Matthew's Journal

The grass is getting somewhat over-grown, but it's been raining too much to attempt to mow it. We've had a couple of overcast but dry days, so I thought I'd give it a go when I got in from work today. I abandoned the attempt, since the grass is still pretty wet, and kept clogging up the mower. I'm not sure when it's going to dry out enough, and in the mean time, it continues to get more jungle-like. I suppose I could attack it with the strimmer, then rake up the cuttings, but that would be very tedious.

Also this evening, I've had to water the pots, as they'd dried out and were wilting. Humbug!

From time to time, I remember to see how my ISA is doing. Almost invariably, I discover that what was (when I invested) the best-rate-providing-ISA is now a couple of % lower (which makes for a non-trivial difference annually, when one has order 10^3 GBP invested). I recently repeated this process, and so am moving my ISA. I went looking, and many of the "best" ISAs available don't want my money - they only want new investments. So they're really after people who will be drawn in by the headline rate and then leave their money in that ISA for evermore, without noticing that they're now getting a pretty bad deal.

I know banks are expected to be unethical, but this annoys me. It's hassle moving ISAs (some of which has to be done by old-fashioned pen and paper), and I dislike the way they're taking advantage of this fact.

ETA: This Beeb article seems somehow appropriate :)