WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Bodger]

One way to get around the flooding problem https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising_of_Chicago

[Tizer]

Very impressive, Bodger! Much of London would be flooded if it were not for the slow, natural raising of the ground level due to generations of people building on top of each others old houses, waste tips etc. When the Museum of London archaeologists dig for Roman remains they have to go down many metres to find them. Here in the Somerset Levels the land was owned by the Glastonbury monks a thousand years ago when it was all marshes and they started draining it so they could farm the land (the Romans had done a bit but the monks started it on a grand scale). The irony is that had they left it alone the rivers would have filled the marshes with silt by now and the ground level would have been high enough to not need draining and wouldn't be flooding!

[Tripps]

I've been watching the Chess World Championship for a few evenings now, and it has been really hard work. Seven consecutive draws, and about as entertaing as England in the soccer World Cup. The commentators are on a different planet to we ordinary mortals both being super Grand Masters. I gave up last night, and found today that there had been a win, and I missed it.
Mr Magnus Carlsen actually lost! That doesn't happen very often. Maybe it will liven up now?

If this has got your interest try clicking here Chessat 7.00 pm.

Not tonight though - it's a rest day.

[Stanley]

Tiz, exactly the same process that occurs when you put a dam in for a watermill on an alluvial plain. The build up from the vegetation raises the ground level above the level of the weir in time.
In another part of the forest.... Trump doing a quick reverse ferret on many of his election promises. Reality is biting I think.

[PanBiker]

Three scam calls today from the same source 002040639213, purporting to be from the TPS but asking for bank and credit card details. The callers have your name and postcode. The calls originate in Egypt, the who called me database has the following:

Who called me

They have already been reported so if they call again I will congratulate them on winning the competition for their choice of a new kitchen or bathroom and ask for their details to cover the admin charges of their win. More fun than shouting at them. Further calls will get my Russian reply.

[Stanley]

I've had three purporting to be from Talktalk. I just tell them they are thieves and hang up.

[LizG]

Yesterday we had one by snail mail from Malaysia. Apparently we had won $180,000 and all we had to do was call them and give them our details. Their blurb showed a beautiful hotel and when we looked at the address on google earth it was a manky old garage in a very bleak looking area.

Needless to say we just binned it.

[Tizer]

Since the EU Referendum we've had a hike in scam phone calls and get them several times a day now. Some hang up as soon as I answer. Some are `from Microsoft to repair my computer. Others want me to do surveys. And so on. No wonder there are so many people falling for scams and losing all their money or worse. Identity theft has reached a new high with people finding everything to do with their ID has been stolen, nothing belongs to them any more, they're a non-entity. The criminals get started by stealing letters from people's outdoor post boxes and carry on from there.

[Wendyf]

We have started to get calls from people offering us a maintenance contract on the solar panels.
Col is looking for a new TV at the moment and found exactly what he was looking for on Amazon Marketplace, but soon realized it was a scam when they asked for payment direct into their bank account and the wording wasn't quite right.

[Big Kev]

We have started to get calls from people offering us a maintenance contract on the solar panels.
Col is looking for a new TV at the moment and found exactly what he was looking for on Amazon Marketplace, but soon realized it was a scam when they asked for payment direct into their bank account and the wording wasn't quite right.

Tesco in Burnley were selling 50" Blaupunkt tvs for £249.99

[Wendyf]

He was looking for a 40 inch Kev, but came home from Richer Sounds in Blackburn yesterday with a 43 inch LG. He is very pleased with it but will struggle to fit it in the space available.

[Big Kev]

He was looking for a 40 inch Kev, but came home from Richer Sounds in Blackburn yesterday with a 43 inch LG. He is very pleased with it but will struggle to fit it in the space available.

I'm sure he'll make it fit...

[Stanley]

The Talktalk scammers have been very active as well....
Will it all be finished for Xmas Wendy? How's Dennis doing on the new regime....

[Wendyf]

The Talktalk scammers have been very active as well....
Will it all be finished for Xmas Wendy? How's Dennis doing on the new regime....

I'm sure it will be finished by Xmas, Colin needs a long break!
Not sure about Dennis, he seems much better on his feet and I have been able to give him an hour outside in a small enclosed area. You should have seen him leaping in the air with sheer joy...he wanted to gallop but there was no room so he went up instead. I am seeing how he goes on with a reduced dose of anti inflammatories.

[Tizer]

A couple of fun pics to brighten up Black Friday. The first is a bit of lavatory humour from Picture Postcard Monthly. It's an old postcard but always seems to be relevant for some reason that escapes me! The second is a danger sign on a rough track in the African Karoo travelled by astronomers to reach a remote observatory. Taken from Popular Astronomy magazine.

[Stanley]

Colin is a treasure. Every home should have one! I can see Dennis doing his freedom dance! Lovely.
Tiz, postcard jokes are usually good ones.... I like both of those.
My attention was grabbed by incoming news...... I'll reveal all next week...... I am under embargo!
The terrible revelations about football coaching and abuse.

[Tizer]

Half of the news media say that Black Friday was a flop for the shops, no queues, not much spending, although it was better online. The other half say it was a `spending frenzy', to quote one front page headline. You don't know who to believe these days.

Perhaps it's because all those poor people in cities are suffering from `nature deficit disorder', or NDD, which the BBC says has become a buzzword (it hasn't buzzed around here, perhaps due to me paying attention to the real life buzzing about outside). LINK We're very good at inventing disorders!
-----------------------------------

Nothing on the web yet but a diver doing a routine reconnaissance for a fishing trip has found an object on the sea bed off Dominica (?) that appears to be a missing atomic bomb. The Canadian government are sending a vessel to investigate.

An article from Saturday's Independent relates the story but I wonder if it's true or just somebody having a joke on Guy Fawkes Day? LINK

All is revealed here: Missing nuclear bomb?

[Stanley]

Thanks for that Tiz. Very satisfying to know the truth. I don't like people like Mr Septer who stated categorically it wasn't a bomb when he had no firm evidence. If, as in this case, he guesses right he immediately becomes an expert.......
The variety of views on Fidel Castro.

[Tizer]

I snapped this Red Admiral butterfly enjoying the sunshine in our Somerset garden today, 28th November!

[Stanley]

It won't be happy this morning. I don't know about you but we have a hard frost to welcome Margaret!
You all know what's got my full attention......

[Stanley]

No change, my attention is fully focussed on Derbyshire!

[David Whipp]

Hope temperature in Derbyshire is a bit warmer...



Frost rimed foliage yesterday.

[Tizer]

Just announced on the BBC web site:
In a series of tweets on Wednesday, Mr Trump said: "I will be holding a major news conference in New York City with my children on December 15 to discuss the fact that I will be leaving my great business in total in order to fully focus on running the country in order to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! "While I am not mandated to do this under the law, I feel it is visually important, as President, to in no way have a conflict of interest with my various businesses. "Hence, legal documents are being crafted which take me completely out of business operations. The Presidency is a far more important task!"

I wonder how long it will be before he changes his mind?

[Stanley]

I wonder about his command of English. "Visually important"???? I heard that as well and wondered if he meant 'vitally'.....
The fact that at the moment the temperature gradient of the Isles is reversed, 9C in the far north and sub-zero in Somerset!
I've decided to declare it as Friday today! In view of the fact I might get word I am required in Derbyshire tomorrow I shall give Kath at the butcher's a surprise and go a day early. If I do have an early start in the morning this will be one job out of the way..... It make menu problems easier as well.

[Tizer]

I...9C in the far north and sub-zero in Somerset!

I don't know about the far north but I can confirm it's sub-zero in Somerset again this morning, and with freezing fog too!