Category: Rant

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Be careful

A friend was telling me the other day about something unpleasant that had happened to her.

She had gone for a coffee and cake at some place, and paid by card.

A while later, when she was out shopping, she realised she was getting lots of texts from her bank. Suspicious activity on the account, transactions blocked etc.

She checked her cards. The wallet and all the cards had gone. Also driving licence, work security card and everything.

They had been kept in her zip up bag she carried on her back. the guess was that someone had seen her use her credit card, followed her into the crowded streets, opened the bag and removed the lot hidden by the jostling crowds.

She lost a bit of cash, and all the cards. A visit to the police was required and that’s not fun. There was palaver and cost and inconvenience replacing all the stuff. It didn’t feel nice.

So, a reminder especially as Xmas is here and places are busy. Be aware, be secure, only take out what you really need, make sure you have details of cards and apps from your bank or whoever.

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The Kubrick Kollection Kash Grab

The Criterion Collection releases a number of films, some well-known some obscure, on physical media. Often, they are well-produced and worth having.

A new one, for Xmas, is the Kubrick Collection aka The Complete Kubrick.

It’s a 30 disc set in a red and black box. Here is a link to one YouTube video where someone goes through the contents: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPUuEXu8lvY

The list price is nearly $600 in the USA, though it’s not available yet (at the time of writing) and is already discounted (and Amazon UK have a used one for sale already). It’s not clear what the price is elsewhere, but we guess similar. It’s not even clear it will be released in the UK, at the time of writing.

It endeavours to bring together all the work by director Stanley Kubrick in 4K format in a fancy box. There are also lots of documentaries, many of which have been seen before but some are new.

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Americans!

I avoid eating in central London and the West End as much as possible, for various reasons, but sometimes you just have to.

So, the other week I found a quiet pub and I was having a nice lunch and a glass of wine in a corner, minding my own business, when two American tourists came and sat at the next table.

i have nothing in general against Americans, and know many, but American tourists have a reputation. This is not to say anything against anyone, this is just what happened.

How did I know they were American? He had a loud shirt on and shorts and a backwards baseball-type cap. I saw later it was MAGA. She had pink trainers, the kind five year olds would wear. They were in their fifties. Oh, and they were very loud and very noisy.

I ignored them.

They started on me. Did I know this pub did not sell Diet Coke? They had come in for burgers and diet cokes and no Coke. It’s what they always had.

I wouldn’t go to a pub for only burgers and cokes. I always understood soft drinks in pubs are expensive. Go to McDonald’s. Trump likes McDonald’s, and Diet Coke.

Isn’t some part of going on holiday trying different things? Have a beer.

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