I apologize to men in advance, maybe only women should read this post.

I hate people who design packaging! Really. For instance, he who invented blister packaging (it can't be a 'she' for obvious reasons. Not obvious to you Male Reader? Well let me explain: women are practical beings. Whenever they invent, design or produce something, they will immediately think: "Will this work? How will this work? Is this a practical solution? Is it easy to use/access?" A male architect for instance will design a beautiful window with a staircase placed just in front of it. "Looks good", he thinks. "We'll do that!" A female architect will design that and think: "Ah, it looks good, but is it practical? Can someone clean that window or do these stairs perhaps prevent someone from being able to actually touch that window?" Clearly a male architect designed the house we used to live in before this one. The house we live in now used to be a painter's workshop/warehouse. I don't mean an artist painter. I mean a painter that paints walls, ceilings (not like Michelangelo) or window-frames. Therefore a lot had to be done to make it into a home. Kitchen, bathroom, bedrooms, the whole kit and caboodle - if I use that correctly - had to be done. The architect (male) thought that the best solution would be a flat roof, oh I so wish I did not start to tell this story because I feel I have to explain to you the whole lay-out of the house, which is rather difficult, suffice to say for now that the building used to have three pitched roofs, well actually four, which meant four staircases to four attics, so the architect said that the best solution would be to join two of the pitched roofs and put a flat roof in it's place. We agreed that that would be the best solution. Ah, I believe I have an illustrative picture somewhere. Not the best picture, no flat roof to be seen, but you can see how the roofline used to be. The architectural planning department (all men) decided that the old roofline should be kept visible and that therefore the 'gap' should be filled with windows. Or we could forget the flat roof. So, windows it was. Curtains? Anyone thought of that? How on earth.....? So, no curtains in the bedroom. No one has been able to think of a good enough solution that will actually look the part too. All the men involved shrugged their shoulders, frowned and ignored my remarks that I didn't think this window-idea was the best solution. Ah well, what's done is done. There are worse things than no curtains in the bedroom. And I don't have to sleep there. It's a guestroom. And the neighbours have not yet complained. Neither have the guests. Well.....if they would complain I would subtly lead them towards the door. Anyway, where was I? Ah yes, he who invented blister packaging) should be forced to go to all the people all over the world that have bought something in a blister package and open it for them. Without using scissors, knifes or other tools that might come in handy but are really dangerous to use in these instances! Actually, on second thoughts, he should be forced to use a sharp knife! And I also hate the people (well, according to my own theory we can safely assume that they are men too) who decided that to pack a piece of cheese in vacuum sealed plastic was a good idea! They are probably the same people who invented the 'drink carton with the plastic bottle-cap' (tetrapak). If you pour a glass of orange juice for instance, half of it ends up around the glas, not IN it. I know, one should not use gross generalisations like I have just yet. Years of frustration forced me. Sorry. I wonder, do any of you have problems with packaging? Or other daily frustrations you would like to share? It helps to write about it. I feel much better now. (And I really do not hate men! Actually, quite the opposite ;-)) Update: this post was nominated for Post of the Day, see Authorblog.