Helloooooooo everyone.  Hope you're all keeping well.  Good to see this is still going

 

Is there an Aaron fan thread anywhere?

Hi LL, nice to see you, where've you been?

 

I don't think there's an Aaron thread, well I've not seen one.  There was a Harry thread and I was signed up but I like Aaron and would like to see him win but I think the powers that be might have other ideas.

El that's great Hi LL I think there have been Aaron threads here & there, I only see them in passing though, I'm afraid I gave up on BB after a week My morning has flown by faster than Santa & his reindeer on Christmas eve!

Hiya Squiggle and Sweet Summer, have been here and there.  Lost the link to here and found it this a.m

 

Yes I am supporting Aaron (along with Alex).  I fear he has been edited badly by BB but this is what we have learnt to expect with BB unfortunately.

I've just had another phone call from an American trying to get me to buy shares. I cut him off before he had a chance to get started by telling him that in the UK it is illegal for stockbrokers to cold call people who are not their clients to try to sell them shares, that it was probably the same in the States, and that what he was trying to do was probably illegal.

 

The Financial Services Authority say:

"Cold calling to sell shares is rarely allowed, so anybody who receives a call like this should be extremely sceptical. "

That large print was them, not me

Well done el you do did the right thing! LL I'm pleased you found the link again, if I use the home computer I usually google "gagajoyjoy" and that's how I find my way in lol you'd think I'd have it bookmarked by now

Since my last post, I've done some more looking around. It appears in the States that brokers are permitted under SEC (Securities Exchange Commission) to cold call people under their rules. However they are supposed to follow certain rules. For instance:

 

Cold Callers Must Say Who’s Calling and Why — Cold callers must promptly tell you:

• Their name
• Their firm’s name
• Their firm’s address or telephone number
• The purpose of the call — for example, to sell you an investment or investment-related services

Neither the caller a couple of days ago or today's caller gave their address of phone number.

 

In the same way that people can check with the FSA in this country that the caller is properly licenced, there is in the States. When I next get a call from these Americans, I will ask them for their CRD number. I can then check this against the official database

 

In all probability, they would be unable to tell me their CRD number which would then confirm that they are unregulated.

 

I'm posting this information more for my benefit as I can find the link faster if it's here. I doubt if any of you will get such a phone call. I do know that last year the FSA informed some 30,000 people that they had been targeted by boiler house crooks, and it is beginning to look as if I am being targeted as well. Twice in a few days is hardly a coincidence. I did get an automated phone call from Dun and Bradstreet last week ringing to confirm my phone number. At least the message claimed to be from them. There was no response required from me and I gave none. I assumed at the time that they were checking that I was still running an accountancy practice. When the first American rang, I did ask him where he got my details from and he did say Dun and Bradstreet, so my suspicions are not irrational.

Dun and Bradstreet are the world's leading company for sources of business information including marketing databases.

I loved The Flintstones.

Well done EL, I am glad you were able to put him straight.  I hope he will think twice before bothering other people but I suppose that's too much to hope for

 

Summer I am glad your morning has sped by, now don't peak too soon its still some time until you can start breaking out the

 

LL the more I see of Aaron the more I am liking him.  I am afraid I don't like Alex, I am finding her more and more fake.  And don't get me started on Faye or Louise or Tom or Jay

Me too Yogi Yabbadabbadoooo!

Welcome back LL, good to see you.

I hope you'll stick around.

 

Squiggle.

Well done on getting rid of the cold caller, El - I think they should be banned!!

Yogi, I don't like these cold callers any more than you do. The trouble with the frequency of cold callers is trying to identify which callers are genuine and which aren't. The result is that unless I can identify why the person is calling me, I just automatically go on the basis that they are con artists.

 

Some outfit rang me about energy saving grants - the same people who have rung me before and I just put the phone down on them immediately. The grants for things like loft insulation etc does vary depending on whether you live in England, Wales, Scotland or N Ireland.

In England, the grant scheme is now called the Warm Front Scheme. Their website says:

Eligible customers are all those awarded:

• Pension Credit or;
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance that includes a work-related activity or support component (this includes contribution based ESA customers in the support group who get an income related top up because they automatically qualify for the enhanced disability premium payable with income related ESA)

And those awarded:

• Income Support or;
• income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, or;
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance in the assessment phase (first 13 weeks of the claim)

Who must also have one of the following:

• a pensioner premium. or;
• a disability or severe disability premium, or;
• an award of child tax credit that also includes an element for a disabled,  or severely disabled child or young person, or;
• a child under the age of five living with you

In addition to the qualifying benefits listed above, the property you live in must also be poorly insulated and/or not have a working central heating system.

 

I know perfectly well that I don't qualify, and no matter how often I tell the outfit you rang me that I don't qualify, they still persist.

I'm afraid I tend to mistrust most cold callers. I had a call from someone saying they were from Virgin and they could save me money on my telephone bills. I wasn't sure that the call was genuine, so refused her offer.

Maybe I was being over-cautious but I wasn't taking the risk it might be a scam - especially as she wanted letters from my password (NO CHANCE!).

Having an early night, leaving hugs for the night owls.

awww sorry to have missed everybody

yogi - miss you in the BB fred

 

night  yogi EL and everybody

*night owls* I've been accompanying me summer on a road trip to pick up a bike, just as well I went because the A1 had a nightworks closure & diversion on the way home and he'd have been bored & tired had I not have been with him My best friend has been in touch, she should be going home tomorrow, but she's still very sore and finding using crutches challenging. The baby will be transferred to a further away hospital tomorrow so she'll have to rely on family to drive her to see her. It's times like this that I would have liked to have been more helpful, living 250 miles away makes it difficult. I will however call her when she's home alone, her partner is going back to work, he'll be more helpful on paternity leave when Ava finally comes home.. So, it's good news really El, I hope you manage to get rid of those cold callers, or at least not give them anything they want! Sweet dreams everyone, catch up with you tomorrow

Good morning everyone, quite a bright morning here.

 

Summer its good news and bad news for your friend.  It must be difficult to learn to manage crutches, and although the baby is getting the best possible care its obviously difficult for her as she wants to be with her.  Her husband sounds sensible and I am glad she has you to phone and cheer her up.

Good morning everyone

 

Summer I hope all goes well for your friend and baby Ava.

 

Here, it's has been a bit foggy. It seems to be lifting, but I can't tell yet whether it's going to be a cloudy or sunny day.It is dry, but heavy showers are expected later.

Good morning everyone.

Weather is overcast this morning and showers are forecast. However, the next few days are meant to be dry and bright.

Summer, I know things are difficult for your friend atm, but hopefully she will have Ava home with her very soon. Her husband is right, it is more sensible to save his paternity leave until Ava comes home. Does she have family or friends living nearby who can help while she is on crutches?

Morning (just) It's a horrible wet, grey but mild day here today, I will definitely need my umbrella this lunch time! What are everyone's weekend plans? I'm excited about the Downton finale, I know I know, I'm wild lol My best friend lives close to her partners family, and although her mum is 20 or more miles away, she drives. So she will have help around her, and plenty of girl friends who live nearby and have babies/children so she won't be alone. I personally am clueless about babies so i wouldn't be a huge help like that but I'm good at taking directions and can clean up well so I'd be helpful in that way instead

The day has decided it's going to be a cloudy day and it started raining about an hour ago.

 

Summer, it's good to know that your friend has the support she needs at present

Squiggle, and anyone else who uses Firefox. You said the other day that Firefox was crashing on you from time to time. Since the last Firefox update I also have found that Firefox crashes. What I find is that it seems to happen when either I try loading another webpage on a different tab or it I click on a link to another webpage on the page I'm on. What I have noticed is in the address bar at the top right at the far left, I get a black circle just endlessly going around without anything happening, and the browser is then generally unresponsive and I close it down. When I re-open the browser, it works fine, so I know that it is the browser which is the problem rather than any broadband connection issue.

 

What I am trying to do now is that when I open a new page I wait until I can see that the black circle has been replaced by something else - on this forum it's an orange H before I either open another page or click on any link. If the page looks as if it's still trying to load without end, then I would click on the stop loading page at the right edge of the address bar.  I'm hoping that this will reduce the browser playing about.

That sounds useful advice EL, I will look out for the symbol you mention and hopefully get around this problem.  It only happens every now and then but its annoying when it does.

Having a long soak and an early night, catch up tomorrow.

Hugs for night owls.

Hi and bye ! xx 
Having an early night too, love to all and to Summer, hope your friend and the baby are well  

Night Yogi and Skylark, looks like we're all off early tonight, catch up tomorrow.  Leaving a hug for any night owls.

AWWWWWWWWW missed everybody

night yogi, skylark squiggle EL

Didn't miss me ros Evening and sweet dreams those of you who've gone to bed The heavy rain must have something to do with it, but I had no 3G from mid morning onwards I love my Internet usage from work and really missed being able to forum today! Happy end of the week to you all

good morning It seems so dark! I'm waiting up to hear about the 27 car, crash that's awful I thank my lucky stars regularly for my safety! *leaves selection of eggs cooked in every way possible, bacon, toasts, preserves, tea, coffee & juices*

Good morning everyone

 

Summer, that vehicle crash is appalling - seems to be one of the worst in years in this country - several dead and up to 35 injured - 6 lorries and 20 cars involved on the M5 near Taunton. Seems as if it was caused by 2 lorries jacknifing with a car in between. It happened at 8.30 last night and there was heavy rain and fog. I am sorry for all those involved and their families. I hope no-one any of us know is involved.

Good morning everyone. It's chilly but bright this morning - my favourite sort of autumnal day.

Terrible news about the M5 crash, my heart goes out to the families of everyone involved.

Thank you for the breakfast, Summer.

Good morning everyone, its a lovely bright morning here but its overshadowed by that terrible car crash.  Its only about an hour and a half away from me.  A dreadful dreadful crash, there must have been some dreadful experiences. Simply awful.

I'll put this here as I'm not sure whether or not Skylark wants to keep it quiet :

 

Well she kept that quiet!!!!!!!

Happy birthday skylark I'll pop back later with a cake!

Happy Birthday Skylark. I hope your day is as special as you are.

Summer, you need to edit your post above

 

I've just seen that one of the proposed boundary changes for parliamentary constituencies affects Gloucester. It is being proposed that the Westgate ward becomes part of the Forest of Dean constituency. People are livid with this as parts of that ward goes right into the centre of Gloucester. The Cross in the centre of Gloucester is the point where Northgate Street, Eastgate Street, Southgate Street and Westgate Street meet. Parts of the Westgate ward are the oldest parts of Gloucester dating centuries and remaining intact.

 

And what makes this even more outrageous is that Gloucester Cathedral is in Westgate ward. It's rather as if they decided to make Buckingham Palace part of Milton Keynes.

          HAPPY BIRTHDAY SKYLARK!!!!

         

Skylark, I hope you and your family are having a nice and relaxing day today