Shortages of shipping containers (actually there are probably enough of them but they are mostly in the wrong places) and microchips haven been affecting industries and disrupting supply chains all over the world. But now the situation is getting worse in the sense, that consumers are now starting to feel the pain as well. Just […]
Author: Grumpy Old Man
Incentives to get vaccinated
In the developed world most people have had their Covid- 19 jabs by now and particularly among the older population acceptance to get vaccinated has always been running quite high. But as numbers in do UK, France and Switzerland to name just a few countries show, vaccination initiatives are running out of steam, hence why […]
Olympic sports
It was strange watching the Olympics in Tokyo on TV: not only should they have taken place a year ago, but seeing athletes performing in empty venues is somewhat bizarre. Having had the opportunity to attend a few events as a spectator at the 2012 Olympics in London, I will never forget the atmosphere in […]
Euro 2020 – Rich pickings for the few, not the many
For four weeks in June and July, Europe has been kept captive by the delayed Euro 2020 football competition: just-in-time in many countries bars and restaurants have been opening their doors again, allowing for public viewings. As you would expect at such a tournament, there have been some surprises: Switzerland sending the world champions France […]
Tesla – The business perspective
A lot is being written these days about the pros and cons of electric cars and I am not at all against EVs in general and Teslas in particular, quite the opposite, not least since EVs are forecasted to outsell all other engine types by 2033, five years earlier than expected. But I question Elon […]
Open letter to Elon Musk
Dear Mr Musk, I thought I take this opportunity to thank you for keeping me puzzled as well as amused with you tweets and other statements, not least your announcement to your ‘friends’ at the SEC that you now are the Technoking of Tesla while your CFO is now known as Master of Coins. I […]
Vaccines for the privileged
Footballers really are a cut above the rest! Just look at the Conmebol, the association of Latin America’s football associations. In mid-April Sinovac, the Chinese vaccine manufacturer promised 50’000 doses to vaccinate all professional players ahead of the Cop América after Lionel Messi donated them three signed shirts (not all of the national associations involved […]
Good things out of the pandemic
Now that we seem to be coming slowly out of pandemic related lockdowns and other restrictions, I suppose it is fair to look back on what we have learned over the past 12 months and how or if we have improved our lives. I suppose all of us, being asked to stay at home, have […]
Abbreviated communications
I have got some colleagues at work who really have the nasty habit of sending me emails peppered with acronyms! not that I mind acronyms per se, I sometimes even use them myself, but when you need to read an email twice or even thrice in order to decipher all the abbreviations and to understand […]
Printers
I was actually toying with the idea of changing my already 9 year old inkjet printer recently, but as happens when you are looking for one thing on the Internet, references to something else caught my eye, in this instance 3D printers. Not that I need one, but I find the idea of printing three-dimensional […]
The grumpy older man 