Early Risers.

[petethemole]

A new scam call this morning.  Apparently I need to confirm my purchase of an i-phone 7 worth £399 from Tesco.  No I don't.  The phone rang twice in rapid succession after that but one was a personal call and the next was to arrange my next diabetic review. 

 

I'm not a fan of any coffee other than a passable instant these days.  I used to have a vintage hand grinder, an electric one and several percolators, cafetieres and plain coffee pots, and was given/bought quality beans.  I could rarely get it to my taste and it was all too much faff for the end result.

 

Time to put their dinner on.

 

Stay elfy,

Pete

[laurenceb]

The last hmrc call I got displayed a 01283 number, ie Burton. It went dead when I presses any key, strange

[TheQ]

32 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Here.

Edinburgh Society of Model Engineers (ESME) Almondell 7¼” gauge Circuit drivers eye view: https://youtu.be/3SoJ6ihWWio

Edinburgh Society of Model Engineers (ESME) Almondell 5” & 3½” gauge circuit drivers eye view: https://youtu.be/ll13jSY9YGs

Edinburgh Society of Model Engineers Website: https://edinburgh-sme.org.uk/

 

Scottish Model Engineering Trust (SMET) Wester Pickston Drivers Eye View: https://youtu.be/6vSStE22Udg

Scottish Model Engineering Trust (SMET) Website: https://smet.org.uk/

That's an interesting looking site, well outside Edinburgh near Broxburn. Handily closer to my parents in Bo'ness. Something to visit when we're up that way..

 

Also closer to my sister who has spoken to the fish on many occasions, my sister is looking forward to retirement away from the civil service..

 

Pressing a button in response to these fake calls can cost you a lot of money, as it can redirect you to an expensive line...

 

A wasted day today, the trouble with this particular calibration is you  haven't any idea that there is anything wrong, till the end of the automatic runs and the results are processed.. A problem with a test lead means they were crap, try again for that next week..

 

I think it's time to open a bottle of red..

[polybear]

Bear had a Good Day today.

Washing done, door frame painted, wallpapering planned, wall tiles researched, washing up done, din dins done.....

 

And a telephone call from The Big Vet....

Well it seems that Bear managed to dodge a bullet that's been airborne and heading this way since early December - namely The Vet has confirmed that Bear has dodged the Big C, despite indications (and a CAT Scan) suggesting it; the results of the biopsies taken a few weeks back have come back negative. 

As to why Bear's weight dropped from 82Kg to 70Kg in six months, despite absolutely no attempt to do so (Warning:  four letter word coming......) and definitely no Diet, remains a mystery.  Absolutely no symptoms apart from the weight loss and the need to punch a few extra holes in Bear's belt.  If only Bear did know the cause, as it could be the perfect weight loss technique.....

Weight loss has now stopped and Bear hovers at 70/72Kg, and intent on staying there too (LDC permitting, naturally).

 

It has certainly focused Bear's attention for a while (and some) - I did wonder at times if actually getting the kitchen finished was still a possibility, and a visit to the shed one day left Bear thinking "sh1t, who's gonna sort this fuggin lot out?"

The next project, once the kitchen is out of the way, is to do some serious and ruthless clearing out.....

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. I know its a bit late in the afternoon but where did it go? Congratulations Polybear on your weight loss, jealous, moi? Yes I am as I have lost some weight but only about four or five Kg. I put it down to not going to Tess Coes on a daily basis and not being tempted by all those fattening things that make the scales scream for mercy. My BMI which I checked only yesterday is 29.7, still far to high but heading in the right direction.

[NGT6 1315]

Re scammers, they must indeed be sufficiently successful that they keep on trying. I’m reading about scams (attempts and successes alike) fairly regularly. Here, one of the methods they appear to prefer would be pretending things like a more or less relative having been arrested for supposedly having caused injury or death and requiring a major amount of money to be paid as bail. 

[pH]

I’ve just spent an interesting hour or so skimming through the 72 pages of a great-uncles WW1 military records on a Canadian government website. The stored records are scans of paper documents and, since almost all of the information is handwritten, they’re not too easy to read. However, there is a lot of interesting stuff there. He was a gunner with a Canadian artillery regiment in France.

 

There are several forms where his previous civilian job is entered. He was employed by Canadian Pacific in Toronto,  which is not too surprising, since he had previously worked for Union Pacific in Cheyenne. In only one form, his job is ‘steam fitter’. Anywhere else, he’s described as a ‘stripper’! My relative was a CPR Chippendale dancer??? Actually ‘stripper’ appears to have been an official job description - I’ve seen it in connection with the (then) main CPR Angus Shops in Montreal.

 

I would probably never have thought to look up these records if it hadn’t been for a request from a friend of my wife in England. The friend’s husband is doing family research, has found that a relative was in a Canadian regiment in WW1, and wanted to know if there was any way to find details of his service. 

[brianusa]

10 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

It’s genuine Cornish pasty (from Philps of Hayle) and beers (Spingo Middle from the Blue Anchor, Helston) tonight before we join in the “Trelawney Shout” at 9pm. Here’s one I made earlier.  
 

 

And gool Peran lowen to you too!  It looks good, but I have to ask, chips with a pasty?  Thats the sort of thing they do over here.  I thought the whole idea of the pasty was everything was contained in the pastry shell; tough enough to be dropped down a mine shaft!  My mother and her mother were past masters of the art of pasty making, hence my comment with some authority.

    Brian.

[andyram]

9 hours ago, BoD said:

Morning all

 

It would appear that I have court case against my name raised by HMRC.  I could be going to jail.

I hope prisoners are allowed a model railway club.

I'm not too sure about the scalpels and soldering iron though.

 

Valerie has packed my bag already.

I will let you know what the cake is like there.

 

I had the same call this morning and there have been many such calls over the last few months - Amazon Prime, Tv license, HMRC, various banks and even NHS test and trace. All wanting you to press this number to confirm something or respond to a "strange activity" on your account. They pick things to throw doubt into your mind and, by selecting topical things, they try and make it sound real. No surprise it is HMRC at the moment as we reach the end of a financial year. That is how they catch people!

 

Since my personal mobile also doubles up as the business phone, I seem to get other nuisance calls - various previously unheard of companies wanting to take on my business electricity, phone service or broadband. Nowadays I put the phone down and block the number.

 

Stay safe, stay sane.

 

Andy

[polybear]

1 hour ago, brianusa said:

 

It looks good, but I have to ask, chips with a pasty?  Thats the sort of thing they do over here.

 

 

Absolutely, though Bear thought it was a bit light on the chips (though I'm not a Cornish Pasty sorta Bear anyway - a Cheese n' Onion Pasty is more Bear's scene).

I do recall ordering chips (sorry, Patate Frittes) whilst working in Italy in 1986/87) - some restaurants were ok about it, whilst others seemed to "forget" the chips.  I guess it wasn't the done thing then.  Bear does recall at one restaurant the waiter disappearing after plonking the chips on the table, then coming back a couple of minutes later and quietly plonking a bottle of tommy sauce on the table.  Not sure if he was taking the p1ss or not....

 

[laurenceb]

3 hours ago, TheQ said:

 

Pressing a button in response to these fake calls can cost you a lot of money, as it can redirect you to an expensive line...

 

 

The button I press is the big red one at the bottom of the keypad

Great news Mr Bear!!

Unfortunatly blocking a number is like playing wack-a-mole they are spoofing numbers

[tigerburnie]

G'night all

[Coombe Barton]

" … preparing your putsch for the end of lockdown …”

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2021/03/05/st-pirans-day/

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Tempus fugit, where has the day gone? Time seems to go quicker and quicker or am I getting slower and slower. 

Edited March 5, 2021 by PhilJ W

[simontaylor484]

19 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Tempus fugit, where has the day gone? Time seems to go quicker and quicker or am I getting slower and slower. 

No time is flying by Phil soon be Christmas cards in shops

[Gwiwer]

2 hours ago, brianusa said:

chips with a pasty?  Thats the sort of thing they do over here. 

Might not be entirely traditional but in Cornwall it's known as a pasty supper.  Potatoes with your potatoes - fried outside, baked inside!  At least there's no sauce added   

 

@polybear it may appear light on chips (I couldn't fit many more on the plate) but the pasty itself is quite substantial and not one of those miniature versions you see in some places.  

 

And that was my week of annual leave.  The surprise of finding my piece in a magazine, the no-surprise-at-all of frustrated muddling, the nothing-much-you-can-do-at-all of my fourth (or is it fifth) week of holiday under some form or another of having-fun restrictions, the cold greyness of the weather much of the time and the steady tick-tock of time passing.  

 

As I say to the folks at the House of Fun at least I'm still upright and breathing - and being paid.  Not everyone has managed that.  Thanks for small mercies, eh?  

 

Sleep well.  Stay safe.  Enjoy the weekend.  

[laurenceb]

Night awl

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

Well that was Friday that was, were the hell did it go? I’ve done absolutely llareggub all day and quite frankly, I don’t care. Apart from the visit to the butchers and Trafford Centre, that’s it. Although whilst at the Trafford Centre, I called into WHS and was able to pick up 3 bottles of UV protective Matt varnish, something I’ve been looking for for a few weeks now and the shelves had been bare. It just so happened that I had a gift voucher to use so I actually only spent £3. Now for those of you who are wondering why it has to be UV protective, when I printed off and built the building kits for the layout, they will all need a couple of coats of the UV varnish to prevent them from fading! I did a test a couple of years ago and it really works. Well I mean, the last thing you want to look at is a pub with pale pink brickwork instead of a dirty brown colour isn’t it?

 

 

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[Erichill16]

Evening All,

Really excellent news from the North Pole, must have come as a great relief.

Talk of pasties is bringing back memories, I used to like Greg’s sausage and baked bean ones. I used to get one on the way to the match or as an incentive to go to Fox Valley shopping centre with SWMBO and Mil. I like most pastries especially with chips and baked beans.

Scams, I used to get ‘boiler room’ scams quite often when the perpetrator tried to make you think he was doing you a favour but you had to act quickly to get the deal. Always remember ‘if it sounds too good to be true , it is too good to be true.’ On a similar note I once had a call from, I think the Rotterdam diamond exchange, trying to persuade me to part with my dosh, don’t think so mate. 
On a similar note but I think genuine this time was a call from a ‘fine wine merchants’ and the gentleman spoke with a very nice Queens English type of voice. He also tried to part me and my cash but when I told him I didn’t drink wine he said in a most condescending voice ‘ Oh sir, this wines not for drinking’ . At that point the conversation ended.

I’ll go on a bit more with a tale from the old chap across the road. He came to me with a letter posted marked London but the letter purported to come from the manager of a bank in China. The gist was that he had an English man with an account at the bank but he had passed away leaving no aires and the mans name was the same as my neighbours. The letter suggested that my neighbour rings a mobile number and he and the bank manager share the contents of the account. The letter ends ‘don’t tell anyone and nobody gets hurt’. You have to laugh but I could tell the old boy was a bit upset about the whole thing. 

Too much rambling so goodnight.

Robert

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[Erichill16]

Can’t sleep but also remember someone ringing from Zurich trying to sell  me gold! Captain Cynical trying to feather his Alpine redoubt?

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[BR60103]

For those looking at an early retirement:

(This is based on Canadian practice.)

Check what we call OPRB -- Other Post-Retirement Benefits.  Here it includes health insurance top-ups, dental insurance, life insurance.

When you leave early with pension credits you can opt to start pension immediately or postpone it until "Normal Retirement Age". A common practice here is that starting your pension immediately will continue (some) OPRB. Taking deferred vested  May mean that those benfits don't come. Your pension should be a bit larger, though. 

Your HR department should be able to give you details (unless you want to be quiet about it) and you should have a booklet with the details.