I've just received an email from our local garden centre telling me that the Christmas grotty tickets are on sale from 1st September.

I have noted it in my diary because I just can't miss it 😝

Looking back at the Afghanistan debate in Parliament yesterday it became very obvious that the Government have more than a problem with Afghanistan, they have a problem with wearing masks.

As far as I know the rules still require you to wear masks in crowded places - personally I'm not ready to sit in a theatre or cinema, let alone a crowded Parliament building - without a mask.

Sadly it appears that Government do not follow the rules as well as the Opposition do!

https://uk.yahoo.com/news/britain-biggest-bike-lane-leaves-182118667.html

Kim has been having a bit of a hard time during the last couple of years.
She was caring for her partner Peter up to the day he died and on that day, she married him.

Last year she suffered a stroke and whilst in hospital trying to recover, caught Covid for a second time.

She is still coming to terms with all that has happened but is having to keep herself going with very little income.

Peter was an artist and has left Kim with quite a few paintings and sketches which she is now selling to bring in an income.

I bought one which I was lucky to have delivered in person by Kim. We managed to pass a pleasant hour or two in the garden with cake and coffee (or in my case tea).

If you would like to view the paintings Kim still has, please look at her profile page for contact details. There is currently a discount available which is better than the profile mentions.

https://www.scooploop.com/user/KimB

I had a new fridge freezer delivered today by AO
they damaged my vinyl kitchen flooring in several small places, they did not put the spacers on the back so it was touching the wall and I had to pull it out myself [although couldn't fit spacers].
Disappointed as before AO have been very good.

Way back in January I purchased two coach tickets for £136.00 for a local Christmas Spectacular at Thursford. Because of my wifes deteriorating condition which meant that she would not be able to get onto the coach or be able to see the show when we got there, so I decided to cancel .
I phoned the company and asked to cancel, they did say could I give them away but I thought that I would rather not have the hassle and cancel anyway, I asked what the cancellation fee was and he said he didn’t know so I cancelled anyway. Big mistake!!!
Today I recieved a cheque for £45.00 ! the cancellation charge was £91.00 and they had 132 days to resell the tickets for a highly sought after show.
I am livid.

2 barristers investigating old cases where the person was hanged to see if there was a miscarriage of justice.

Some of them are back in the 1800s when things were so different.

Anyone watching?

It's being considered that free prescriptions should be linked to retirement age.

What do you think?

A reptile centre employee in Utah, was pulled into a pool in an alligator enclosure.

Not for the faint-hearted!

https://m.facebook.com/100001851461129/videos/1023296364876441/

Taken from RAC Newsletter

"Money-grab" - Sadiq Khan plans to increase London’s red route fines to £160

PA Images

6th Aug 2021

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Drivers could soon have to part with even more cash after Transport for London (TfL) launched a consultation on hiking the maximum fine on the capital’s red routes by £30.

This follows an announcement last week that the increased Congestion Charge of £15 – at first thought to be temporary – will remain in place.

RAC head of roads policy Nicholas Lyes condemned the recent move, labelling it a “money-grab” and expressing concerns that Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is “waging a war on drivers and businesses that rely on their vehicles”.

An increase in fines for red route offences – along with others such as blocking yellow box junctions, breaking parking rules, performing illegal turns and driving in bus lanes – would mean motorists forking out a maximum penalty charge notice (PCN) of £160, up from £130.

Red routes are London’s most important roads. Although they only make up 5% of the total road length, they carry more than 30% of the capital’s traffic.

In a statement, TfL said: “Fines would be reduced to £80 if paid within 14 days. All income from PCNs is re-invested by TfL, to cover the cost of enforcement and schemes to reduce road danger.”

The public consultation – launched on TfL’s website – will collate people’s opinions on the PCN changes via a survey until 19 September 2021. If the increase in fines goes ahead it will be the first rise in 10 years, which TfL says would be “in line with inflation”.

It also says increasing fine amounts for offences such as illegal parking will deter motorists from breaking rules and therefore prevent the obstruction of “vital deliveries and collections”, as well as reduce delays for buses and emergency services.

Siwan Hayward, TfL’s director of compliance and policing, said: “London’s network of red routes plays a vital role in keeping people moving across the capital and it’s really important that everybody follows the rules that are in place to keep roads clear and people safe.

“We’d much rather people follow the rules than fine them, and the proposed increase in fine is intended to increase compliance with the rules and make streets safer, cleaner and less congested for everyone.

‘I’d urge people to have their say on these proposals and we welcome all feedback on our plans.”

Is murder on the increase? Very little media coverage apart from the Plymouth tragedy.
I don't think we can compare the figures in the last 2 years due to the pandemic and lockdowns.
This is just the situation in the Metropolitan police area.
Should we be worried?
https://news.met.police.uk/latest_news/tag/murder

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMR8yTEKW/

Having blocked several numbers recently, I'm now wondering what happens when one of them tries to ring me.

Does the phone just ring at their end or do they get a message saying they are blocked or the number can't be reached?

Do not buy anything from this company. We bought some fruit trees and now we are getting calls every day. I don't answer but I check the numbers online.

There are loads of complaints about scam calls from them about all different things. One is about a motoring club which they sign you up to whether you want it or not.

From today ifwe've been in contact with a case of Covid we no longer have to isolate and a PCR test is only advised.

I can just see all employers insisting people go to work regardless.

It's really worrying to think how cases might explode. Wouldn't it have been better to cut isolation to maybe 5 days? I know it can take longer to show up but it surely would help to minimise risk.

Does anyone else feel this is a really scary course of action?

My first attempt went wrong so I closed it - could not delete it.

He loved his job. Driving a train had been his dream ever since he was a child. He loved to make the train go as fast as possible. Unfortunately, one day he was a little too reckless and caused a crash. He made it out, but a single person died. Well, needless to say, he went to court over this incident. He was found guilty, and was sentenced to death by electrocution. When the day of the execution came, he requested a single banana as his last meal. After eating the banana, he was strapped into the electric chair. The switch was flown, sparks flew, and smoke filled the air - but nothing happened. The man was perfectly fine.

Well, at the time, there was an old Bulgarian law that said a failed execution was a sign of divine intervention, so the man was allowed to go free. Somehow, he managed to get his old job back driving the train. Having not learned his lesson at all, he went right back to driving the train with reckless abandon. Once again, he caused a train to crash, this time killing two people. The trial went much the same as the first, resulting in a sentence of execution. For his final meal, the man requested two bananas. After eating the bananas, he was strapped into the electric chair. The switch was thrown, sparks flew, smoke filled the room - and the man was once again unharmed.

Well, this of course meant that he was free to go. And once again, he somehow managed to get his old job back. To what should have been the surprise of no one, he crashed yet another train and killed three people. And so he once again found himself being sentenced to death. On the day of his execution, he requested his final meal: three bananas.

"You know what? No," said the executioner. "I've had it with you and your stupid bananas and walking out of here unharmed. I'm not giving you a thing to eat; we're strapping you in and doing this now." Well, it was against protocol, but the man was strapped in to the electric chair without a last meal. The switch was pulled, sparks flew, smoke filled the room - and the man was still unharmed. The executioner was speechless.

The man looked at the executioner and said, "Oh, the bananas had nothing to do with it. I'm just a bad conductor."

I would love to see these,

Iridescent clouds happen because of diffraction – a phenomenon that occurs when small water droplets or small ice crystals scatter the sun's light. ... Cloud iridescence is relatively rare. The cloud must be thin and have lots of water droplets or ice crystals of about the same size.

Bad taste or an error of judgement

https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2021-08-15/banksy-mural-featuring-an-inflatable-dinghy-removed-from-gorleston

Mary had lunch with 2 of her unmarried friends. Joan is engaged,Sinead is a mistress, and she, the third one, had been married to Pablo for 20+ years.
They were chatting about their relationships and decided to amaze their men by greeting them at the door wearing a black bra, stiletto heels and a mask over their eyes. They agreed to meet in a few days to exchange notes. Here’s how it all went.
Her engaged friend Joan: The other night when my boyfriend came over he found me with a black leather bodice, tall stilettos, and a mask. He saw me and said, ‘You are the woman of my dreams…I love you.’ Then we made passionate love all night long.
The mistress Sinead: 'Me too! The other night I met my lover at his office and I was wearing a raincoat, under it only the black bra, heels and mask over my eyes. When I opened the raincoat he didn’t say a word, but he started to tremble and we made wild love all night.'
Then Mary had to share her story: 'When my husband Pablo came home I was wearing the black bra, black stockings, stilettos and a mask over my eyes.
When he came in the door and saw me he said, “What’s for dinner, Zorro?”'

Kick off is 4.30pm so you have until 4.pm to make a prediction.
Good luck.

The BBC show us how we can be scammed by online fraudsters

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/b2538e04-87f5-4af5-bd6f-f6cf88b488c4

This Australian con artist pretended she had several cancers as millions of followers bought her book and cheered her on believing
her every word.

Once again I am battling to get to sleep tonight. So I thought it would be fun to.list all of the symptoms my Covid visitor has given me so far!
1. Headache - for the first 48 hours I had the migraine sharp pain mixed with the flu foggy dull pain headache from hell. Nothing touched it.one of the worst ones I've had.
2. Severe stomach cramps- second worst one. Felt like a sharp case of food poisoning
3. Aches and pains in joints and back. A lot like flu
4.temp flinging from hot to cold then back again.
5.insomnia -just cannot sleep at all
6. Itchy skin- very annoying
7.everything tastes funny like iron tea
8.weirdest one for me- terrible Vertigo that felt like I was drunk !
Am off to make tea... Will add any others as they come lol

Long ago, Steve the farmer, out in his pasture in, took a lightning-quick kick from a cow... right in his crotch; writhing in agony, he fell to the ground.
As soon as he could manage, he took himself to the village doctor. He said, "How bad is it Doc? I'm getting married next week and my fiance, Mary, is still a virgin - in every way."
"Well I'll have to put it in a splint to let it heal, and keep it straight." Said the doctor. "It should be okay next week, but leave it on there as long as you can."
He took four tongue depressors and formed a little 4 sided splint, and roped it all together. Quite an impressive work of art.
Steve mentioned none of this to Mary, married her, and celebrated all night drinking. After the feast, he carried her to his house.
As they got inside, Mary ripped open her blouse to reveal her beautiful, untouched breasts. She said, "Steve...you're the first one! NO one has EVER seen these."
Steve dropped his pants and replied, "Look at this Mary. Still in the packing !

The nearest I got to Haiti after the 2010 earthquake which killed 200,000 people was the Dominican Republic, the country which shares the island of Hispaniola. I remember at the time (a year or so after), hearing tragic stories about the effects of the quake.

Today, once again Haiti has been hit by a large earthquake and the death toll is mounting.

The first reports I heard had a figure of 29. A few hours on and the figure officially stands ar 227.

There is one thing we can be confident about and that is that the toll will continue to rise into the thousands and probably well beyond.

Where there is disaster striking a nation where poverty abounds, the human cost will be massive.

My thoughts are with those who have lost friends and relatives through an act of nature which nobody could prevent.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-58215631

This SL page is from the BBC News feed. It is an important read for anyone who has not heard the term 'incel', or has but hasn't realised what it means or its growing importance. This was ultimately the motivation behind the Plymouth shooting.



https://www.scooploop.com/thread/incels-a-new-terror-threat-to-the-uk

Can you predict the score in tonight's televised Premier League match between Norwich and Liverpool?
Kick off is at 5.30pm so you have until 5pm to make your prediction.
At 5pm I will publish the odds for everyones prediction and that is how many points you will get based on an imaginary £1 bet.

The police gave the murderer his gun licence back only a few weeks ago

https://news.sky.com/story/plymouth-shooting-devon-and-cornwall-police-to-be-investigated-over-jake-devisons-shotgun-licence-12380872

The current situation in Afghanistan is largely due to foreign interference from a variety of sources, going back to the nineteenth century. The British division of Pushtun tribes between India and Afghanistan started calls for an independent Pushtunistan, leading Pakistan to encourage a rival Islamist movement to avoid losing territory.

This article from 2002 gives a detailed and fascinating explanation of events. It is not short, but worth reading if you want to understand how we got to here. It should be a lesson to politicians not to interfere.
https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/who-responsible-taliban

Broke my heart to hear a 5 year old was one of the victims. My thoughts with all of the families.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-58197414

How long before we go back in again?

https://metro.co.uk/2021/08/12/taliban-gain-territory-in-afghanistan-as-they-seize-girls-to-wed-15078078/

After having dug to a depth of 10 feet last year, Canadian scientists found
Traces of copper wire dating back 200 years and came to the conclusion that
Their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 150 years ago.
Not to be outdone by their neighbours, in the weeks that followed, an American Archaeologist dug to a depth of 20 feet, and shortly after, a story published in the New York Times:
"American archaeologists, finding traces of 250-year-old copper wire, have concluded that their
Ancestors already had an advanced high-tech communications network 50 years earlier than the Canadians".
One week later, the British authorities reported the following:
"After digging as deep as 30 feet in North Yorkshire, Jack Arkwright, a self-taught archaeologist, reported that he found absolutely f*** all.
Jack has therefore concluded that 250 years ago, Britain had already gone wireless."
Just makes you bloody proud to be British, don't it!

Australia's government actually think they can get Covid-19 down to zero cases by having full lockdowns in any State where there are new cases.
An Australian newspaper journalist gave an example of how strict they are being on GB News last night. The state of Victoria has a donut day (0 cases) and people were allowed out the next day. Around lunchtime there was a case, and by 6pm there were 6 cases and the State governer went on tv to announce Victoria was going back into lockdown from 8pm. That's for just 6 cases, not deaths.
The journalist and a friend went to the pub for the final 2 hours of freedom until they had to leave. As they walked home there was armed mounted police patrolling the streets.

There is also the Australian Olympic team being treated worse than criminals. They had to do 14 days hotel quarantine on arrival in Sydney, and then those that live in South Australia will have to do another 14 days hotel quarantine in Adelaide.

A Husband and Wife are in church listening to a very long and drawn out sermon

After quite a bit of time, the wife gets tired and dozes off. The husband notices this and goes to poke her with his finger to wake her up. At the same time, the priest asks a question to the audience.

"Who freed the slaves from Egypt?"

"GOD" Exclaimed the wife to the husband, very irritated at being woken up.

Some time later and the wife once again dozes off. This time the husband goes to wake her up right as the priest asks:

"Who gave their life for our sins?"

"JESUS CHRIST" Snapped the wife, once again irked at being awoken by a jab from the husband.

The sermon continues and, as is no surprise, the wife dozes off once more. Again the husband notices and pokes her to wake her up as the priest asks:

"What did Eve say to Adam after they had their last child?"

"I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU POKE ME WITH THAT THING ONE MORE TIME IM GOING TO TAKE IT AND SNAP IT IN HALF" 😳

The doctor said, "Paul, the good news is I can cure your headaches. The bad news is that it will require castration. You have a very rare condition, which causes your testicles to press on your spine, and the pressure creates one hell of a headache. The only way to relieve the pressure is to remove the testicles."
Paul was shocked and depressed. He wondered if he had anything to live for. He couldn't concentrate long enough to answer, but decided he had no choice but to go under the knife.
When he left the hospital he was without a headache for the first time in 20 years, but he felt like he was missing an important part of himself. As he walked down the street, he realized that he felt like a different person. He could make a new beginning and live a new life. He saw a men's clothing store & thought, "That's what I need - a new suit."
He entered the shop and told the salesman, "I'd like a new suit." The elderly tailor eyed him briefly and said, "Let's see ... size 44 long." Paul laughed, "That's right, how did you know?" "Been in the business 60 years!" Paul tried on the suit. It fit perfectly.
As Paul admired himself in the mirror, the salesman asked, "How about a new shirt?" Paul thought for a moment and then said, "Sure." The salesman eyed Paul and said, "Let's see, 34 sleeve & 16-1/2 neck." Again, Paul was surprised, "That's right, how did you know?" "Been in the business 60 years!"Paul tried on the shirt, and it fit perfectly.
As Paul  adjusted the collar in the mirror, the salesman asked, "How about new shoes?" Paul was on a roll and said, "Sure." The salesman eyed Paul's feet and said, "Let's see ... 9-1/2 E." Paul was astonished, "That's right, how did you know?" "Been in the business 60 years!" Paul tried on the shoes and they fit perfectly. He walked comfortably around the shop and the salesman asked, "How about some new underwear?"
Paul thought for a second and said, "Sure." The salesman stepped back, eyed Paul's waist and said, "Let's see... size 36."
Paul laughed. "Ah ha! I got you! I've worn size 34 since I was 18 years old." The salesman shook his head, "You can't wear a size 34. A size 34 underwear would press your testicles up against the base of your spine and give you one hell of a headache."

The BBC headline, as seen in the picture states "Father murdered confronting youths".

For clarity, it wasn't the man who killed the youths, it was he who was killed by them. Rather than leaving it doubtful as to who killed who, the simple word "whilst" after the word "murdered" would have made it clearer what the article was about.

Well I thought I would share my experience ! As some of you know, we had 10 close family members at an outdoor 1st Birthday party on the 4th. We all had lateral tests that were negative on that day.
On Friday 6th ,my daughters boyfriend did a lateral test to go to the gym and tested positive.He immediately booked a PCR test as he had a temperature and informed us all. We all did LFT and were all negative but all started to isolate for 10 days.
His pCR test came back on the 8th as inconclusive so he had another done. All of us still isolating.Today , his test came back positive. His app told him he had to isolate for 7 days.we all expected a ping.
My daughter got pinged and was told isolation for 10 days from today, one other family member got pinged and given 4 days, the rest of us no pings at all.We all have our app on so I don't know why.
Conclusion... since Friday, 9 of us could have been out spreading covid merrily amongst the public for 5 days, and 7 of us still aren't legally obliged to isolate as no ping(even though we all are)

About time too .........

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9838475/Government-860million-crack-developers-build-land-risk-flooding-UK.html

I haven't seen anyone vaping lately. Used to see lots of vape coming from car windows, lots of people walking vaping. Clouds of vape, now none, has it gone out of fashion, or because of the mask wearing. Though not a lot wearing masks now, so they could have gone back to vaping. But seems they haven't done so, not round here anyway.

A young girl Maggie, started  work in the village chemist shop.
She was very shy about having to sell condoms to the public. The owner was going on holiday for a couple of days and asked if she would be willing to run the shop on her own. She had to confide in him her worries about selling the contraceptives.

"Look," he said. "My regular customers don’t ask for condoms, they'll ask for a 310 [small] a 320 [medium] or a 330 [large]. The word condom won’t even be used.

The first day was fine but on the second day a black guy came in to the shop, put out his hand and said "350"....The girl panicked. She phoned the owner on his mobile and told him of her predicament.
" Go back in and check if he has a yellow bucket hanging between his legs" her boss told her.

She peeped through the door and saw the yellow bucket hanging between his legs. "Yes " she said " He's got one hanging there"....!
>
>
The boss said "Go back in and give him £3-50p.  He's the Window cleaner.

More elderly people conned from 'fraud team'.
Be careful who you are talking to, do not give your information out unless you know who you are talking to.
If you are a victim of fraud report it now!

PS. I've added the image from the Bromley Police website

The Important Things Life Teaches You...

~ 1 ~ Most Important Question

During my second month of nursing school, our professor gave us a pop quiz.

I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions, until I read the last one: "What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?"

Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade.

"Absolutely," said the professor. "In your careers you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say 'hello'. "I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.

~ 2 ~ Pickup in the Rain

One night, at 11:30 PM, an older African American woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway trying to endure a lashing rain storm. Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride. Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car.

A young white man stopped to help her - generally unheard of in those conflict-filled 1960s.

The man took her to safety, helped her get assistance and put her into a taxi cab. She seemed to be in a big hurry! She wrote down his address, thanked him and drove away.

Seven days went by and a knock came on the man's door. To his surprise, a giant console colour TV was delivered to his home. A special note was attached. It read: "Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes but my spirits. Then you came along. Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband's bedside just before he passed away. God bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving others."

Sincerely,

Mrs. Nat King Cole

~ 3 ~ Always remember those who serve

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10 year old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. "How much is an ice cream sundae?"

"Fifty cents," replied the waitress. The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied a number of coins in it. "How much is a dish of plain ice cream?" he inquired. Some people were now waiting for a table and the waitress was a bit impatient. "Thirty-five cents," she said brusquely.

The little boy again counted the coins. "I'll have the plain ice cream," he said. The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and departed. When the waitress came back, she began wiping down the table and then swallowed hard at what she saw.

There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies - her tip.

~ 4 ~ The Obstacle in Our Path

In ancient times, a king had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock.

Some of the king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the king for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the big stone out of the way.

Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables.

On approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. As the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the king indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway.

The peasant learned what many others never understand. Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve one's condition.

~ 5 ~ Giving Blood

Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at Stanford Hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare and serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, "Yes, I'll do it if it will save Liz."

As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the colour returning to her cheeks. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, "Will I start to die right away?"

Being young, the boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood.