WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Stanley]

Nice one Peter! I hadn't realised that roller mills were used for crushing the apples before pressing. Obvious really! I am now educated and will not make that mistake again.

[Stanley]

It was still light at 20:00 yesterday evening. It doesn't seem long since we were getting dark at 15:00 on an overcast day. And we aren't even into the warmer weather yet.

[Stanley]

What a good job I went veggie shopping in the Square yesterday at Chaudrey's. The greengrocery offering at the Co-op was miserable.....

[Tizer]

This is from 6 days ago and it's popped up again because of the Trump news today. It's interesting on both what the Russians have been doing but also on how to spot fakes...
`Fake Trump arrest photos: How to spot an AI-generated image' LINK

[Stanley]

Ah for the good old days when the camera never lied..... (It never was true, some of the most famous images in history are fakes, if you look up 'The Cottingley Fairies' you'll find it goes back a long way!)LINK.

[Big Kev]

Screenshot_20230401-085207_Facebook.jpg

[Tizer]

Could that just possibly be an April fool's Joke Kev?
How about this, advertised on the front page of today's FT?

[Big Kev]

Could that just possibly be an April fool's Joke Kev?

Surely not

[Tizer]

Well if it's genuine nip over there and collect it, it would look good in my rock collection!

[PanBiker]

Someone on Facebook is selling squirrel eggs, I need to find out where so I can get in the queue.

[Stanley]

I haven't been bothering with Formula One racing this year but Margaret has messaged me to say it's worth watching. I shall watch C4 at 12:30.

[Wendyf]

I shall be watching too Stanley, even qualifying was good yesterday. I'm trying to avoid news!

[Stanley]

Right! I can get back to my knitting now I've sorted that out. Race control was dire and are responsible for much of the carnage we have just seen. There will be some very angry people going for them I think.

[Wendyf]

Agreed, it was a stupid decision!

[Tripps]

I learned today of this organisation.

Circularity Scotland

Seems the boss is on £300,000 per annum. Think about that for a moment - that's about double what the Prime Minister gets for rather more responsibilty..

They go live in August. How on earth did the system of "threepence on the bottle" of my childhood ever function?

***********

I note also that Slough Council have declared bankruptcy with debt and black holes adding up to close to £1 billion.

Here are those responsible - they all look remarkably cheerful in the circumstances Council members

Looks like poor old James Swindlehurst has drawn the short straw to sort it all out.

Cippenham Green Labour & Co-Operative
Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Council Recovery, Forward Strategy & Econonomic Development

Best of luck with that Jim. . . . . . .

[Stanley]

I heard a radio report about 'Circularity Scotland' in which the salary of the CEO wasn't mentioned but I did wonder what all the fuss was about. All they did in the old days was put and extra 3d on the price to the retailer and give a credit for the number of empties collected by their driver when he collected the empties.
(Soda Syphons used to have an enormous deposit, I have and idea it got to 7/6 a syphon eventually.
(We used to pinch them and break them to get the tube out which was exactly the right bore for firing dried peas.....)
As for the Council debt, Private Eye cites several in the current issue. Most of them accruing the debt by speculating in the property market or setting up building companies to build social housing. All part of the politicians skilled handling of council funding and the needs of society.
(Remember the Tories; good with money!)

[Big Kev]

After initial plans to turn it into a home for vulnerable people, Langroyd Hall is back on the market. The current owners were tracked down and threatened with a compulsory purchase order, it seems this prompted them to put the listed building up for sale.
https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/n ... teriorate/

[Tripps]

(Remember the Tories; good with money!)

Slough actually has 35 Labour, 5 Tory, and 2 Independent councillors.
*****************

Later that same evening. . .

Just saw an advert for a house plant on Gumtree

"INDOOR WANDERING DUDE TRADESCANTIA GREEN HILL TRAILING HOUSE PLANT"

I wonder if it can play the Jaw's Harp?

[Stanley]

I fell for that one didn't I.

[Tizer]

It hit the wrong target - it should have been Trump Towers!
`Watch stunning EarthCam clip of NYC lightning strike' LINK

[Big Kev]

The efficiency of the Amazon chat facility. I ordered a new Firestick, as they're on offer at the moment (33% off), but it appears the payment was duplicated. Went through the chat facility, a couple of steps to get past the 'robot' and I was online with Shankar, a couple of checks at their end identified a 'glitch' in the system. Both payments are showing but are not processed yet so only one will be authorised, the other will just be cancelled. I'll keep an eye on my bank account just in case but am impressed with how quickly I got a response

[Tizer]

Ancestry has taken over the Forces War Records service... https://uk.forceswarrecords.com

[Stanley]

Margaret is on holiday at Brusselton in Western Australia. They are camping at the seaside. She complained this morning that it was cold and she had to wear a sweatshirt. I asked her if this meant she was suffering 23C but she replied it was worse than that, 22C! I told her my heart bleeds for her.....
Later.... 05:31. I've just had another message.... She has been into town and bought a hot water bottle.

[Cathy]

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE
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[Stanley]

Same to you Cathy......