Connecting Through Corona

Brigitte Deneck 5.30. Ella is lying on the sofa, about to fall asleep in front of the TV. It is raining today. The delivery is late. The bell rings. That must be it. She gets up and opens the door.  In front of her a young man stands, carrying a rucksack on his back. Will she just close the door? She looks at him and while she listens to his first words, she remembers the baseball bat in the garage - to defend herself if she must. He is wearing a badge. Time to say: “Sorry, I don’t need anything. Thank you.” and close the door. Yet she doesn’t. His tone catches her attention: “Could I show you what I have? This, this and this: sponges, towels, some utensils. It’s a bit difficult at the moment, especially when you have a criminal record.” “What did you do?” “Do you you really want to know? There was a group following me like they were going to beat me up. I reached home and took an iron bar. The police caught me with it and I was arrested. I got 3 months jail. Prison changes things ...

Doug Dunn After visiting Plymouth for the first time and hearing the story of the Mayflower, I started to wonder how much of it was really true. I began to think about the story told from the other side for the ocean, from the American Indian point of view. My second visit to Plymouth was to “The Box” museum. [i]  There was much to see about natural history, art and the history of the port of Plymouth. But I was especially interested in the part they called Mayflower 400: legend and legacy. At the end of the exhibition I found a glass-topped wooden display cabinet containing what was called the ‘Suppresses Speech’. It was a speech that was planned to be delivered by Wamsutta Frank James, a descendant of the Wampanoag tribe. He was going to speak at at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts forming part of a 350 year Mayflower celebration dinner. But the planners asked to see his speech in advance of the occasion, and it turned out that Frank James' views — based on history rather than mythol...

Last week a supposed  London broker was caught on Close Circuit Telephone Protection while instigating a fraudulent transaction with retired Devon resident Doug Dunn. These days scamming is rare so what made Wayne Smith, 30, risk being caught out? I spoke with Doug to hear his story.   "Mr. Dunn. I understand you were transferring proceeds from a property sale to a fixed term savings bond. When did you first suspect you were talking with a scammer?"   "I didn't suspect to start with, and I didn't need to as long as I was CCTP recording while he called me."   "Please can you remind readers what that is? I know it's been around for a while and has led almost to the end of telephone scamming."   "Yes. It's like CCTV but for telephone conversations."   "I see. And I believe it is now acceptable as evidence in a court room."   "Telephone recording never used to be admissible but following the int...

  4 th November 2020 Diane Hands  Tomorrow we are going into lock down again.   But it is today I am more worried about,   WHY?    Theresa our youngest daughter   that lives in supported living has a dental appointment.   She will be seeing her dentist but instead of it being in Aylesbury it is now in Amersham.   Because Theresa lives in supported living   which is managed by Mencap and due to Covid 19 I am not allowed to take her.   One of the staff will have to do that.   The house where Theresa lives has no staff 24/7.   Firstly Theresa would not be able to go in our car as I am not able to drive at the moment, David could drive   but we would not be able to social distance with the three of us.   Arrangements are made for staff to take her and when I spoke to the Receptionist   Theresa was booked in for a crown and a filling.    Having a crown myself I know that there is a lot of drill...