I like the old consulting ploy of stealing someone’s watch and then asking them the time.

We live in a world of overreaction, hurt feelings and a press hungry for the next bad news story.

The question must be asked. Why pay more tax? It only encourages the idiots to waste even more money. Time to scheme and plan.

The so-called MAFS phenomenon amazes me. I can only tolerate it in very small doses and only while heavily affected by gardening.

The proliferation of self-help books, trendy fad diets and get-well strategies we witness in this modern age suggest we should all be toned, taut and terrific.

Let’s take agreement terms for example. Let’s say a property has 15 years to go on the agreements, this is a negative for sure.

Some time ago the managing director decided to sell her perfectly practical German engineered SUV for an impractical variant.