GB2FLB - Jan 2013 SOS radio week

Dave MW6NTG operating GB2FLB run by Flintshire Raynet Group for SOS radio week in the Flint Lifeboat station. Helen GW7AAU is logging. Dave is a 'white stick operator' and this is his first time operating on HF. Pretty good for his first try I think you will agree, but he is a professional radio presenter on Calon FM in Wrexham North Wales.

Lord Turner of FSA attacks free banking

Lord Turner, the head of the Financial Services Authority thinks Britain's tradition of free bank accounts is wrong and we should be paying the banks for looking after our money. Can somebody tell me what is actually free about free banking? They have our money, because very few companies will actually pay their workers in cash these days and so we have no choice, they then lend us our own money at exorbitant interest rates and pay us sod all for giving them the money in the first place. At one time we actually got interest on our savings, but now it is all used to finance big banking frauds and big bonuses for those responsible for those frauds. It is time the banks got their houses in order and started remembering that it is their customers who are both their investors and their biggest asset. I am no socialist, but it is time the big corporations, bankers and politicians are reminded just who put them where they are today; the general public. Personally I would set up a guillotine in Thread Needle Street and then heads would really roll, but until the revolution starts just remember banker is spelt with a capital W.

Three films I have been waiting for

Three films I have been waiting for... No 1 Ridley Scott's Prometheus

Three films I have been waiting for... No 2 Peter Jackson's The Hobbit

Three films I have been waiting for... No 3 Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises

Also out this year... Chronicle / Sherlock Holmes - Game of Shadows / The Raven / Hugo. 2012 looks like a good year for films.

Never ever buy gift vouchers.

Never ever, ever buy gift vouchers or book tokens. 30% of gift vouchers are never cashed. Most gift vouchers have an expiry date of between 6 and 12 months, but if the retailer who issues them has old stock they can be expired before you walk out of the door.

I was treated like a criminal because I tried to use £50 worth of gift vouchers I won in a competition in work. I was trying to spend them before they expired. After spending hours on the telephone I was told that because of fraud I needed to write a letter to get issued new vouchers.

Most issuers of vouchers don't do refunds or replace expired vouchers. This is corporate theft as far as I can see. I had £20 of vouchers from Capital Bonds that were short dated. I did not know where I could spend them until it was too late. When I contacted them I was told "We don't reissue or honour expired vouchers". We need a change in the law or at least someone to make a test case.

Eli Pariser: Beware online "filter bubbles"

Eli Pariser: Beware online "filter bubbles"

Gary Moore - RIP

When I was a teenager all my heroes were all motorcycle racers and I remember one day lying in bed thinking that most of my heroes were dead. They were not all that much older than me. Move along 30 odd years and I keep loosing my musical heroes. Rest in peace Gary Moore, he too was not much older than me. Gary was best remembered as one of the guitarists in Phil Lynotts brilliant band Thin Lizzy, but he was so much more. Gary's solo career spanned the globe and he was a big name in Japan. I rate Gary as one of the best rock guitarists of all time and have a stack of probably 25 of his CDs not including my Thin Lizzy collection. I recently watched one of his concerts on Sky Arts channel along with some of his old Thin Lizzy pals it was an absolute cracker. It is incredibly sad we will hear no more Moore anymore :0(

http://www.gary-moore.com/

Going Postal!

The British Post Office can go to hell! Yesterday I had an A4 card through the door telling me I had mail with underpaid postage. It would cost me £1.19 and I had to collect it from the sorting office. So I drive five miles only to find it is a Christmas card. Why I ask is the post not enough? Due to a small diamanté jewel on the card it would not fit through their slot. So what do I want with a Christmas card for in the middle of January? I told them to stuff it where the sun doesn't shine.

So be warned if you send Birthday or Christmas cards with badges or are a little thicker than normal it needs to be posted as a large letter. A normal 1st or 2nd class letter needs to be less than 5mm. Not that 5mm means anything to half the population who where raised on Imperial measurements and who measures their letters before sending anyway?

The GPO is so screwed, if only there was an alternative like electronic mail. We could call it email for short. I think I will refuse to send anything through the mail in future if I can help it.

So if you sent me a Christmas card in a gold envelope with a small diamanté jewel on I never got it.

Where have all the Clacks towers gone?