Villa

Whilst in a Bathrooms-R-Us type of showroom shop in Paraparaumu yesterday browsing the sanitary ware to find out what is available for Project Strawberry Lane, I noticed something on the price tags which puzzled me. No, not the actual prices, which seemed astronomical (from my old-fashioned and insular point of view), but the fact that there were three different prices on each item:

For example, something like this:  R.R.P $756.00  TRADE $382.00 and ZIPS $369.00

Now, I am modern enough to recognise Recommended Retail Price, and I guessed that Trade refers to the sort of price you might pay at competitors’ shops. But the third option, which is the lowest on all the price tags, had me totally flummoxed. I racked my brain trying to guess the “Z” – not many words starting with “Z” to do with the cost of a bog and basin.

“Hi, mate. Excuse me, man, but would you mind helping me with a little problem.”

I immediately realised that I’d made a mistake and now he would know that I’m not a local (as if my jersey on a “warm” New Zealand day didn’t already shout “Effrikken”): No real pucker New Zealander would say “little” – it’s always “wee”

“Yeah?”

“I’m not from here,” probably not the best start to a sentence, “I understand the Recommended Retail Price,” pointing at one of the price tags, “but what does this ZIPS price mean?”

“That’s our price, yeah?” he explained, pointing at the door.

Gulp. (blush ever so slightly)

Sometimes there is a simple explanation to a seemingly difficult problem.

Something I have been asked once, which has prompted this blog in the first place. Why do you use the pseudonym Villa instead of your orthonym in the blog ‘How Green is Our Valley?’

Quite simply, I haven’t done it consciously. To use an old clichè, it’s the computer’s fault. Whilst gainfully employed in 2013, I authored a blog for one of our clients, a cluster housing scheme development as an electronic notice board for use by the 400 residents for information regarding tuning into the various TV channels and similar subjects, called Villa 30

Whilst I wrote it under the Gmail account ‘Bloke On The Bus’, but I was requested to supply as user name for Villa 30, for some reason. I naturally chose “Villa.” Now, since writing this blog instead of ‘Bloke On The Bus’, it appears that I’m stuck with the name Villa.

I can’t say that I hate it, as I have no personal preference – it gives me a bit of an Italian flair, don’t you think?