Recent content by cb a1

I recall reading that house burglaries are now much less common. Very few people have cash in the house. TVs are too big to nick. Other electronic gadgets are typically so cheap to buy there's no market for fencing them. Mobile phones are worth nicking, but they're nearly always with the...

Worth a read of the locksmith paradox.

Appreciate the question wasn't directed at me, but I'm a business user. Thanks to Teams, less frequently than in the past, but still typically 3 return journeys p.a. nowadays. The meetings / events I attend in London are usually bringing in people from across the UK, so a 10:00 or 10:30 start...

My mum has thankfully still got all her mental faculties, lives alone, manages her own money, etc. Nonetheless, she adopted a tactic a few years ago of pretending that one of her sons has to authorise everything. This covers both telephone and at door cold callers. She adopts something like...

Was catching the train to Glasgow from Lancaster last week. Announcements by the Lancaster platform staff over the PA were excellent. Clearly explained where to stand for all the different carriages so I was only a few steps away from the door I was boarding when the train arrived a couple of...

I fall into the category that doesn't need to pay a licence fee as my main use of the BBC is Radio Scotland, but pays the licence fee as I value the service that the BBC provides to the UK and I'm lucky enough that I can easily afford to do this. Like democracy, the BBC isn't perfect but so far...

How does it cost him money? Apologies if this is OT, but I've long subscribed to the aphorism that 'if it's free, you are the product', so interested in your take on this.

I refuse to use Twitter / X anymore. It was useful, but I cannot use a site where the person who owns it is using it to promote far right ideology irrespective of the inconvenience it causes me. Personally, I use the TOC websites / apps, and staff. I've also discovered an added bonus...

As the saying goes, "there but for the grace of god, go I." I was luckier in that I only had to manage a week in a Travelodge before I got a flat. I have and on occasion suffer from depression. At work, I make a very big thing about mental health. As a team leader, I am very open about my...

"It doesn't matter who you vote for, the government always wins." Until a revolution, philosophically we still have the same government today as we had in 1995, 1895, etc.

Agreed, but does it matter anymore? She's now just a single middle-aged woman living in London.

My understanding is that Short Money is strictly for parliamentary business—such as policy research, frontbench duties, and shadowing government ministers. I would expect (but don't know) that the scrutiny on that spend will be far greater than the SNP were clearly not doing with the money they...

and then instead of being anglophones, would we all be saxophones?

I can only go off what my chemistry teacher, an ex ICI chemist, told the class (this was in the early 80s) which was that he thought burning petrol and diesel was a terrible waste of an incredible feedstock for the chemical industry.

Fully appreciate this is not for everyone, but I've gone for body donation. The added benefit for my family is that there are no costs for burial, cremation, etc.