Are you getting irritating automated calls from Amazon threatening to take payments from your bank account for an Amazon Prime subscription?
“Press 1 to speak to an Amazon agent”.
This is a barefaced scam. Normally when you press ”1”, nothing happens, and you get disconnected.
But one day last week I pressed “1” and was connected to a Chinese-sounding lady who told me my account had been hacked and she would help me to stop the calls and track down the culprit.
I was out walking, but she said she would phone me back. She told me to go to my computer and open a webpage called “Teamviewer”. I was then instructed to download some software.
Luckily I had already Googled “Amazon Prime scam”, which revealed that I was about to have my computer stripped bare of all financial data, passwords etc with a view to raiding my bank account.
I wasted the young lady’s time (and mine) for about ten minutes before accusing her of being, amongst several unprintable things, a common thief, and a filthy scammer.
To my amazement she went on protesting that she was from Amazon and was trying to help me!
If you receive these calls on a mobile phone, they are easy to block. Just go to call history, click on the number and select “block number”.
Amazon is a huge and profitable company and surely has the resources to track down these criminals, who are causing serious damage to the company’s reputation.
Overall Winner of the Claret Jug – Scott Houghton 26pts Division 1 winner (hcap <25) -Andrew Gordon 24pts Div1 Runner-up Trevor Legg 24pts Division 2 (hcap>25) Rob Acheson 23 pts Div 2 runner up Mike Davies 23 pts
Best Team Horsington Hackers 57 pts Runner up Shankers 53 pts Nearest pin (hole 3) Mark Thirlwell (Sponsored by Nick Hudd) Nearest pin in 2 (hole 6) Peter Gripper Nearest Pin( hole 8) George Wagland
The Horsington Open was held on Saturday. This annual charity golf competition, now in its 8th year, was hotly contested at Henstridge Golf Club with a record entry of 68 socially distanced players. Horsingtonians turned out in force to support the event – The Horsington Hackers, the Half Mooners, the Home Farm Harriers and Dentists on the Job all flew the flag for the village..
Scott Houghton from Templecombe, playing for the Horsington Hackers, carried off the Claret Jug, which now returns to its rightful place in the Half Moon. Peter Gripper and George Wagland, playing for the Half Moon, won two of the three “Nearest the pin “ competitions. David Blake and the Warren family team, the Horsington Hackers, won the team prize, beating off a stiff challenge from the Foxcombe Flyers (Andre Blond and Damian Orton, with Jack and Perran Newton); Richard and Denise Case put in a strong showing, along with Andrew Tarling and Nick Maynard, also representing the Half Moon. Chris Bailward’s team., The Home Farm Harriers managed to produce the division2 runner up, Rob Acheson.
Anthony Yateman fought off a spirited challenge from Richard Gaunt to secure last place with just 4 points.
Over £1200 was raised for charity, to be divvied up between St Margaret’s Hospice and the Somerset Air Ambulance.
A great day. Well done everyone.
Thanks to Jerry’s Electrical, Vale Motors and Totally Floored for some great prizes. And to Henstridge Golf Club, for presenting a course in terrific condition.
Winner Scott Houghton with the Claret JugThe Horsington Hackers, winners of the Team prize. David Blake, Phil Warren, Mark Warren, Scott HoughtonThe socially-distanced half Mooners- Peter Gripper, George Wagland, Nick Maynard and Andrew TarlingThe Home Farm Harriers – Rob Acheson, Gill Miles, Chris Bailward and Anthony YatemanDentists on the Job – Roman Franks, William Wallace, Tom Mallaburn and Richard GauntGeorge Wagland gives it one!Andrew Tarling wields an invisible club!
Our Yorkshire correspondent Willie Heckerslike* sent us this extract from the map of Yorkshire. There must be a Somerset equivalent. Suggestions please -Ed
The Horsington Open tees off on Saturday with a record entry of 72 golfers – 24 more than last year. In fact the competition is now fully booked
. The prizegiving is around 2 pm on Saturday 5th September. Why not come and have a drink, buy a raffle ticket and cheerr on your local heroes, who will have been working all morning raising money for local charities. (And also enjoying a highly competitive but friendly game of golf
The latest (and hopefully) final list of teams and tee allocations can be downloaded HERE
The fishermen and coastal dwellers of 17th-century Britain lived in terror of being kidnapped by pirates and sold into slavery in North Africa. Hundreds of thousands across Europe met wretched deaths on the Barbary Coast in this way. Professor Robert Davis investigates
Our parliamentary correspondent Harry Hansard is having a bit of a thin time at Westminster at the moment, so he has pointed his acid-dripping pen at Wincanton, where a dramatic council meeting took place on Monday 24 August. Over to you, Harry
Wincanton Council meeting. Spot the dagger.
Reminiscent of a Wagnerian opera, Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar and “Snow White and you-know -who”, Armageddon made a brief visit to Wincanton on August 24th. Outside the wind crashed and the rain came down in stair rods. Inside, for the benefit of Zoomwatchers, a tragedy was played out.
The seven dwarves have it in for the Wicked Stepmother. She has been ingnoring some of them, harassing them by sending too many emails, bullying, fixing the minutes and other crimes. They have had enough. It was time to assassinate her. The knives were out. But in a supreme piece of procedural legerdemain, Standing Orders decreed that the assassins speak, not as elected councillors, but as ordinary residents, thereby neatly blunting their daggers. (Whaaat? -Ed)
First to plunge in the dagger was Councillor Dawn Old, who read the charge sheet “ For 18 months I have been bullied and harassed; you complain at every opportunity at my behaviour, yet no reflection is taken on your own behaviour. You have racked up over 100 formal complaints about you. I have seen you be the cause of 2 clerks going off sick, belittled my colleagues, picked people to co-opt and scripting what they say, fixing votes, minutes of meetings falsely changed. Spending money from reserves, conducting council business outside the full council, selling us out over car parking, and lone meeting with property developers” (foot soldiers of the devil incarnate? -Ed).
She brandished a petition with over 507 signatures (nearly 100 more than the votes received by the Wicked Stepmother) and demanded a vote of no confidence in the WS.
The WS was ready to cut her off at the pass. Step forward on cue, bag carrier Councillor Tudgay . Out of order, he ruled. (Follow this carefully) The councillor was speaking as a resident and not as a councillor and therefore could not initiate a vote of no confidence. That would have to wait for a slot on a probably very crowded agenda.
Councillor Eadington (speaking as a resident, but not as a councillor(!) said it was like being on the Titanic heading for the rocks skippered by the WS. She was off. Stab. So too was Councillor Sue Hinks, fed up with not being informed or involved in council business and excluded from the WS’s inner circle. Stab
Councillor Phil Rogers brandished his dagger. He was voted in to represent the town, he said. But he felt the council now merely represented itself. He would not put up with bullying. Stab
Councillor Old re-entered the fray, her dagger flashing. She thanked the resigners for their years of service and said there was not one remaining councillor she had respect for or could vote for. This was the most corrupt council Wincanton had ever had. She resigned. Stab. Comedic exit to strains of “The Muppet Show”, which drowned out formal proceedings for the next few minutes.
Councillor Hearne complained she no longer had a voice on the council. Her suggestions often never made it on to the agenda. Resign . Stab.
The WS remained unperturbed throughout these assassination attempts. Icily emotionless, she batted away each mortal blow like someone swatting an irritating fly. The brave assassins were reminded that all assassinations had to be in writing, dated, and delivered to the Town Hall.
So rather than witnessing the the bloody demise of the Wicked Stepmother, we ended with the disturbing spectacle of the seven dwarves, well 5 of them, falling on their swords.
The WS had vanquished her foes without lifting a finger. She now reigns supreme, unchallenged and mistress of procedural chicanery. Where is Snow White when you need her?
Once upon a time you could happily drive into Bristol Airport and drop off or pick up passengers for free.
There was outrage when they started charging £1 to deposit or collect a passenger. In October 2019 it went up to £3.00. Now it has gone up to £4.00 for a maximum 10 minute stay.
It seems grossly unfair that one should be charged at all for the privilege of simply dropping off or collecting people at a public airport for a few moments. The same principle applies to any public transport hub, such as railway or bus stations.
Bristol Airport has spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on new barriers, payment systems, number plate recognition and all the paraphernalia of the Big Brother society. Someone has to pay for it -You.
If you want to avoid the charge you can park for nothing in a waiting zone near the Silver Zone Car park, where there is (allegedly) a courtesy bus to the terminal. We have doubts about its frequency or availability before dawn or in the middle of the night, when many holiday flights arrive and depart.
Or you can simply not travel. Why leave Somerset at all?
