Apart from their conservation work and breeding programs, I've never really been a fan of zoos. Despite living only a few kilometres from Toronga Park Zoo a couple of decades back when I lived/worked in Sydney, I never actually went there. Now, on a recent trip with my wife from our home on the other side of the country, I oddly find myself as a first time visitor. Of course, captured animals always pose a challenge photographically in trying to make them look anything but (eliminating cages, fences, reflective glass, visitors . . . ) which seems a little hypocritical. Anyway, we didn't lingers long. Too many large animals that would in the course of a year roam many hundreds of kilometres now stuck in sterile and bland enclosures for my liking.

While I understand that companies have to make a profit and that costs are steadily going up for everyone, this shrinkflation and other marketing tricks companies play with their products is really starting to bug me. I for one, would rather pay an increased price for a product that I've been loyal to and use frequently, rather than change the size, quantity, or quality, of the product, especially doing so subversively. There are many examples of this, but the latest case in point and the one that has put me over the edge is Scott toilet tissue. I started using this product as a kid mainly because we had a septic tank/field and it was very good at breaking down in these systems and have found it to be consistently excellent and worth the price over rival brands. Frankly, I've used this product for many, many years and have been brand loyal to it. However, I recently noticed that it simply did not do the job as well as it formally did and with a bit of research learned that they did indeed shrink it in size and in thickness. I guess I gotta vent a little bit, but I wish these manufacturers would leave proven products alone and just pass along the rise in prices needed to produce and distribute the original product and still make a reasonable profit. How can it possibly be better to charge more for less quality, etc. not to mention that they try to slide it by you and hope you won't notice? So much for band loyalty at least for me! Anyway, thanks for listening.