Thirsty Relic

excellent point Dave!

I'm not sure about all this talk about the law. Perhaps we ought to look at it from the point of view of Company Policy. If a company decides it wants all its workers to wear a uniform, surely it can - it is a sensible request under their terms of employment. If they also say that, especially in this crisis, a mask is part of that uniform, then that too seems fair and reasonable. Logically, therefore, it could even discipline staff if it chose to for not adhering to that policy.

Try an overnight soak before washing, or the pre-wash option on many machines. Also, if using Vanish (or similar), give it a few minutes to soak into the garment(s) before putting it in the washer with the detergent.

Businesses are free to serve and allow on their premises who they like (subject to anti-discriminatory laws etc). The police can't be expected to patrol shops arresting non-wearers of masks. Most people will probably wear them, for whatever reasoning.

"Here in my Heart" 1952 I think.

Thanks - will keep an eye on this!

Well, I don't know about all that folks, but I would like to see the figures from new infections in Leeds and Liverpool in around a fortnight. Both football teams are having celebrations (again) and telling fans not to go to the respective stadiums. Hasn't stopped them before, has it? Expect the evening news to have footage of thousands of fans again NOT social distancing, NOT wearing masks, and NOT being arrested as there are simply too many of them for the police to handle.

it doesn't help when the defenders and midfielders spend all their time passing backwards. No matter how many runs into good spaces the forwards make, if the ball doesn't come...... Everton were forced by injuries to play a rookie centre back. McBernie never had the supply line to challenge him. Ridiculous! Oh well, overall a brilliant first season, but we just didn't get going after the lockdown.

We'll probably never find out, but if Dave reads this he'll be trying to work out whether it's somebody he palled up with all those years ago and would like to meet up with again ... or is it somebody looking to hit him with nearly 40 years of child support!

The 03 number is a different story. Sometimes used by businesses, it is a non-geographic code, so you can't locate it by area (e.g. 0114 is Sheffield). Not a frequently reported scam number though - checked by googling it.

10 digits not 11 - dead giveaway!

I think we are being premature here - the Government has NOT announced that face coverings are to be mandatory in shops from the 24th. Some newspapers and media outlets are reporting that their sources say that that is the case. That is very different. Governments through the ages have fed rumours to the press, then waited to gauge reaction before deciding what to do. I will wait for the Government to announce any measures before acting.

A number of contributors suggest the use of a credit card (or pre-pay card) solely dedicated to PayPal. This is a great idea, but PayPal only allow this until you have made a certain number of purchases (not sure how many, as i reached that limit a long time ago) - then you are pressed for a real bank account if you want to still use them.

I really respect the landlords who have made the conscious decision that they will put the health of their staff and customers before profits and stay closed until they feel that the situation is safe enough for them to reopen. I'm staying with my supermarket bought cans and bottles until then also. Our sensationalist press campaign for pubs to reopen, then point to any excesses caused by over-indulgence. Lets hear it for those who stay closed for now out of concern for their customers!

Thanks for your reply, It looks as I expected, with varied responses from both pubs and customers. I think I'll wait a bit and see how things pan out, hoping those clearly flouting the rules are dealt with (i.e. closed down). I was hoping with transmission rates going down we could get back to normality (no 1 metre rule etc) within a few weeks, but the likelihood of a 2nd spike is making this look optimistic.

Well, I expected more discussion of what some of you found having a few beers out last night. I expect most of us spent the night watching tele with a few cans or bottles as I did, but we're still interested in what those of you who did go out found.... or are you still nursing hangovers?

So, a landlord loses his licence yet ignores this and continues trading? I'll be keeping an eye on this via the Examiner to see if the boys in blue paid him a visit. Hopefully, they closed the pubs down and took him away.

Well done - as long as you realise that the "supervisor" is probably just someone sat next to them in a big call-centre run by a criminal gang. As soon as international police forced close one, another one opens. Right plan though - waste their time. They also document and sell on details of those who fall for scams. Fall for one, expect more. By the same token, waste their time and prove you are on to them, may mean you get fewer.

Good on ya! The trick is with these is to try and keep these criminals on with you as long as possible without giving any of your details away. The longer they are on with you, the less time they have to get through to more gullible people. I kept one such caller "I'm from Microsoft and there's a fault with your Windows installation and I can help if you ...." on for ages, even getting him to help me out by telling me what the weather was like in London that day as I was going down the next day on business (he claimed he was speaking from Victoria and described the view, including sites simply not visible from Victoria!). Oddly enough, said "Microsoft" employee used the same term (f*** off) when he asked me to type something on my keyboard and I said I didn't have a computer, and I thought he was asking about my double-glazing!

Certainly with you on the first part of your post pal, I never seem to get anything done and the time flies. Lost count of how long we've been grounded but in that time I've done virtually nothing. There are free on-line courses I could have done, spring cleaning, learnt new skills, read some of the books I've bought and never opened, yet each day simply goes by. I look forward to doing the shopping, when it used to be a chore!

I watched him "acting" in an episode of Dr. Who. I've seen more fluid movement and better vocals from darleks

Those older than me (and the old comics themselves) say that the making of them were the old variety clubs (no longer with us of course). On the point of good Presenters, they need to be funny themselves and very quick witted. I think it would need someone like Lee Mack to bring that type of program back. It you could get him to do them as well as Would I Lie to You etc that he's really good on. Yes, I could see him running a re-booted Generation Game, or Blankety Blank or Golden Shot. Or even a new program of that genre. As he's a very talented all-rounder (he not only stars in the sitcom Not Going Out, he also created it and is one of the main writers), he may even invent his own. Sadly, can't think of any others who could .. can anybody else?

Drinking less, getting fatter (less beer to wash the chocolate down). Entered myself in the sheepdog trials due to the length of my hair. Getting addicted to daytime radio (thankfully I've not got addicted to TV soaps - yet). Having long philosophical debates with the weeds in my garden (by thought transference). Have trained the local German Sheppard dog to talk English (albeit with a pretty ruff Yorkshire accent). Learnt to speak Martian (see below). Rigged up my radio so I can talk to the Martians (they are glad that football is back as well) to further my language skills. So far, so good, but hope Covid goes away soon or this confinement may turn me mad!

This problem is bound to get worse as businesses are being recommended to take names and contact details (reports vary - addresses, phone numbers, email addresses or all 3) of all customers to help with track and trace of anyone suspected of having Covid-19. This information is like gold-dust to burglars and scammers of course, so take care......

I've had a very similar one - the Subject being "Suspicious Activity". It has the right logo and correct links at the end of the text , but the giveaway is that the "From" address and the "Login to Paypal" button did not have anything to do with PayPal. It got past my security settings - so I'll have to review those now!