Gnat-brained people and frog spawn

I had a guy ring the other day to tell me he could sort out my computer problems.

I put on my credulous voice and said how wonderful, what should I do?

He said was my computer logged in and online?

I said, yes, it was right there in front of me.

In fact, it was upstairs and off, but he was being a lying bastard so I thought why shouldn't I?

We had an interesting exchange where he told me what to type and what to click and we got as far as:

Him: ‘Now there should be a box come up on the screen.’

Me: ‘Oh yes, there it is.’

Him: ‘What does it say inside it?’

Me: ‘Uh... it’s hard to see without my glasses. Is it some numbers you want?’

Him: ‘Yes, yes, that’s right. Can you get your glasses?’

I was going to read him a lecture about targeting vulnerable people and how would he like it if it were his elderly mother/granny etc? 

But in the end I just got fed up, so said, ‘I'm bored with this now. If you think I'm going to hand over data that lets some total stranger control my computer, you have the brain of a gnat.’ And I hung up.

On the up side, there’s frog spawn in the pond.

Writers getting creative with pub tables

The Flying Ducks met in Beckwithshaw: first Thursday of the month, a date I usually have to miss through work commitments. Spring sunshine, masses of crocuses making Harrogate look very Spring-like. It was even quite warm out of the wind, but the breeze when it hit was an icy reminder of why there is still unmelted snow on the verges.

I first attended these meetings years ago when they were held at Harlow Carr on the outskirts of Harrogate. From those days many of the same faces remain and there are as many new ones. And still a good attendance, about two dozen this time. It’s quite a logistical challenge getting that many people round a table in a pub, but being a creative group we find creative ways to manage it. I was sitting in the wrong place for taking photos, but there’s a bad one above anyway. There’s a better photo here on Facebook.

Duck!