Lumo

Yes, I hadn't thought of those. Wrigley's chewing gum is another one, I saw some in a film from 1964 the other night and it looked just like the stuff now.

I work in a lab that uses microscope slides. We have little trays that the slides sit in that are made from some kind of cardboard/wood material, they have a folding flap on each side which holds the slides and protects them, the fold is reinforced with fabric. Twelve trays sit in a black holding box which has a folding side and removable lid. These are continually reused, every few years the old slides are filled away and the now empty trays get used again. People sometimes write things on the flaps of the trays, such as "LDTg 1999" "S.R. 22/06/64" "CPu group 1 - 11/1982". I like finding these comments, trying to work out what they mean and also trying to find the oldest date amongst them. There are several from the 1960s that I have seen, but so far none older and most are from the 80s. A few weeks ago we decided to try and get some more of these trays. We found a catalogue that described a product that was similar so we ordered a few boxes. They arrived today, they are exactly the same as the old ones. EXACTLY the same. Even the black box that holds the trays is identical, right down to the pattern on the paper covering the bottom and the lining inside. I found it almost hard to believe that something sold in 2011 would be identical to something that was used in 1964, that the manufacturing process wouldn't have changed a bit, that the pattern on some irrelevant underside of casing wouldn't have changed, that the way the folding parts are reinforced with fabric would still be the same. Apart from the new ones smelling new and looking crisp and fresh there is no way of telling them apart from ones that must be 40+ years old. This made me wonder (and annoy everyone else in the lab by asking them, they didn't seem very surprised the new ones were just like the ancient ones), what other products have remained unchanged for so long? Fairly liquid was the only thing we could come up with (the plain/original kind). What else have we overlooked? I'm now looking forward to writing "Duncan 2011" on some of the new ones and wondering if someone in 40 years time will come across it and think "wow, 2011, that's 20 years before I was born."

Recently I found £100 However, it was one of my books and it was my £100. I had put it there a few months earlier for safe keeping, then forgot all about it. Made me want to go and check all my other books

I have the landline mainly for the broadband internet, I have a mobile, but that is pay as you go and doesn't need topped up too much. I normally use Skype out or Skype for calls, or send an email. If it weren't for the internet I wouldn't have a landline.

I watched the first one in the iPlayer last night - really enjoyed it. Especially the modern takes on older themes, such as the nicotine patches as drug taking.

I can, and often do, go into a bookshop and not buy anything. If I am looking for a book to read then I will generally always find something, but if I am just browsing I don't like to buy doubtful books as then they just end up on my shelf and I never read them as there is always something more interesting still to be read. But I really like browsing and occasionally coming across something unexpected and really interesting.

If it's not interested me in the first 10% or so then I expect the remainder also won't and so stop reading it (often with a bookmark still in 'just in case' I decide to come back at a later time). However what I find difficult is when I book is mostly uninteresting, but every now and then has a wee bit that rescues it - difficult to decide to carry on or stop.

Lost in Translation

Interesting mix of responses. I would have considered taking it back to the shop, had I not been starving and it been buried in the bin by the time I had finally eaten. Neither pack had been sitting about in my house for long, in fact just the time taken to cut an onion. Even in the shop I normally take the packets from the back of the chiller to ensure they are cold. Cooked some chicken tonight - didn't notice anything with that.

Nothing so far - about to go and read a bit more of Crime and Punishment.

The History of the Idea of Progress I should read it some day, but I doubt it will be a quick or easy read.

Probably just normal then. Don't know where this sensitivity to it suddenly came from, just recently I was sniffing away at some raw pork and thought nothing of it at all. I was doubtful that she should eat it, but she was certain it was fine, and is probably right.

I was making some bolognese, the onions were frying and I opened a packet of lean beef steak mince from Aldi. As soon as the knife went through the plastic film I smelt something, tearing it open I stuck my nose in...stinking...bad...intense, made me gag a bit. I sat the packet on a counter a took a deep breath. I thought maybe just some bad odour collected in the packet that will soon disperse. I pick it up a moment later for another sniff. No, bad idea. I drop the packet into the bin and wonder if I will be sick on top of it. Still wanting my bolognese I go out to Tesco for some more mince. Opening this packet I stick my nose in expecting what I thought was the usual not too pleasant but also not too bad smell of raw beef. Bam, same smell again. Maybe not so strong, but very unpleasant. Apart from being on the same street these shops are not related to one another, which leads me to believe that rather than them both selling rotten meat this is how beef mince smells. The odd thing is I have cooked with it many many many times before and never noticed this, and it really takes something very unpleasant to make me gag. I often see blood and guts and can look at them while wondering what to have for lunch, so for a smell to put me off is unusual. So, have I suddenly become super-sensitive to the smell of raw beef, or was this indeed unusually smelly meat? I'm a male so I am not pregnant. My girlfriend ate the mince (I was so put off I had something else, she said it smelt nasty but normal and said she would eat it) so I suppose we will see if it really was OK.

Sorry but I am also going to jump in here and instead of suggesting a book say that I had never heard of these, but they are not on my wish list. Thanks!

Yes, I have very similar issues with SH books. Generally I try and buy very old second hand ones, so rather than it feeling like one person has read it it feels more like it might have been from a library or even a different era. For example the last second hand book I bought on Amazon, could have got a 2001 copy in 'good' condition but instead got a 1969 copy, also in good condition but somehow fun because of it's age rather than just feeling used. Does that make sense?

Perhaps a bit late, but how about: "Whose Turn for the Stairs?" by Robert Douglas http://www.amazon.co.uk/Whose-Turn-Stairs-Robert-Douglas/dp/0755318927/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274973661&sr=1-1 Life in a Glasgow tenement in the 1950s

Amazon and Waterstones mainly. I look in the local charity shops but seldom see anything of interest.

Interesting replies. In the end I went for the Oxford World's Classics. Have only just started reading it now, but the text looks good, paper feels (and smells ;-) ) decent and intros et cetera also seemed good.

Interesting to hear that at least some of the later ones are good too. Also interesting about it being made into a TV series, I will try and read them before they are made, if it is on TV before I have read them despite not really wanting to I will probably end up watching the programmes before having read them all.

Raven Black (Shetland Quartet 1) by Ann Cleeves Genre: Modern Crime fiction - set in Shetland Synopsis from Amazon:

I walked past a charity shop recently and saw a set of encyclopaedias from 1884 for

Rice cakes with smoked salmon :-D

Like others have said here I like them as much for the characters and descriptions of life in that era (which I find fascinating) as for the stories themselves.

I'm going to buy Jane Eyre (I have wondered about reading it for ages now, but am finally getting around to buying it). However on Amazon there are many editions, Penguin Classics, Penguin Popular Classics, Wordsworth Classics, Oxford World Classics et cetera. Odd question, how do you decide which one to buy? There are even two editions at the amazingly cheap price of 2 pounds so going with the cheapest doesn't solve the problem. In a shop I would look at the text size, the paper, even the smell, but on Amazon I'm left squinting at a tiny picture of each and wondering. I know it's probably too much thought for such a small issue, but it has happened to me before and I'm wondering if others experience the same thing. Now which one to order...

I sometimes do this when I see that the end of a chapter is coming up, but when it is the last page of a book if I get the temptation I manage to resist it and read to the end.