Weekly Chat, Sunday September 13, 2009

Morning all from Tracy Island.

Beautiful morning here

Temp 17c

Wind NNE 3mph

Vis 15km

Pressure 1016hpa rising

I have to go on a shopping mission. Catch up later. FAB

Morning all. Going to be a lovely day here as well, sunny and 18 degrees. Chilly though in the morning.

aunite, do you get much snow where you are? How lovely to see a hare:) I am always amazed at how large they are.

"OG" sorry about someone "nabbing" your user name. What a pain.

Have a great weekend Annette, sounds like a lot going on.

Hope the mission was succesful Alan. Does the "Thunder Dog" accompany you?

Those of us in the UK, may wish to know that the phone scam, I mentioned in the last few days, was featured on BBC1 Breakfast news at 8.20 and 9.20AM today, the latter featuring two interviews, confirming that the scam is a real threat to the unsuspecting person taken off their guard. So I repeat, that if you get this call or any other that is a concern, just put the phone down. The security expert said that these calls are being made by auto-diallers, so if you were to ask the caller the reference for your BT phone account, they would not know, all they have is your number. Several victims have reported their experience to both BT and the police. So do not be taken advantage of, just hang up. Someone asked if the calls could be traced, which would need BT special equipment and even then, if they are coming from another country, would be virtually untraceable.

Thanks for that warning, jsb.  I've recently been receiving a number of mysterious phone calls (ie totally silent when I pick up the phone) so it could well be something to do with that BT scam.  When I dial 1471 it tells me it does not have the caller's number. 

Lovely warm sunny day here in the SE of England.  'Fraid I cannot give you precise temps and humidity levels as I do not have a meterological lab here.   I tend to go by feel !   :)

Morning all - and quickly, while we still have power. It's been going on and off since I plopped down with first cup of coffee half an hour ago. Typically means someone has driven into a power pole....

Auntie: That's a lovely photo on your page - where is it?

Alan: Know how you love the shopping task; hope that mission now safely accomplished for another week or so.

jsb: Was browsing the BBC website last night and read about that scam. Just yesterday got yet another e-mail, allegedly from bank, telling of "unusual activity" on my account and please go to.....to rectify. Getting a lot of these lately. Sent off to banks "abuse" address and they immediately confirmed a scam. So tiresome. We have something called Craigslist here, where we post items for sale and it's not that unusual to get someone e-mailing back with "consider it sold - and what's more, we'll pay more than you're asking with a check so please cash that and send us the difference and someone will come and pick up the desk/horse/granny." Correct response is something along the lines of "Yes, and if you believe that, there's a very large clock in London I'd like to sell you." Honestly! But people do fall for these things.

Off to peer at a certain kitchen floor; maybe even a trip to the laundromat for some light relief.  :-)

jsb:  Just read your recent post about the BT telephone scam.  Thank you for the warning.

About half an hour ago I received a telephone call, purporting to be from  a credit card registration centre.  It was a pre-recorded message and began "This is an urgent message for all credit card holders.....".   I didn't listen to any more and just put the 'phone down.  Maybe I was a little hasty in not finding out more but I doubted its genuineness and wondered whether it was the beginning of a new scam.  The caller's number was, of course, withheld.  I would be interested to hear your view on this.

Hoping your kitchen floor is going to be OK now, Annette!  Pleasant weather here today, sunny in morning & dry, with even better weather forecast for Sunday. Leaves on the trees are beginning to change colour, tho. We are putting off switching on the central heating for as long as possible as apparently the gas price is going up (again), so Husband says 'put an extra sweater on if youre cold, it's not winter yet.' Makes you worry about those on limited funds, tho, a lot of older people will have to choose between keeping warm & eating, which is not exactly what I'd call civilised.

We get a lot of phone calls (& I mean sometimes as many as 5 in one day) where there is no-one on the line, but I'm told its because some of them are automated & if you don't pick up right away, it just goes on to the next person on their list. Means there is no-one even to complain to, which is SO annoying.

Saw a big string of geese heading south this morning, all honking away, lovely sound.

I've been told that these call centres call several numbers at the same time and can only speak to the first one who answers.  That is one reason why it is silent the other end when you answer.  I've not had that confirmed officially though.

original goldfinch:  Glad you're keeping your avatar, it's so cheerful!

Teresa:  My husband is so fed up with callers now that he barks "what are you selling?" as soon as they start their speil- even then, it's amazing how often they claim that it's only a survey. My son says to them "just a minute..." then leaves the phone on the table for 20 mins!!