WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Tizer]

I sent the link to Margaret Calvert, the road sign lady, to my cousin's husband who is a driving instructor. He said he remembers seeing her being interviewed by James May on Top Gear years ago: "They went driving round talking about her work. He was quite intimidated by her as she was quite blunt with some of his questions!" She also appears a feisty lady judging from the newspaper article.

Now that we've moved into town after 20 years in the countryside we see a lot more of other people's houses. One thing puzzles me and perhaps some of you can solve that puzzle for me. Why is it that so many people now keep their blinds or curtains closed all day, even when the weather is sunny and warm? I know a few work night shifts and need to sleep in the day, but why would they close all the curtains rather than just in a bedroom? Some might be at home watching TV during the day but that doesn't need all the curtains closed. Some might want to protect their sofa or carpet from fading in the sun but most folk seem to change their sofas so often that they don't have time to fade. What surprises me most is that on sunny days in winter people with south facing windows have their curtains or blinds closed when they could be benefiting from all that passive solar heating. The sun can warm up a room faster than a radiator. They might think it's safer if burglars can't see into their rooms - but the burglars can see that the ones with blinds open haven't got anything worth stealing and probably target the ones who seem to be hiding something. Eeeh, it does puzzle me!

[PanBiker]

Hardly a mark on me despite being given an advisory bruising leaflet because my "all the way through" nurse had to jiggle my cannula as my offered arm didn't want to start yesterday. It was fine once the adjustment had been made. With the changes to procedure noted yesterday in the Blood Donors thread, I wonder if she had to make particular mention of that on my paperwork?

Must go online and see if yesterdays data is on the system yet so that I can book my next appointment now that you can no longer do it at the session.

[Stanley]

I've puzzled over that as well Tiz. Stopping carpets fading?
THIS is worth having a look at. An NY Times report on the surprise fall by 2.5% of the stock market yesterday. A small cloud on the horizon? We all know how volatile the markets are and opinions have been voiced more and more recently pointing out that what goes up must come down. Hmmmmm.

[Tizer]

I've puzzled over that as well Tiz. Stopping carpets fading?

They probably change their carpets as often as their sofas! Anyone else got an explanation for the `closed blinds' issue? I wonder if Maz and Cathy see it in Australia too?

Some of the stock market pundits are now warning of a `serious correction' on the horizon. Meanwhile companies are faltering right, left and centre. But don't worry, Mrs May is at the helm.

[plaques]

Closed blinds! They probably don't have the latest 60 inch curved TV to show off.

[chinatyke]

But don't worry, Mrs May is at the helm.

You could do a lot worse!

[PanBiker]

But don't worry, Mrs May is at the helm.

You could do a lot worse!

Someone would have to try bloody hard!

[Stanley]

China, how do you know that? Have you been listening to the media or seeking out slightly more reliable sources?
See THIS and ponder on the security of the markets, bitcoins and capitalism in general. Ask yourself the question 'What are the automatic trading algorithms doing over the weekend?'.
Some economists are suggesting that one factor which may be at play in the markets is the flood of government money injected into the system by Quantitative Easing. At the time the strategy was introduced it was admitted that nobody was quite sure how this cunning wheeze would play out and it is now clear that instead of the money going where it was intended to end up, as investment capital in industry, much of it stuck in the conduit of the banks and has been fuelling speculation on the exchanges. As one commentator said yesterday " A lot of money has been made in the markets by exploiting Austerity.....".

[Tizer]

As one commentator said yesterday " A lot of money has been made in the markets by exploiting Austerity.....".

This was the subject of a recent BBC web site article and TV programme, both by Michael Robinson...
`How much use is a magic money tree anyway?' Web article
`Shaking the Magic Money Trees' TV programme
The summary of the TV programme is:
During last year's general election, Theresa May argued there was "No magic money tree" to pay for the things some voters wanted. Although she was chided for being unsympathetic to various worthy spending claims, a more fundamental criticism could have been levelled at the Prime Minister: There is indeed a Magic Money Tree!! Since the financial crisis, no less than £435billion of new money has been created through the policy of "quantitative easing", equivalent to a fifth of Britain's annual GDP. In this programme, financial journalist Michael Robinson finds out what happened to this staggering sum of money, and evaluates its effect on the lives of us all.

With the help of expert testimony, Robinson explains how this controversial policy works, effectively creating money at the push of a button. But as he also finds out, the new funds are only indirectly injected into the wider economy, typically through big institutional investors lending to companies. Few of these transactions, it turns out, have involved the kind of 'real world' investment that might be expected to stimulate the productive economy and generate growth. Indeed, almost all of them have been within the financial sector itself, and many people argue that the returns on QE have been astonishingly small.

Moreover, the influx of cash has inflated the price of assets, and led to a relative widening of the gap between rich and poor, which now threatens to upset our economic and political order. Even QE's deliberate objective to lower interest rates has also served to make homes and shares more expensive, while those already holding such assets have seen the greatest benefit. Britain's own 'Magic Money Tree' might have saved the economy from meltdown almost a decade ago, but it seems its many side-effects might have been far less beneficial.

[plaques]

Even QE's deliberate objective to lower interest rates has also served to make homes and shares more expensive, while those already holding such assets have seen the greatest benefit.

Then the next move is to increase inflation by increasing interest rates but at the same time keep wages below the inflation rate, similar to what we have at the moment, then paradoxically the Governments earnings will increase. This is because the government debt will be eroded as the value of the £ drops. Those at the top win again while those at the bottom get pushed farther down. In this topsy turvy world of finance its better to borrow money and exchange it for assets than to save and hold as cash.

[chinatyke]

But don't worry, Mrs May is at the helm.

You could do a lot worse!

Someone would have to try bloody hard!

... but Labour and JC would succeed!

Stop whingeing and get on with making the Kingdom great again.

[PanBiker]

... but Labour and JC would succeed!

Stop whingeing and get on with making the Kingdom great again.

We will but without that "bloody awkward woman"

I'll get you a bigger wooden spoon for Christmas China.

[Tripps]

Perhaps time to regain a sense of proportion here - amidst all this talk of austerity, poverty, and the one per cent etc. Here are some people who have real poverty. They have to pay for their children to go to school, and have no 'free at the point of need' health care, no housing benefit, no Employment Support Allowance , no Job Seeker's Allowance,no Carers benefits, etc etc.

Lend With Care

I've mentioned them before, and members seemed to think it was a 'good thing'. Well - I've made two loans: one of them has repaid in full over two years, whist the other, after prompt payments for a year has stopped repaying. They were both in Vietnam, and we were warned before Christmas that the effects of the latest hurricane had been particularly severe, and some clients may not be able to keep up their payments. That's fine by me.

[chinatyke]

I'll get you a bigger wooden spoon for Christmas China.

Thanks.

[Stanley]

David.... Good Man! Proper use of capital and directed at the target.
P has the economics sorted out, I hadn't realised that cunning wheeze existed.
China doesn't need a bigger wooden spoon, he's doing quite well with the one he has.....

[Tizer]

... and some clients may not be able to keep up their payments.

Some might have lost their homes or even died in the hurricane!

And here in the UK we have the Daily Express warning us of a `Killer Freeze'. They must have a bit of software that automatically inserts `Killer' in front of every headline. `Killer parrot escapes from zoo' etc! The Express doesn't need to employ a cartoonist, their headlines do the job instead.

[Tripps]

I'm watching the Dow Jones Average collapse. It has fallen from -500 pts down, to -1100 points down, in the last ten minutes or so. Still falling. . . .

PS now 1300 down. People are trying to explain it -

Ps now down 1500 points. Hold onto your hats . . .

[Stanley]

The analysts say there is no cause for concern, it is an expected correction. However... tell that to the Asian markets! (LINK)
The first of the energy saving bulbs I ever bought conked out this morning. I thought they were meant to last a lot longer.....

[PanBiker]

The first of the energy saving bulbs I ever bought conked out this morning. I thought they were meant to last a lot longer.....

If it was a CFL (Compact Fluorescent), yes they were marketed as such but in effect were only reworked miniaturised existing technology. I think I only have one left, a very inefficient one with a slow warm up on the stairs. Just about every other lamp in the house is now based on LED technology, They still fail but have much better output. Failure is usually down to the control circuitry or lamp connection if on bayonet.

[Tizer]

Tripps, stock market falling...they've been reading OGFB! We've were predicting it last week.

Later...this caught my eye and it's worth bringing to everyone's attention (although I don't know if our Aussie friends will have the same trouble). It's a story on the BBC site last week about a woman who was fined £600 for putting a cardboard box in the wrong bin. Sounds like a bit of hype and an odd one-off incident? Not so. More incidents have been reported in the press. And it involves yet another of our favourite companies, 3GS.
`Hove businesswoman's waste error leads to £600 fine' LINK
She works from home and the news report says: "Ms Mapletoft said a large square box containing cushions delivered to a PO box used by her business was broken up by her husband and disposed of in a communal recycling bin. She then received a fine of £300 for fly-tipping and a second £300 fine for not having a waste disposal contract in place after 3GS traced her via the address label on the packaging." If we still had our small home business it could have happened to us. Another example is a man who put some wrapping in a street waste bin and it had his address on - he got a hefty fine too. Apparently about 50 councils now subcontract waste control measures to companies like 3GS who typically go at it in full attack mode, no prisoners taken, shoot on sight. It's reminiscent of the subcontracting of parking control and it also reminds me of of my own recent experience of over-zealous application of fines. It's like we're heading for a police state, not by the ultra right wing but by local councils via subcontractors. Vladimir Putin would understand the methodology. Get someone else to do the dirty work for you. I'm being very careful about disposing of my waste so I can avoid the gulag!

[Stanley]

Tiz, about a year ago the council accused me of fly-tipping because a piece of paper with my address on had appeared in a litter bin. I rang them, talked to the council officer and convinced him that I wasn't a serial fly-tipper. Glad it wasn't an outsourced firm!
What grabbed me was the fact that Tinternetwebthingy was AWOL and has just come back on at 5AM. Jack and I are going for a walk......
Another thing that grabbed me was the fact that my new all singing, all dancing Panasonic Inverter microwave was acting up. It was cutting out when it shouldn't and the outer case gets too hot to put your hand on. I rang Garlic's and they came immediately to take it away for testing. They said it would be straight back but I haven't heard from them. I think I might have been right and they have found a fault.

[Tizer]

I'm glad you escaped the fly-tipping accusation, Stanley. In a small park near here there is a shallow ditch with a stream that runs at this time of year. The council used machinery to trim back the vegetation in autumn but they left all the waste plastics and drinks cans in the sides of the ditch. If I collected it up and put it in a waste bin I'd probably get a fine for hundreds of pounds!

I've seen a photo today of Theresa May's `Brexit cabinet sub-committee' who are meeting today to "to sketch out what the future relationship between the UK and EU might look like". I counted about 30 people sitting at the table and there's probably more out of camera view. How can they expect to get anything done in meetings of 30 people?

[Stanley]

Impossible Tiz. When ICI were first formed by amalgamating a lot of chemical companies together and took all the directors onto the new board. They soon found out that it was a very bad idea!
Garlick's man has just brought my microwave back. He told me I was quite right, it was a bad fault. They found the cooling fan inside was seized up and they have had to replace it. He said we'd caught it in time, nothing has fried!

[Tripps]

A follow up to the 'Lend with Care' situation - see above - I got this email yesterday

I am emailing about your loan(s) to Bui thi Toan, in Vietnam. Unfortunately, due to the repeated typhoons that hit this part of Vietnam at the end of last year, they have been struggling to make repayments on their loan and our local microfinance partner has decided to restructure their loan repayment schedule. You may have noticed that you have not received loan repayments from Bui thi Toan for the last couple of months. We have agreed with our partner in Vietnam, MACDI, to pause repayment for 12 months until they have had the opportunity to rebuild their livelihoods after the typhoon.

I've told them to forget about it. I'll survive, and I hope she does too.

[Stanley]

I hope they tell her that as well. You are building treasures in heaven David. Lovely!
Microwave is fine now. I have realised that the fan never worked from day one. No good having more functions than a space rocket if something as basic as that is wrong!
I am slightly behind with THIS but Tuesday was the 60th anniversary of the Munich Crash which killed many of the Busby Babes. Can it really be that long ago?