https://news.sky.com/story/meghan-duchess-of-sussex-will-join-prince-harry-at-invictus-games-in-the-hague-12588251

Is Dutch security that much better than the UK?

Top chiefs within the NHS have called for a return of face masks and a limit on indoor mixing to avoid an overwhelming spike of coronavirus infections over Easter as infections hit a record high. The NHS Confederation, which describes itself as The NHS Confederation "the membership organisation that brings together, supports and speaks for the whole healthcare system in England, Wales and Northern Ireland", has urged for the public to take "mitigating actions".

I've just tried unsuccessfully to order groceries because my Sainsburys Bank credit card has introduced a new complication to the payment process - without notifying me first.
Now one has to put in a security code as part of the payment process and that code is sent to one's mobile number - but that's not the number that they have registered on my account. I didn't have a mobile 'phone when I obtained this card (yes, it's that old), so the only telephone number registered on the account is my landline. They think it's a mobile number but of course it isn't, so I can't be sent a security code at all.

One cannot change one's registered mobile number online; only by telephone and - as they don't bother to put on the notice about that problem - only during their limited banking hours. So the customer goes through the entire credit card identification process, only to be told to call back tomorrow when the bank re-opens.

And of course one can't hold onto a delivery slot overnight without being able to pay for the groceries....

All that trouble could so easily have been saved by notifying customers in advance of introducing this complication, giving us time to ensure that we had registered a current mobile number on our credit card accounts.

Heard llast night about an online forum on which single British men are offering accommodation to single female Ukrainians.
One even posted a reassuring message, "I promise I am not a sex maniac".
It's good to see British men stepping up to the plate.

Friends give me a lift sometimes and I contribute to petrol/running costs. When I asked they always say it is o.k. but with the petrol prices as there are and other running costs what percentage would anyone recommend I increase the sum. I have no idea what the cost of petrol is these days. Thank you

Super Sunday clash between top two teams in the Premier League. Currently yes. Two best teams in the world if you believe the hype. Probably not. Get your predictions in by 4pm.
Good luck

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-10703001/Elle-Est-Belle-dies-suffering-suspected-heart-attack-Grand-National-2022.html?ito=email_share_article-top

https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-russia-news-live-new-sanctions-putin-war-crimes-nato-bucha-latest-12541713

And it's designed to scare people, I think.
It's all the new symptoms that have been added.
Now anyone with a headache or feeling a bit tired can be diagnosed with Covid. It really is no longer a serious disease for most people

Saturday Night Football that clashes with the big race. Get your predictions in by 5pm.
Good luck

A chance for you to add to your points. Pick a horse in today's race. Cannot pick a horse already picked. The horse / player that wins gets full points, from 2nd to 6th gets half points. Get your picks in by 4.15pm.
Good luck

https://news.mc/2022/04/08/boris-becker-found-guilty-of-bankruptcy-breaches/

Arrived at the dentist to see a note on the door, "as we are a healthcare service, facemasks must be worn etc". I didn't have a mask with me as I wasn't told I needed to wear one when I booked the appointment or when the receptionist phoned me yesterday to confirm I was still coming. I thought they were optional personal choice everywhere now.
Walked in unmasked and receptionist said, "do you have a mask to put on?". When I said no, she gave me one to put on. Then she gave me a clipboard and form to fill in to update my details, so I had to take the mask off to fill that in. Handed it back to reception and put my borrowed mask back on. Then got called up to the dentist's torture chamber, I mean room, where I had to take my mask off.
Then my mask stayed off for the rest of my visit, including going back to reception to pay and book the next appointment, and back into the waiting area to pick up my coat.

I tripped and fell yesterday, at the bus stop, opposite Sainburys, Tooting Broadway, when I arrived home, I realised my wedding ring had come off. Long shot, I know, but sentimental!!, it is a puzzle ring but has been soldered closed. Reward offered!!

Due to a stupid mix up at my GP over a repeat request they told me the only way to resolve this issue was to request an E consult.
What a fiasco that was ... they want a photo of an ID, but i don't have a passport or a drivers licence, and then upload a phot of my face.
Alternatively you have to send 3 different codes from your GP registration, tried that but GP said I can only speak about this from 9am until 12 - so have to leave it until Monday.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-10698823/Post-mortem-extraordinary-Greenland-shark-reveals-meningitis.html?ito=email_share_article-top

I'm a bit late with the Friday Night Football due to being at the dentist this morning. Get your predictions in by 7pm.
Good luck

Years ago if you had dressed like this it would have been ridiculed but if you are a billionaire you are praised 😆 and called glamorous . Is it just me that cannot see that?

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/18203042/rihanna-glamorous-pregnancy-date/?rec_article=true

Came across this article re: household cleaners.

https://www.choice.com.au/home-and-living/laundry-and-cleaning/surface-cleaners/articles/the-best-and-worst-cleaning-products

According to the Daily Mail many people are being turned down for taking Ukranian refugees due to issues at their homes

Do you know anyone who has passed or failed their inspection

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10693723/UKs-Homes-Ukraine-hosts-rejected-plug-sockets-ponds.html

Name what annoys you with modern life at the moment. Only two things at a time.
I'll start. Cyclists and electric scooters being ridden on the pavement, really irritates me. Being left hanging on the phone because "We are experiencing high levels of calls" winds me up.

I never knew such lakes existed until a day ago my Lockscreen had it as a background picture. Absolutely incredible.

https://www.yourweather.co.uk/news/trending/australia-the-mystery-of-an-incredible-pink-lake-solved-microbes_amp.html

Gary Barlow is their brand ambassador and has a little bit of egg on his face from Christmas 2021

https://m.facebook.com/pandocruises/videos/a-special-christmas-message-from-gary-barlow/632366284571633/

One of tonight's Europa League Quarter Finals 1st leg ties. Get your predictions in by 7.15pm.
Good luck

When people post on SL about their concern re covid there’s at least four people who regularly belittle their fears. They argue that: it’s nothing more than a cold- they’re all ill with something else - people should just get on with their lives - there’s no point in testing, - the figures are all deliberately inflated to scare us. In effect they are suggesting that those of us who have concerns are either stupid, or sheep. But the latest figures quoted widely should concern us all. The prevalence is higher than ever, hospital admissions are sky rocketing and the deaths are creeping ever upwards.
https://www.bmj.com/content/377/bmj.o882

I watch “Scam interceptors” BBC 1 10am. Found it interesting and entertaining.

Does anyone know of interceptor groups? Excellent idea. Would have loved to join in in my younger days.

Wasn't expecting that

Just gone on line to order my usual repeat medications but 1 item not on list so phoned surgery.
Was told as of January they don't do them on line or over the phone anymore, you have to request everything from the chemist.

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/coronavirus/israeli-booster-study-says-fourth-shot-shields-against-omicron-wanes

Another Champions League Quarter Final 1st leg tie. Get your predictions in by 7pm.
Good luck

According to Professor Karol Sikora the numbers quoted by the MSM of how many positive Covid tests each day are wildly above the true figure.
This is because the ONS can only take a small sample of tests then extrapolate the results. Then they add about 50% to the positives to make Covid seem worse than it is.

Lets see if those grey, long tailed, pointed ears, furry bodied tree rats can get inside these beauties, lol

click on to get the bigger picture

Tonight's match is the UEFA Champions League Quarter Final 1st leg. Get your predictions in by 7.15pm
Good luck

Bees simply make cells made of soft wax that are cylindrical and circular in cross-section.

These circular cells are packed together like a layer of bubbles. The wax is softened by the heat of the bee's bodies and gets pulled into hexagonal cell shape by surface tension, mass and gravity at the junctions where walls meet.

A regular geometric array of identical cells with simple polygonal cross-sections can take only one of three forms: triangular, square or hexagonal.
Honeycomb is constructed essentially as vertical plates which hang down.

Of these only natural hexagons can divide up the space most efficiently. If we interrupt honeybee's by smoking them out of the hive we can find that the most recently built cells have a circular shape, whereas those just a little older have developed into hexagons.

The worker bee's heat the wax with their bodies until it reaches about 45 C and flows like a viscous liquid. Therefore hexagons result automatically as the wax cools from the pressure of each bee trying to make its cell as large as possible, adding internal pressure to mass and gravity.

Hexagons are natures way of resolving all forms of circular bodies under pressure. Examples of this are many.

When first made, the comb cells of the honeybee are cylindrical tubes, but they become more hexagonal in cross section as time goes by.

Therefore this hexagonal architecture is not only because of the simple physical and natural phenomenon of mass and gravity but also due to the active participation of worker bee's providing warmth and internal pressure to the wax cylinder.

I purchased two wooden garden chairs from Ebay, main reason being that they were ready assembled, good price and very good reviews. Arrived last week by very helpful delivery driver who carried into garden.
Then decided perhaps I should have ordered the lift-off table tray that can fit between the chairs and which could have been bought as a set anyway. Emailed the firm directly over weekend asking if they supplied tray separately, came back this morning and said to ring them to order. Which I did, to be told I could purchase directly on website but the tray wasn't there, only the complete set. So went back to them but problem with payment as I couldn't do a Bax(?) on mobile and they didn't take paypal or card over the phone. Anyway, long and short of it - next time they are in the area (from Stoke), will put on van and deliver for £5 and me to pay cash directly to the driver as they use their own transport. No idea when but who cares!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-10683581/Alzheimers-breakthrough-major-study-spots-42-risk-genes.html?ito=email_share_article-top

I thought others might like to know this. I have just successfully ordered a free pack of 7 lfts
The info on accessing these has been a bit elusive as a gov website said packs would automatically be sent to those eligible. (Incl over 75s) but no sign of that - you'd think that they would have been up and ready for April 1st, esp as some chemists had run out of them before then ( as people have been buying them up - no rationing, I think - unsuccessful management of activity in a brewery comes to mind!!!)
You can access them through the NHS app, and it's dead easy - well, the order has been acknowledged anyway - remains to be seen when they arrive. Apparently you can order every 3 days.

I have just received a new debit card - gone to PayPal and Amazon etc. to update details and they already knew them !
How does this happen ?

Monday Night Football is a London derby. Get your predictions in by 7pm.
Good luck

A man stormed out of a performance of Shakespeare's As You Like It after an hour and asked for a refund. His reason? All the cast had Yorkshire accents and that's not right.
The play was being performed by the Yorkshire Theatre Company at a theatre in York.

Some tips from the Guardian's personal finance pages - people may already know all of them, but I didn't, eg the big difference made by a washing machine turned down to to 30° instead of 40° https://www.theguardian.com/money/2022/mar/29/cheaper-bath-shower-energy-questions-answered-reduce-bills

Just heard that people are panicking to get fuel
Again due to extinction rebellions latest game!

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1590453/Fuel-shortage-petrol-England-Just-Stop-Oil-protest-block-supply-latest/amp

We had our boosters yesterday. We were encouraged to accept Moderna - but I chose to continue with Pfizer. It is just as well I did, as in my husband's Moderna information leaflet it stated that it contained macrogol, which I am allergic to.
The on line proformas you are asked to fill in ask about any allergic reactions to your last Covid 19 vacvinations, but don't ask about other allergies.
Also, although the leaflet says read before having the vaccination, everyone was given it after receiving the vaccination!
Needs to be organised differently - most people were waiting a bit - they could be given the information and directed to the section on contents of the medicine. Or people could be given the on line link to the information leaflets when they receive confirmation of the booking.
If I had accepted the Moderna I could have ended up in A and E.
So if anyone knows they have allergies it would be a good idea to look up the leaflet on line beforehand or ask to read it before the procedure.

Never heard of it.

https://uk.yahoo.com/news/drivers-urged-check-car-potentially-092125122.html

Click on for complete picture

https://medical.awm.com/woman-wants-to-rename-certain-body-parts-because-they-are-offensive-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2/?utm_content=buffer3854d&utm_medium=fb&utm_source=uk&utm_campaign=buffer&fbclid=IwAR3t11zAiw3EJYjfL6r2J7h6ocDd3iKKDUMokpz9xzstFdKtRzJtWeKXrVA