Luck, liars and lotteries

I won an i-Phone 6 tonight, which seems wrong because I never win anything. In the end I decided to pass on it because I don’t want one, and I don’t want to either give out personal details or pay the £1 for delivery.

Over the years I have become very suspicious of anything that seems to good to be true, because that’s precisely how it tends to turn out. This has become even more true when associated with the internet. I’m still waiting for the week in Spain the double glazing firm offered me 28 years ago so what chance do I have of getting anything from a man with a computer several thousand miles away.

It breaks my heart every time I have to turn down pleas for help from African politicians or their widows. I truly would like to help them, and I would love the millions of dollars they promise me, but deep down there is a suspicion that they may not be telling the truth.

Even the National Lottery has failed to make good on its promise to make me a millionaire, and you’d think you could trust a government backed scheme wouldn’t you?

Now that I’ve written that down I can see the problem.

Anyway – here’s a question for you – do you feel that use of the internet has made you a more suspicious person?

If not, please could you help me with some academic research I’m doing about trust and internet banking? I just need your bank details and password…

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Parsonage House

We stayed here for our trip to the Lakes.

We booked it through Booking.com and it scores 9.7 on their website. I scored it as 10 when we got back.

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It isn’t perfect, as they expect you to have satnav rather than giving proper directions; I spotted two cobwebs during the stay; the times for booking in and out and having breakfast could be more leisurely and er…that’s about it.

As I found it without satnav, can see more cobwebs in my office than I did on holiday and never missed breakfast  I don’t think I have much to complain about.

Somebody complained they don’t have internet access in the rooms. That was one of the best bits of the holiday as far as I was concerned.

It is an elegant and well-appointed house which has been furnished an equipped with an eye for detail. Breakfasts were excellent, linen was crisp and it was all very tranquil. It’s hard to put it into words but if you want to relax I suggest a few days here (avoiding busy times! See my last post for details of why).

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Seems a good place to quote Ruskin as he generally seems to say things better than I can and he was almost a neighbour.

Quality is never an accident. It is always the result of intelligent effort.