Well Done Hampshire Constabulary

The press are only too keen to do down the police and it would seem in this instance the Southern Daily Echo got it totally wrong.

Follow the link below to see the Hampshire Constabulary response. Just once in a while it would be nice to see the press in this country provide praise for the police instead of doing them down at every opportunity.

They do a very difficult job and sneering articles like that published by the Southern Daily Echo do nobody any good.
Hampshire Constabulary: Hampshire Constabulary response to ‘End of the week’ opinion piece in the Southern Daily Echo.

View From The Conservatory

Well here we are again. Autumn, or is it Winter has got a firm grip. The temperature here inside is a balmy 15degC while the BBC Weather site is suggesting a max of 12degC today. Still at least its dry.

Since we now have new neighbours we have also a second cat “tag-team” patrolling our garden. I have previously mentioned the predatory pair of black moggies which are systematically reducing the squirrel and bird populations. Well it seems our new neighbours have two black & white cats. They have taken to snoozing in both our front and back gardens. So there seems to have been a bit of a coup or at least a territorial take over since the black team always used to sleep on or under our Adirondack seat but in recent times I have only seen the newbies there. Similarly, the black team used to sleep on our front door step during the afternoons. Now the near presence of the newbies snoozing by the fence seems to have frightened off the black team.

Now an interesting twist to this new state of affairs is the occasional presence of an enormous grey striped cat. As far as I can determine it looks like it may be a Maine Coon Cat or a derivative, whatever, this thing is HUGE !!!

So the status quo, from the cats perspective, has been tilted well out of balance. The result remains to be seen. Perhaps the re-jigging of territorial rights might distract these feline foes and that could be good news for the birds and squirrels.

Child abuser Lyons is set free – This is so wrong

No way in hell should this animal be allowed out of prison after only serving half the jail term behind bars.

This sends the wrong message to other potential offenders, never mind the message it sends to the victims.

Child abuser Lyons is set free – East Hampshire – The News.

Jessops Gift Vouchers – A New Form Of Highway Robbery

I’ll bet many of you have heard this around Christmas and Birthday time ………

“You are so difficult to buy presents for. I never know what to get you”

Being a fisherman I had always said just buy me hooks, swivels, lures and so forth. Not fancy or expensive but so necessary as those are the consumable items that every fisherman is always having to replace. Anyway a couple of years ago I had a sudden rush of blood to the head and suggested that my family buy me gift vouchers.

Not just any gift vouchers but, as I am an amateur photographer, “Jessops” gift vouchers.

Why ? Because, I thought, I would let my family contribute towards a large expensive lense for my camera. Big mistake.

When it was too late I discovered that these gift vouchers have an expiry clause. Perhaps I shouldn’t call them vouchers as the old paper vouchers did not have an expiry date or clause. However, Jessops have entered the modern, digital age. They now have gift cards. They look a bit like a credit card. The important thing to note is Clause 4 of the T & Cs printed on the back of the Jessops Gift Card and I quote.

The card will expire 24 months after the last time it was used to make a purchase or top up the balance. Any remaining balance will be automatically deducted.

However, as the recipient of the gift card, you cannot determine the trigger date. i.e the date on which the card was activated. At least not without going to a Jessops store to make a purchase. You cannot go to their web site and enter the card number to determine the validity of the card or the balance remaining.

I have over the last couple of years been given 4 of these cards. At no time was I informed of the amount on the cards until my son-in-law informed me that when he and my daughter purchased the latest card they asked and were told that there was indeed an expiry date. As a result I went to Jessops to find out what balances I had on the cards and to perhaps make a purchase. I was informed that the older 3 cards had expired.

The staff in the store rang through to another store to see if there was anything that could be done and were told that I would have to contact customer services but since they dind’t work at weekends, this being Saturday, I would have to come back to the store on Monday. Which I duly did.

I stood around while the manager made a call and was duly informed that nothing could be done and that I should contact head office and the customer liaison. On my return home I called these folks and was given the party line.

“The card states 24 months inactivity and the card will expire”

“No we cannot transfer the value of the expired cards to your current and valid card”

“We are really sorry that your grandchildren are being ripped off but there really is nothing we can do”

I am now in the process of contacting Jessops through their various e-mail links but will be writing to the CEO.

In the meantime I am writing this as a warning to anyone who might already have a Jessops Gift Card or maybe considering purchasing one of them for a friend or family member.

JESSOPS GIFT CARDS DO EXPIRE AND JESSOPS WILL KEEP YOUR MONEY

View From The Conservatory

Wild and Wet

Yes it’s certainly wild out there today. The wind is buffeting the trees around. One moment they are virtually still and upright. The next they are, without warning, bent rapidly towards the North East. This then followed by wild swirling about as if they are inside a huge food mixer. The conservatory roof is also joining in with the excitement.

Whenever the trees suddenly move, the roof pumps like a diaphragm, creaking and groaning. It gives the illusion of being on a sailing ship but with out the yawing and the rolling.

And wet it is too. It has been raining continuously since the small hours when I first awoke. Varying in intensity from drizzle thru to torrential and back again. All within a couple of minutes and without stopping.

Where do the birds go in this weather ? I haven’t seen a single feathered friend today. Not even a Wood Pigeon and they are usually sat up in the trees, looking like vultures, waiting for some kind of food opportunity.

The squirls are probably tucked up in their nest too, riding out the storm. It must be dangerous for them. Can you imaging making a leap from one tree to the next just as a gust of wind shifts that branch you were planning to land on.

And as for the other regular visitors ? Well I’m guessing that next doors two black avengers, the cats, are tucked up nice and warm inside. I know they are not bothered by the wind but they do not like the wet.

Like them I am glad to be inside …..

Warm and Dry

Waterlooville man caught with knife in Southsea

Only 180 Hours free work ?

Strikes me he got off lightly.

I got caught down in Portsmouth with nothing more than a set of mole grips and a stillson wrench and I have been made to do months and months of unpaid work.

Working on my daughters kitchen and bathrooms seem to be rather like painting the Forth Road Bridge….. never-ending.

Waterlooville man caught with knife in Southsea – East Hampshire – The News.

View From The conservatory

The view today has started on the dark side and has only gotten darker. Initially this was down to the weather which is damp, damp and more damp. It was very grey out there. Just when the sun began to shine the view took a turn for the worse.

I was just wrapping up a conference call with my manager when my eye was taken by a flurry of movement outside. One of the neighbours cats had managed to get hold of a squirrel which was squealing frantically while struggling to get free. Needless to say I broke off from my conference call and rushed outside in the vain hope of making the cat let the squirrel loose before any lasting damage was done. Unfortunately I was too late. The cat took off to hunt another day but I had to dispatch the squirrel which was in a bad way. So that’s four squirrels that have met their ends in my garden after an encounter with the neighbours cats.

As an observation, I note that the crows sat up in the trees above this one-sided scrap were very vocal. They started their calling at the same time as the cat captured the squirrel and continued well after I had scared the cat away. I just wonder whether their calls were in outrage at the attack or if they were getting excited at the possibility of a free lunch.

Fly Seagulls Fly

OK I’ll admit it. I’m only posting this to get up the noses of my family and friends who, locally, are Pompey supporters.

But hey, I claim bragging rights. I have had to put up with all the comments and snide remarks aimed at Brighton & Hove Albion

aka

The Seagulls

Maybe its the new Amex Stadium that is helping to boost their game but the Seagulls season is off to a flying start

Sick cat owner who microwaved his pet walks free from court

Words fail me, this person should be locked up. How on earth did he not get locked up. The rioters and looters got harsher sentences for stealing water !!!

Stephen Stacey put this poor cat through hell just because it scratched him. No doubt he was tormenting the cat in the first place.

Sick cat owner who microwaved his pet walks free from court – Law and Order – The News.

Teenagers arrested after Southsea house party gets out of hand

And my teenage granddaughter wonders why her mum won’t let her have a party. It’s not that she isn’t trusted although she has had her moments. It’s the fact that her mates can’t be trusted to keep the party to just their own close circle. Kids like to think that they are bullet proof and streetwise but they can be so naive. Things get out of hand so quickly now that the kids are connected by Blackberry, SMS, twitter and Facebook.

And all the sorry’s after the fact will not fix any problems that occur.

Teenagers arrested after Southsea house party gets out of hand – East Hampshire – The News.