The World At Greenwich
I took these pictures of the cruise ship; The World at Greenwich.
It would be good to see it go downriver from somewhere like Barrier Park.
The Emirates Air-Line Wasn’t Very Busy
Early this morning, I went over the Emirates Air-Line
The Emirates Air-Line Wasn’t Very Busy
The picture shows the queues at Royal Victoria.
On the other hand the view was one of the best.
The O2 Arena And Canary Wharf
Note that the Shard is missing.
Another Serious Problem In The Gulf
This story on the BBC’s web site, looks like a severe problem that is going to happen in the Gulf States.
It would appear no-one has died in these high-rise fires, but it strikes me after reading the article, that regulations and building materials aren’t what we would expect in Europe or North America.
A few years ago, I went to Dubai and the number of residential towers going up was amazing. But how many of them are fire traps?
We’ve had the some problems with tower blocks in this country, like the fire at Lakanal House in 2009, but hopefully we’ve not sed too much dangerous cladding. The only tower block, I’ve lived in was Cromwell Tower in the Barbican, which was built in concrete to a very high standard in the 1960s. You felt very safe in that building.
Typing “Barbican Fire” into Google, just gives you this relevant link and that’s about an event, where the City of London Fire Brigade and showing children how to be aware of fire.
My only quesion, is do fire brigades do enough of that sort of thing.
Justice Gets Attacked In Marion, Indiana
This is a rather funny story, about a drone that went AWOL.
Wonga Fraud Claims Grow
The BBC Watchdog programme is reporting increasing fraud based around Wonga. Here’s the introduction.
There’s been a growing number of complaints from victims about bank fraud, according to the BBC’s Watchdog programme.
It says it has heard from more than 350 people who claim their accounts have been raided for loans they didn’t take out.
They include 16-year-old student Simon Oliver from East Sussex.
“I was at Gatwick airport on a school trip and went to pay for some food and my card didn’t work,” he said.
It strikes me, that Wonga aren’t doing their checks correctly, as obviously, the sixteen year old, who was defrauded shouldn’t have been able to take out a long.
One point is that, the money has been loaned to a different bank account to the one where the payments are taken.
Surely, Wonga, do check bank accounts thoroughly! It looks like they don’t!
I just checked with a guy I know, who’s run finance companies and only in very rare circumstances, would you send the loan to one account and get the repayments for another. Usually, it was a commercial loan, where Director’s guarantees were involved.
I’ve not heard of this fraud being perpetrated on a reputable loan company.
The Cleanest Cash Point In The World?
I saw this cash point at the branch of Barclays in Rose Green on my trip to Bognor.
The Cleanest Cash Point In The World?
I’ve never seen one so clean. it was also very welcome, as I needed to get some money.
Bognor Is Just Like Felixstowe
it was an uneventful trip to Bognor, except for the loss of the pen. And all at a ticket cost of just £14.75 in a very clean train.
The only excitement on the way down was two Dutch tourists, who in killing time changing planes at Gatwick, decided they’d visit Crawley. Surely, there must be something better to do at the Airport!
Here are some of the pictures I took.
It could all have been Felixstowe, as I remember it as a child.
That town wasn’t the best place to be a teenager. Especially, where you had no transport, buses were rare and there were about three trains a day.
At least Bognor had a bus to get me back to the train station, which seemed to run about every fifteen minutes. I needed the bus, as I’d probably walked about three miles.
Once off the sea-front, I only passed one pub. And I think, I only saw two in the first mile or so, whilst in the town centre.
Did King George V liked a drink, and couldn’t find any in the town? Hence his supposed remarks.
Perhaps, James Joyce went there to stay sober enough to write Finnegan’s Wake.
Were The Pilgrim Fathers From Essex?
This story started in the Times yesterday and was repeated here in the Telegraph, which throws Grimsby into the mix.
So you can take your pick from any of a number of places!
The choice is yours!
An Event Driven Life
Yesterday, when I went to Bognor, it was a spur-of-the-moment decision, when I saw the weather forecast, which said that Bognor would be the warmest place in the UK. The hotspots today are Heathrow, Salisbury, Birmingham, Harlow and Barnsley. I hsven’t been to Salisbury for years, but I don’t think I’ll be going today. But who knows?
So every day, I look at the news and the weather and decide where I might go, if I feel a trip coming on.
I also try to sign up to offers, I get from places like Liverpool University.
It is a mildly exciting way to live.
Spanish Banking Practices
This story in the Guardian about Santander and their Chief Executive; Alfredo Sáenz, shows why the only thing you should ever do with this overblown Spanish bank, is to use their cash machine, if it is the only one available.
I did that once and got charged for the money, but didn’t get any. They did find the mistake, so 48 hours later, the money was put back in my account.
But as I’ve often said here, a great friend of mine who retired from a high position in a major clearing bank, always told me to bank with a bank, which is head-quartered in the UK and preferably England, if you live there.
There is also this story on the BBC, about Lloyds divesting themselves of their Spanish Operations at a hefty loss. One of the consequences is that Lloyds now have a small 1.8% stake in a Spanish bank. To quote my old mate, Brian, it looks like they’ve been screwed, glued and tattooed on that deal.
But then it’s only money! Except that a lot of it is our’s!
The Anonymous Widower 