WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[hartley353]

I can't quite get my head around the "bomb detector" scandal that has been dominating the news. I understand that a lot of the bogus devices were sold via bribery but at $5,000 each did no one ever think of testing one for effectiveness or even taking the lid off to see what was inside. Millions of pounds worth of sales, it beggars belief that the scam went on for so long and that they are still being used in Iraq. Sentencing to come, I hope they strip the crook of all his assets and then chuck the key away when he is locked up.

Caveat empter.

[hartley353]

Apologies Tizer I missed one of your replies. Many years ago I learnt never to preach to the converted,you must cease taking my postings to heart, this is an open forum and many may read it, some may even wish to be converted. ATB.

[Thomo]

GRITTING!! Much has been said about this locally, but now, someone's having a laugh. Last night the East Lancs Via Barlick , Ribble Valley Express Route was gritted, no frost! This morning it was swept! Now it has just been gritted again, and its raining! Who the hell is in charge of this operation? This is monumentally stupid and damned expensive!!

[Thomo]

And if that isn't bad enough, 15 minutes later, and it's just been gritted again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Marilyn]

What has attracted my attention?
Neighbour has gone out for the day...and has engaged the house alarm system. However she has left the windows closest to my place open...the wind has come up...and the movement of the curtains is obviously setting off the alarm. It is high pitched and nauseating. It runs for five minutes, then off for two, then runs for five minutes.
She has a little tiny dog. Hope she has taken it with her wherever she has gone, or I fear the poor thing will be dead.
I have my son's dog here today and she is not at all happy. Last I saw, she had put her head under the bean bag...

[Stanley]

Maz, annoying aren't they. I once hired a car and couldn't lock it because if I did the alarm started. Never did crack it!

[Tizer]

Maz, if it happens again ring the police and tell them your neighbour is being burgled - she's not at home, the window is open when it should be shut and the alarm is going. After all it really could be a burglar in there...that's what an alarm is for.

[Marilyn]

Tizzy...I climbed on our outdoor furniture and stuck my head over the fence...not to be a nosey neighbour but because I knew I would have a view of the entire back yard. Because the windows were open, I found I could see right through the entire house to the front door! No intruders in sight. Couldn't see the dog either, which is a toy pug. It was so windy, I could see the drapes billowing up and almost touching the ceiling.
I can't understand how people can go out leaving their house open to the elements and offering free entry to anyone who chooses to climb through a window. My house is like a Chubb safe when I go out.

[Tardis]

Water, electricity & the stocks

[PanBiker]

I wonder who did the risk assessment? Not quite joined up thinking there.

[David Whipp]

Outdoor rated electrical distro - used outside in the rain and protected by RCDs.

[Stanley]

I had visitors. David Tripps and his carer Maria called in. Good conversation, gifts exchanged and a nice visit. And all due to us meeting on OG seven years ago.
Then good snooker.... All in all a nice day!

[Nolic]

A dog that seems to think that 5.30am is the new 6.30. Never mind a good nights sleep so no problems. Nolic

[PostmanPete]

Some lovely photos of the St Georges Day event posted by Gus in the gallery.

[Stanley]

Comrade, when Jack goes for his 15:30 pee he always barks, can't stop him but first thing in the morning he is silent.

A snippet received from my mate Bob in St Louis. He does them for his students.

April 28, 2013 is the 87th birthday of Nelle Harper Lee, born in Monroeville, Alabama, in 1926, to Amasa Coleman Lee and Frances Cunningham Finch, a girl whose childhood experiences might well have inspired her to write her first and only novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961. It’s a good guess, for her father was a lawyer and once defended two black men, a father and son, against the charge of murder. Unsuccessfully. She was an unusual child with unusual friends, one of them Truman Capote, which gave her another of the Mockingbird characters, Dill. She had a tough time becoming a writer, helped along by the contribution of a year’s salary from New York friends (she had been working as a flight attendant). Coming when it did, and written by a southern white, the novel probably did much to contribute to the ongoing but still unfinished story of racial justice in America. In Richmond, Virginia, for instance, when the School Board banned the book as “immoral literature,” (!!!!) Lee immediately contributed money to a local fund set up by editor of the Richmond News Leader (in protest at the Board’s decisions) which she hoped would be used to enroll members of the Board in “any first grade of its choice.” Years later, when asked why she had never written again, she said “I have said what I wanted to say and will not say it again.”

[Tripps]

As above - visited Stanley on Saturday. After seven years of acquaintanceship on here, I thought about time we met, before it becomes too late.
A few details - phoned from the Coop car park for directions - "go up the steps half way down the car park wall, walk down Cooperation Street turn right, the left - I'm the green gate" Simples.
Welcomed at the gate, and entered the study. Unique doesn't even come close. There's an engineering factory in what should be the kitchen, and the rest is mainly a library, with work station, and with a large lathe in the corner of the front room. Wonderful.
Jack had now stopped barking - decided we were OK , and as predicted was now our new best friend.
Now had a pint mug of tea, and a great chat for about an hour. Gifts were exchanged. Let me know how you find it S since I have never tried it and wisely got a bottle for myself for later.

Then went up to the town centre. All mercifully close, since my mobility is not great at the moment, I saw a chap sitting on a bench whose face seemed vaguely familiar. He had a camera in his hand and a note book and pen by his side. That clinched it. "Excuse me - you wouldn't be Gus who puts pictures on the web would you?" I introduced myself, and all became clear to him. He recognized my name, but said he didn't get on OGFB so much lately as he didn't get on too well with the new format. I told him I missed his photos, as they usually had happy smiling people in them. He said "I'm just a snapper not a photographer". I said -" keep on snapping". A memorable five minutes.

We then crossed into the Town Square, and they had put on a really impressive welcome for us. a fairground, a bandstand with pop group, Morris dancers with black faces and feathers (who were they - any one know?), and lots of charity stalls, and all buzzing with people. Later found out it wasn't for us - it was for for some chap called Saint George.

I see Gus (or Angus as he now prefers), has put some pictures of the day on the site. I think I'm going to claim a bit of credit for that.

Great day - I was going to say a cross between finding the Wizard of Oz and bathing in the Ganges, but that's a bit fanciful isn't it.

[PanBiker]

The Morris Dancers were the Craven Flag Crackers Tripps. I was on the Town Square with Sally and our Granddaughter Isla. I see Gus has snapped us in typical style, he has more than 30,000 images in his flickr gallery online. His snapping is creating a fabulous social history and archive of individuals from the town. Sorry I missed you while you were about.

[Stanley]

David, nice report but remember that when Dorothy found the Wizard it transpired he was a fake..... I still say that one of my highlights was the fact that you have good taste in minders! Nice touch having the nouse to realise who Angus was... Will report on the box but keeping stum for reasons you'll appreciate in a while.
I've been watching the disaster in Dakar. There is a price to be paid for cheap clothing and if this is it it is too high. Primark have stated that they are supporting their workers and their families.This is the latest in many such cases in the industry but the advantage of the low price trumps worker safety.

[Nolic]

How worrying is it that police in England and Wales dealt with more than 10,000 serious violence offences without prosecutions or cautions last year........massaging the statistics to look as if levels have reduced?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22346971Nolic

[Tardis]

We made £150 for the Friends of Cravenside with our little bottle stall on Saturday.

Many thanks to all who played and took away all their winnings

[Tripps]

".massaging the statistics to look as if levels have reduced?"
I wasn't fully awake but I recall the Police rep was asked about this on Radio 4 this morning, and refuted the claim. He said all such incidents were recorded as crimes, and the crime statistics were not affected. He was called Peter Neyroud as I have since found out, and is Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police. He ought to be credible, though surprisingly, I can't see any reference to this on the BBC website.

[Stanley]

I listened to the report and both the informants agreed that it was disturbing that some cases like domestic violence had been dealt with this way but they are on the case.
Highlight yesterday was a surprise inspection by Daughter Janet. I got 90% for personal turnout but only 60% for house cleanliness....

[Marilyn]

You are looking well, Stanley.
Only 60% for cleanliness? Oh well...better than 55%. ( always look on the bright side)
Let her get the marigolds on and get on with it if it bothers her...
( so long as the loo was clean)

[Bodger]

An interesting story
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/style/ ... e/?hpid=z1

[hartley353]

It is now 55 years since the opening of the Barrage across the Rance estuary in brittany. This is the first and only barrage to be built in Europe,there is a total consensus that this was an ecological disaster, France has no wish to repeat this folly, and non of its neighbouring countries would follow in its footsteps. Why would any one wish to repeat this on our shores,and at a scale that makes rance look like a toy. Unless they have a total disregard for the ecology of our country, and can see no further than lining their pockets. This is something the populace of our country will not allow.