The problem with the whip is it doesn't work right. If they shopped where I do I'm sure they'd do as they should.

Titchy, sadly, I agree with you.

This is only my opinion but I honestly think the country has had it, and it will take a very long time to be put right, no matter who is in charge. You only have to look around, and I mean the countryside, not just our filthy cities, to see we are the next thing to having the status of a third world country. If only we were able to log-in somewhere and actually see the true state of our finances, and the outgoings (which aren't making one iota of a difference) then we would all experience a "squeaky bum " time. I despair and try to put it out of my mind, but then think of our grandchildren and what is their future going to be?

Oh Beth, pleeeaaase nooooot Milliband!!

More importantly than the PM, I am waiting to see who is Chancellor. The consensus seems to be that Reeves will be out and either Streeting or Miliband in. Whichever one, or someone else, will show the direction the new PM will take. Assuming it is Andy Burnham, I wouldn’t give him as long as Starmer - he’s made U-turns in what he ‘believes in’ and ‘supports’ before he even got to Parliament, and all the pundits are saying he has no policy, he changes allegiance according to whoever he is working for and is known as ‘the chameleon’ - not an encouraging start.

Unfortunately too many only care about feathering their own nests knowing they have at least 5 years in a job, and can make enough connections to step away the worst happens.

It's about time that the salaries are reduced, and then we'll see how many of them want to carry on in the role, this is the way to find out if people want to make a difference or are in it for the wrong reasons

We as the electorate should have more say in their allowances etc as well, as it is us that elected them into their roles they occupy. There more than happy to stop other public sector workers having limited pay rises, yet they govern themselves on everything associated with them

I think many, if not all, MPs need to be sacked.

How long would any one of us remain in a job we were incapable of doing? 🤔

As for our next strategically placed primed puppet, they'll only get the job if they've pledged allegiance to Agenda 2030.

Us being told who will be 'our PM' is not a democratic decision.

IMHO, the MPs need a kick up the behind, and told to get on with their jobs. You can't like everybody and all this speaks of school playground tactics and bullying.

The next leader had better start standing up to these MPs cause things won't change if he or she doesn't.

So many calls for a GE, please no, we can't afford it as a country.

Great to hear some positive news ☺️

That’s brilliant, considering the reputation British fans of all nationalities used to have. Good for the Tartan Army.

New to me too.👍

😂 Not heard that one before.

🤣🤣

:-) :-)

Very good punchline.

As a child my father took me to a sawmill and later in life I worked as a specialist timber selector in a timber yard with a sawmill. In both cases there wasn't a single person working there at a saw who had a full hand of fingers.

😄

🤣🤣

Robbo87, my personal thoughts too. :-(

KS was doing a good job. I know because Trump didn't like being stood up to.

We're a debt ridden society, it's all-pervading and nothing much will improve anytime soon - mark my words.

The only time I have ever seen Keir Starmer smile was the first 24 hours after Labour won the last election. So I'm kind of happy for him.

I have never voted Labour and at the age of 85 I probably never will. But Andy Burnam is said to have been good for Manchester sorting quite a few of the problems there so I will wait and see what difference he will make. Always assuming he will be our next PM.

I doubt it CS

Absolutely not!

Beth, It was in the New Forest National Park. Should be repeated next Sunday morning on BBC2 unless they've got football or something else instead.

Really? I hope they clear up after the pups while they are there. Where was it?

I got a load of abuse when I had a go at a 12-yr-old who was scrounging cigarettes off a junkie - and was given one. Told him he’d have to work on his swearing if he wanted to outdo the builders I worked with, and an ex-Navy husband.

Very good. But I saw the punchline coming.

I was stopped by some young girls outside a store asking me to get some vodka for their mother. Got quite abusive when I declined.

Told the wife this one but as soon as I got to 'Richmonds' she said "What's that?" so I had to change it to Benson and Hedges as she hadn't heard of Richmond's. It really doesn't work the same.

🤣🤣

You must have saved them some money.

🤣🤣

🤣🤣🤣

:-) :-) :-)

I have been doing it for one month and feel heaps better. Don’t go for yogago or harma as it is just normal Thai chi

They claim you can see a difference in 2-3 weeks🤔 Can you?

Kat - no question of that. They’ve got the stake and garlic lined up ready for you.

There are videos all over fb & insta trying to get people to sign up to 28 day challenges.

I'll get exorcised when I'm a ghost! Until then I'm being careful!

Yes….google ads on the Mahjong game I play and side adverts on this site. I’ve never clicked an ad so don’t know why I get those in particular. Do you think they can see me and KNOW I need to do more exercise. 😂

It is a Google ad. Tai Chi works if a qualified instructor takes the classes.

Never seen it. When you say advertised, do you mean like a Google advert?

Is so, I’d say it definitely won’t work. 🤣

Any exercise is good, irrespective of its name or how you move.

Yes, you'll be a few pounds lighter every month, but what else would you spend them on.

Indi phoned the police once, carrying my phone and accidentally (I assume) caught the side button, ringing the emergency number. She has also taken several photos the same way, and the boys are starting to pick it up and carry it too.

Could have been worse, could have rolled over on your phone & dialed a premium rate chat line. Some toothless old dear knitting socks & telling the dog what she'd like to do to him IRL!🤣

Maybe it wanted to Shepherd a German?

Could have been watching Germany in the world Cup, if it was a Schnauzer.

Never ending fun.

One of the Rovers teams I expect! Nasty shock to the system when that happens. I fell asleep in the chair again in the evening, must have knocked my phone off the chair arm, and woke up to find them happily spreading my credit cards over the floor and trying to pick them up, the phone case chewed and missing on one corner and the little magnet strap missing that holds the case shut. Luckily a magnet, not a battery, or it would be an emergency vet rush, so today I am going to hold a magnet up to each one and see which flies across the room. Hopefully it will work its way through in due course - no ill effects so far!

What team does the dog support ;-)

Which match was the dog watching?

A Nick Name the frogs probably need to come from Arizona like the Hopi themselves.

Runner Beans!

Very funny both.

🤣🤣

Guess you should have used frogs that have already croaked, or maybe jumping beans.

👍good one NN

Very funny Kenny. I can see that actually happening in today's world.

Serves you right Enver for hating flies so much lol.

There was a fly annoying me by attacking the light reflecting off my glasses & crawling across my screen, so I hit it with a lump of wood .... now my screen just shows a big cobweb. 🕸

🤣🤣🤣 ROFL

I was commenting on the grammar. Wasted!

That's nice Beth, I expect it was all the more enjoyable with someone to share it with.

I was. We were.

Remaining items are:-

Over-the-counter medications: Allergy pills, teeth whitening strips, and pain relievers are small, expensive, and easily flipped for cash.

Premium meats and cheese: In the grocery sector, high-end cuts of meat and branded cheeses are historically among the highest-theft items by volume.

I recently found some dumped security tags, the sort with a wee reel of indestructible wire to wrap round large valuable items & boxes. I tried taking one apart - couldn't break or open it with hammer screwdriver saw pincers or anything, to get the reel of wire, alarm & battery out. So I cut the wire & its alarm went off. LOL The cable is long enough to be used for bikes, but had to throw the rest.

I wonder how many security tags gets stolen each year.

Enver, in Boots the razor blades are on a twisty contraption that isn't easy to work out how to remove a packet of blades ( well I can't work them out!! )

CarolineC, me too!

Perfume?

@Poppy - "I heard a while ago that the latest product to be put behind screens was chocolate." My husband would say that's because the supermarkets had heard I was out shopping! :-D

(I'm a bit of a chocoholic)

I’ve just been reading about how threats from garden centres is a problem too. It is sad to hear about.

Our local foodbenk used to always be short of baby formula

I heard a while ago that the latest product to be put behind screens was chocolate.

Well Done tetleyt, Infant formula: High retail cost and constant, desperate demand make it a prime target for illicit resale.

When a local shop puts a face cream, a container of baby formula, or a package of razors or prime rib steak behind a plexiglass barrier, it is a direct operational response to those specific items leading the nationwide statistics for retail loss.

@Rosy - security tags just means thieves simply run past the detectors (which will go off) & out the shop & away, no staff spare or willing to stop them as they may have weapons..

Still a few chemist items & a popular food item to find.

Razor blades and meat are security tagged in both the supermarket and Boots.

Baby care: Milk Formula?

@Cakey & Nic are correct - steaks yes., & @Buttercup - it does mean shoplifters, so which item(s) from each category? It's not nappies or bleach, but there are some more items in the baby care & food categories.

The most stolen items aren't Rolexes or iPhones, and are probably sitting in your home right now.

While the exact top spot fluctuates slightly year by year and by store type, nationwide retail data consistently points to health and beauty products—specifically name-brand razor blades and cosmetics— as the most stolen retail items.

Criminologists and retail loss prevention experts often explain this phenomenon using the CRAVED model. Items targeted for theft are Concealable, Removable, Available, Valuable, Enjoyable, and Disposable (meaning easily liquidated or resold). Razor blades perfectly embody this model. A single package of premium replacement cartridges can cost a lot, yet it is scarcely larger than a deck of cards.

A shoplifter can easily sweep dozens of packages into a bag or coat. Because they are universally used and rarely expire, stolen razors are incredibly easy to resell on online marketplaces, at flea markets, or even to smaller independent retailers.

Organized retail crime rings, rather than opportunistic individuals, drive a massive portion of this inventory loss. These groups deploy people to clear shelves of specific high-demand products.

This theft dynamic explains why modern retail environments look the way they do today. Store managers do not lock up inventory merely to frustrate honest shoppers; they are responding to precise data about organized theft.

Lack of customer assistants to sell these items will make you want to go home & shop online instead.

1. Steak

2. Nappies

3. Soap powder

4. Sanitary products

I hope we get the answers.

Question wasn't very clear, I thought it meant shoplifters...

I thought you were asking for what we thought was the most stolen item in each of those groups, my suggestions are:

Food - joints of meat

Chemist - cough medicine or razor blades

Cleaning - bleach

Baby care - disposable nappies

I’d have thought baby care first - people with babies are frequently struggling with costs anyway. I’m not typecasting but there are so many single mothers with several kids trying to exist and cope on their own, the temptation must be pretty great.

I'd have said food.

Soap powder is one of them. Name-brand laundry detergent: Premium laundry detergents, particularly Tide, have famously been used as a form of street currency in various cities due to their relatively high price point and universal utility.

Most shop theft is by drug addicts who as Little Owl said offload it to get money for drugs.

There are also organised gangs who sweep shelves and sell on at pubs and boot sales .

It’s seldom real poverty that is the cause.

Enver, we don't have much crime in this area, but there was an incident in the cleaning department of a local shop - 2 young women nicked a giant pack of soap powder and fought with the assistant (it was shocking), I was told it is because they can sell cleaning items on easily.

!. Food

2. Baby Care dept.

3. Cleaning dept.

4. Chemist dept.

Chris - all true, but at the same time, we supplied a heck of a lot of those supplies to Russia via the Murmansk convoys, and to Malta to try and keep them alive and fighting. Not all the supplies were for us.

The year's projected spending by the NHS is around £200 BILLION pounds, the actual spending for the year if everyone did their job right is £47. 😁

@JennieS - "Basics are that the government should be able to Defend and Feed its own country. Both of which are no longer happening...."

We haven't been able to defend our shores for decades. That's why we are in NATO, stronger together. Nice though it is to reminisce about plucky little England standing up to the might of Germany, the simple fact is that an invasion of our shores was not Hitler's priority. He wanted Britain out of the war. Remember he was a racist, not a nationalist, and couldn't understand why we - racially similar to the German people - opposed his plans.

As for feeding ourselves. If we had not had the Atlantic Convoys from the USA, Britain would have starved. We've been a net importer of food for decades, since the height of Empire, and even with 'Dig for Victory' and everyone's gardens given over to food production, plus rationing at a level that would cause riots today, we were never more than a week from running out of food completely.

All an inconvenient truth, but we couldn't feed ourselves when our population was under £30 million and we certainly couldn't today.

We could have a NHS that puts people first and provides whatever care people want, regardless of cost, but it would need to be paid for.

The current year's projected spending by the NHS is around £200 BILLION pounds. To increase this by a quarter would add - very roughly - £1,000 to the tax bill of every adult in the country.

Pensioners have not lost their Winter Fuel Allowance unless they have an income of over £35,000 poer year. That is considerably more than most working people, many of whom have mortgages to pay and families to support. The image of an old lady wrapped in blankets who can't afford to turn on the single bar fire is pure propaganda. I don't earn £35,000 a year or anything like it and nobody is giving me the WFA, nor should they.

Pensions are not frozen. The triple lock is still in place. This guarantees a minimum rise each year of 2.5%, and more if inflation or average pay awards are greater. A lot of working people would be more than happy with that. I'm due to retire in the not too distant future and I will be wealthier then than I have ever been in my life. Pass me the cruise brochure, someone?

Everyone wants better services, more money spending on everything, but nobody wants to pay more for it. You can't get a fortnight in the Caribbean for the price of a weekend in Skegness.

As a diehard Conservative voter, I think Starmer really had a chance of making me consider supporting him when he first was elected. I think he is a decent, well-meaning man but his problems all stem from his first and major fault - appointing Rachel Reeves as Chancellor. She makes the decisions, and effectively sets policy, which he has to present to the public as something he supports. When it all goes wrong and he has to make a U-turn it reflects on him, and he is in a no-win situation. If he sacked her he would be accused of looking for a scapegoat, if he stands by her she brings him down. To his credit he has always taken responsibility himself, but by not quietly replacing her early on it is now too late to kick her out. AFAIK all the unpopular decisions - pensions freeze, tax threshold freeze, pensioners’ WFB removal, inheritance tax on pensions - come from her Treasury decisions. Starmer was a Public Prosecutor, not an accountant, so she has pushed through her own ideas. We can only hope her time is over shortly.

Not going to happen. Larry the resident Downing Street cat has seen 7 different PMs in his lifetime, looking like it could be 8 before very long.

I've often thought they should send a taskforce of retired business leaders (there are some ethical ones) into the NHS to work out ways to make things easier for staff and patients. Governments have always blamed the previous one, but they were more civil about it years ago. I don't like the nastiness from all sides during Prime Minister's questions.

Basics are that the government should be able to Defend and Feed its own country. Both of which are no longer happening....

Think that is in a parallel universe A N N !

Glad you worked out what the problem was, oddcat.

I wish I just knew all this stuff……it sounds alien to me.🙄

Once you have set the laptop to the correct time zone as Tim suggested, (sounds like it's set to New Zealand if it's 12 hours out) it should work out the correct time as soon as it sees an internet connection.

Click the Windows icon; settings; Time and Language; Date and time; region and then set it to UK.

After that, browse to the website ninite.com to select your favouite utilities and automatically install them.

If you haven't already done so oddcat, download & install the Google Chrome browser. When you then sign in to Google, it should have all your old bookmarks & passwords if you saved them them previously.

The clock issue sounds like the laptop is set to the wrong time zone. Normally when setting up the laptop for the 1st time, you get asked which country you are in.

If you discover too many problems at this early stage, i would be tempted to do a complete reset and set the laptop again, as if you have just got it out of the box. It's easier to do it now rather than in a few weeks or months time when you have customised it to your liking.

Glad it got sorted.

Unbelievable, the clock was wrong! switched on this morning at 6.40 and screen tells me its 21.40. Brand new ZenBook 14 and after all the updates it auto processed yesterday, it didn't set the clock. Bizarre lol

Everything on PMP is correct now

I have a reconditioned W10 laptop & a reconditioned Linux (Chrome o/s) laptop, when I got the newer Linux, I charged it, turned it on, & updated with my email address, all site links imported automatically from the Chrome browser on the W10. There's a slight difference in the way each browser works, but both displaying well.

Are other sites the same? Perhaps if it's 2nd hand or reconditioned there could be something wrong with the screen or software, or it's not fully powered up or updated yet? Contact Admin - they could advise or ask Tech for you (a screenshot might help).

If no joy by end of next week, consider returning it to wherever you got it for exchange or refund, or claim via any credit card, or (£100+ for debit card Chargeback via your bank), or PayPal payment you made.

Thanks chocolate spaniel. That's what I'm hoping, it will sort self out. Its been a bit of a nightmare all day setting everything up to the way I'm used to. I've been using chrome for a few years, coming back to windows is a challenge.

I bought a tablet, used it twice and gave up. I had no idea how to use it.

It's LU6 3DF. Got no suggestions though, I would tend to go for 'see if it settles down' but that's hardly helpful! Currently struggling with setting up a tablet for OH where he hasn't saved his password and can't remember it! 🙄

Yes it was on here A.Nick

Kb :-) :-) :-)

I'm hoping I didn't see this on here, if so apologies to whoever posted it.

I took my wife to a restaurant recently and asked if they had a table for two. The manager said "We're a bit short staffed, would you mind waiting?" I said "Of course, no problem" so he handed me a couple of plates and said "Those are for table 6."

Brilliant!

😂🥝

😂 😂 😂

Are you by any chance a singer?

Pearl, don't rely on a daily email to check the site, it is easier to just bookmark it.

Your Prize Pot is clearly drunk. 😊

Sounds like a hardware fault, related to Linux? People who know a lot more than me may be able to help if that's the case.

Pearl, at the top of the reminder emails it states "Prize pot" followed by the total amount available across all draws for that day and "Your Bonus", which is what is currently in your bonus pot. I assume you may be referring to where it says "Prize pot" based on what you have said. I have no idea why yours is showing as "Socket can". Please could you send us a screenshot of this, along with your device make & model and browser details, so that we can pass it onto Tech? Thank you.

Good to have an interesting survey that you can give honest feedback to.

Hope you have some more!

Meanwhile in North-West Wales we have heavy rain and strong blustery wind, as usual.

Two trail cameras purchased, with 16 AA batteries, two SD cards, a lot of careful reading of destructions (I’m a woman, I read things) and trying different locations. It’s actually really hard to find somewhere that the camera can work unobstructed but also unseen.

That really is quite terrifying, Beth. I hope they've been deterred from whatever they were planning and that that is the last you see of them.

The police should be able to trace the car from your stepson's photograph. Not that they would tell you.

I think what may have put off our unwelcome visitors was seeing stepson holding up his phone, obviously filming them (though in fact he wasn’t ready to take the shot and only managed to get one picture.) Always worth a try, though I might think twice if they were close, as it may inspire them to try and grab it.

Think I put off a suspicious car tonight at 1.30am, I was standing in the cool night air outside Greggs looking at stars & passing planes, a red estate car came slowly down our (dead end) road & parked outside Farmfoods, which is a few doors away, with his rough diesel engine running. Dip lights were still on & I think he spotted me standing there in the dark, so turned on full beam & adjusted the position of his car to point towards me. Observing I wasn't moving for a few minutes, he turned it round & drove off the wrong way through a ⛔ where vehicles from the main raod drive in so obviously wasn't from here or didn't care. . I waited a minute or two then went round the corner & checked the backs of the shops, & he had gone..

Edit: He must have returned later & had a go, one of Farmfooids automatic sliding glass doors is smashed but still working & in one piece.

Beth, this must be very worrying for you. I really hope that this is the last you see of them, hopefully them seeing your stepson taking photos will stop them.

I told the police I was thinking of printing the photo of the car and putting it on my gate with SUSPICIOUS VEHICLE under it. As far as I am aware it can’t be construed as libel as it is true!

FORGIVE CAPS PMP.

BETH,

I HOPE THE PICTURES YOUR STEPSON TOOK DETER THEM.

NOW YOUR NEIGHBOURS KNOW TO BE VIGILANT TOO. AFTER ALL, THEY MAY VENTURE ONTO THEIR PROPERTY, SO AT LEAST NOW YOU’VE EXTRA EYES & EARS LOOKING IN YOUR AREA.

THIS HAPPENED TO ME BEFORE. I ASKED THE POLICE TO DO REGULAR DRIVE-BY PATROLS. LUCKILY, IT WAS AT A TIME WHEN THE POLICE HAD THE RESOURCES TO DO THAT.

IT DEFINITELY HELPED, AS THEY WEREN’T SEEN AGAIN.

I TRULY HOPE THAT’S THE LAST YOU SEE OF THEM.

Right, Update: yesterday was uneventful, and stepson got home from France around 11pm so no problems. This morning, however… he went out with Poppy and I took the boys while he was out (didn’t realise he had gone). When I got back he said there was a light beige large pickup with a cab on the back (fits my description!) parked in our gateway, facing into the garden. Just then a chocolate brown Kia came down the track and parked, and a man got out and joined the truck. The truck driver saw stepson approaching, told the other chap, who jumped back in the car and they both drive off quickly. They saw that stepson was photographing them, so maybe that will deter them. He got a picture of the Kia, with numberplate, but couldn’t get the truck, although he remembered part of the numberplate. These …people… (aren’t I polite) may be after things from outbuildings or could be after the puppies, which is more worrying. Police have been very good but as expected said it is not an offence to drive up a track, and although they are acting suspiciously, it would not give them enough to act on. I have just spent two hours going to all the neighbours, explaining what happened, showing them the picture of the car and asking them to tell the police if they see the cars again, especially if they are in ‘wrong’ places, but anyway to tell their friends locally. Someone will put it on WhatsApp in the village too.

FORGIVE CAPS PMP.

BETH,

I HOPE YOU HAD AN UNEVENTFUL NIGHT LAST NIGHT.

I find a shot gun with rock salt shells handy. Non fatal, but they will hurt. ;-)

Nasty experience Beth, I hope you won't be on your own tonight will you? If they return don't whatever you do confront them. Keep doors locked, lights on, windows closed tight and as many lights on as you have around house and grounds. If you feel scared don't hesitate to call the police, they will send someone round to check.

I had a similar experience and the police came round (2.30am). they had scarpered by then and the above is the advice the police gave to me. Take care.

Take care Beth, some of them are ruthless.

Sledgehammer through their car windscreen if so. Told police I could sneak out of french door, go out the side of the garden, try and get car reg or photo then if they were trying to get in the house I could throw their keys in the hedge. Trouble is, that means they are trapped nearer me than if they got away - rethink needed. It’s nice to imagine oneself as the brave, resourceful hero, but I doubt if it would really happen!

Not a nice experience for you Beth, hope they don't come back.

We have got PIR lights in front of the garage and at the back patio doors, but with the foxes, feral cat, and heavy tree growth in the wind they are frequently set off anyway. I can’t put them on the front gates or the forest ponies and cattle would wear out the batteries within a week. We have wired-in gate lights and PIRs round the side path so I don’t think we can do much more.

That’s excellent advice for anyone who’s fairly remote A.N.N

There are trail cameras that could be left up your driveway, on the floor or fastened to a tree or post, they'll often take three photos and a short video when they're triggered so ought to pick up a registration plate if you can't.

Yes do you have a motion detector light Beth?

Failing that get in touch with the police and ask if they will do a home security check.We had one and they did offer some very practical advice.

As much as I hate where I live, I don't think I could be in an isolated area. Hope you get the alarm sorted out and hope they don't come back. Iike Suelero I would also have been up all night.

Got an ADT alarm system, but unfortunately it chose yesterday to do its occasional drop-off and it only came back online when I reset it when I had gone out to look up the track. Got a picture of me at the gate but that’s all between 7.15pm and 11.45pm. I have contacted ADT today to get it che cked out or replaced as it is no good if not reliable.

IShyboy, there certainly wasn’t much of the night left when I went to sleep!

Get a Ring door camera. It records anyone who enters your property & can send alerts to your smartphone wherever you are.

😯 I would have been up all night.

I hope it was a one off or completely innocent Beth. Glad you weren't alone just in case.

The other ones that are doing the rounds are the ''Tree /hedge trimmers'' A man offered to cut my sister's single tree for varying amounts - started at £600 and gradually came down to £250. He was quite miffed when she refused ...😄

FORGIVE CAPS PMP.

BETH,

HOPEFULLY A 1 OFF 🙏🏻

I’M PLEASED YOUR STEPSON’S GIRLFRIEND CAME TO STAY.

That is worrying, Beth. I would have thought the police could have picked up an image of the vehicle on the main road where there must be cameras. Maybe you could mention it to the police contact at Thames Valley who was coming to look at Storm?

Beth, I do think that Bruce8 has hit the nail on the head. I've been reading of a lot of dog thefts recently and some (thank goodness) have been found at traveler's caravan sites. I know you will.....but be very vigilant!

I hope it was a one off chancer Beth but worrying.

That is strange. I hope it's the last you see of them.

If the blighters keep digging up my lawn I might let them! (No chance). Yes, all fine overnight. I stayed up until about 3am, got up 5.30 to make coffee, open door for dogs etc but didn’t get dressed until 6.45 so will probably doze off for half an hour later.

Unfortunately I've heard of this recently. Sometimes checking the property because they want to take the dogs.

A bit worrying Beth, hope it doesn’t keep you awake all night! & definitely hope you are ok & able to report back in the morning,

That’s one of the disadvantages of G. Earth, nefarious types can find even really isolated properties, with theft & criminal intent in mind.

Little Owl. How I long for the good old days. I used to have to do press ups in PE, and the teacher, Mr Deadman, would grab my hair pulling me up to 'encourage' me. He'd never get away with it now....

as I've lost all my hair. I'd still go back to those days to 'encourage' kids now.

Our teacher used to bully a nice lad who was very small for his age (there was some medical condition as he died when he was in his 20s). The teacher used to make him stand on a chair, then a desk, to write things on the blackboard. The teacher would then move the desk, so the terrified lad had to balance on the ledge of the blackboard, and he was left there for ages. The other thing he did was throw the blackboard rubber underneath a desk and ask one his victims to retrieve it, then he would corral them in with chairs and beat them with a cane.

Ditto with the blackboard rubber, in woodwork I built like a half box for my books which sat on my table, as I sat at the back by the window no-one could see what I was doing behind it. one day I was listening to pop music via an earpiece when the rubber flew at the lad next to me, who picked it up & threw it out the window. He was sent to get it out some prickly bushes.

We also had a teacher who threw blackboard rubbers until someone threw it back at him and was sent to the headmaster. The practice was promptly stopped.

FORGIVE CAPS PMP.

AAH, THE BLACKBOARD RUBBER - THE 1ST EVER DRONE! 😉

One of ours also threw a blackboard rubber and also wandered round the class with the window pole held horizontally at low head-height. Anyone sitting up or gazing round instead of head-down in their books brained themselves.

People will soon be writing to God. I do find it weird how some expect an apology from someone totally unconnected. You might as well ask the milkman. Thinking about that, maybe I should.

My dad and his brother used to tell of a teacher at their school who would throw a stick of chalk with all his might at anyone not paying attention in class and hit them in the middle of the forehead every time. Inches away from having an eye out.

If the pupil had their desk lid open, he would hurl the wooden board rubber at their fingers with the force of a cricket fast bowler.

Alley, no, I’m currently preparing a letter to ask compensation from the Italian government for the invasion we had by the Romans. I want to do away with all their roads, hot baths and spas and put it back to the roundhuts and longhouses we had before.

I don't totally agree with all this looking back to the past and then expecting an apology. Yes it may look bad now but then most of it was normal.

Just my opinion of the "nanny" state.

A Nick Name, discipline is one thing, being beaten with the buckle end of a belt is another, you shouldn't accept that as normal. We had sick bullying teachers at school who used to pick on young boys and beat them just for fun. They weren't even good teachers.

Obviously there are some people who have sadly been abused, but that is different from discipline. Abuse is more to do with power, control, anger and unpredictability.

I totally floored a marketing caller a few years back - ‘You may have been mis-sold PPI and we can help you…’ ‘No, I was told what the terms were, what the interest and commission was, so it doesn’t apply to me.’ ‘But we can help you get compensation anyway.’ Me: ‘That’s not compensation, it’s insurance fraud and theft.’ Phone dead, no more calls .

Not in this garden, Enver! Ours goes straight down the manhole into the septic tank. The only problem is that they frequently use the gravel, which is blooming hard to clear up, and I can’t put stones down there, so the worst ones go out on the forest - it’s no different from the dogs going out there anyway, and it rots down in a couple of weeks. Plastic bags are a concession to public demand only when we go on holiday, or in a built up area.

My lady friend just puts sand on any poo in her garden; the whole place stinks of dog.

Never mind, Alley, you can share mine. I’ll let you know which are your days for picking-up the poo in the garden. That’s one thing that will be a lot easier with two than seven!

I have said before that you are reminding me of how much I miss not having a dog(s). Unfortunately not possible these days for me.

That's lovely, Beth 😊

Beth your joy has also been ours.

They have been the most amazing experience - exhausting, bankrupting, house-wrecking, sleep-depriving, a constant worry about keeping them safe (especially with a 5’ deep pond in the garden) but also funny, loving, delightful, a laugh a minute, making me so proud of them on so many occasions, and I just want to see my kids have a happy, safe life with owners who will love them and treat them well. If they can do a useful life with the police, or as working dogs in some way, that is even better. They will be fulfilled and be doing what they were born to do. Can’t ask for more than that.

Oh Beth8it, I bet you’re going to miss Storm, as for the shopping, I can only imagine the scene and look forward to the photos.

But I bet when you go to bed, you are as warm as toast!!

Good one - made m3 laugh out loud. Nice followups too redz.

I could just imagine Morecambe and Wise doing a skit on that as I read it...😅

😂 😂 😂

Good ones redz

FORGIVE CAPS PMP.

THAT’S SOME CRUMB-BELIEVABLE ENGINEERING!

ARE YOU PATENTING IT AS A ‘POP UP’ ALARM? 😉

HERE’S A ‘TOAST’ TO YOUR SUCCESS 🥂

🤣🤣