how not to recommend your product to a cyclist

[Geraint Jones]

Given how well advertisers are said to be able to target their glossy materials these days, it
surprises me more and more how badly targetted the junk mail arriving on my doormat is. For one
thing, I do not have a doormat, and the mail is not delivered though the door, but that is what too
much metaphor does for you.

The typical user of the customer disloyalty scheme that was being pushed at me today spends between
one and a half times and twice as much as I do on food, which probably means they are spending on
about one and a half times as many people. That is quite credible. They also spend over a hundred
quid with BP every month.

Good grief! That is the price of half a dozen bikes a year.

And that is a good deal more than one and a half times as many bikes as I buy.

How much petrol are they buying, and what on earth are they doing with it? (One of those is a
genuine question, actually: I have little idea of how much petrol costs. The other is more a
question of where one gets the time to drive as far as that would take you.)

They are also spending ten quid a month on repairs to their Ford car, which I suppose at least
suggest that Fords have become more reliable of late.

 

[John Hearns]

> many people. That is quite credible. They also spend over a hundred quid with BP every month.
>
> How much petrol are they buying, and what on earth are they doing with it? (One of those is a
> genuine question, actually: I have little idea of how much petrol costs. The other is more a
> question of where one gets the time to drive as far as that would take you.)

A hundred quid might be two or three tanks full, depending on the type of car.

Springing figures from the air, say 400 miles on a full tank. So around 1200 miles travel per month,
or 40 miles per day. The 400 (approx) miles figure only relevant to a car cruising constantly on a
motorway. So we'll be realistic and say a short journey to work every day, plus shopping and trips
at the weekend.

Someone else can probably do a more accurate conversion, based on price per litre and the urban
cycle mileage from a car advert.

 

[Michael Macclan]

In message <[email protected]>, Geraint Jones
<[email protected]> writes
>How much petrol are they buying, and what on earth are they doing with it?

That's probably only about 1200 miles/month. I once had a job where I was doing close to that a
week. And I got to keep all the loyalty points.
--
Michael MacClancy

 

[Ben]

On Thu, 5 Jun 2003 22:41:08 +0000 (UTC), [email protected] (Geraint Jones) wrote:

>They also spend over a hundred quid with BP every month.
>
>Good grief! That is the price of half a dozen bikes a year.
>
>And that is a good deal more than one and a half times as many bikes as I buy.
>
>How much petrol are they buying, and what on earth are they doing with it? (One of those is a
>genuine question, actually: I have little idea of how much petrol costs. The other is more a
>question of where one gets the time to drive as far as that would take you.)

Mmm, at a rough guess in my little Honda Civic 1.3, 100 quid a month would cover about 1200 miles.
My normal spend for a 200 mile a week commute is £75 a month.

So really, given that my commute is quite short[1], £100 a month on fuel is quite low, especially if
your 'average' person is filling more than one car.

[1] Given my current fitness, it's just _slightly_ too far to do by bike (22 miles each way).
--
"We take these risks, not to escape from life, but to prevent life escaping from us." ***** replace
'spam' with 'ben' to reply *****

 

[Dave Kahn]

On Sat, 07 Jun 2003 20:19:12 +0100, Ben <[email protected]> wrote:

>So really, given that my commute is quite short[1], £100 a month on fuel is quite low, especially
>if your 'average' person is filling more than one car.
>
>
>[1] Given my current fitness, it's just _slightly_ too far to do by bike (22 miles each way).

Given that it's only _slightly_ over your distance start doing it anyway and your fitness will
increase.

--
Dave...

 

[Richard Bates]

On Thu, 5 Jun 2003 22:41:08 +0000 (UTC), [email protected] (Geraint Jones) in
<[email protected]> wrote:

<[email protected]>

>Given how well advertisers are said to be able to target their glossy materials these days, it
>surprises me more and more how badly targetted the junk mail arriving on my doormat is. For one
>thing, I do not have a doormat, and

Did the junkmail come with a prepaid envelope? If so, send them something interesting to read. May I
suggest some of the leaflets kindly mentioned by Guy in message "Some Useful Cycling Leaflets"
<[email protected]>

Love and hugs from Rich.

--
There are 10 types of mathematician: Those that understand binary and those that don't.

 

[Ben]

On Sat, 07 Jun 2003 20:55:43 +0100, Dave Kahn <[email protected]> wrote:

>On Sat, 07 Jun 2003 20:19:12 +0100, Ben <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>So really, given that my commute is quite short[1], £100 a month on fuel is quite low, especially
>>if your 'average' person is filling more than one car.
>>
>>
>>[1] Given my current fitness, it's just _slightly_ too far to do by bike (22 miles each way).
>
>Given that it's only _slightly_ over your distance start doing it anyway and your fitness will
>increase.

My limit at the mo is 25 hard miles or 35-40 easy. Unfortunately neither are really conducive to
doing a day at work followed by a ride home.

Plus I need to figure out someway of carrying a laptop safely.
--
"We take these risks, not to escape from life, but to prevent life escaping from us." ***** replace
'spam' with 'ben' to reply *****

 

[Richard Bates]

On Thu, 5 Jun 2003 22:41:08 +0000 (UTC), [email protected] (Geraint Jones) in
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Given how well advertisers are said to be able to target their glossy materials these days, it
>surprises me more and more how badly targetted the junk mail arriving on my doormat is. For one
>thing, I do not have a doormat, and

Did the junkmail come with a prepaid envelope? If so, send them something interesting to read. May I
suggest some of the leaflets kindly mentioned by Guy in message "Some Useful Cycling Leaflets"
<[email protected]>

Love and hugs from Rich.

--
There are 10 types of mathematician: Those that understand binary and those that don't.

 

[Just Zis Guy]

On Sat, 07 Jun 2003 22:09:43 +0100, Richard Bates
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Did the junkmail come with a prepaid envelope? If so, send them something interesting to read.

Excellent plan. I have a friend who makes a policy of using the reply-paid envelopes to send other
companies' junk mail, which is doubly satisfying

Guy
===
** WARNING ** This posting may contain traces of irony. http://www.chapmancentral.com (BT ADSL and
dynamic DNS permitting)
NOTE: BT Openworld have now blocked port 25 (without notice), so old mail addresses may no longer
work. Apologies.

 

[Just Zis Guy]

On Sat, 07 Jun 2003 20:19:12 +0100, Ben <[email protected]> wrote:

>So really, given that my commute is quite short[1], £100 a month on fuel is quite low, especially
>if your 'average' person is filling more than one car.

Your commute of 44 miles RT is significantly above the average length. OTOH the £100 per month
covers more than just commuting - but then, even with our 2.3 litre 16-valve Volvo estate, £100
would be an expensive month for petrol. £60 is closer to the mark for us.

Guy
===
** WARNING ** This posting may contain traces of irony. http://www.chapmancentral.com (BT ADSL and
dynamic DNS permitting)
NOTE: BT Openworld have now blocked port 25 (without notice), so old mail addresses may no longer
work. Apologies.

 

[Geraint Jones]

"Just zis Guy, you know?" <[email protected]> wrote: ( Your commute of 44 miles RT is
significantly above the average length. ) OTOH the £100 per month covers more than just commuting -
but then, ( even with our 2.3 litre 16-valve Volvo estate, £100 would be an ) expensive month for
petrol. £60 is closer to the mark for us.

Yes, I did wonder whether spending that much on petrol was meant to indicate having more than one
car in the family, but since I budget about a hundred quid a year for petrol for those times when I
hire a car (and end up spending less doing much more than a thousand miles) I really have little
idea of how one can get through that much in a month.

(It does give me a lever to persuade her indoors that we can justify replacing the bike that she
bought second-hand seven years ago, most of the components of which are falling apart, and which I
can barely lift up because of the gauge of the gas-pipe it was made of.)

 

[Ben]

On Sun, 08 Jun 2003 10:00:12 +0100, "Just zis Guy, you know?" <[email protected]> wrote:

>On Sat, 07 Jun 2003 20:19:12 +0100, Ben <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>So really, given that my commute is quite short[1], £100 a month on fuel is quite low, especially
>>if your 'average' person is filling more than one car.
>
>Your commute of 44 miles RT is significantly above the average length.

Really? I wonder what the average commute is then? I always thought mine was very short (Solihull to
Tamworth up the M42).

>OTOH the £100 per month covers more than just commuting

I suppose that's the thing. I don't use the car for anything other than commuting. I've walking
distance from the town center so walk to the shops or use either of the bikes.
--
"We take these risks, not to escape from life, but to prevent life escaping from us." ***** replace
'spam' with 'ben' to reply *****

 

[Ben]

On Sun, 08 Jun 2003 09:43:52 +0100, "Just zis Guy, you know?" <[email protected]> wrote:

>On Sat, 07 Jun 2003 22:09:43 +0100, Richard Bates
><[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>Did the junkmail come with a prepaid envelope? If so, send them something interesting to read.
>
>Excellent plan. I have a friend who makes a policy of using the reply-paid envelopes to send other
>companies' junk mail, which is doubly satisfying

Using them to send bricks through the post is even more fun.
--
"We take these risks, not to escape from life, but to prevent life escaping from us." ***** replace
'spam' with 'ben' to reply *****

 

[Just Zis Guy]

On Sun, 08 Jun 2003 10:20:45 +0100, Ben <[email protected]> wrote:

>Using them to send bricks through the post is even more fun.

Time upon a once years a many go I sent a steel plate in an envelope marked "do not bend" - and
having put said plate in said envelope, I folded it in half using a folding machine...

This was after a postie had folded a board-backed envelope full of photos going to the same address.

Guy
===
** WARNING ** This posting may contain traces of irony. http://www.chapmancentral.com (BT ADSL and
dynamic DNS permitting)
NOTE: BT Openworld have now blocked port 25 (without notice), so old mail addresses may no longer
work. Apologies.

 

[Mr R@T \ -Lsqco]

In news:[email protected], Just zis Guy, you know?
<[email protected]> typed:

>
> This was after a postie had folded a board-backed envelope full of photos going to the same
> address.
>

unfortunately couriers (both public and private sector) *do* have a habit of taking out their
frustrations with their jobs/ management on the mail - I know a few and they have all said every
time they get a bollocking from the boss the packages get a kicking as a reprisal. They would
*single out* stuff marked fragile and things like monitors; I was told by a postie not to mark stuff
as fragile as it was sometimes targeted.

There is a posties' joke - "photographs do not bend?" they *do* if you try hard enough

I suppose its better than the American response of bringing a pistol into work and shooting your
colleagues (hence the term "going postal")

Alex

 

[Michael Macclan]

In message <[email protected]>, "Mr R@t (2.3 zulu-alpha) [comms room 2]"
<[email protected]> writes
>I suppose its better than the American response of bringing a pistol into work and shooting your
>colleagues (hence the term "going postal")

There have been incidences of this but I believe that it's now accepted that American postal workers
are substantially less likely to be the victims of workplace homicide than many other workers. The
American postal service employs close on 1m workers so it's not surprising that there is the
occasional murder. Related to the folklore surrounding this phenomenon is the fact that the postal
service has traditionally employed a large number of veterans.
--
Michael MacClancy