WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[plaques]

The brave family tabby cat that came to the aid of a young boy who was being attacked by a bull terrier in the US.

I'm not sue if this is the same cat V dog.Cat saves boy Does this mean that Stanley is going to have to keep his dog on a lead?

[Stanley]

Jack says to tell you he doesn't attack kids and gets on well with cats....

Had a good day yesterday at Oakmount Mill with my old mates. Terry Gissing and Robert Aram.

[Tardis]

The town is rife with rumours of Gary Barlow coming to Silentnight

[Bodger]

Is he related to Thelma Barlow out of " Coronation Street " ?

[Tripps]

The town is rife with rumours of Gary Barlow coming to Silentnight

Looks like you had to settle for David Cameron.

He soon blended in, and cracked a 'mother in law' gag that Les Dawson would have been proud of.

[Stanley]

Not surprising, his speech writers must be short of work with no legislation until after the 2015 election..... The country must be OK! Jacob Rees Mogg compared us to Belgium last night on HIGNFY, he pointed out that they had no government for 14 months and nobody noticed.
My attention was grabbed by news from British Gas that I had two new accounts for a house at 75 Farnham Gardens, London SW20 0UE and owed them over £400 payable this week. Needless to say I rang them right away and marked their card. I have instructed them to inform me in writing a)that the mistake has been corrected and b) to tell me how this occurred.... We'll see what they have to say....

[Stanley]

A bit of information I picked up from Piketty. In 1970 when the scale of the oil discoveries in the North Sea was realised, the Norwegian government made a smart decision, they would put 60% of the revenues into a sovereign wealth fund and use 40% for the government's current expenditure. This fund is now the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world and is gathering interest at a fast rate. Contrast that with what Thatcher did, use the windfall to finance a pool of unemployment to break the unions. Tony Benn advocated a similar scheme here at the same time but was denounced as living in a Utopian fairyland. Guess who has the last laugh......

[Bruff]

.............at 5.05am this Saturday morning gone was the unmistakable sound of a cuckoo among the dawn chorus here. It continued to 'cuck-oo' away for a good few hours. Marvellous. I do not recall ever hearing a cuckoo.

Richard Broughton

[Wendyf]

We've been hearing cuckoos in Kelbrook Wood this year, it's been a couple of years at least since we last heard any.

[Stanley]

I can't remember when I last heard one, a long time ago.....

[Tardis]

The town is rife with rumours of Gary Barlow coming to Silentnight

Looks like you had to settle for David Cameron.

He soon blended in, and cracked a 'mother in law' gag that Les Dawson would have been proud of.

I did, was a very good visit to Silentnight

[Stanley]

Really? What concrete good did it do for Barlick? These flying visits by politicians are nothing to do with policies, simply an attention grabbing visit to boost electioneering. They will all be doing lots of this in the next 12 months.
Getting help from Kev and sorting my TV reception out. You can't beat a friend in need.....
Getting a message requesting meter readings for the phantom property I am supposed to have bought in London. Yet another complaint sent to BG. They said they had deleted the information on my file.... I can see that this is going to run and run. I shall put an account in for my wasted time and effort when it's sorted.
I forgot to post this pic after I was at Letcliffe the other day. What possible pleasure can anyone get from cutting down a healthy and beautiful tree. Absolutely beyond comprehension...

[Pluggy]

Got this in my email today.

This one is even more idiotic than the usual.

REMINDER NOTICE DO NOT IGNORE
To: afeltman@pluggy.me.uk

Case: C9763742
Your vehicle was recorded parked on our Clients Private Property

driveways on the 20.05.2014 and remained on site for 2 hour 27 min. A notice was sent to you on 11.03.2014 which gives 28 days to pay full PARKING CHARGE or challenge the issue.

The amount of £70.00 is now due if payment not received within 28 days, an additional 40.00 administration charge will be incurred. Failure to pay the full outstanding balance within 14 days of the date of this notice could result in the outstanding balance being registered as a debt against you. You will also become liable for additional costs and interest invoiced. Your ability to obtain credit in the future could be affected.

Check attached document for more information.

Lets see, my car was parked on a driveway today for 2 and a half hours and a notice for the offence was sent over 2 months ago. ?

Hmm, I must have a Delorean and a flux capacitor.....

Unsurprisingly the attachment was for a windows screen saver.

[Stanley]

Nice one Pluggy..... BG still seem to think I have bought a flat in London.....
Last(?) batch of election flyers yesterday. The only one that gave examples of work done was David Whipp's all the others told us what a fine person the candidate was and slagged off the others. Mike Thompson's gives the impression that he is already a councillor, really? I'll be voting for David on merit and party lines for the MEP because I have no information about that campaign so will go into default mode, when in doubt or lost, Turn Left!

[PanBiker]

I had a call from Victor at Microsoft (India) yesterday. He informed me that my Microsoft products had been "compromised" and that he could see that they were being used simultaneously in multiple locations around the globe.To ensure that I would not be blamed for any illegal activities that may be undertaken by the other parties using my software he said that the only option was to revoke my licence. This action would indemnify me from any recourse by Microsoft for illegal use by others. When I asked him which Microsoft product he was referring to he said it was the one that "worked my computer" although he could not tell me which version of the OS I was using or the service pack level. He tried to change the subject when I asked him to give me the product ID saying that once he had revoked my licence my computer would no longer work but he had a workaround available in the form of a Universal Microsoft licence that I could purchase from him (£299) that would ensure that any Microsoft products that I had on my machine would continue to work.

I told him to crack on and revoke if he thought that was the safest option for me. He reminded me that the conversation was being recorded and that my decision would be legally binding, I agreed but then declined his offer of the universal licence. He was quite worried that my decision would leave my computer inoperable, I told him not to worry as I could always reformat and deploy LINUX for no cost at all, he rang off.

Guess what....

[Stanley]

I never bother to talk to them, just tell them to go away. I never knew that they were trying to sell me a 'universal licence', never let them get that far.

[PanBiker]

I had a few minutes to spare so thought I would have a bit of fun.

[LizG]

I got a call saying my computer had notified them that there were many viruses that needed 'a fix'. I played dumb and told them I didn't have a computer in the house. Not to be put off he told me it must be my Ipad and asked him what that was. He didn't know how to react so hung up.

[Tardis]

Harriet Harman came to Pendle yesterday.

[Pluggy]

I've never had a telephone call from a "Microsoft" employee although I've dealt with the aftermath at a couple of customers. Maybe the TPS does its bit for me. I'd love a call from one of them, I'd have some fun like Ian.

[Tizer]

In case this hasn't already been flagged up somewhere else on OGFB...
`eBay makes users change their passwords after hack' (BBC News web site, 21 May 2014)
"Auction site eBay is forcing users to change their passwords after a cyber-attack compromised its systems. The US firm said a database had been hacked between late February and early March, and had contained encrypted passwords and other non-financial data. The company added that it had no evidence of there being unauthorised activity on its members' accounts. However, it said that changing the passwords was "best practice and will help enhance security for eBay users".
More here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-27503290

[Stanley]

Nice one Liz! I like it. Actually I feel sorry for the people who are forced to take work in call centres where this activity starts from. I'm sure they aren't there by choice and contrast their battery hen existence with all the fun I had in my working life. In some ways that is the main thing I have against the calls.
Tiz. I saw that report.... It is a minefield out there!
What grabs me about today is that it's Polling Day and I can exercise my democratic right. I shall be thinking about all those who suffered to give us this privilege. (and this includes the men and women who fought in the wars for us)
Some of the major papers, including the Times and the Telegraph are under fire this morning for their criticism of Tara Erraught in Rosenkavalier at Glyndebourne. (LINK) Dame Kiri Te Kanawa has just defended her on R4. According to the offending critics she is stocky and dumpy. What's that got to do with singing? Time for a rerun of the last Silk Cut cigarette advert....

[Tardis]

The market making use of the "tent", in the rain

[Tizer]

We've just been to vote in the European election (there's no local election here) at our village polling station and the couple of officials in charge said it was a very poor turn-out so far, compared with the usual for our village. They have been in charge of polls in the village for many years and so should know. Those who aren't voting should have listened to Michael Sandel's latest `Public Philosopher' radio debate, `Why vote?'. It's available as a podcast here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/r4sandel

[Stanley]

Wise advice Tiz. We get the governance we deserve and if people don't vote what do they expect.
Exciting day.... The rain this morning was coming in from the NW so it was the first day for a long time that the back wall of the house was dry during moderately heavy rain. I noticed that water was dripping down the wall from the gutter just above the window. This is an old fault and I thought we'd cured it when we put new ridge tiles on and replaced a missing slate directly above the leak but this morning proved this was not so. I rang my men and they called round this afternoon. Not easy to find but it was a defective joint in the seamless guttering between me and the house above so it's been cleaned out and caulked. What was making it worse was that Dennis' gutter next door was full of crap (Front and back, grass growing out at the front) This was making things worse because it was backing the water up in the gutter. A bit of negotiation and Dennis' gutters are being cleaned as I speak. They wanted £20 for my job but I gave them £30, it was well worth it and if it hasn't cured it the next job will be free. I don't like leaking gutters! In the end the inside of the house suffers.