There are a few smug faces in the MT office this week, belonging to those who are nearing the end of their self-imposed ban on all things bad for Lent.
Congratulations if you’ve managed to make it through 40 days and 40 nights without your favourite tipple or choccies. I’m sure your Easter eggs – or those nabbed from the grandkids – will taste all the better for it.
But if you failed after the first week – or forgot to even start – don’t beat yourself up too much. I always find that with the warmer weather and lighter nights comes a new-found enthusiasm to eat a bit.
Going nowhere fast
I had to chuckle at recent statistics from The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) highlighting how forty-two per cent of the population are worried about an elderly relative driving, yet they are unlikely to do anything about it.
The IAM is calling on the Government to introduce a national strategy of driving health checks and better information for elderly drivers and their families.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I have always enjoyed fast cars and, before I could afford them, pushed every ordinary car I had to the limit. But I was a younger man then, and now, although I have what most people would regard a sports car, tend to drive far more conservatively.
Surely we should be more concerned about the younger drivers, now sitting behind the wheel of a car, no matter how standard, that can far outperform the youngster’s capabilities.
I may, occasionally get a little frustrated when stuck behind someone of advancing years and they are driving like they have a bottle of champagne on the bonnet. But I am far more infuriated when I pull up to traffic lights and some spotty little oik tries to leave me in their dust.
It brings the worst out in me and makes this testosterone-fuelled, old-boy racer retaliate and prove that I am not going through a mid-life crisis (I think I am well past mid-life), but I can now afford to drive the cars I like and am not about to shown up by a pimped up Vauxhall Astra with a noisy exhaust big enough to fit your foot in!!! Maybe IAM are right!!!!
Old app
I was impressed to read the other day about a retired farmer who refused to let technology get the better of him and has instead seen his old idea for a board game transformed into an online app.
Granddad Sandy McLeish was told by his family he “wasn’t even from the 20th century never mind the 21st.” But the 68-year-old decided to create his new smart phone app after watching his granddaughter download another one three-months-ago.
Now the complete novice is watching his game fly off the shelves. The grandfather-of-five from Barry, Angus, said: “My family all thought I was absolutely crazy to begin with. They said I wasn’t even from the 20th century never mind the 21st.To see my app now available on iTunes is an amazing feeling. I’m really proud and excited.”
Well done Sandy, I’ll be downloading it right this second!
Watch out!
Scammers are always trying new tricks to get their hands on our hand-earned cash, but a new ruse reported by police is even more sneaky than usual. The callous trick involves bogus police officers pretending to be from the Metropolitan Police’s fraud squad calling unsuspecting victims and asking them to give up their bank details, before sending a courier to collect the cards.
The sly fraudsters then head straight to the nearest cash point to drain the money before their victims realise anything is wrong. Sadly police have reported the scammers are targeting the elderly with this latest stunt.
Just remember your bank will never ask for your pin code over the phone, so if you are approached in this way end the call immediately. If it is important your bank will get in touch with you in a different way.
You’ve been warned – now spread the word to stamp out this awful trick before the crooks get their hands on anymore ill-gotten gains.
by Andrew Young, Mature Times editor
