What’s on your mind?

[HDFan]

Why do robots ring me up,

I got random marketing calls from the moment I got my first mobile phone number in Canada. However I use the iPhone feature to silence unknown callers and send them to voicemail.

In the U.S. you can register a line on the "do not call" list. On an iphone there are programs such as Malwarebytes which can check for spammers. If a call gets through you can report it to Malwarebytes so it goes on their list. Your service provider may also provide options such as enabling nomorobo or blocking numbers. Unfortunately the later doesn't usually work since they always use different, spoofed numbers.

still get a lot of calls coming through, as much as 4 by noon, which I report to the FCC. Spam calls and spoofed numbers are a major area of complaints they receive. They have been shutting down some exchanges which were forwarding billions of calls from India. Last I read measures to require verification of overseas calls had to be delayed.

In my case I receive too many unknown calls from service, medical and other providers which need to go through so can't block unknown calls.

 

[Apple fanboy]

My stupidity. Cut our gas pipe dealing with a tree root.
Very annoyed as I’d dealt with 99% of it. Then suddenly the noise and smell of gas.
Someone coming round shortly. Hopefully it’s not too expensive.
No hot water until it’s fixed. Said it might not be until Monday.

At least we don’t need any heating on.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

My stupidity. Cut our gas pipe dealing with a tree root.
Very annoyed as I’d dealt with 99% of it. Then suddenly the noise and smell of gas.
Someone coming round shortly. Hopefully it’s not too expensive.
No hot water until it’s fixed. Said it might not be until Monday.

At least we don’t need any heating on.

Ouch.

That could have been very nasty, so, very glad to read that you are safe and sound, and merely massively inconvenienced (mind you, in the absence of hot water, I would be quite miffed, I must say), rather than suffering injury as a result of such an incident.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Ouch.

That could have been very nasty, so, glad to read that you are safe and sound, and merely massively inconvenienced (mind you, in the absence of hot water, I would be quite miffed, I must say), rather than suffering injury as a result of such an incident.

Having to dig the trench to 600mm deep before they will replace it. It was only 150mm beforehand so not sure why.
So the injury is my aching back that could really do with a hot shower. But no chance of that until Tuesday at the earliest.

 

[Clix Pix]

OH, AFB! That darned tree stump and its roots!!!! That's a real shame that now you've got to deal with this and have no hot water for a while. Ouch! As SS says, though, the good news is that you realized immediately what the issue was and were able to get someone out there for a look and to safely turn off whatever needs to be shut down, no disaster occurred.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Having to dig the trench to 600mm deep before they will replace it. It was only 150mm beforehand so not sure why.
So the injury is my aching back that could really do with a hot shower. But no chance of that until Tuesday at the earliest.

Sympathies on the lack of a hot shower (sometimes, nothing but a scalding hot shower, (or, better still, a massage) will ease my back and shoulders); I feel for you, and the lack of a hot shower would bother me, as well.

However, the main thing to take solace from is that you have not taken any harm, hurt or injury from either the tree stump (and roots) or the severed gas pipe.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Dashed into the city - dodging showers, bought some wine, some organic soap, collected my French bread, topped up my bus card, and sorted out the cheese receipt mess of two days ago (they offered me cheese or a refund; need you guess which I chose).

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Feeling sleepy after a steak and ale pie and a couple of IPA’s in a nice pub in Abergavenny. Got soaked walking to the car in blazing sunshine in classic British summer weather.

 

[VulchR]

Having to dig the trench to 600mm deep before they will replace it. It was only 150mm beforehand so not sure why.
So the injury is my aching back that could really do with a hot shower. But no chance of that until Tuesday at the earliest.

Well, clearly 155mm wasn't deep enough to prevent damage from marauding homeowners.

Seriously, it might be due to safety regulations changing since the gas line was first laid. I live in Scotland and for some unfathomable reason builders thought it would be a good idea to encapsulate gas pipes within the concrete foundations of a house. Of the course the problem is that of there is a gas leak that causes an explosion in a home's foundation, it takes down the entire house and often houses next to it. So now the Scottish gas companies are putting new pipes in nearly all houses in my town due to new safety regulations.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Feeling sleepy after a steak and ale pie and a couple of IPA’s in a nice pub in Abergavenny. Got soaked walking to the car in blazing sunshine in classic British summer weather.

Sounds like alovely way to spend a wet Saturday afternoon.

There is a reason our pubs are full of cosy nooks, and crannies. And snugs.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Well, clearly 155mm wasn't deep enough to prevent damage from marauding homeowners.

Seriously, it might be due to safety regulations changing since the gas line was first laid. I live in Scotland and for some unfathomable reason builders thought it would be a good idea to encapsulate gas pipes within the concrete foundations of a house. Of the course the problem is that of there is a gas leak that causes an explosion in a home's foundation, it takes down the entire house and often houses next to it. So now the Scottish gas companies are putting new pipes in nearly all houses in my town due to new safety regulations.

So the pipes here are for an external gas tank as we don’t have mains gas in the village. If we hadn’t taken the trees out they would have crushed the roots completely eventually.
The regulations used to be for 300mm. Now they are 600mm. I suspect the trees moved them a bit over the years.

 

[JetBlack7]

Thinking I've been nowhere in my life and how happy I could be if I made other choices. Feel a little depressed and looking at the **** I see in the news or feed, just sucks the joy of life I had prior.

Only things that still makes me smile and move on is my family and riding my motorcyle.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Thinking I've been nowhere in my life and how happy I could be if I made other choices.

Geographically, personally, professionally or psychologically?

Feel a little depressed and looking at the **** I see in the news or feed, just sucks the joy of life I had prior.

What about appreciating the small, everyday pleasures of life?

Having a coffee, going to the threatre, or a concert, or the cinema, or a museum or whatever gives you some sense of the sheer mad joy of life and living?

Even the simple fact of taking pleasure and joy from the members of your family - or close friends, or teachers, or colleagues - whose company and presence enriches your life.

Only things that still makes me smile and move on is my family and riding my motorcyle.

Well, enjoy those things, take a savage and visceral pleasure from them, and be grateful that they are preent in your life and enrich it.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Thinking I've been nowhere in my life and how happy I could be if I made other choices. Feel a little depressed and looking at the **** I see in the news or feed, just sucks the joy of life I had prior.

Only things that still makes me smile and move on is my family and riding my motorcyle.

I find regretting passed decisions is a fool’s errand. Instead focus on the now. Look to the future. Who would you like it to change? How will you make it happen?

As for the depression world events, I try to pay less attention than I did. I used to be a real news junkie. But these days I rarely watch the news, and skip over most articles in the news apps. It can be depressing focusing on it.

Instead I take some comfort that my situation is not directly affected by war/fires/famine/interest rate rises etc and the rest.

I have had enough dramas in my life (loosing our only daughter), that I don’t want to focus on all the negative stuff going on.

Instead I enjoy the time I have with Mrs AFB, doing the garden, going on a nice walk or whatever else we are up to.

 

[rm5]

How careful you need to be (and how ignorant I was) with creating online accounts using your real name.

I created an account (over a year ago) on a site that shall remain nameless (not this site obviously), and since I signed in with google the first time, it registered the account using my full name. Now, the issue is that, in a google search of my full name, the site is near the top of the results, which I find simply disgusting. I've submitted three, three, requests for them to delete my account, and they haven't done it. I also haven't used the site since I created the account. I did one thing on there, and that was it, and lo and behold, TODAY, it shows up in search results. I tried searching in Incognito, and on two other computers with no affiliation to my search history on my main machine (not signed into a google account), and it shows up on all of them.

Here's what I want to show up as the first, second, etc. result in a search:

1. Website
2. All About Jazz page
3. YouTube page with recordings
4. SoundCloud
5. Anything else relevant to my musicianship

 

[Apple fanboy]

How careful you need to be (and how ignorant I was) with creating online accounts using your real name.

I created an account (over a year ago) on a site that shall remain nameless (not this site obviously), and since I signed in with google the first time, it registered the account using my full name. Now, the issue is that, in a google search of my full name, the site is near the top of the results, which I find simply disgusting. I've submitted three, three, requests for them to delete my account, and they haven't done it. I also haven't used the site since I created the account. I did one thing on there, and that was it, and lo and behold, TODAY, it shows up in search results. I tried searching in Incognito, and on two other computers with no affiliation to my search history on my main machine (not signed into a google account), and it shows up on all of them.

Here's what I want to show up as the first, second, etc. result in a search:

1. Website
2. All About Jazz page
3. YouTube page with recordings
4. SoundCloud
5. Anything else relevant to my musicianship

Easy. If you want to have the results in that order you’ll need to pay Google more for the first one, less for the second etc.
Google is a tool for making them money not for providing search results that suit you.

As for using your real name on a public forum, you’re out there now. Probably the site sits higher up the rankings as they get more traffic than the others you’re mentioning.

Google analytics is a fun game we play at work.

 

[JetBlack7]

Geographically, personally, professionally or psychologically?



What about appreciating the small, everyday pleasures of life?

Having a coffee, going to the threatre, or a concert, or the cinema, or a museum or whatever gives you some sense of the sheer mad joy of life and living?

Even the simple fact of taking pleasure and joy from the members of your family - or close friends, or teachers, or colleagues - whose company and presence enriches your life.


Well, enjoy those things, take a savage and visceral pleasure from them, and be grateful that they are preent in your life and enrich it.

Geographically, no issues. Personally, wish I was better at reading people. Professionally, always wanted one thing but my father never agreed and always wanted me to follow his footsteps. Psychologically, I have contemplated ceasing my life contract, but never thought about actually doing it.

One of the things I really wish I invest more time on is travelling. I did a road trip in Europe this summer with a friend, and it turned out to help me out a lot psychologically, especially since the theme of the trip was something I love (cars and motorcycles).

My family is what makes me appreciate what I have and my motorcycle is my gateway to relieve some stress and helps me think about everything going on in my head.

 

[JetBlack7]

I find regretting passed decisions is a fool’s errand. Instead focus on the now. Look to the future. Who would you like it to change? How will you make it happen?

As for the depression world events, I try to pay less attention than I did. I used to be a real news junkie. But these days I rarely watch the news, and skip over most articles in the news apps. It can be depressing focusing on it.

Instead I take some comfort that my situation is not directly affected by war/fires/famine/interest rate rises etc and the rest.

I have had enough dramas in my life (loosing our only daughter), that I don’t want to focus on all the negative stuff going on.

Instead I enjoy the time I have with Mrs AFB, doing the garden, going on a nice walk or whatever else we are up to.

That's my main issue, I have no idea what to with my life. I feel like a passenger on a train, not knowing which station to hop off.

I don't actively watch the news, I avoid them on purpose. But when you're using social media, you get bombarded with everything all the time. I feel depressed with the evil in the world and finding someone that's actually kind, feels strange and suspicious (in this scenario, I tend to be careful just to make sure the intentions are true on the other end).

I'm sorry for your loss. My mother always hugs me and tells me she doesn't know what she would do If I was not here with her (especially because I ride a motorcycle, so she's always on edge). She and my sister are my true salvation and motivation to not give up on life.

Like I said in my previous reply, the trip I did this summer really helped me calm down and take another look at life and everything all around me. Where I live, fortunately we are not directly affected by the conditions you mentioned.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

How careful you need to be (and how ignorant I was) with creating online accounts using your real name.

I created an account (over a year ago) on a site that shall remain nameless (not this site obviously), and since I signed in with google the first time, it registered the account using my full name. Now, the issue is that, in a google search of my full name, the site is near the top of the results, which I find simply disgusting. I've submitted three, three, requests for them to delete my account, and they haven't done it. I also haven't used the site since I created the account. I did one thing on there, and that was it, and lo and behold, TODAY, it shows up in search results. I tried searching in Incognito, and on two other computers with no affiliation to my search history on my main machine (not signed into a google account), and it shows up on all of them.

Here's what I want to show up as the first, second, etc. result in a search:

1. Website
2. All About Jazz page
3. YouTube page with recordings
4. SoundCloud
5. Anything else relevant to my musicianship

I would keep messaging them until they delete your account, they have to buy request.

You have to be very careful what you put online and I’ve never put my real name on forums I have been part of. I used to be a moderator on a Formula one forum about 15-17 years ago and had a bad experience. I shared a photo I took from a Grand Prix that was hosted on a photography site and my wife had commented on it. A member of the F1 forum who I had suspended and disagreed with on things obviously researched enough to find my wife’s details and things linked to her business. He was banned by another mod for something or other and rejoined the forum using my wife’s full name. It really creeped me out to be honest. I left the forum completely after that and learned a valuable lesson.

 

[Apple fanboy]

That's my main issue, I have no idea what to with my life. I feel like a passenger on a train, not knowing which station to hop off.

I don't actively watch the news, I avoid them on purpose. But when you're using social media, you get bombarded with everything all the time. I feel depressed with the evil in the world and finding someone that's actually kind, feels strange and suspicious (in this scenario, I tend to be careful just to make sure the intentions are true on the other end).

I'm sorry for your loss. My mother always hugs me and tells me she doesn't know what she would do If I was not here with her (especially because I ride a motorcycle, so she's always on edge). She and my sister are my true salvation and motivation to not give up on life.

Like I said in my previous reply, the trip I did this summer really helped me calm down and take another look at life and everything all around me. Where I live, fortunately we are not directly affected by the conditions you mentioned.

This is about as close as I get to social media. Never joined FB or Twitter. I don’t get bombarded with anything. No apps ping me with notifications. I deliberately set them up that way.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I would keep messaging them until they delete your account, they have to buy request.

You have to be very careful what you put online and I’ve never put my real name on forums I have been part of. I used to be a moderator on a Formula one forum about 15-17 years ago and had a bad experience. I shared a photo I took from a Grand Prix that was hosted on a photography site and my wife had commented on it. A member of the F1 forum who I had suspended and disagreed with on things obviously researched enough to find my wife’s details and things linked to her business. He was banned by another mod for something or other and rejoined the forum using my wife’s full name. It really creeped me out to be honest. I left the forum completely after that and learned a valuable lesson.

Horrible.

Appalling (and yes, creepy) behaviour.

I trust that he received a fresh ban once it became clear what he had done.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I would keep messaging them until they delete your account, they have to buy request.

You have to be very careful what you put online and I’ve never put my real name on forums I have been part of. I used to be a moderator on a Formula one forum about 15-17 years ago and had a bad experience. I shared a photo I took from a Grand Prix that was hosted on a photography site and my wife had commented on it. A member of the F1 forum who I had suspended and disagreed with on things obviously researched enough to find my wife’s details and things linked to her business. He was banned by another mod for something or other and rejoined the forum using my wife’s full name. It really creeped me out to be honest. I left the forum completely after that and learned a valuable lesson.

That’s grim. Some people really don’t understand boundaries.
I’d prefer to keep my online life separate from my real life. It’s generally safer that way.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Horrible.

Appalling (and yes, creepy) behaviour.

I trust that he received a fresh ban once it became clear what he had done.

He did, but kept rejoining under many names. By that time I'd stop particpating and only popped by to read threads from time to time, but still noticed his accounts.

 

[Apple fanboy]

My car is ready. So off to collect it. Hopefully they’ve done a good job.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

He did, but kept rejoining under many names. By that time I'd stop particpating and only popped by to read threads from time to time, but still noticed his accounts.

Horrible, just horrible.

Disgusting and creepy.

I simply do not understand why some people choose to behave in such a manner.