1. Being under enemy fire and bombardment in a war.
2. Being caught in a natural disaster
3. Being knocked out in week 5 of Strictly Come Dancing
Number 3 refers to Rachel Riley who went to see celebrity pschotherapist Linda Papadopolous after her Strictly exit and got diagnosed with PTSD.
This is in the same interview with her in today's I paper in which she claims that Strictly is fixed because she didn't win.

Those lovely Woke people now think it's normal to identify as a cake. So today I am identifying as a Cherry Bakewell.
https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1524492898774884353?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&fbclid=IwAR2SdXSvrWryMGikjG1hjL6CV1CuTFAu8UFObzchRM0663GSKXQU-5oS4Uo

Can Arsenal get back into that Champions League 4th place, or will they slip up. Get your predictions in by 7pm.
Good luck

https://thebigplasticcount.com/

On a now closed thread it was mentioned that some of us run across crossings, here’s a trial to find out what difference it makes


https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMLcKwLt8/?k=1

They have always denied any covid and even refused vaccines that were offered.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/north-korea-ap-kim-jong-un-pyongyang-south-korea-b2079675.html?amp

This link spells out to the letter Putin's and Russia's destiny if he resorts to using nuclear weapons.

https://tinyurl.com/4hjuh9hh

Can Everton pick up a point or three as they try to avoid relegation. Get your predictions in by 4pm.
Good luck

It's the FA Cup final. They have previously met in the Carabao cup final which was won by Liverpool on penalties, and both Premier league meetings have been draws. Will today be a different outcome. It's also a big weekend for the James family. Reece playing for Chelsea today, and sister Lauren playing for Chelsea Women in their FA cup final tomorrow. Get your predictions in by 4pm.
Good luck

Following on from Lonicera's recent post about objects that were once commonplace in offices etc, I wondered if anyone has any interesting or amusing stories to tell about initiation tricks and suchlike - usually played on young newcomers to work. I suspect the practice died out long ago and wouldn't be tolerated these days but some of you might have experienced it in the 1950s/60s.

In the drawing office I remember apprentices being told to go to the stores and get a glass hammer to tap in drawing pins - or to go to the basement and find a file that didn't exist.

So sad but she and her family have one last memory

https://news.sky.com/story/amp/deborah-james-prince-william-personally-delivers-damehood-to-bowel-cancer-champion-at-her-home-12612502

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/may/13/tesco-chief-soaring-prices-ken-murphy-profits

63 and pregnant
A woman went to the emergency room, where she was seen by a young new doctor. After about 3 minutes in the examination room, the doctor told her she was pregnant.
She burst out of the room and ran down the corridor screaming.
An older doctor stopped her and asked what the problem was? After listening to her story, he calmed her down and sat her in another room.
Then the doctor marched down the hallway to the first doctor's room.
"What's wrong with you?" he demanded. This woman is 63 years old, she has two grown children and several grandchildren, and you told her she was pregnant?!!"
The new doctor continued to write on his clipboard and without looking up said:
"Does she still have the hiccups?"

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/may/13/wakefield-labour-executive-resigns-accusing-keir-starmer-byelection-stich-up

https://twitter.com/TheTreeCouncil/status/1525023300048637952

https://news.sky.com/story/partygate-fines-at-least-50-more-fixed-penalty-notices-have-been-issued-as-part-of-investigation-of-covid-law-breaches-12590633

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/news/driving-law/are-the-latest-changes-to-driving-rules-causing-more-conflict-on-our-roads/

You have to laugh at these alternative versions of traditional nursery rhymes. But just as important they shouldn't replace the originals, they should just be another version.
https://www.gbnews.uk/news/nursery-rhymes-like-ba-ba-black-sheep-rewritten-for-schools-to-be-more-vegan-friendly/292773

The North London Derby. Get your predictions in by 7pm.
Good luck

I don't usually approve of the political voting in the Eurovision song contest.
However this year it seems to me that no matter how good or bad the songs are, the chances are that Ukraine will win. And for once I approve.

Where are you from?

According to some Woke lecturer, asking someone where they are from is a racist microaggression. According to this lecturer it is overt racism and causes distress to the victim.
In reality a microaggression doesn't offend anyone apart from Woke snowflakes getting offended when they weren't even the person being asked the question.

Got home from shopping yesterday and needed to add the cost of some items that I had picked up for my sister. One of which was a litre of milk. It was tesco finest channel islands whole milk. I picked it because it was 5p cheaper than the Cravendale. £1.25. But looking down the list about 3 times, it is not there. So I got myself, or my sister, a free bottle of milk. Every little helps.
In case you are wondering I had paid at a normal checkout. I hadn't accidently not self scanned the milk.
I told this to my friend in The Gambia. She said I should either take the milk back because it's not mine, or go to the shop to explain and offer them the money.

Martin Lewis has conveniently just published the results of his straw poll about how much DDs were being hiked by energy suppliers, even though we can only be charged 54% more for our energy than before the rise in the consumer price cap.
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2022/05/energy-direct-debit-hikes-mse-survey/
Since my supplier had just announced that it was going to take nearly double from my bank on 1st June what I reckon it's entitled to have monthly from now on - and hasn't answered my original objections, I spent yesterday morning successively objecting to that and complaining.
I got back only two shabby autoreplies, blaming high consumer traffic for delay in replying. If they were charging us fair amounts, there wouldn't be a huge hike in objections, complaints etc to keep their teams over-busy, though; it's all their own fault.
I'm going to cancel that DD mandate well before 1st June. Easier to deny them access than get back what they steal, I reckon.
Next stop, Ofgem - or whoever MSE advise taking this up with, next....

Be Kind to others... be kind to yourself... Remember that someone struggling with mental health can seem to be OK...

Today marks a BIG win in our fight to protect cash!

As part of the Queen’s speech the government has pledged to introduce legislation this year that will finally protect our access to cash and face-to-face banking services.

Together we’ve been fighting on behalf of millions of people and communities that require protection from an avalanche of ATM and bank branch closures.

Thank you for helping us achieve this critical win. More than 192,000 of you signed the petition, 24,000 of you emailed your MP and over 6,000 letters were sent to local papers. Your actions have made a difference. Together we have protected cash.

Find out more about this big win and share the news with your friends and family.

Protect cash win

Thank you for your support,

Wolves turn to try to slow down the Man City express. Get your predictions in by 7.45pm.
Good luck

A strange old lady has moved into my house. I have no idea who she is, where she came from, or how she got in. I certainly did not invite her. All I know is that one day she wasn't there, and the next day she was.
She is a clever old lady and manages to keep out of sight for the most part, but whenever I pass a mirror, I catch a glimpse of her. And, whenever I look in the mirror to check my appearance, there she is hogging the whole thing, completely obliterating my gorgeous face and body. This is very rude! I have tried screaming at her, but she just screams back.
The least she could do is offer to pay part of the bills, but no. Every once in a while, I find a $5 bill stuck in a coat pocket or some loose change under a sofa cushion, but it is not nearly enough. And I don't want to jump to conclusions, but I think she is stealing money from me. I go to the ATM and withdraw $50 and a few days later, it's all gone! I certainly don't spend money that fast, so I can only conclude the old lady is pilfering from me. You'd think she would spend some of that money to buy wrinkle cream. And money isn't the only thing I think she is stealing.
Food seems to disappear at an alarming rate-especially the good stuff like ice cream, chips, and sweets. She must have a real sweet tooth, but she'd better watch because she is really packing on the pounds. I suspect she realizes this, and to make herself feel better, she is tampering with my scale to make me think I am putting on weight, too.
For an old lady, she is quite childish. She likes to play nasty games, like going into my wardrobes when I'm not home and altering my clothes so they don't fit. And she messes with my files and papers so I can't find anything. This is particularly annoying since I am extremely neat and organized.
She has found other imaginative ways to annoy me. She gets into my mail, newspapers, and magazines before I do and blurs the print so I can't read it. And she has done something really sinister to the volume controls on my TV, radio, and telephone. Now, all I hear are mumbles and whispers. She has done other things-like make my stairs steeper, my vacuum heavier and all the knob and taps harder to turn. She even made my bed higher so that getting into and out of it is a real challenge.
Lately, she has been fooling with my groceries before I put them away, applying glue to the lids, making it almost impossible for me to open the jars. She has taken the fun out of shopping for clothes. When I try something on, she stands in front of the dressing room mirror and monopolizes it. She looks totally ridiculous in some of those outfits, plus, she keeps me from seeing how great they look on me.
Just when I thought she couldn't get any meaner, she proved me wrong. She came along when I went to get my picture taken for my driver's license, and just as the camera shutter clicked, she jumped in front of me
I hope she never finds out where you live!

While chatting over dinner last night we touched on the construction of this iconic arrangement of stones. Do any of you have any knowledge of how this came to be, it blew our minds as to how this was done!

Might be interesting if we relate happenings or objects from our youth /young adults

Adding machine. handle for multiplying clockwise or subtraction anti. Enter number into machine turn handle for second number. Hope you were a good adder up and not have to work with millions.
These days I find some shop assistants can not give change from £1 without till telling them.

Just alerting people to a scam email purporting to be from DVLA, saying there's a problem with incomplete info and I stand to lose my licence. Have deleted it - address is not dvla's
Would have checked independently directly with DVLA anyway if address looked genuine

Did others notice Starmer's reply yesterday?, when asked if he would resign he said "IF I receive a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) I will stand down".
Is this another dodgy manoeuvre designed to keep the door open, I wonder.
This in effect puts the ball back into the Police's court because they have one of three options:-
1) No rules broken hence no FPN
2) Insufficient evidence, again no FPN
3) Rules broken and issue FPN.
Item 2 is the get off the hook option which IMO they will take
This tactic covers all bases, since if guilty he would have to go either by resigning or being ousted by a vote of no confidence by the Party, if Labour is to have any creditability at all. With options 1&2 he can remain proclaiming his innocence.
The one thing that he can't do is avoid the mud sticking, as the general opinion seems to be, in view of the evidence and admission of lying, that whatever the verdict, there was some dodgy goings on which he is trying to cover up.
When we get all the facts, and can form an opinion, I anticipate that we shall enjoy some amusing political wriggling.

This was the case of the pensioner who spends all day riding buses as a way to keep warm. In the interview with Susanna Reid, Boris Johnson tried to claim credit for keeping her warm by falsely claiming he invented the free bus pass.
It was Ken Livingstone, when he was mayor.
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/tv/channel-4-gogglebox-fans-call-23891500.amp

Premier League action on a Tuesday night. Get your predictions in by 7.30pm.
Good luck

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/entertainment-arts-61347805

https://news.sky.com/story/inflation-in-turkey-hits-70-in-april-12609198

https://www.rte.ie/news/ukraine/2022/0508/1296762-bono-ukraine-latest/

Looked at my smart meter and to my horror it showed £ 15.00 used in a space of 2 hrs. Usually I use £2.50 - £3.00 daily. Recalled I used the micro wave and as soon as I unplugged it the usage returned to normal.
The phantom electricity usage never happened to me before. What steps should I take to prevent it happening again? Would it stop automatically after a time?
I could be out or away and it could be for a much larger bill. Fridge and freezers can not be turned off. I suppose as it happened indoors I am responsible for the amount.

I just signed the petition "Don’t privatise the Passport Office" and wanted to ask if you could add your name too.


https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/don-t-privatise-the-passport-office?share=3fb9934a-5861-48af-823f-e9424f7459b4&source=&utm_campaign=blast2022-04-30&utm_source=


Thank you!

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/may/08/doctor-who-ncuti-gatwa-to-replace-jodie-whittaker-bbc-announces

I've spent a lot of time today trying to get the above programmes on Samsung TV, have tried automatic channel find at least twice, goes from Itv on 3 straight to 4999, missing out Ch. 1 and 2. Also terrestrial comes up in the top. It's ok on Panasonic recorder. Have also tried changing the Source button, also switching on/off. Reluctant to go to factory settings as will have to start entering again. They don't come up on programme guide either. Any idea where I 've gone wrong, please.

Died in hospital in Spain aged 74.

Sophie Raworth interviewed Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey this morning. She commented that Lib Dem candidates always do well in local elections because they agree what the people want, even when it goes against the Lib Dems national policies.
The prime example was; locally Lib Dems oppose HS2, Nationally they support HS2

The Russian RT (Russia Today) news channel online in English can be seen here -
click speaker icon at bottom second right to turn on volume -
https://www.rt.com/on-air/?msclkid=a68185e7cede11ec9c8a623e90a0e74a

My elderly next-door neighbour just whispered to me over the fence about the outsized puppy that her resident grandson has been given, supposedly an XX American bulldog. If that's a type of pit bull terrier, which sounds extremely likely, then it would be illegal, cf https://www.gov.uk/control-dog-public/banned-dogs.
My neighbour said that I should report it to the police if I were worried about it but it sounds more as if she's scared to have it around. I've seen the creature once and it looks adult-sized - more than knee-high to an adult and very hefty - but it's only 4 months old.
One doesn't need to wait until the dog attacks someone to call the police, fortunately. But I've never done this and have no idea what to expect. Has anyone else ever been involved in reporting a suspected illegal dog which hasn't already (to their knowledge) attacked anyone?

Super Sunday football. Get your predictions in by 4pm.
Good luck

Many of you on here know of Beatrice, our local one woman cat rescue heroine, who has been rescuing for many, many years. Out in all weathers and throughout the day and night. The situation gets worse in this current climate.
She is in desperate need of funds, homing and foster homes; a HUGE THANK YOU to those wonderful people who have been so loyal and continued to support her with donations for the last few years. ⭐️⭐️ If anyone else can help PLEASE PM me.

What awful news

https://news.sky.com/story/police-search-for-six-year-old-twins-reported-missing-from-lambeth-with-officers-concerned-for-their-welfare-12608107