I recently applied for some part time work at a college not a million miles away from where I live. There was a formal advertisement in newspapers and elsewhere and even though I only learned about the job about 18 hours before the deadline for applications, meet the deadline I did. After about 10 days I received a reply to the extent that Unfortunately you were not succesful at this time. What on earth did they mean at this time? Now meaningless as that sentence was, I have latterly been trained to question such decisions so I called the man at the centre of this case to be told that even though the post had been advertised and so on, they had found someone in the meantime so my application had been in vain ... in other words, the whole process had been a sham. Whilst I do not intend to make more of a fuss than I am making here, I do find such cases distasteful as we are dealing with a publicly owned organisation together with a complete waste of resources that include my own time and effort. I listened to the man as he unveiled his side of the story and thanked him for his time. Let it be a lesson to us all: Britain's public services are operated in a questionable way at times and I remember the good old days when such things were unthinkable. The trade union would not have allowed this kind of thing to happen, let alone the rules of conduct of the College and the Local Authority that manages it. Thought I should tell you that! DW

Know what this is? TaTshhhh ... t ... t ... tsk ... tsk ... tsh ... tsh ... t ... t ... tsk ... tsk ... tsh ... tsh ... It's the sound you can hear when sitting on a bus or train or walking down the street and someone in the vicinity is playing music through headphones via their MP3 player, CD player ... they MUST be making themselves deaf. Pardon? DW

I walked from the centre of Oxford to Summertown yesterday and whilst it's only around 20 minutes of a hike, my feet were killing me by the time I got back to tne centre. Just goes to show. I walk rather than drive where I can but I don't normally walk in my office shoes these days. Hence, switching from walking in trainers to my stout shoes was shock to my poor system. The strain of a 40 minute round trip was of no consequence: I'm fit enough for that and more. Hobbledehoy isn't in it! I will persevere and I will win through! DW

This message just came in from a happy reader: Duncan, It's Michael ... from the States. I used the formulas you suggested in your website to create a spreadsheet in excel for my data analysis on my Dissertation. I showed my Major Professor your work and how I created a spreadsheet from what you had posted. Needless to say he was quite impressed. If you do not mind, when I publish my work, I would like to acknowledge you in the acknowledgment section of my dissertation. I do research in the area of hormonal response to stress over time. Your website has made this process much more simple. Thank you again, Michael ... B.S., M.S., CSCS, PhD. candidate Isn't that nice? See the safe hands you're in at www.duncanwil.co.uk? DW

This message speaks for itself: Dear Doug, I found my way to your page and think it’s excellent. I work in education and often come across signs on notice boards like this: PLAGIARISM No All your own work: Yes Then there may be warnings of dire consequences for the plagiarist … but with no guidance on how to work properly and effectively. Your paper takes us a long way from the notice board to a much better deal for student and assessor alike. I will be posting this message on my WeBlog at if that’s OK with you. Best wishes DW

The AQA A level Business Studies resources are selling well and comments recieved include this gem from Tim: OK, got the information and have downloaded the files. I will make a further donation in recognition of your hard work and the useful service provided. Very many thanks, Tim Sue said Chris your cases study sounds really cheap. We'll buy one in a few days. DW

Friday 26 March and I drove up to The Belfry near Birmingham. That's the golf course and hotel complex. Now you know that gold and I are incompatible bedfellows but I was there to present my Product costing system at the ACCA's Spring Update for Accountants. I attracted around 70 of the 83 delegates to the conference with the others attending parallel sessions. I think it went well and having spent ages preparing it, I was happy with the outcome. I timed the session to perfection, too, as I finished with 30 seconds to spare! That's good for me, that is! I took my camera with me but didn't take any snaps. I also stayed for the Beyond Budgeting seminar that ended the day in my stream and that was interesting too. Well done and thanks to the ACCA for inviting me! DW