The drone factor

Clear blue sky and a bit warmer when I woke up to post the Morning Prayer YouTube link to WhatsApp at eight. I slept quite well, but not well enough to spare me the light headedness the medication causes.

American and Israeli forces continue to pound Iran in a huge effort to degrade its ability to wage or or defend itself. Iran continues to retaliate against Gulf Arab states. An Iranian warship has been sunk by an American submarine in the Indian Ocean with at least 80 people killed out of a crew of 180 and about fifty missing. Twenty Iranian naval vessels have been sunk so far and a naval headquarters destroyed according to an American official, with the aim of making the Straits of Hormuz safe for oil tankers. It remains to be seen if the threat to sea traffic from ballistic missiles and drones can be eliminated. Reports are suggesting however, that the frequency of drone attacks is reducing as stock piles rapidly diminish. Drone launch facilities and storage bunkers in Iran have been destroyed, but Shahed drones are now manufactured in Russia as well as Iran, for use against Ukraine, but if any of them are being fed back into the Iranian conflict it could have unforeseen consequences in further widening of the theatre of war

The maritime transport industry is very risk averse, and insurance premiums increase accordingly in these conditions. Thousands of visitors are stuck in Gulf cities under attack, waiting for repatriation flights, uncertain when it will be safe to return home, within the region or further afield. Dubai is a major intercontinental air transport hub, so there are people from all over the world as well as aircraft and crew stuck there. Iran's capacity to destroy enemies may be severely depleted, but its ability to disrupt global travel networks in the meanwhile can have a big economic impact on top of the rising cost of oil and gas. 

Meanwhile Israeli forces are attacking Hezbollah bases in Lebanon, attempting to eliminate the threat on its border, displacing hundreds of civilians. It's still not certain how or when this conflict will end. Iran and its jihadi allies, no matter how hard they are hit, will go down fighting, inflicting as much damage as possible on their foes, encouraged by the promise of reward in Paradise. Iranians may want to see the end of Islamic clerical rule in their country, but toppling the regime with excessive force and bloodshed won't end the hatred many Iranians feel towards America, any more than it did among many Iraqi Arabs after the the toppling of Saddam Hussein.

Talking of insurance, I had a notification from Staysure stating that my multi-trip travel insurance with the company will be renewed automatically in a month's time. I don't ever recall agreeing to an option that will if not acted upon, debit my account with another annual premium. I visited my online account to view the policy and engaged with the site's chat bot to terminate the policy not renew it. The bot wanted to know the reason, which I thought was rather impudent. Its reaction to my information light response was to propose alternative policy options. I had to insist I no longer needed anything and eventually received an email confirming that I had opted out of automatic policy renewal. First the bot asked if I had any claim outstanding to be settled. At that point it struck me I didn't need to cancel a policy about to finish. All I had to do was opt out of automatic renewal. Commercial legal language is a foreign tongue to me.

I went to the Eucharist at St Catherine's with seven others. Clare was shopping in town, so I cooked a savoury veg dish with black beans for lunch. I slept in my chair for three quarters of an hour afterwards, then walked for an hour in Llandaff Fields as the sun was setting. Clare went out to sing at a Canton Chorus rehearsal, as she fancied trying a more musically demanding repertoire. 

Finally I got around to looking at material provided by Kath and Owain to fashion a formal complaint to TalkTalk about the way I was treated by TalkTalk over the account switchover. Getting to grips with this has been difficult with my thinking and responses affected by the medication. I must be improving a little to face up to making the effort. I still don't cope well with additional stress of any kind. I had a long chat with Owain on the phone. He's in good spirits at the moment, enjoying his work and being part of a HMRC communications team that works well and does satisfyingly useful stuff.

Dishwasher with wifi?

Cloudy and colder today, no gradual progression towards warmer spring weather yet. Going up to bed at ten last night gave me a good night's sleep. I shall try and persist with this until the clocks go forward and then repeat. I seem to be so much more rest these days, for the same amount of activity.

Mid-morning I went out to see Marlene and say goodbye to her as Ann and Paul are taking her back to her home in Swansea, after staying with them in Llandaff. She has attended the Wednesday Eucharist at St Catherine's with them over the past couple of years. Yesterday she didn't come as she didn't feel strong enough. I arranged with Ann to go and bid her godspeed before they set off today. She said she was pleased to see me. I think I may remind her of all the other regular attenders who have enjoyed her company over a cuppa after the service. I was glad of the opportunity to give her a blessing before we parted company.

My journey to their house was surprisingly difficult despite Ann's clear instruction. Google maps gave me what I thought was a circuitous route to follow, but didn't make it clear where I had to turn at a junction with two exits side by side, taking me into Llandaff village not their street. I ended up parking at Insole Court, which I knew was close to the street in question, and Ann came out to meet me. A side entrance to the grounds took me there on foot. If I'd been able to leave a little earlier, I could have walked there and not missed the confusing turning. 

Unfortunately my arrival was delayed due to a kitchen disaster. A pan containing a dish cloth being boiled for cleaning had boiled dry. It had just caught fire. The kitchen and other rooms downstairs were filled with acrid smoke. I was able to pick up the pan, put it in the sink and run water over it, but I had to hold my breath while rushing to open doors and windows. Fortunately there was nothing near enough to catch fire, but it was a shock.

I was back home by a quarter to twelve to await the delivery of a new dishwasher from John Lewis', which was due to arrive over lunchtime. Clare had booked a physio appointment at noon, so I needed to be back on time. I completed drafting my Sunday sermon while I was waiting. It was delivered at a quarter to one and took half an hour to connect to drainage and water supply, then run through its setup routine. 

It has a posh electronic interface displaying several dish washing options. One of these is a wifi interface which allows you to attach it to the internet, to be controlled by a phone app. I can't imagine us ever needing to use such a utility. To me it's bizarre and unnecessary. I'd like to know if its connectivity has the ability to find and attach itself to the nearest network, or 4G phone once it's powered on. It sounds silly maybe, but technology pundits have commented on the poor default security settings of devices that are part of the 'internet of things', like smart speakers, thermostats and so on. Fortunately it can be switched off.

I wasn't able to cook lunch while the dishwasher was being installed, but started when the engineer left. Clare's physio session was much longer than expected, so it was almost ready by the time she returned, and we had lunch an hour later than usual.

Before going out for a walk I contacted Staysure travel insurance again, as I realised the policy for renewal didn't have cruise cover, and its list of destinations didn't specify Portugal among the destinations covered. I found the website wouldn't let me edit changes to the renewal police, for no explicable reason, nor could I find the cost of various cruise cover options, only what kind of cover was offered. Obtaining a yes to the destination question, and drawing a blank on the cost of options took half an hour on Direct Messaging. In the end I had to phone a call handler and explain. It took an hour to navigate my way through a lengthy and confusing list of options to decide which I could afford, and pay for it. Simply too much information to take in without being able to view the options at the same time.

It was five o'clock when I set off for the park. I returned as it was getting dark and time for supper without reaching my daily step target, so I went out again after we'd eaten to finish the job. 

I found a new Italian crimmie to watch set in the Dolomites in winter. An hour's escape from a strange day before bed.

Lent begins

I woke up to bright sunshine just after seven, posted today's YouTube link to WhatsApp at half past, and said Morning Prayer before going down for breakfast. There were nineteen adults plus baby Sebastian at the Ash Wednesday Eucharist, and half of them stopped for coffee and a chat after the service. I collected this week's veggie bag on my way home.

Clare had already decided to make savoury pancakes for lunch as we didn't have any yesterday. On Shrove cooks traditionally used up remaining eggs milk and butter in pancake batter as preparation for the Lenten Fast. Using a vegan batter recipe doesn't defy tradition. Buckwheat flour, almond milk, oil and salt are all that's needed to produce excellent pancakes. I took charge of making the filling using onion, mushrooms, garlic and lentils. A small amount of kale and the last parsnip from the last veg bag served as a garnish both savoury and sweet. I was pleased with the result, even though it produced a lot of washing up.

I had an email from Staysure travel insurance notifying me that my annual policy would be automatically renewed in April. I wasn't aware of consenting to this, and not yet decided whether  or not I want to pay for an multi-trip annual insurance. I plan to visit Veronica in Catalunya in early May, and we're thinking about another river cruise, but would insurance for a couple of fairly short separate trips cost as much? No sign so far of any locum duty coming my way this year, which would require a multi-trip insurance, but who knows? 

I looked at my Staysure account, and decided the premium wasn't too excessive. The reason for this may be that I haven't yet reached my eightieth birthday when the insurance starts. I just hope we get to travel as I suspect insurance charges will rise next year. When I went on to confirm auto renewal, I encountered a glitch in the pop-up dialogue which meant I was unable to confirm, so I had to open a Direct Message channel with a 'bot' I guess, and waste half an hour making sure auto-renewal would happen, and my credit card debited - I didn't know their system retained my card details, or I didn't notice this when last I paid. Thinking of this led me to check on my car insurance, due at the end of April. I expected this to rise anyway, but it's not excessive, so I can afford to insure a car for another year - for better or worse.

Then I went to the shops to re-stock on various plant milks, fruit and veg. When I was about to pay at Beanfreaks, I found that I'd left my card wallet and phone at home. I'd taken out my cards to check if the right account number had been used and forgot to put them back in the same place. I had to go back home to retrieve them and start again, first Beanfreaks, then Tesco's. My very full rucksack must have weighed 7-8 kilos on the way back. Thankfully my back and legs didn't give me any trouble. The stimulus of good weather on a bright cold day makes me feel less than my age. I only needed a short walk in the park to exceed my daily step count.

After supper, I watched two fiendishly complex to follow episodes of 'Astrid - murders in Paris' and then it was bed time.

Automatic renewal: opt-in or opt-out?

When I switched my phone on before breakfast this morning, I was shocked to receive an email from the Staysure travel insurance company with my new policy document and confirmation of payment on this the date of renewal. A payment had been taken from my account without authorisation, and this immediately aroused a sense of alarm in me. It didn't seem to be a scam. I've had a set of documents by email like this every year since I started insuring with them, which must be ten years or more now. 

My first thought was to go to the only HSBC bank branch in the city centre and block the payment if it wasn't too late already. Then I found a phone number for Staysure and explained what he happened. The call hander was very helpful, and a brief discussion revealed that policy renewal was automatic and had to be opted out of, not op-in. I hadn't notice this when buying a policy this time last year. I expressed concern at this, as their protocol includes medical screening in establishing the correct price quotation. 

In every other year pre-covid, renewal hadn't been automatic. My euro-locum duties and our river holiday cruises had been on different dates, and insurance booked to start before the first outing of the year. I always took an annual policy expecting to go abroad more than once a year, one way or another, making it slightly cheaper than shorter duration policies. How this happened I have no idea. I can't have noticed it on the Staysure website when I paid last year. Anyway the call handler said that a case worker would call me back some time soon. 

I walked down to Cowbridge Road, and caught the 62 bus the rest of the way to go to HSBC bank, and a call came through from Staysure's case worker just as I was getting off the bus outside the HMRC building. I explained that I cannot use an insurance police abroad for the time being due to commitments keeping me in Britain. I hadn't responded to the usual renewal reminder emails as I wasn't ready to renew, and would need to update my medical screening details at the time the policy was due to start. I was asked if I wanted to cancel the policy, which obviously I did, and that concluded the conversation.

I visited HSBC bank and asked if it was possible to stop money being taken without my authorisation and was told it wasn't, and given a printout stating that the payment is 'pending' - issued at 07.30 today - although banking transactions for the day aren't concluded until late afternoon. I was told nothing could be done, but I could track payment using on-line apps. Which I don't and won't with HSBC anyway. What if it had been a scam? A fraudulent transaction of which I was unaware? I found this extremely unhelpful. 

Fortunately by the time I left the bank, Staysure emailed me confirmation of cancellation of the policy and reversal of the direct debit, though how long it will take is anybody's guess. At least it's a standard feature of such insurance policies to give the purchaser time to change their mind and cancel or modify the policy taken out. This opt-out of automatic renewal issue is cause for disquiet. It's one which is used by Amazon Prime to retain subscribers, by making it hard to find the opt-out option. I'll need to be much more careful in future when closing the deal on any policy of this kind.

I went straight home on the bus and did my share of the housework as Clare was cooking lunch. Later, I went for a walk in the park, chatted at length on the phone with Owain and Rufus. Then I started watching the last of the four newest episodes of 'Beck' on iPlayer, before they are screened live, before and after supper. 

Again, very good drama. Peter Haber who plays Beck is a fine actor. He's getting on in years himself now, but plays the part of the elder statesman among detectives superbly, portraying a wise intelligent sensitive team leader, but exposing the vulnerability that's part of growing old, wanting to do things which physically he can't sustain any longer because the stress is debilitating, and there's not enough energy sustaining adrenaline flowing through the body. It's something I can identify with.