WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Whyperion]

I think I spend the most in Shambles - useful cleaning products cheaper and better value than poundland. Went trying for an Afternoon Sunday tea but everywhere was closed, I forgot about the marina and could not pull up in time, went over to Embsay railway that had a vintage weekend on (mainly traction engines large and small), as we were not travelling on the train and most folk had packed up and gone home there was no charge for a platform ticket, the tea room staff very helpful, though the traction engine lads had cleared them out of bacon butties over the weekend so selection was limited but we managed. Found a chap associated with the engineering side and arranged for him to come over to Burnley- where he was working, to collect some hand and power tools and nuts/ screws I found from a deceased estate which was duly done on the Monday lunchtime- happy all round I think.

If anyone wants some polyfiller (10 years old) or a jar of wood turpentine let me know I am in Burnley for another 10 days.

[Stanley]

That's who I had in mind Tiz... Frankie Howerd.
I heard that report about the Trump golf course and the rescinding of SSSI status. Entirely predictable of course and just one more example of a developer blinding the planner's eyes by promising economic advantage. I'll bet that fell short of ideal as well!
I heard an interesting interview with a former ambassador to Russia about the current froideur in UK/Russian relations due to the Skripal affair in Salisbury. He was worth listening to. I often think that the West has never really fully understood the Russian mind-set, they treat them like Europeans when a large segment of their thinking is more Eastern and even Oriental. This could be why statements such as the ones he made yesterday about the death of Liberalism and the importance of religion are so misunderstood and dismissed. We may have to address this failing on our part one of these days!

[Bodger]

Stanley , an interesting read of a factual occurrence on becoming a marine engineer:-
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id= ... 1up&seq=21

[Tizer]

Our attraction was grabbed by a landline phone call at 08.20 this morning. Mrs Tiz took the call. A recorded message said something to the effect that our BT account had been compromised and used for fraudulent purposes. We must press 1 immediately for instructions. It went on to say that if we didn't do this the police would come to our house and arrest us. Of course, she didn't press the 1 button and she ended the call. It gives us some idea of how it feels to have an aggressive, official-sounding person demanding you do what they say on the phone. It's no wonder some people who are not mentally alert at the time might fall into the trap.

Oh, and the police haven't arrived yet!

[plaques]

Exactly the same message was sent to us about 3 weeks ago. but it was "your TalkTalk account that been compromised". Mrs P's comment " do they think we are fools"?

[Stanley]

Unfortunately yes! And the depressing thing is that even an obvious scam like that will be fallen for by someone somewhere.... I don't understand how money can be made from it.
The sad fact is that we can't trust anyone online or on the phone these days. Only defence is ignore all incoming and generate your own calls if necessary.
The latest stabbings in London..... See THIS Reuters report on the latest stabbings including the horrific killing of the pregnant woman and the delivery at the scene of her child who is in a critical condition.
Nothing to do with under-funding of course......

[Big Kev]

The sad fact is that we can't trust anyone online or on the phone these days. Only defence is ignore all incoming and generate your own calls if necessary.

You could use the call 'filtering' offered by most of the providers, a caller is required to identify themself before the call is put through to your phone, you then have the option to accept or reject the call after listening to the short message (usually their name) left by the caller. Any automated calls wouldn't get that far.

[PanBiker]

Yes, available on TalkTalk, we use that it's called Call Guard and can be enabled and managed by the user in their TalkTalk online account. Frequent and trusted callers can be added to the whitelist on the press of a button or directly via the account and they don't get challenged. Unknown callers and numbers do but you can choose to accept or reject, works very well. I get more unsolicited calls on my mobile than I do on the landline.

[Tizer]

And the depressing thing is that even an obvious scam like that will be fallen for by someone somewhere.... I don't understand how money can be made from it.

If you're referring to the call we received they make money from it as follows. When you press 1 you'll be told a tale about how the police have detected fraud at, for example, your bank or phone/broadband provider. They then go on to instruct how you'll need to quickly move your money to another special protected account - which of course they control and empty as soon as your money flows into it. If you say you're going to check with your bank first, they tell you to go ahead. But when you phone the bank you actually get the scammer because they've taken over your line and they can pretend to be the bank and get you to go through the motions of making the transfer. Another version of the scam is that they send a `plain clothes policeman' to your house who accompanies you to the bank where you draw out money and hand it to him or her. We all think `I'd never fall for that' but they're very clever, convincing and persuasive and many intelligent people have been conned. Unfortunately there are a lot of people who are too out of touch with the modern world and fall for these scams.

Another scam just started and being targeted at the elderly is where the scammer gets you to buy an item for them, typically expensive like a Rolex watch or high fashion garment or handbag etc and to hand it over to them. An example is where the scammer says he is investigating the sale of counterfeit goods through your bank and needs your help to catch the offender. Again, they're very convincing and Harrods security staff have had to set up team to try to prevent the purchases in their stores.

[Tripps]

The name 'Stormzy' is ,mentioned all the time on the BBC radio and TV at the moment. Seems he is the first black pop star, and the second youngest person ever, to headline Glastonbury. He appears to be but a short step away from a knighthood or even canonisation. Curiosity aroused - I checked him out on Youtube. I now know what Vossi Bop is.

This is the sort of stuff that used to be preceded by a warning - 'not suitable for those of a nervous disposition'. His supporters seem to amuse themselves by smashing up cars in the background, probably due to the reduction in youth services due to Tory austerity. If you really want to spoil your Sunday afternoon - get a copy of the lyrics.

I think it's called Grime music, and wasn't it suggested that it be banned a while ago as a precursor to knife crime? He's obviously very good at what he does, but I'll pass.
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[Big Kev]

Sorry to have to say this but, yes, you're being impatient! Have a look at the figures here: LINK According to that it could take up to 12 weeks in the north-west. Better get a beer and chill out!

One of our house viewers has booked a second viewing, that sounds promising.

[Stanley]

[Big Kev]

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Spotted in Harrogate Sainsbury this morning...

[Wendyf]

A friend was telling me yesterday that she had been using the "chat" option on a website to ask a question when the operator wrote " just bare with me a minute.." . She restrained herself the first time it happened but when asked again she couldn't resist responding with "I don't know what you are doing but I can assure you I'm not sitting here naked!"

[Tizer]

Perhaps the chat operator was just trying to brighten her day! I encountered a chat operator recently who wrote gobblegook and I had to tease out what he meant. I guess he was under so much pressure he was writing too fast.

Kev, I wonder if the lose/loose confusion is another one from America? I see it quite often now. (And good luck with your second viewing!)

Although it's a while since we had the summer solstice I notice that today is the halfway point of the calendar year. It's the 182nd day of the year with 183 to go.

[Stanley]

"Kev, I wonder if the lose/loose confusion is another one from America? I see it quite often now."
No! Just sloppy spelling whomsoever is doing it (for he had been to night school).
Well spotted Kev!
The installation of my new oven/grill. Nice and shiny and clean. The fact that Mick Horton, my Sparks 25 years ago had done good in that he gave enough length on the power lead to install it while the unit was sat on the floor. The fitter noted that as well. Also how relatively clean the inside of the kitchen unit that holds the appliance was after 25 years. I gave it a good scrub out anyway.....
The fact that I allowed myself to be distracted while brewing my coffee, bleaching my pot and cleaning the sink. I poured the bleach on top of the fresh ground coffee in the pot...... Then turned the air blue as I berated myself!

[Big Kev]

After being declared a total loss a few weeks ago my car sailed through an MOT with no advisories. I'm quite pleased with that

[PanBiker]

Excellent Kev

[Stanley]

Stuart Brown dropping in a gift of some mutton chops that a customer had given back word on. I've never charged him for a repair.... Bread on the waters!

[Wendyf]

A lamb with a tyre round it's neck .....mmmmm. Not sure how we can sort that one out!!

[Stanley]

Never heard of that before Wendy! I am sure you'll find a way.....
How nice it is when you realise that your immune system is on top of its job no matter what is thrown at it. Much improved again and must keep on top of water intake!
How a new book cheers one up...

[Wendyf]

It managed to extract itself by the time we got close! There was one stuck in the middle of the cattle grid the other day, they are too big to slip down below the grid now but too heavy to lift when you are balancing on narrow metal bars. Col has developed a technique of rolling them onto their sides and pulling them off. My friend and I came across one when we were out walking on Monday which was jammed between 2 metal gates that had been tied together with baler twine and a tricky knot. We got it free eventually but it was a bit crumpled!

[Stanley]

One is forced to ask where they come from?

[Wendyf]

One is forced to ask where they come from?

We are surrounded by them! Our field, the neighbours fields, lambs are everywhere and growing huge on all this grass.

[Stanley]

I meant the tyres!!!
What grabbed me this morning was the fact that I cut my finger with my new expensive potato peeler. That's a first!