Had a catalogue delivered "Healthy living direct". A few items took my fancy. The catalogue is on the same line as Betterware and Kleeneze was and sometimes I found a few unusual and useful items.Checked under
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5779487

Copied:
Healthy Living Direct Limited Warning 20th Jan 18 at 6:31 PM




Healthy Living Direct Limited
Gardenability Limited
Timeless Beauty Limited
Sparkling Touches Limited
Home Independence Limited
Affordable Choices Limited
Fashion Friendly Limited
Housewares Direct Limited

Are all companies with the same address of Wadsworth Road, Driffield, East Yorkshire YO25 9DJ

THEY ARE SCAMMERS WHO DEBIT YOUR ACCOUNT BUT DO NOT SEND YOU THE ITEMS YOU ORDERED.

THEY TARGET VULNERABLE PEOPLE BY HARASSING THEM WITH POST, WITH THE PROMISE OF A PRIZE, WHICH INCREASES EACH WEEK AND GET MORE AND MORE DEMANDING AND AGGRESSIVE.

Who is worth an honour?
Who should be struck off?
Should "THE HONOURS" be abolished or reformed?

Very hesitant about posting this but looked at several places - a surprise to me this morning that May Bank holiday has been moved from Monday, 4th to Friday, 8th to celebrate 75th Anniversary of VE Day. Apparently many calendars/diaries were printed prior to this so could be wrong. And it can't be April Fools Day today, can it?

Christmas is over - New year not here yet - so why are these going off tonight ?

Biggest thumbs down for Argos. Finally got the list of presents I should get for the youngest members of the extended family, with the message "you can get them all delivered from Argos". Pictures of the relevant webpages attached. So I started adding the items to my basket. Only 2 out of 5 were available for delivery. The others were click and collect only from 3 different stores. Why can't they do delivery on everything, I asked. My sister said, think they only deliver items that would be awkward to carry. Well I have all accept one present now and it was the two smallest items that were delivered.

Dodgy reviews on TripAdvisor could be artificially boosting hotel rankings, potentially misleading millions of travellers worldwide.

Our investigation found that TripAdvisor had failed to stop a flood of suspicious five-star reviews, including for a hotel in Cairo, once rated top in the city, and for a London Travelodge hotel.

TripAdvisor’s failure to take strong action against hotels that abuse the system risks misleading millions of travellers and potentially ruining their holidays.

More must be done to ensure information on its website is reliable so holidaymakers are no longer at risk of being duped.

Find out more about our investigation and what to look out for.

https://www.which.co.uk/news/2019/09/fake-tripadvisor-reviews-push-worlds-best-hotels-up-the-rankings/?utm_source=whichcouk&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=supportersFReviews11091

Dodgy hotel reviews



Best wishes,

Which? Campaigns team

To all!

https://www.noradsanta.org/

https://youtu.be/jyZwtFIbbG0

Has anybody phoned abroad using --"call to call"-- or similar companies?
Call your friends and family in Canada for only 0.5p per minute.
It is so cheap ---- what is the catch?


Copied from their website:
Dial the access number shown above. When connected to our service you will hear a welcome message
2

Dial the international number you wish to call, remembering to include the full international dial code; 00 1
3

Get connected to Canada paying only the cost of dialling the cheap rate number plus your phone company's access charge
4

It's so simple so why not start calling your friends and family now

Calls are charged from time of connection to the service at the indicated rate plus your phone company's access charge. Please contact your phone company for details of these charges. Please obtain bill payer's permission before making the call. Service provider: IV Response Ltd

The Night of the Radishes (Noche de Los Rábanos) is an annual festival that takes place on December 23, several days before Christmas, in the Mexican city of Oaxaca. It is a competition that focuses on the carving of oversized radishes to create various scenes.

The roots of this unusual tradition can be traced back to the Spanish colonization of Mexico. The radish is native to Southeast Asia, and it was Spanish, particularly the friars, who introduced it to Mexico. Eventually it became a popular side dish and snack.

According to legend, the tradition of carving radishes into decorations was born in the mid-18th century. One year the radish crop was so abundant that part of it remained unharvested well into December. Shortly before Christmas, two monks pulled up some of these forgotten radishes and discovered that they were oversized and strangely shaped. The monks brought the radishes to the local Christmas marked held on December 23, where the misshapen vegetables attracted much attention.

Since wood carving was a popular occupation and pastime on Oaxaca, local farmers began to carve radishes into various figures in order to attract more customers at the annual Christmas market. Eventually radish figures became an indispensable attribute of the Christmas market and popular centerpieces for Christmas dinners. In 1897, the mayor of Oaxaca created the formal competition that has been held every year to this day.Today, the city has a portion of land specifically dedicated to the cultivation of radishes for the event. These radishes are heavily fertilized, treated with chemicals and left in the ground until mid-December to allow them to reach huge sizes (up to 50 cm long and 10 cm wide) and acquire unusual shapes. Of course, these radishes are virtually inedible and can only be used for carving.

The radishes are harvested on December 18 and distributed between registered contestants by the local authorities overseeing the competition. After that, the contestants have five days to figure out what they’re going to carve based on the shape of the radishes they’ve got. The actual carving and assembly of the scenes occurs in the morning and early afternoon of December 23, since radishes wilt and lose their shape really quickly and contestants can’t make their sculptures in advance. The competition lasts from late afternoon to early evening.

Every year, over 100 participants compete for prizes in various categories, attracting thousands of spectators. A lot of scenes created for the contest are related to religion (nativity scenes, veneration of saints) or local history, folklore, traditions and festivals, but this is not a requirement, and many contestants chose other themes.

The police say someone had their bank accounts emptied after they paid a taxi driver with a debit card. They had wanted to pay with their credit card, but taxi asked for another method because he didn’t want to pay the 4% visa fee.

Police advise that whenever you are asked to use a debit card instead of credit card for whatever reason, enter the wrong PIN. If it is a counterfeit machine it will pretend to process the payment and produce a receipt. Whereas an authentic machine will reject the PIN and request a “try again” message.

Help spread the word, as the police state this type of fraud is becoming increasingly prevalent.

Thank you!!!!

Great player true footballing legend not may left from our greatest England team RIP

Someone has wasted 8 years researching this apparently.
She has concluded that if you call a clever person a geek or nerd or boffin, that should now be classed as a hate crime.
She says it make them feel different from the rest of their peers.

Hi all .......just thought I'd put this post up to so as to remind people in case they forget something they need for Christmas ! Please add what you have forgotten in the past.....It might remind someone and save the day !!!!!
Merry Christmas !!!!

.

https://www.which.co.uk/news/2019/10/whos-really-calling-you-an-investigation-into-the-worrying-rise-of-number-spoofing/?utm_source=whichcouk&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=supporternumberspoof301019

My sister emailed to say she had ordered something from Waitrose that was coming here but all they had said was delivery in 3-6 days. Today she forwarded their delivery email with the tracking details.
They use Yodel for their deliveries. Clicked on the tracking link and it said he was delivering number 56 out of 143 and my delivery would come between 6.30 and 8.30.
Refreshed the tracking page at 5pm to see what number they were up to and got the message, "Oh no, out van has broken down".Hopefully it will come tomorrow.

In a very busy Sainsburys this morning. Queues at every working checkiout. Woman paying two customers ahead of me having problem with her card. Other people getting frustrated with her.
Then a mum pushing a little girl in her buggy goes by, and the little girl is singing, well shouting really, a christmas song. But not a carol, she was singing "FEED THE WORLD, LET THEM KNOW ITS CHRISTMAS TIME....." She knew all the words.
Made everyone smile.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all members on ScoopLoop !!!

A visitor to my garden was the perfect shot for a card.
Feel free to add yours.

For those of us who don't hear that well, it's good to put the text on screen. Sometimes hilarious scripts appear. On a recent BBC TV election programme the ex-Speaker of the Commons appeared as Joan Perko.
Seen any good ones yourself?

Done the important ones already. Just had to do about 16 that are on the Christmas card list that we send every year, even though I am not sure who most of them are.
Wrote out 12 yesterday before running out of cards and stamps. Put those in my inside coat pocket. They only just fitted in the pocket. Got to the postbox and couldn't get them out of my pocket. Took me a good few minutes to eventually get them out. Why do they make inside pockets so small?
Went to card shop to get one of those boxes of about 20 cards. All of them were only 2 different designs. So disappointing. In the past, in the box that I had finished there were 20 cards, 4 each of 5 designs.

https://metro.co.uk/2019/12/04/first-look-trailer-mackenzie-crook-worzel-gummidge-bbc-christmas-reboot-11267968/

Winter Burglary Update
With the dark nights and mornings upon us, we expect the number of burglaries to increase during the winter season. To tackle these criminals it is important that we work together in trying to prevent and reduce crime.
From looking at recent crimes we have found that in a large number of recent cases burglars are using items from the garden to gain entry into houses.
The impact of having your house burgled is immense both financially and mentally. Yet it is common for us to delay doing things until a close friend or yourself has been subjected to such an attack. Having the time or money to buy security measures can also be a reason.
I have listed below a number of security top tips. How many boxes do you tick with your security?
1; Make it appear that someone is at home.
Leave a light and the radio on when the nights draw in. Use a fake TV light device.
Use timer switches.
Do you have an internet assistant e.g. Alexa? Some have a new security App so try it out.
Make sure your doors and windows are properly closed and have British Standard locks.
2; Improve your security
Camera Doorbell as most burglars will knock first. This is about the cheapest way to get CCTV.
Install an SSAIB or NSI alarm or at least have a fake box installed.
Get motion sensors inside your house so you can see if something is wrong whilst you are away from the address.
Install CCTV or consider CCTV signs depending on your budget.
Improve your locks and get window film to stop windows easily being smashed.
Advertise your property is security marked. Use SMARTWATER /Selecta DNA window stickers.
3; Do not display your wealth
Performance cars will often be targeted if you have a top end car lock it in the garage.
Do not have your keys on display on the sideboard. Keys can be fished through letter boxes.
Get a letterbox guard or cage.
Just who are you updating with the Facebook Posts when you are on holiday.
Asian gold is being targeted. What identifies your house as a place likely to have such gold?
Do not keep large amounts of cash at home.
As Christmas is approaching try to make sure that presents are not visible to anyone outside.
4; Consider the garden
Consider a ‘beware of the dog’ sign or dog bowl will make the burglar think twice.
Padlock the gate and close the front gates.
Secure your fences. Trellis is a great obstacle for burglars due to it most likely collapsing, consider cheap spikey fence options like prickly strip (make sure you put the signs up) This is a real cheap option and can result in us getting suspects DNA.
Plant prickly plants at tactical places around the garden boundary.
Burglars can use large ornaments or rocks or garden tools to break in, so look to remove opportunities and make sure you securely lock away any tools after use.
5; Look out for your neighbours
Join NHW.
Set up a no door step selling zone. Eliminate a reason for burglars to knock on your door.
Speak to your neighbours and tell them if workmen are coming or you are going away.
Be a good neighbour and conduct checks if your neighbours are going away.
And finally if you see something suspicious call it in to the police. You know your area best!
To beat the burglar we need to work, with the most important partner in tackling crime, You the public. I hope that you will take the first step in helping us to help you create a safer, more resilient and friendly neighbourhood for you all to live in.
As Shaw Taylor would say "Keep em peeled!". Have a safe and Merry Christmas.
Yours sincerely
Darren Walsh
Police Sergeant Darren Walsh
Amersham Neighbourhood Policing team

Message Sent By
Darren Walsh (Police, Sgt, Amersham)

From the Lancashire Hotpots
As on Radio 2 this morning

https://youtu.be/G9jqyZck-AU

Anyone else get a PM from someone they don't know seemingly on this group????

Message from Anything !:
Hello, can I discuss an important issue with you confidentially. Please send me an sms at this number with your name and I will get back to you immediately with the details. ‪(732) 596-7218‬

Cheza
geri.quinteo@aol.com

Whatever you may think of beauty competitions you have to admit the new Miss World is beautiful and extremely talented.
Hear her sing.

https://youtu.be/CeOWd_GMzDk

It will probably never happen but during his election campaigning Boris said he was thinking about ending the tv licence and decriminalising the offence of not having one.
If the licence fee is scrapped would you rather have advertising on the BBC or pay a Netflix type subscription?

My paternal grandfather Herbert was a builders clerk in rural Suffolk, and his wife Fanny had 12 children. My maternal grandfather Alfred worked as a plater in the Clyde shipyards and his wife Elizabeth brought up 3 daughters.

A seasonal smile but avoid if you are vegan!

I Love Sausage Rolls (Official Music Video) - Lad…: https://youtu.be/K-WCAEwMJhI

You will probably never be able to hear the original song again without hearing these words.

Our NHS is being taken over by private companies. All because of a law that forces the NHS to put services like cancer scanning up for auction - even if they’re being run well.

But now NHS bosses have told the government this law isn’t working - and it should be scrapped. If that happens, the NHS would be able to keep running good services, instead of auctioning them off to private companies.

The government is feeling the pressure on this - from MPs, experts and now NHS bosses. All that’s missing is hundreds of thousands of voters like us piling in to add our voices too. It could be enough to push the government to scrap this law for good.

sign the petition
http://bit.ly/2nOy1ZZ

Used to love his programmes

How my any seats will the main parties.
330 tories
297Labour
20 Lib Dem
Brexit a big zero

This one was featured on BBC Breakfast this morning.
It's about a man reflecting on the visits he's made to the local cinema.

Watch "The Palace Cinema Longridge Christmas Ad 2019" on YouTube
https://youtu.be/SnM_XfB_Le0

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-50726500

You couldn’t make it up.

Please list the 3 foods you really don't like.Here's mine
.Aubergine
Chickpeas
Grated Carrots in salads

Just watched Dispatches under cover.
Nothing changed re: working conditions.
Products do not meet safety standard.Toys tested were 500 times over limit (DEHP).Your data is one of its top products.

and it does pay taxes --- 2% ---

Link is worthwhile reading.
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/nov/11/the-secrets-of-amazon-review

There was a thread on this but is now closed [don't know why]
Yesterday I went to my local shops where there used to be 2 free ATMs - now 1 has gone and the other one is charging.
Asked for cash back in the Co-op when buying shopping - 'No cash' they said, really, at 12,30 on a Saturday ?
Ended up queueing for 25 minutes at the one little PO window in Nisa [our PO closed a couple of years ago]. It's ridiculous and bloody annoying.

In the last week I have had at least 30 from various companies about diets and weight loss tablets etc. I have never looked at any of that type of site as I am 5ft 6 and weigh 8.5 stone so why bombard me with these ?
Funny time of year to be doing it too,

Got on bus today last in the queue because I still let females get on first. had a full Sainsburys bag of M&S food shopping hanging off my forearm and holding wallet with same hand. In other hand I had my contactless credit card.
The moment I tapped the card reader the iignorant ,probably Chinese, driver slammed his foot on the throttle sending me sprawling down the bus. Luckily I wrapped my arm around one of the poles and avoided falling.

Has anyone seen members of this club out with their 'babies' usually in very expensive old fashioned style prams.

The strangest thing? Or are you okay with it?

https://m.facebook.com/wioliq/

Many Western Christian churches observe Advent as an expecting time and preparation for the upcoming Christmas. The second Sunday of Advent has it's own traditions.

Celebration of Advent is connected with the fasting before Christmas, that is why people should spend a lot of time thinking about the eternity of soul and the sacrifice Christ made for all of us. However the Sundays of Advent are really jolly and people prepare to celebrate Christmas.

The second Sunday of Advent is mainly marked by special masses in churches, that begin in the morning. On this day the pastors' readings concern the birth of Christ in manger and other prophecies.

The second candle of the Advent wreath is also lit on this day. This is a purple candle, which is sometimes called the candle of Bethlehem. This candle represents the hope of Christ coming to the world. Two purple candles, the first is lit on the first Sunday, have to burn at the same time, together they symbolize God's peace and remind us about the prophets, who said that the Messiah would be born.

https://metro.co.uk/2019/12/05/womans-maine-coon-cats-have-oddly-human-faces-11274381/

Spooky or sweet?

M+S, Aldi, Morrisons, Lidl and a number of other stores offer products at sell-by dates.
It sounds too good to be true, but you can be assured, Rotary Clubs have been working with this scheme for the past year. Please spread this information to local good causes you might know, must be a registered charity to take part.
www.neighbourly.com is worth your attention. PM for more info.

Could anyone advise me please which batteries I need in a key fob for a Honda Jazz.
I came up with CR2032 but there are other numbers.
Where do you buy your batteries. Thank you

From F/book

Watched a program recently re: Ryan Air advertising describing itself as Europe's greenest and cleanest airline.
His planting trees would only offset 0.01% in the next 20 years and called "Green Gimmick"Most flights carry more fuel so using more fuel just to fill up in a country where they can buy it cheaper saving about £40.00 per flight. However calculations on all flights in Europe means a saving of 230 million.


Copied from the Telegraph Oliver Smith:
Does 9.9 megatonnes sound like a “low” amount to you? That’s how much CO2 Ryanair’s 419 aircraft collectively belched into our atmosphere in 2018, making it one of the continent’s 10 biggest carbon emitters, according to a European Commission report. The other nine? They’re all coal-fired power stations.

Will deaths from it be our next epidemic?

https://news.sky.com/story/amp/vaping-leaves-e-cigarette-user-with-rare-form-of-lung-scarring-11878561

The new non vegetarian Mcveggie burger

https://i.stuff.co.nz/life-style/food-wine/117958578/mcdonalds-mcveggie-burger-isnt-vegetarian-and-veggies-are-angry