Ladies with Clipboards ... Kerchingle

I am just coming up to my four years working back in the city centre of Manchester and I still love it.

Most weekdays apart from monday if I have no particular things on my lunchtime agenda, I walk past spring gardens post office and walk along and come out on market street, between the mobile phone shop and Miss Selfridge. The anoraked ladies, usually in their fifties, clipboards in hands and I ask my question

What do you want me to test today ladies?

I usually pick out someone who looks like they are struggling to grab the attention of a passerby and after the usual questions, of name, address, age bracket (gutted I will soon be in the 45-60 Pah!) I come under the youthful 35-44 for at least another three weeks.

Today they are testing a new product, i have to sign to say I will not reveal the secret and I wont, this is the closest I will get to doing important top secret governmental work and I appreciate the seriousness of the whole thing.

After the secret mission on the second floor of 3 spring gardens, I am given a blueberry muffin to sample and a glass of water, then I print and sign my name and get a brown envelope with a £5 high street voucher to spend as I wish.

I still have the £2 voucher from last weeks cheese tasting and tomorrow they are testing chunky crisps for £3, a tenner for my views, excellent......all part of my ongoing personal cost cutting lifestyle

thank you and good night

Mrs Mahoo

The big clean up......

First born moved out mid January, youngest child didnt rush to swap bedrooms as predicted, she stuck her nose in and said

" I dont know if i can move into there, it smells of boy...... half term arrived and on getting home from work one day the move had already been done, and after a thorough clean of all services and laminated flooring with Cif Lemon wipes, the room smelt like a lemon instead.

All his stuff was dumped in one large box in any order it fell, so todays task was to look through and put into four smaller boxes, otherwise I havent a hope in hell of it ever going with its rightful owner.


I found:

3 dried up mascaras
6 unopened bank statements (I presume thats what they were - I of course didnt open them)
A selection of photos - a really cute one of me and the boy at the seaside with him wrapped in a towel on a beach and me a rather old looking 24 year old (see above).

135 CDs 82 Dvds 2 books (hmmmn he never was a great reader unless you count the Argos and the now out of print Products Direct - which could never compete with Argos as Chavs cant be bothered to say two words when one will do. Although I did find a copy of Bravisimo?????)

And hair, loads of hair, in fact I could repopulate three bald heads with it and still have some left over? I am actually beginning to feel a bit queazy....

two pairs of hair straighteners, an evelope with XL written on it (I aint kidding) two pairs of scissors, three lots of headphones, two packets of blue tack (thats where it went). If ever a mother deserved two glasses of red wine whilst watching upstairs and downstairs on a very productive sunday evening well I am that mother.

dedicated to anyone who has ever had to sit next to someone smelly on the 256 on the way to Manchester, Piccadilly

Mrs Mahoo