Mundane facts about your day: Part Deux.

[staffordjas]

Hospitals! Got two hospital appointments next week (Stafford), plus a dentist appointment then Mrs Noah has an appointment at Cannock Hospital on Sunday at 5.30 (!). Already had a phone appointment with Stoke today

Hope all the appointments go well for you both @Noah .

We find more out what's going on with hubby tomorrow. Bit worrying the GP actually rang and wants to see him to talk about what the hospital have written to him about concerning latest tests.

So had a meal out at lunchtime to make the most of the rest of hubbys holiday off work. Went on the bus , so the car was left on the driveway.

While we were eating the ring door bell alerted us to a couple of dodgy looking women checking out the front and sides of our house , one with her nose pressed against the door looking through the front door glass Then makes notes on a tablet type thing whilst saying "white garage door, white BMW, double drive, double aspects. " . I couldn't pick up all that they were saying very well . Looks at our side gate and then neighbours side fence saying "That side looks like it's the neighbours" Then camera gets them walking across ours and neighbours lawn and hovering on the top of their drive. All my camera picks up is as far as the top corner of their drive.

Checked with another neighbour in far corner who had been in all day whether they had gone to hers.....no , she even checked her cameras. So not just sales people doing the rounds.

I checked with neighbour who's lawn they'd walked back over when she came back from work. She played her doorbell footage back and found they had parked right on her driveway (an obvious private driveway) next to her boyfriends car, but hadn't knocked on her door. But one walked straight along the roadway towards ours,(our camera picked the other one appearing from walking across the lawn direction) , then back over their lawn and hovering for ages before getting into their car and driving off. She's caught the number plate , but it's not very clear . Unfortunately her cameras didn't pick up our side of her garden to catch more of what they were saying, but she's swung it round a bit now.
She's putting her steering lock on her BMW tonight and advised me to get one as well as a faraday pouch for keys.

So , drove to Halfords for a steering wheel lock that's now on (in a fashion , but might slow potential thieves down ) and keys now in Faraday pouches inside an old safe box....... just hope she wasn't standing there getting the key codes for later with the keys fobs still in the house...?.is that possible?

With lots of high value cars being nicked on our estate lately , I used to feel quite confident before that our little old Viva was quite safe and not worth nicking to them. Just hoping this car is still there each morning when I look out..... extra checks on the house doors tonight!

 

[Noah]

a faraday pouch for keys.

You can put them in the microwave which acts as a Faraday cage, but must remember to take them out before you use it

just hope she wasn't standing there getting the key codes for later with the keys fobs still in the house...?.is that possible?

Theoretically yes, might be worth reporting to police (101?)

 

[staffordjas]

You can put them in the microwave which acts as a Faraday cage, but must remember to take them out before you use it

Theoretically yes, might be worth reporting to police (101?)

Ramped the ring doorbell up to more frequently record now , it was missing a lot before.

Would this big old portable safe box I've got work? . I've got keys in that at moment, but also got hubby's old office microwave sitting in the garage. Would that be the best bet?

If anyone tried nicking the car last night, the handles were frozen solid at 9am this morning so would have struggled more to get in.

Just glad I'd got my way and booked an uber to hubby's appt this morning to save worrying about parking. With flooded carparks closed, iced up 2 top floors on multistorey closed, and bottom 2 floors of multistorey reserved for blue badge holders , as well as Christmas/victorian market traffic and market stalls completely occupying another carpark, apparently there was a struggle with all spaces taken by 9am.

Add to that the gridlock caused by two seperate M5 accidents closing it both ways both morning & late afternoon , diverting traffic through here it was pure chaos all day with traffic hardly moving anywhere for 3hrs + to go less than a mile. ( including blue light ambulances unable to get out of hospital grounds for hours ) plus some idiot closed another city road for tree pruning on today of all days.

Now hubby has to agree I called the right shots forking out for a taxi ! luckily booked super early to play safe for appt.

A spoons brekkie enjoyed after the docs .

 

[Gramaisc]

Would this big old portable safe box I've got work? . I've got keys in that at moment, but also got hubby's old office microwave sitting in the garage. Would that be the best bet?

Any metallic enclosure will do, even a biscuit tin.

 

[Cue]

Ramped the ring doorbell up to more frequently record now , it was missing a lot before.

Would this big old portable safe box I've got work? . I've got keys in that at moment, but also got hubby's old office microwave sitting in the garage. Would that be the best bet?

If anyone tried nicking the car last night, the handles were frozen solid at 9am this morning so would have struggled more to get in.

Just glad I'd got my way and booked an uber to hubby's appt this morning to save worrying about parking. With flooded carparks closed, iced up 2 top floors on multistorey closed, and bottom 2 floors of multistorey reserved for blue badge holders , as well as Christmas/victorian market traffic and market stalls completely occupying another carpark, apparently there was a struggle with all spaces taken by 9am.

Add to that the gridlock caused by two seperate M5 accidents closing it both ways both morning & late afternoon , diverting traffic through here it was pure chaos all day with traffic hardly moving anywhere for 3hrs + to go less than a mile. ( including blue light ambulances unable to get out of hospital grounds for hours ) plus some idiot closed another city road for tree pruning on today of all days.

Now hubby has to agree I called the right shots forking out for a taxi ! luckily booked super early to play safe for appt.

A spoons brekkie enjoyed after the docs .

You can get a faraday wallet for keys off Amazon for basically nothing.

We have one for the Leaf’s key, as basically every keyless system is a massive vulnerability due to repeaters.

They don’t need the codes, they can just stand there with a repeater and your key will unlock the door as the car will think they’re next to it.

 

[Glam]

You can get a faraday wallet for keys off Amazon for basically nothing.

We have one for the Leaf’s key, as basically every keyless system is a massive vulnerability due to repeaters.

They don’t need the codes, they can just stand there with a repeater and your key will unlock the door as the car will think they’re next to it.

Excuse my ignorance, but what's a repeater please?

 

[staffordjas]

You can get a faraday wallet for keys off Amazon for basically nothing.

We have one for the Leaf’s key, as basically every keyless system is a massive vulnerability due to repeaters.

They don’t need the codes, they can just stand there with a repeater and your key will unlock the door as the car will think they’re next to it.

I got two Faraday pouches from Halfords that evening , along with a steering lock

 

[Gramaisc]

Excuse my ignorance, but what's a repeater please?

It effectively extends the range of the key, so you can make the car think the key is in the close vicinity, when it is still some distance away. So, you can stand between a locked car and a key, inside the house, and thus unlock the car, as though the owner is doing it legitimately.

'Keyless' entry is not a great idea. Even remote central locking in the 'traditional' manner has its drawbacks. If you lose your keys, or have them stolen, it is a fairly easy matter to identify the car they belong to and access it whilst looking quite legitimate. In the old days of mechanical keys, you would have to try the key in the lock of whatever vehicles it might fit - making yourself look a bit shady to any casual observer.

 

[Glam]

Excuse my ignorance, but what's a repeater please?

It effectively extends the range of the key, so you can make the car think the key is in the close vicinity, when it is still some distance away. So, you can stand between a locked car and a key, inside the house, and thus unlock the car, as though the owner is doing it legitimately.

Cheers.

 

[Glam]

For this years annual ward Christmas piss up night out, (Sunday 15th December) we are once again heading up to the Manchester Central Arena, good money has been spent on, the actual night, hotel, train fare and I've even got myself a dress for the occasion! Apologies in advance for the blocked drains, cos I'll have do me legs, the whole of Stafford will be affected.
Anyhows, Shoes, I'm not a fashionista or whatever the word is these days, but I will be trying to keep up with the tarts Jones' that I work with, so I've had find a decent pair of shoes. I've tried Amazon, going back cos the aren't wide enough. EBay, same. ASDA bloomin' Dolly shoes. Daughter in law says - ''Have you been Primarni?'' Well, no, they don't normally do stuff fit me, and seeing how my plates of meat are quite wide, I didn't think I'd find any for me.
Wandered in there this morning, bish,bash, bosh, (or is that Bing Bang Bong?) I now have 2 pairs, this Cinderella shall go to the ball!!
Could do with getting the hair cut, shame there's no hairdressers open on a Sunday morning

 

[Gramaisc]

I've spent the last ten minutes pottering quietly in the Shed - in an effort to let my homicidal tendencies subside a bit.

I went up to the house, to start the chicken casserole for later and spotted that there had been an email arrive that I hadn't spotted on the machine whilst I was in the Shed.

I casually checked it, whilst waiting for the casserole to start simmering reliably.

It turned out to be from TalkTalk, informing me of my impending payment via Direct Debit.

Whilst I was in Stafford, it became clear that the connection that I pay them for was failing and a call-out was arranged, with a threat that I would be charged, if it was my fault. Well, it wasn't, as I knew - in fact, there were three faults in total, all theirs - the wire down the side of my house, one in their street cabinet and a third over half a mile away. The nice chaps who came fixed all three.

TalkTalk decided this was all down to me and charged me £75 for the privilege of letting them fix their failed equipment.

Fifteen minutes of arguing got a reluctant offer of a 50% reduction.

Another fifteen minutes got a grudging removal of the entire fake charge.

It was clear that I wasn't supposed to know what had really happened on the day and just accept their selfish fake 'assessment' as true, if I even noticed the charge they tried to impose on me.

Bastards!

 

[staffordjas]

Even remote central locking in the 'traditional' manner has its drawbacks. If you lose your keys, or have them stolen, it is a fairly easy matter to identify the car they belong to and access it whilst looking quite legitimate. In the old days of mechanical keys, you would have to try the key in the lock of whatever vehicles it might fit - making yourself look a bit shady to any casual observer.

That happened in a Torquay hotel we stayed in years ago. Our dog saved our room from being burgled while we weren't there (thought something was up when we came back in and she cowered down ), Turns out the rest of the rooms in the hotel annexe part that we were in had had their rooms broken into, and just the car keys stolen (some had been hidden in suitcases, clothes etc but they soon found them) . Then found out all the cars had been nicked as well ,so must have been a gang of them. Get the keys , zap around the car park to see which one lights up, in and off.

 

[Mudgie]

That happened in a Torquay hotel we stayed in years ago. Our dog saved our room from being burgled while we weren't there (thought something was up when we came back in and she cowered down ), Turns out the rest of the rooms in the hotel annexe part that we were in had had their rooms broken into, and just the car keys stolen (some had been hidden in suitcases, clothes etc but they soon found them) . Then found out all the cars had been nicked as well ,so must have been a gang of them. Get the keys , zap around the car park to see which one lights up, in and off.

Thankfully I'm planning my April trip to Torquay by train.

 

[staffordjas]

Thankfully I'm planning my April trip to Torquay by train.

We've been to Torquay (and Torbay area) a lot over the years since 1979 when we met,
Thankfully we weren't there in 1985 when a plan to blow it up was discovered and an explosive device in The Palm Court Hotel on the seafront was found under a wardrobe. We used to spend most nights of our holidays drinking on the upstairs terrace of The Palm Court Hotel before it went up in flames..... (Rather conveniently , new apartments and restaurant bars have now replaced it..)

IRA plotted to destroy Torquay seafront hotel

The seaside summer of terror campaign led police to the Palm Court Hotel

www.devonlive.com

 

[Gramaisc]

Tonight, I went to an am-dram thing in a refurbished hall in the arse-end of nowhere - the middle night of a three night run.

A remarkably good affair - 2 & 3/4 hours of words, faultlessly delivered by people who were, to put it gently, rather type-cast.

Marvellous stuff.

Then, a half-mile spin down to the pub, for the rest of the evening.

Here

 

[staffordjas]

In need of a little kid .They'd actually know how to work this.....
Got a local pub email with a video game to play to win prizes.
After getting my santa to collect(had no idea what I was supposed to be doing) just 2, 4, 6 presents I submitted my best score at somehow getting 43......

Came bottom in 999th position on the leader board so far, with the rest in the high 300's . Don't think I'll be getting any of the payout

Reminds me of when I was babysitting for a Stafford forumite a few years ago. The youngest , about 4 or 5 yrs old wanted me to play her video game with her. I didn't have a clue what I was doing, and she gave up trying to teach me in disgust

 

[Trumpet]

Just a recommendation.
Arrived back in UK (Heathrow) yesterday early teatime and decided to, rather than driving home in the rush hour traffic, stay down here last night and visit Gurly today. Newbury Travelodge wanted £221.00 (Newbury races on this weekend). Did a bit of Googling and came up with Sandford Springs golf club and hotel just outside Kingsclere. £77.00 got us a large double room, huge soft bed, large en suite with bath and shower. Spotlessly clean. Had dinner in the Bel and The Dragon in Kingsclere. Also highly recommended. Got talked into attending a Christmas Fayre lights switch on type event down here so having another night.
Should anyone find themselves needing accommodation down this way I can't recommend it enough. Will be our go to from now on when visiting Gurly down here.

 

[tek-monkey]

I'm on a plane

 

[DeltaHotel]

Beef or Chicken?

 

[Cue]

Anyone know where those concert-style search lights are coming from up near Beaconside? They look to be towards Tixall when observed from Kingston Hill