I’ve spent some time today reading Balance’s stuff about responsible marketing of alcohol… then was forced to walk through my local Tesco’s makeshift aisle of discounted alcohol in order to get into the store. Hint: this doesn’t tally with Balance’s idea of best practice.

I don’t often venture into Tesco, but I had some bedding to return today, so popped along. The customer service was truly awful.

The customer before me didn’t speak great English, and had a coupon that had been refused at the checkout. The *two* customer service assistants adopted the Basil Fawlty method of communication, almost shouting at the lady that the terms and conditions on the voucher excluded e-topups. The customer’s protestations were met with increasingly loud insistence, until one of the assistants had the inspired idea of actually reading the terms and conditions. The customer had been right: e-topups were not excluded.

As the customer left, the assistants started a frankly racist conversation about the preceding customer, before one beckoned me over with a wave. I asked to return the bedding, and the assistant continued her conversation, directing only three words at me: “receipt”, “clubcard”, and “card”. They were quite literally the only three words she said to me throughout the encounter. She didn’t greet me, she didn’t ask why I was returning the bedding, she didn’t say goodbye, and she certainly didn’t thank me; her rudely continued conversation with her colleague did provide a live demonstration of parochial bigoted opinions that was deeply disrespectful to the previous customer.

Tesco’s problems, it seems, run deep.

Tomorrow is local election day, and politicians seem to like nothing more than talking about “broken Britain”. So, here’s a square metre or so of Britain that’s truly broken.

Not only has this bus stop sign fallen over, it’s also in the middle of nowhere: closer stops exist to both the local town and the industrial sites in the background. The road it’s beside has a speed limit of 60mph, and has a single lane in each direction: any stopped bus would cause quite the obstruction. There’s no pavement on which passengers can wait, nor anywhere for a disembarking passenger to walk. In summary, this is a broken bus stop in the middle of nowhere, with nowhere for the bus to stop, and nowhere for the passengers to wait.

So, really: what’s the point?

This is Temenos, the first of five planned Tees Valley Giants by Anish Kapoor – perhaps most famous at the moment for the ArcelorMittal Orbit in London’s Olympic Park.

When all five are completed, the Tees Valley Giants will be the world’s biggest public artwork – although given that each sculpture is destined for a different Tees Valley town, there’s surely a philosophical debate to be had about whether they’re really one artwork.

It’s not really the done thing to write off artists’ work, especially when they’re as well-respected as Kapoor – but I’ve never seen anything of his that doesn’t strike me as a bit soulless and bland. He seems to play with scale and materials, but never actually use them to say anything of note. But heck, I’m barely qualified to have an opinion on this, so just look at the photo and be amazed.

This is the North Tower of the former Co-op department store in Newcastle. It’s officially called Co-op House, and opened to the public in 1932. It closed in 2007, leaving just the food hall on the ground floor, which soon felt seriously unloved. It finally closed on New Year’s Eve 2011.

The Grade II listed building is now to be transformed into a Travelodge, work which will include restoring the distinctive clock to working order. But some space on the ground floor will be occupied by a small Co-op shop, ensuring its continuing its presence in this historic building.

Is it really almost May? It really doesn’t feel like it!

Mum and dad’s new puppy, Poppy, fast asleep!

If you look closely, you’ll spot the rabbit that Wendy and I watched as we drank tea at the M6 Tebay services earlier this evening. There can’t be too many service stations where that’s a possibility!

In recompense for my forgetfulness yesterday, I’ve got a small collection of photos today.

If you’re thinking that the above looks like someone has built a house on top of a block of flats, you’re not far wrong. It’s CIAC, or community in a cube, a new residential development in Middlesbrough’s shiny new Riverside One development. It consists of a block of flats of various sizes, with a couple of luxury houses on the top. It’s a fully sustainable development, and architecturally interesting to say the least.

This shows the same building from a different angle, showing both “perched houses”. Also notice the bizarre Playschool-esque windows in the cutaway portion.

Walking round the back of the building, this whole other surprise awaits: a strange inset geometric patterned wall, and paving resembling a jumbo zebra crossing. Oh, and a lamppost at a decidedly jaunty angle.

On a related note, the surrounding naked streets are the first I’ve driven on, and it’s certainly a disconcerting experience that forces you to slow right down – especially at junctions.

There’s no denying that CIAC and the whole Riverside One development is distinctive, and also modern. But it isn’t quite to my taste. But perhaps you’re asking yourself what the sales office for such a distinctive development looks like… Well, it certainly isn’t your usual portacabin or converted garage!

I had a great photo in mind for today, but forgot to swing by the location, and then forgot about the photo-a-day altogether. I guess there’s always tomorrow!

In the meantime, in lieu of a photo from today, here’s an extra one from Teessaurus Park, which I wrote about yesterday. It’s made of this weird alloy called Elgiloy Hastelloy C and when you first see the texture, you will see why they choose it. I think this is probably supposed to be a stegosaurus, though my knowledge is rustier than these sculptures, and I’d be happy to be corrected!

I have no doubt that Jensen, my eight year-old nephew, is far more of a dinosaur expert than me, yet I’m fairly sure that this is a life-size tyrannosaurus rex (albeit one with a slightly rusty hip). I spotted it earlier today at Teessaurus Park, on the bank of the Tess in Middlesbrough.

If you were ever a fan of Sim City 2000, you’ll remember that putting parks in industrial areas tended to improve the perceived land quality, and help your city to thrive. Teessaurus Park seems to have been based on a similar premise, based as it is very close to Middlesbrough’s industrial heart.

When it opened in 1979, there was only one dinosaur. Seven more have been added since then, mainly in the late 1980s, built by young people on Norman Tebbit’s Youth Training Scheme. Yet no number of dinosaurs can distract visitors for long from the huge A V Dawson freight terminal right next door, or the highly industrial view across the Tees: