The Demise Of RadioShack

[ad name=”Banner 728*90″]

So another one-time major retailer bites the dust. Long-running electronics company RadioShack, which filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy last week, will see the closure of 1,784 stores across North America by March 31, the company confirmed in court documents. RadioShack was good for grabbing all those little bits and pieces you needed for those electronic projects, and for plugs, cables, various other connectors and the like.

radio shack_cr

In the UK RadioShack was known as Tandy. There was some guy with a store on Finchley Road in London that had the Radio Shack name, and despite being offered a large sum of money back in the 80’s, he refused to sell the name.

Anyway, Tandy, who had 270 stores in the UK, sold out to mobile phone company Carphone Warehouse around the turn of the century, and then concentrated on mobile phones and accessories, as Carphone Warehouse does.

Personally, I found most of their larger items too expensive, such as their hi-fi and computer offerings in the 80’s.

Apparently some of their North American stores are being purchased, similar to the UK operation, by a mobile phone company. However, Sprint, who are looking to transform 1,750 stores into a RadioShack/Sprint combo set-up, are, of course, a wireless service provider, and not just a retailer.

My Thoughts on Superbowl Sunday

IanI’m not a sports fan. Period. Occasionally, I’ll watch a bit of F1 or cricket, but it’s barely more than a fleeting glance. Why am I writing this post then? It’s really in response to a friends Facebook posting in which she bemoans all the disdain exhibited about the event.  Yes, Superbowl is Superhype. One of those things that the American media excels itself in.

It’s full of over-commercialism. Everyone and their dog that can make a buck or two goes all out for it, to the point (and beyond) of tacky.

Some make more of the Half-Time Performance than the game itself.

The players arguably make way too much money. Of course, the money comes from all that commercialism, in various ways.

[ad name=”Banner 728*90″]
But wait a minute…

Many folks actually enjoy following their team, and for them to appear at the Superbowl is THE big event of the year. Possibly bigger than Christmas even. It’s like one big national party. Even people that don’t follow football enjoy the party atmosphere, or at least the beer and snacks.

Talking of too much money, if some football players earn too much, what about some actors and musicians?   Lets not forget those at the top of those huge faceless corporations. Heck some of those CEOs really don’t seem to deserve their pay given their lacklustre performances!

So, I don’t watch these big sporting events, because it’s really not my thing, but I certainly wouldn’t look down on those that do.

New Year Resolutions?

I’ve always poo-pooed the idea. Why? Well, we make resolutions to improve some part of our lives, or those around us, and it seldom lasts beyond the end of January, let alone a year. Furthermore, shouldn’t we making such resolutions all year through, not on some arbitary date?

Having said that, I think I’ll try a few this time around.

  1. Be nicer. I mean, I’m not inherently evil, but perhaps I should make an effort to complain less, and smile more.
  2. Lose weight. Yeah, that old chestnut. Well, since my return from the US, I’ve put on 30lbs, and I really need to lose 50lb to regain my ideal weight. I’m going to try harder. No stupid ‘diets’. Just portion control, and more sensible food choices more of the time.
  3. Save more. Add more to my pension pot, save more for a rainy day. I’ve already made a start on that, by going to the pub a lot less (which helps #2 above too, of course).
  4. Be more productive. That means making better use of my time outside of current job. There never seems to be enough hours in the day to do everything I want to do as it is, so trimming the fat (no not referring to #2 above this time), is a good idea.

Happy 2015 to y’all.