WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Tizer]

I spent almost all of yesterday morning sorting out the renewal of our car insurance. We've been with LV for 5 or 6 years and they were very easy to deal with. The web site functioned well, the staff were friendly and efficient and the increase in premium each year was minimal (similar to general cost of living) so we didn't need to look elsewhere. This year they sent me a reminder and quoted a premium 47% more than last year. I phoned to discuss it with them but the man just said the usual things about everything going up in price. I said I knew there would have to be a rise but pointed out 47% was ridiculous and I could get the same or better from many other well-known providers for a much lower price - I'd used Martin Lewis's Compare tool. The LV man said the best he could do was £10 less on the quote in their letter. So I told him I would be leaving them and would also move my home insurance from them at its next renewal date. He made no comment except `Is there anything more I can do for you today'. I bit back a sharp sarcastic response and just said goodbye. What a shame. LV used to be the Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society (est. 1843). However: Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society Limited was deregistered as a friendly society and registered as Liverpool Victoria Financial Services Ltd. on 2 January 2020 with the company focusing on life insurance, pensions and investments.[ Allianz is now the sole shareholder of Liverpool Victoria General Insurance. (Wikipedia) So they are no longer interested in the kind of insurance I need.

I've moved to Halifax and will pay 25% more than last year for the same package of cover and it was one of the lowest premiums on the Compare site.

[Whyperion]

. LV used to be the Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society (est. 1843). However: Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society Limited was deregistered as a friendly society and registered as Liverpool Victoria Financial Services Ltd. on 2 January 2020 with the company focusing on life insurance, pensions and investments.

Didnt know that , mum has a few Life Policies with Liverpool Victoria , as a mutal member I dont recall seeing paperwork ( The United Freindly also did a bit of a financial rejig - mums 2d a week policy was paid up in 1990 and is currently worth £258 + £20 from their financial change ( it was actually an "increasable assurance policy" where at certain times you could double up your premium and cover over the first 15 years without a further health declaration. but mum never did )

[Whyperion]

I thought Sugar Beet was partly fed to cattle as cattle cake , etc.

Meanwhile the Chancellor mentioned the removal of "Multiple Dwellings Relief" and the justification for it. Now this appears to be a Stamp Duty (SDLT) thing where if two or more Dwellings are purchased in a "linked transaction" there is some kind of change (mainly the 3percent extra Stamp Duty where someone owns more than one Residential Property (and we have to be careful here as "Dwelling" has a different legal/tax definition to "Residential Property") , this generally applies if you buy something with a "granny flat" of lower value in the garden or adjoining property, they may or may not be physically linked ( see for remembering Dominic Cummin's Dads property in wherever that was and the new build in the garden- (diff rules for council tax apply and are not affected by the Chancellors Announcement). I imagine there will still be a construct that even if two residences are purchased, they will be counted as a single dwelling under different rules and thus there will be really no change in the amount of SDLT assessed and payable - I think what was happening was the old rules were splitting single residences into multiple dwellings. It is sort of important for Barnoldswick as I guess some of the terraced houses could be knocked through to be one for larger families, and the larger properties along the heights of Manchester Road may have some larger independent rooms in the gardens or converted garage/stable blocks

[PanBiker]

`Horses on the run bring traffic to a halt on US motorway' LINK

That happened to me when driving on the M6 in the early 1970s. It was the middle of the night on a Sunday, the motorway was empty except for me (those were the days!). Then I saw lights ahead (white, not red). Then they seemed to be getting closer. That's when I realised there were three vehicles, one in each lane and they were coming towards me. A moments panic while I thought back to confirm that I hadn't somehow got onto the wrong side of the motorway. Next I could see flashing blue lights and I slowed down to a crawl. The vehicles then moved nearer to the central reservation and I suddenly saw horses in my headlights. The police cars were blocking off the motorway and herding them towards a slip road ahead and I had to stop while the police moved across in front of me and herded them up the slip road.

When I was working at Kirkham Prison putting a new network into their Education rooms. I commuted everyday, A59, M6, M55, for the fortnight or so that the job took. I reversed the route home each day and one evening at about 5.30pm I was tramming up the M55 back towards the M6. Reasonable amount of traffic and I was overtaking and in the centre lane. All at once I saw a speedboat on a trailer which seemed to be coming backwards towards me! It wasn't stopped traffic and there were no brake lights visible. It was indeed detached from it's towing vehicle in my lane and I was gaining fast on it. I had cars in both lanes either side of me so I had to wait until they reacted to give me room to move out of the way. They slammed on and I made my decision and judged that it was going slightly left so I went for the outside lane and put my foot down. Literally two seconds later the boat passed me, or I passed the boat. The Range Rover that it had detached from was on the hard shoulder 200 yards ahead with his hazards on. Driver was out of the vehicle and you could see the despair on his face as I passed. My day although scary was definitely panning out better than his! Close shave and one that I never want to repeat!

[Stanley]

The fact that despite all their talk, British Gas can't do anything about my unsmart smart meters. I shall carry on sending in my own readings each month.

[Tizer]

`Smithfield: Inside the Victorian market becoming the new Museum of London' LINK

[Cathy]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PLUGGY
.
Enjoy your day.

[PanBiker]

Happy Birthday Stephen.

[Big Kev]

Happy birthday Pluggy

[Tizer]

Happy Birthday Pluggy - Mrs Tiz and me hope you enjoy the day!

[Stanley]

Many of them Stephen!

Have a look at THIS. It's a good job this lot weren't in charge in 1939.....
The UK will be left increasingly reliant on military allies due to a £29bn financial black hole in defence spending, MPs have warned. The influential Public Accounts Committee (PAC) warned the government currently lacked a "credible plan" to fund the Ministry of Defence. PAC warned this "undermined" the credibility of Britain's armed forces. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has promised defence spending will rise to 2.5% of GDP when "economic conditions allow". The latest Nato data estimates that the UK spends 2.07% of GDP on defence. But Paul Johnson from the Institute for Fiscal Studies said Mr Hunt's promise to increase defence spending was "not worth the paper it's written on unless accompanied by some sense of how it will be afforded". In a report on Wednesday's budget, Mr Johnson said the "economic conditions" allowed the government to use an estimated £10bn of headroom to allow cuts to National Insurance instead - which could have been spent on defence funding. "That would have just about met the target - actions speak louder than words," he said.

[Stanley]

Muthomi called round on his way to Aldi for the weeks shopping. He had Kahara and Lily with him but they were asleep. I asked him to get me some milk so he did and called back when they had finished. K&L were awake and very chatty. Those kids are a joy, always laughing. Mo wanted to make sure I was OK and to let me know I was not forgotten!
I'm a very lucky man....

[Stanley]

Yesterday it was the happy faces of my two Clitheroe great grand children. Total joy and innocence. I don't know where else you can get that........

[Stanley]

Today I get news that Lily has chicken pox. What a good job I wasn't cuddling her!

[Stanley]

I heard (via Australia!) that Lily's chickenpox isn't a heavy infection, mainly a rash. As I understand it the rash comes first and the fever later so I think it may be a bit early to start clapping hands.
I looked it up and the incubation period for adults can be over 21 days so I shall just have to cross my fingers..

[Big Kev]

I heard (via Australia!) that Lily's chickenpox isn't a heavy infection, mainly a rash. As I understand it the rash comes first and the fever later so I think it may be a bit early to start clapping hands.
I looked it up and the incubation period for adults can be over 21 days so I shall just have to cross my fingers..

Did you have chickenpox as a child?

[Stanley]

I don't know Kev. Never asked!

[Wendyf]

I had chicken pox when I was in my teens, it was very unpleasant. I always associate it with the Beatles Help! LP and a sunny week in the caravan on the East Coast recovering.

[Stanley]

Susan sent me pics of grand daughter Holly and my new Great Grand Daughter Evie. They both look fine! Evie is of course one of the most beautiful babies in the Southern Hemisphere!

[Stanley]

I listened to the representative of the veterinary practitioners telling us why the ridiculous charges made by most vets for treatments are justified. All guff of course! Anyone who has kept a pet and looked after it knows that over the last ten years particularly, costs have sky-rocketed. I'm afraid the days of James Herriot have long gone.
Funnily enough these price increases coincide with the takeover of many small practices by just a few large corporations. The modern disease of exploitation of the client.
(I don't think there is a cure for that!)

[Stanley]

I note that the plight of the Chagos Islanders is in the news again. David Cameron stunned the Islanders a month ago by telling them that they will not be returning when they had been told it was under discussion with Mauritius.
What has never been made clear is why there is this opposition to their return. It is because the US base on British soil is one of their most valuable intelligence assets as the Chagos Islands is in the ideal place for intercepting and eavesdropping on communications 'of interest' to the US.

[Stanley]

I feel as though I've stolen Peter's fire! Have a look at THESE marvellous images. It was the football with the barnacles that caught me first but will you just have a look at that Starling?

[Cathy]

All the animal pics are lovely, but the football with the goose barnacles is definitely unusual.
Things aren’t always as they seem.

[Stanley]

Morning Cathy. They are all good but that pic of the starling is marvellous!

[Tizer]

I feel as though I've stolen Peter's fire!

That's fine, you can serve up the pics to Cathy earlier than I can. I liked the one of the fox tightrope walking on a tree branch. We've seen them on TV crossing a stream using a fallen tree as a bridge but this one looks like it climbed the tree! They're clever animals!