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December 16, 2005

Desert island ads

Every so often, people ask me what interesting ads have been posted on the site. I suppose I should tell them to take a look for themselves (after all, who knows what gem they may come across?) but that does feel just a little mean. So (as Rob Fleming in High Fidelity might say) my desert island, up-to-this-time, top-three Adzooks adverts are as follows:

In ‘classes/skills and language swap’ a there was a gap year survival course advertised quite some time ago. I wish I had gone on something like this before I spent one summer on a disastrous project to bring drum and bass to the people of Eastern Russia.

In ‘lost & found’ someone posted an ad asking for the return of a red diary. I really felt for this person, as I can remember the time I left my diary on a bus. I still don’t understand how it happened, I’m not usually so scatter-brained. I didn't even realise it was gone till the next day, and by then I thought it was gone for good. At least, I thought, whoever found it wouldn’t know who had written it. I would remain blissfully anonymous. Weeks later I got a phone call from a strange number – a man saying he had found a book of mine and would I like it back. While I had left my own details out of the book, I'd left in the details of someone else I’d rather forget. The finder of my diary had not only read it all, but decided in order to get it back to me to ring this other person up and get my details, no doubt having to explain how he had this person’s number. When I met up with the finder to get my diary it was an awkward few minutes. I’ve never left anything behind me since, though.

In ‘personal accessories’ there have been various ads for jewellery for sale. There has been quite a variety, but my favourite was for a pink diamond ring. I haven't got a diamond ring and well, if there is any kindly Adzook user who wants to buy it for me, I wouldn't say no....

There are quite a variety of ads going up across the Adzooks regions, and the site itself is pretty versatile and allows for lots of different things to be advertised.

Posted by Selina at 4:09 PM | Comments (0)
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December 6, 2005

No students please

A lot of the accommodation for rent ads coming onto the various Adzooks sites refuse students, and despite having been one myself until recently, I can’t say I blame them. The impression of students given in the press tends to be of drunken layabouts, which to be fair is not quite true, in my experience at least. The only two people I knew who actually were drunken layabouts, spending their days smoking, drinking, playing spider solitaire and listening to radio 2, were both chucked out before they could bring the results average down. Curiously, though, the general tramp-like standards which are maintained as the norm are not particularly emphasised.

My first reaction to those ads is to have flashbacks of the kitchens in various houses I lived in while at uni, where plates would leave the house with us to go to lectures in the morning. I guess this is pretty standard though, along with melted ovens and saucepan-sized holes burnt into kitchen work surfaces. I’d be interested to know however, just how many other people had flatmates who would take a leak in their sink because the toilet was a whole 4 metres away (before you mention anything about builders, apparently they only use their customers’ sinks) and who would use their neighbour’s dustbin as a toilet when the real loo was engaged. Surprises certainly abounded in some of those houses.

It would seem these things don’t happen in houses of professionals, leading me to wonder if general house cleaning and domestication are skills gained on graduation. Results arrive and hoards of university leavers have a road to Damascus moment involving cleaning fluids: “what is this?” and the reply came “I am Fairy Liquid, whom you are persecuting. Now get up and go into the kitchen.” But fair enough to landlords who don’t want to wait three years for that – take your chances with the professionals, they have more money anyway.

Posted by Selina at 3:36 PM | Comments (0)
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December 1, 2005

Adzooks Encounters: This Time It’s Personal

While I was at university I had a flatmate who loved to scour the pages of dating websites. I don’t think she ever went on any dates through them, but I guess it beat writing essays on the Crusades. One day she decided to give me a tour of one particular site; I think to make herself feel better about procrastinating by knowing I wasn’t studying. On the site the majority of the entries had unflattering passport mug shots attached to them, giving the potential dates an honest air if nothing else. There was one man, however, who had an amazing picture: soft lighting on a smoothly shaven, tanned face, looking manfully into the middle distance; a man very much like those model types from television razor ads.

This foray into the world of online dating got me wondering about various e-dating issues: photos, safety, that kind of thing, all relevant to Adzooks. As that ad had “wishful thinking” stamped all over it, clearly being cut out of a magazine, I wondered if there was a point to attaching a photo. I suppose if you chose to go on a date through the site you would know who to look for, though I think “I’ll be wearing a bowler hat, baggy trousers, oversized shoes, a big orange wig and revolving bowtie” would be enough for identification purposes once a date had been arranged, or whatever your hello ladies/gents gear happens to be.
On the other hand, a photo with an ad does add authenticity (in the majority of cases, ahem, Mr Gillette) and a more personal touch – not a bad thing surely for a personals site. Also, figures indicate very strongly that ads with a photo get a much higher response rate. Either way, the option is there for anyone who posts on Adzooks Encounters to put their picture up or not. The choice is yours, and I’m not sure it matters that greatly either way in terms of safety anyway, which is where my thoughts led me next.

If you are meeting up with somebody you don’t know, whether it be through dating or any other circumstance, it unfortunately is necessary to acknowledge that not everyone is Clark Kent (damn you, cruel world). Anyway, here are a few tips to help stay safe:
* Tell a friend or relative where you are going.
* Arrange to meet this friend or relative afterwards, at a specific time – or to ring them at a pre-arranged time.
* Never, ever meet up in a secluded spot.

Contrary to what you may be thinking, I’m not the office Eeyore and realise that all is not always so gloomy, that it’s only a very small minority who would use these situations to others’ disadvantage. But as the old saying goes: it’s better to be safe than, er, not. Happy dating.

Posted by Selina at 11:15 AM | Comments (0)
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