Pick My Postcode’s Stackpot Draws

🤣

:-) :-)

when I was a younger man, I had a carbon fibre racing bike which I rode across Woodhead & Snakes Pass, I touched 60 mph several times on those downward hills, it was exhilarating❤️

Nowadays I would fall off straight away. Trying to get onto a bike on a visit to Centre Parc is how I discovered I had arthritis in my hips.

Few years back I rode it along a crowded Princes St EH pavement, too dangerous in the road with huindreds of buses & tram tracks, I was almost stationary at times. 50 yards could take me over 5 minutes.

I've forgotten how to ride a bike.

I used to be able to balance while stationary. Not tried it for years

@Not today, that would have been down to the workman what he did with his wife's issues, the phone calls did not worry me, I know he was not going to pay me for looking after her all day. Plus, I do not know if she drove and it is a long walk from where I live to Manchester.

Should have invited her over, she may have helped him and got the work done quicker and no more annoying phone calls.

I had a workman in my flat last year who's wife would ring him every ten minutes. She hated being left alone at home.

Great practical suggestion, Em.

Do you have any headphones, could you put on some music to cover up the annoying notification noise?

My dozy SIL, being handed the little dehydrated disc impregnated with veggie seeds which came free with something, said 'Oh my God, this bickie is horrible! Tastes like sawdust!'

There are sharper tools in the shed!🤣

🤣

Well it did give me a giggle :-) :-) :-)

My Dad ate tulip bulbs one night after a few too many drinks at the pub

He did have side effects … .but might have been to many beers

An old joke but still amusing for all of that.

My Dad once ate daffodil bulb instead of spring onion. Said It didn't taste right. True story. Gladly no ill effects.

Haha! I was about to commiserate and say - don't worry, I did that when I was a toddler and I'm still here (though they are, apparently, nasty; I don't remember the incident), but never mind. Good joke :)-

🤦🤦😂😂

@PicklesTheKat

me too 😅

😂

I like it.

😂

Daft bat! I thought you were being serious there. rofl

😹😹😹

@ DSM, I can but you would have to join my "Board of Nuts" (thank the orange one). Cost $1 billion or a banana will do.. ;-)

@Maddadof - Whatever you've got is spreading. Can you supply an antidote for every PMP member?

🧙‍♂️🧑‍🦯🤣

I laughed harder than I probably should have.

😁😂

😂😂 like it !!

Very good! 😀

Very clever. I like it.

😂

Good one👍🏻

:-) :-) :-)

🤣🤣

🤣🤣

😂

😂😂😂

hahaha

🤣🤣🤣

😂😂😂

:-) :-)

Lol

Each draw has a claim period and I'm afraid you can't claim retrospectively.

https://help.pickmypostcode.com/article/45-how-long-do-i-have-to-claim

https://help.pickmypostcode.com/article/44-my-postcode-came-up-in-a-previous-draw-can-i-claim

Please don't give up hope though. Many members have been winners multiple times. The system completes the draws from a database of active account ID numbers using a random number generator and the parameters of the smallest ID number to the largest. It then displays the postcode on the chosen account number as the winner of the draw. All it ‘sees’ is the account numbers of active members, it is not influenced by any other data or outside factors and is as random as a computer can be.

The Stackpots start loading at 9am and 9pm. They take a minute or so to fully load so the optimum checking time is around 9:03.

Keep checking as there are many examples of postcodes being drawn several times.

Yeah was my brother bday in August one day man really sad I’m pretty sure I saw nothing after when I checked like I just checked winners results and saw. I guess that day was the end of stackpot piling up and the next day it started anew idk…

That is really annoying. It may not seem like much consolation but remember the computer is just as likely to pick your number again than it was the first time. It doesn't take into account that you have already been picked. Some people have won twice in the same week.

Antonia - not if it's already been claimed by someone else (as Jennie says it's the first to claim who wins on the Stackpot), nor if it isn't the current draw. You can only claim on the current draw, not retrospectively.

No so I can still claim it?

You don't get excluded from winning until you haven't checked for a fortnight. So maybe you just got beaten to it on the stackpot which is a first claim wins draw.

I'm afraid you are wrong Beth. More people enter if the prizes are bigger. Look at how the National Lottery takings plummeted when they reduced and capped the main Lotto prize, so splitting the jackpot would actually reduce the prize pot. Sad but true

On ClassicFM at the moment they are giving away big sums on Fridays think it's £450K at the moment. Surely it would be better to give three people £150K? or even just 4 people £100k? It wouldn't cost them any more, and people are more likely to enter if they thik there is a (slightly) bigger chance of winning.

Q. Who needs multimillions?

A. Me. How else can I buy a house with grounds large enough to keep my dogs happy?

It puzzles me slightly that many if not most people seem to prefer long odds of a big return over shorter odds of a smaller but still significant return. Who needs multimillions?

(Yes, I realise this isn't the national lottery or the euro millions).

My point is a "one-in-a-lots-and-lots" chance isn't really very much improved by being a "three-in-a-lots-and-lots" chance. Whatever the unfathomable odds actually are.

I would think those odds are wildly out? It depends how many active members are in each draw.

To be fair, if you have a one in a million chance of winning a lottery, three in a million, or six or seven isn't really that much more...

@ SH... I was just trying to help, honest, but I don't think it was as effective as I'd hoped !

Maybe it helps if I say that I have won once (on the Stackpot)🥳 since I joined. I don't expect to win again, but I do hope I might as it's random 😎🥰😃😲

As Malc H said : "Everyone has an equal chance as it's membership numbers that are in the draws"

Hoping this helps 😉

Musicbox If you check out the winners results pages and click on the different draws, you can see all the winners back to 2011. You’ll see just as many winners had only one member registered as those with a few.

We each have the exact same chance of our registration number being drawn. 😊

Everyone has an equal chance as it's membership numbers that are in the draws.

So basically I better tell my daughter not to bother joining as hers is the only house on that postcode so pretty much 0.000000000000009% chance of ever winning!

@Woodcrafts woodturnings - the winnings are only shared if the other neighbours remember to check ;)

I'm never awake and using my laptop until around 10am so I hope that the unknown other person using my postcode doesn't bother or is a dormant account. I wish I knew who they are. xx

Although encouraging your 'neighbours' to enter the draw increases the probability of your code being drawn, the downside is the winnings would be shared between more people. But you may get lucky and the other winners not notice they've won and don't claim their prize. Now that's another gamble. Fun isn't it!!!

@Snowqueen - I love your optimism, and the fact you took a minute to read and understand the FAQs. 😊

Maybe the survey in question was only looking to speak to those in England.

Pearl - that’s me!

My brother lives in Eire and has well-water, which he had to get a licence for when he bought the house. We had a well in our garden but the neighbour asked if they could realign the fence when they moved in, as it needed replacing and had an awkward kink in it. They already had a well, so weren’t just trying to get access (no extraction licence anyway), and it was our job to replace the fence so I said as long as it was realigned if they, or we, moved, it was OK. We didn’t lose any area overall, just the well itself.

My comment was about extraction from a well. There are many properties that have wells and are also connected to the public supply. The point is that if you use well water you would need to account for any that is discharged into the public system.

Tiliacus: If you do not have a public water supply, you would not be connected to the public sewerage system. There are millions of properties that do have a public water supply, but are not connected to a sewerage system. It is well known that, in rural areas, unconnected properties have septic tanks, or other more complex methods of dealing with their waste.

"you put up a turbine or set of panels and electricity just appears"... once you've bought or leased the land, paid the consultants to persuade the local authority to allow it, put in the cables and access roads, and built the panels or turbines but yes apart from that electricity just appears...

Gas as a raw product is free, as is oil - it's the extraction, containment, and delivery that costs money. Very similar to water, in fact.

That's the reason there's so much lobbying by fossil fuels trying to convince us that renewables are bad; it's easy to justify any price because we can't comprehend the cost of an oil rig, and the drilling, and the tankers to get it ashore, and the giant refineries ...

With wind and solar, you put up a turbine or set of panels and electricity just appears, the only cost is maintenance and some cables to move the power about. Really, really hard to justify inflated prices, so they have to convince us that it's a "bad idea"

Just a thought here.

ALL water companies get their raw product for free. Gas suppliers have to pay for the raw product, electricity suppliers have to pay for the production of their product. If electric and gas supplies are broken, they have to fix it very quickly, yet water companies ignore some leaks for years, about time they had to repair their broken infrastructure as quickly as gas and electricity suppliers have to.

I concur with the view that it is not possible to change water supplier anywhere. If you have a well I believe that you have to have an extraction licence, presumably issued by the Environment Agency. You also have to measure the quantity extracted. You would also need to pay sewage charges to your local water authority on any of that water that is discharged into the public drainage system.

I don't know of anywhere in the UK, where you can change water suppliers. Unless you dig your own well, even then i believe you can only extract 100/200 Ltrs per day. If i'm wrong someone will let me know...

It's not as if we can change to another supplier like they can elsewhere in UK, & it's paid for with our Council Tax bill. If we had a choice of switching suppler surveys might ask us something.

About 15 seconds, my balance is not good due to Arthritis and ear problems.

So now you want me to find a clock with a second hand? Otherwise I would be struggling to balance on one leg whilst persuading the screen on my chosen device not to black out too soon.

I can just about do a minute with each leg, I used to be able to do more but the Anastrozole I took for five years to help prevent the breast cancer from coming back has caused pain in my feet and ankles .

Is that why Trump hits the golf ball with his legs & feet together, or is it to keep something else in?

My test is to put on waterproof trousers over my regular trousers without holding on to anything. Wearing golf shoes makes it harder

Once Iget my brain into gear and concentrate I can do 30 seconds minimum, sometimes over a minute, but th3 leg with the replacement hip and knee is still weaker than the other one. I keep doing it while the kettle boils for coffee - about 8 times a day currently!

I don't think medical professionals should be laughing at someone trying to rehabilitate themselves after a stroke, regardless of how much or little success they are having.

Just an opinion, call me old fashioned if you like.

Guess it would depend on who's leg I am standing !

I refused to believe that I couldn't walk & I'm currently relying on my stick than I like & my balance is still rubbish but at all times I approached failure with a a laugh. If you can't laugh at yourself you have no right to laugh at others. Watch a baby& fall on it's backside & laugh at the silliness of life.

Admirable -Barrie - and everyone else SAFELY having a try. Standing and balancing on one leg is increasingly harder as we age and some days balance is just better or worse and often impossible but great to keep a sense of humour as these hilarious responses testify🤣

It’s quite a while for me on a good day - standing balances have been part of my regular yoga practice for over twenty five years -otherwise I’m sure I’d be stumped!🤦‍♀️

I have to sit down to put my knickers on🤪

I stand on one leg while I am cleaning my teeth using my toothbrush to time. I can easily do a minute and have done three minutes but had to stop with leg ache. 😄

Years ago a youngster I worked with was amazed that her fiance couldn't stand on one leg to put his socks on, 'Like normal people do!' So, for the past 30 years I have done just that. Ok, I actually have to bend more now & I stand where I can save myself if I were to topple over but I think, as long as I can manage that few seconds, I'm not doing too bad for 76. I suppose someone on here will be able to stand upright on one leg for an hour at 106! 🤬

After my stroke for some reason I set my goal on standing on one leg. The hospital staff were quietly watching me while laughing at my stubbornness while the other patients that noticed were cheering me on.

Well, I had to try this and had terrible trouble at first trying to balance on one leg, but finally managed a good 15 minutes... then my brother regained consciousness and made me get off him. 😈

Oh, I see Saphicat has a warped sense of humour too lol 😉

Only about half a minute. I keep practicing while I'm brushing my teeth in the hope of improving my balance as I get older 😉

It depends on whose leg I'm standing on 🤣

Like CarolineC, not very long due to arthritis. I try to avoid it nowadays as I do not want to end up in hospital again with a fractured femur.

I can 'stand' on my hands, after a fashion. It hurts, too, especially if I wear hard shoes.

Not very long nowadays. Too much arthritis for that kind of thing.

:-D

Currently not too long on either leg. I had a steroid injection in my right knee on Wednesday (for arthritis) but it hasn't taken effect yet. Meanwhile the left leg is rebelling at the extra work it has to do.

I can stand on no legs, i call it laying down !!.. ;-)

Popeye

For me it’s seconds standing on one leg

Are you asking me or the birds?

I can stand till it gets tired if I'm hanging onto something, or if in water, & that's too long a time to measure.,

Which cartoon character said " "That's all I can stands, and I can't stands no more!" ? ... Here's a clue ... 🥫🍃💪⚓

More than two minutes... I'm not sure how much longer and if I ever decide to time my limit I hope somebody stops me! xD

Apparently 5 seconds less with every passing day.

Six draws are shared between all valid claims. The other 3 are grab it first draws. 😊

Also - there's no requirement to pick your actual postcode.

Short answer - as long as they are all different people with one entry each, & in 1st to claim draws the first to claim gets the money.

This FAQ explains this:

https://help.pickmypostcode.com/article/16-what-are-the-different-draws

This is explained in the FAQs. Some draws are shared, some are first come first served.

That takes all of the adventure out of life.

FAQs:

if all else fails, read the instructions.

At least...

Several hundred

This is getting tedious 🫩 how many times does it have to be explained?

🥱 The story (complaint) is boring. The explanation is given daily yet still they moan. It's your membership number that's drawn. It might not even be yours within that postcode but you still get a chance to pounce. Your odds are actually shortened by this so actually complaining is just silly. Would you rather the membership numbers were published & so only that member could claim, so lengthening the odds very significantly? Think about it.

Thank Emma & Marie for their endless patience!!!

There are 28,094 valid CV postcodes so a very big area. You’d expect a large number of members would have registered on here? Consequently there should be fairly regular winners with regular luck? 7 in 23 days seems pretty reasonable?

@ Anonymous, 23 days in January and it's only the 7th one so not daily. As Em and Marie have to endlessly explain, it's not postcodes that are drawn so the postcode is irrelevant.

The system completes the draws from a database of active account ID numbers using a random number generator and the parameters of the smallest ID number to the largest. It then displays the postcode on the chosen account number as the winner of the draw. All it ‘sees’ is the account numbers of active members, it is not influenced by any other data or outside factors and is as random as a computer can be.

If one postcode is entered more than once it is more likely to be selected (like names in a hat). If a certain postcode area (eg. BA1) appears to not win often that is because there aren't many entries for that area. If a postcode area seems to win more often it must mean that there are more entries from that postcode area.

There is no geographical bias in the selection procedure. The computer doesn't know (or care) where anyone lives! You could give your postcode more chances of coming up by referring your neighbours to us: https://help.pickmypostcode.com/article/20-referral-bonus

Keep hanging in there, that single digit change could be next!

I'm only a few weeks in and only had 2 digits correct so far, but we don't lose anything by checking each day.

You never know! Keep your account active by checking and it could happen.

Members are free to use any valid postcode they wish. We may at times ask a winner to prove they are a UK resident, but they would not have to prove they live at the postcode they are registered with.

You may have to prove you’re a U.K. resident as that’s a definite stipulation to be able to claim.

The FAQ still says "You can pick old postcodes from childhood, work, school etc." if this is no longer the case the FAQ should be updated.

Under "Registering" and "I've seen a winning postcode that doesn't exist!"

You are contradicting yourself SH, you say someone can choose their workplace and then you say if they win they may be asked to prove they live there. My understanding was for golden postcodes winners would be asked to claim where they live because the site don't want people to pick a postcode based on it being possibly a golden one. Has this rule now been extended to all entries?

You could choose the postcode for where you work, where you grew up (even if it's since been demolished), or if you're athletic you might pick the postcode for the changing rooms of a running track or football field for example. What matters is it is a real postcode you pick, or at least it used to be, and it doesn't have to be where you live, as long as you only pick one. Sometimes typos slip by, but if you win you may well be asked to prove where you live to claim.

cheers RB

SE18 5NP is a postcode located in London, specifically within the Mast Quay development in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The area consists of residential flats, with recorded property sales, such as in Mizzen Mast House, showing transactions in early 2024. It is part of the SE18 postal area covering Woolwich

hahahaha that just made me laugh out loud!! hahahahaha

(I do have a lazy eye too before anyone think I a laughing at them I am laughing at myself)

Zita

Variation on classic Emo Phillips joke.

"My wife's schizophrenic, but it's OK, she's good people.

She said, Emo, I'm seeing someone else

Well, can't you just rub your eyes or something ?"

Fez-- :-) :-)

I thought the original was "seeing someone else on the side"...

Made me chuckle. :-D

Phillip Collins

I've been in several art galleries where the paintings were 10ft+ square, there was hardly a brush stroke on them when examined close up. Bear in mind some artists worked with a single bristle brush painting one stroke at a time, makes you wonder how did they get the proportions correct.

@Enver: Thanks for the info re "After the Bath". Much appreciated. Guess I'll never get to see the actual painting then!

Vettriano, mostly because art snobs hated him, but you could actually tell what his paintings were meant to be, as opposed to some junk that finds its way into the Tate Modern. (Other galleries full of pretentious rubbish are also available.)

I also like M C Escher and Salvadore Dali because although their work it weird you can see how skilful the work was.

Do you remember that case quite recently where an art gallery cleaner threw away some "work of art" because they thought it was a piece of litter left behind by a visitor?

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/08/beer-can-artwork-lam-museum-thrown-out-all-the-good-times-we-spent-together

Frank Abagnale Junior, poacher turned gamekeeper. As a kid I thought I'd done well to face down a van full of armed police and walk out of the gate for a secure airport area I'd sneaked into until I heard of him ...

Paul Peel's famous painting, "After the Bath" (1890), is held by the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) in Toronto, Canada, where it's often displayed in the Norma Ridley Members Lounge, though copies are common, and the National Gallery of Canada also holds one.

Degar, I just love his ballerina's, I have 3 different prints of his work.

Banksy

Many years ago, as a birthday present, I was given a print of a painting called "After the Bath" by Paul Peel (1860-1892). It hung at the foot end of my bath for many years and I just loved losing myself in it as I relaxed in my bath. It's of 2 little girls, one standing and one sitting on the floor, warming themselves in front of a huge old-fashioned open fire as they gaze into the flames. I always promised myself I'd find out where the original is and go and see it but haven't had any success tracking it down. I still have it and it still brings me joy and makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I know nothing about art but just love "After the Bath".

APOLOGIES: Seems I've lost a day and thought I was posting on the favourite piece of art question below. Sorry 😞

Banksy

Painter - probably David Bomberg, music - Morrissey.

The question is open to interpretation, but let's stick to the first three. I was thinking on from my question about favourite piece of art yesterday, but it can be broader than that.

Sculpture, Paint, Musical, Con or Piss?

Taylor Swift, although she is huge now and therefore an obvious and popular choice for many. I have liked her since I was 12 and I am now 30. We also share the same name.

Welcome home, Bob, we’ve missed you!

Ooh, that sounds great Bob, saw videos of old highly decorated buildings with the ancient vines growing over or through them, or their revered monkeys that are fed as part of the religion. I don't think I would be able to stand the heat & humidity in that part of the world. Did you manage to check all the draws on your travels?

BuaD, I am less travelled, having never left Europe, but my experience has been that poorer people are more generous and welcoming.

OK Enver, didn't want to bore people. A week in Cambodia with a tour to take in Angkor Wat and Phnom Penh and the killing fields, then 2 days in Singapore, then 2 week cruise including Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam. Cambodians have now displaced Canadians as the nicest people on the planet.

Welcome back, Bob.

Welcome home Bob & belated Happy New Year to you too, sounds like you had a good time, please tell where all did you go besides Cambodia & what did you do?

Happy New Year Bob I hope you had a fantastic holiday, and much better weather than we have had.

HNY. Hope you’ve had a good holiday…welcome back to our horrible weather.

HNY 2 U BUAD, glad that your back safe, did you have a good time..

Happy new year & welcome home. If you're travelling that far it makes sense to take your time.

Happy New Year to you Bob, hope it's a good one!

I hope that you had a lovely time Bob. Happy belated New Year to you too.

Same to you BUAD

Bit of a cold fish wasn’t he?

Paul Michael Glacier

Glaciers always take the easiest route

Very true. 👍

yet more portsmouth codes.....comedy gold

@ admin Em, I love the daily games, they are fun to do.

They should fix it to do that at the weekend🤪

I'm sure we'll get other types of posts.

Schroedinger, if you're looking for a bit more fun in your day, maybe something on our Games & Puzzles page will take your fancy: https://pickmypostcode.com/games/

Awwww, that's no fun 🙃👿

One of my dearly loved and much missed cats was called Temeraire (after the painting). He passed away at the very end of 2020 just a few weeks short of his 19th birthday. A beautiful silver blue British Tiffanie x Somali crossbreed that adored our yellow lab. Mine own personal favourite - too many to mention but I do love many of those from the Pre-Raphaelite movement.

Cakey, just been reading the other entries on this post since I looked yesterday, and I thought, ‘ I do like The Fighting Temeraire’ then you put it too. We had a print of it on the wall for years. I also liked David Shepherd’s wildlife paintings - elephants, lions etc.

I like the works by Giuseppe Arcimboldo, although they are a little weird. If you can remember the video of 'Sledgehammer' by Peter Gabriel, with the foodie faces, Mr Arcimboldo was there in the 16th century!

My favourite Jack Vettriano is not one of his moody, sulky, shifty looking clandestines, but one of Sir Malcolm Campbell's Bluebird, in the desert, surrounded by mechanics.

I agree with Yattonian. There is Burne-Jones stained glass in Tamworth church and William Morris is portrayed in stained glass in Cheddleton church.

The Fighting Temeraire by JMW Turner is one I particularly like although I find it very sad - I find the thought of any ship being broken up depressing.

Lady with an Ermine Leonardo Da Vinci

I love The Skating Minister in The Scottish National Gallery, I don't know why it appeals to me, its wonderful.

The Lady of Shalott by the English painter John William Waterhouse. It’s in the Tate still, I think. The details are wonderful and the face exquisite.

I didn’t know this painting so looked it up. Wow, I see what you mean and Pauline wore the dress in her very own way. I loved the painting - thank you for sharing as I would never have seen it otherwise 🌼.

I've got quite a few favourites, but one of them is Pauline In The Yellow Dress, by Herbert James Gunn. Pauline was his wife, and it's a quite extraordinary portrait.

When he exhibited it in the National Gallery in 1944, some people were reportedly outraged that, at a time of severe rationing, Mrs Gunn had been able to buy such an extravagant, voluminous dress that took so much fabric. I saw it recently at the Harris Museum in Preston and was mesmerised by her penetrating gaze. She looks like the sort of forthright lady who wouldn't have given a toss what the moaners said!

Monet's fog paintings fascinate me, it moves as you look at them.

I've got strange taste. I remember as a youngster visiting the art galleries of London with my parents. I saw Richard Dadd's The Fairie Feller's Master Stroke. I'd seen pictures of it before, but the colours and a kind of "shine" it had to it, were mesmerising in real life. I really love that painting.

I'm also keen on Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delights. My late older sister had a lot of classical music albums when I was a kid, and one of them had this as it's cover. I was fascinated by it - though I was way too young to understand what was actually going on in that picture ("earthly delights" - you can probably guess).

I'm also a big fan of anything by Louis Wain (the man who drew cats) and his anthropomorphic cat illustrations.

Yattatonian can I recommend a visit to Birmingham cathedral, St Phillips, to see the four magnificent windows designed by Burne Jones and William Morris. 🐷

Anything (or nearly anything) by the Pre-Raphaelites. Burne-Jones especially.

I was fortunate enough to visit The Hermitage some years ago. Knowing nothing about art I was amazed that I could actually recognise the work of different artists, just by their style, or the way they used colour & light. Mr Tom wasn't exactly happy to be looking at paintings! I had never understood why people liked Picasso, then I stood in a room surrounded by his work & I was transfixed. I do love Salvador Dali, probably my favourite, if I had one.

Dali - Christ the Redeemer

No way I could choose just one. I took art A-level, with a lot of Art theory, looking at all different eras. I loved da Vinci and Michaelangelo, Delacroix for his passion and movement and Vermeer for his sensitivity and understof his sitters thoughts. And then, of course, there’s ….

I do not have one piece of art but I love most of the works by Jack Vettriano.

Really hard to pick just one. I like the landscapes of David Bomberg and Ivon Hitchens, still lifes of Georges Braque, William Scott and Morandi and portraits by Frank Auerbach but if there's one painting I have to pick it would be Rembrandt's 'Woman Bathing' in the National Gallery.

The Death of Nelson by Benjamin West, It's beautifully painted and flipping enormous!

Also Roy Lichtenstien's "WHAAM!" which is like something from a war comic for boys, but again, flipping enormous.

A picture called "When did you last see your Father" by W Yeames. First saw it just after having read "The Children of the New Forest" by Captain Marryat and the combination triggered my lifelong interest in history, particularly the English Civil War.

FORGIVE CAPS PMP.

I DO LIKE SOME OF THE RENAISSANCE PAINTINGS MOSTLY - DA VINCI, MICHELANGELO & A FEW OTHERS OF THEIR TIME. I LIKE SOME OF BANKSY’S TOO.

(OBVIOUS REASONS 😉)

You know when they say some people’s glass is always half empty?

I think we’ve found “some people” !

I honestly haven’t noticed a single problem. Takes no time to load. There must be some dodgy internet connections or slow devices around?

The pulsing is annoying to me - I thought one reason for the redesign was to speed up the site - the pulsing is time wasted that wasn't needed, and never happened in the old design so that was a fail for starters.

I notice whenever a page loads now I get a placeholder for what is sometimes there for a brief moment before showing the "actual" page.

For instance, when I click on the survey page, a ghost survey box/offer loads then disappears.

When I click the survey wall button 5 ghost surveys load in the list then also disappear if there are none available.

When I click the bonus page ALL the offers are shown then are hidden (as I opted), then often afterwards a full ghost survey box appears, then also disappears if no surveys are actually available.

It's as if the "new improved" site has to load everything that has ever been, or has a designated place on a page regardless of if it is current or not, then it removes them for what is actually current for the given time.

All the above wasting time on the new faster loading site ;D

Su.O.

I have to say I have not been having any problems with the new site layout, I like it.

@Marie. Oukitel WP21 using Chrome. But as I've said, things that have become a problem now, weren't causing problems before the change, just as some others have also said.

Also, to add to what Marie said. A member kindly did a screen recording of the flashing Snip ad which I had not seen. I have shared the recording with the team, explaining that we have had a complaint that it is migraine inducing. Our colleagues will review this.

Nick, I have added this glitch to the snag list. Please could you let us know your device make & model and browser details.

I can assure you that Tech know what they're doing. They have rebuilt the whole site and the feedback we have received is very positive. The new site worked perfectly for them and us staff before it was rolled out. Some issues have been reported by members since the rollout to them, but the majority of these have been minor fixes and have been implemented. That is what we expected to happen in this phase. It is only when the site went live to people that some things have arisen. There have actually been very few new problems that have been reported since the final 50% of members were moved onto the new site as most were fixed in the earlier rollout periods. The majority of issues are those that we already knew about and are in the process of addressing. It is not like the site is broken for everyone and it is only some people that are experiencing certain issues.

The issue with the video not playing for some was not caused by the rebuild, but we have worked on providing temporary solutions or workarounds for people. The pulsing when the results are loading is intentional rather than an issue, but we have taken feedback on board and are looking to implement an alternative option for those who are not comfortable with it. We are doing what we can to minimise issues for people and will always listen to what members have to say in order to make adjustments or improvements where we can.

Hi Em the snip and I referred to is the one that says something about a free trial. The writing across the bottom of the ad constantly increases and decreases in size. I will try to get a screenshot next time I see it.

So we now have another weird glitch. I accidentally clicked twice and the above comment repeated. Not wanting to lose it I copied it, once, so I could paste it. Clicked the x on one of the two comments and a box appeared saying it would delete the comment 'and associated or something'. I clicked to delete and it deleted both comments. So I pasted the original single comment and it appeared twice again, in two separate boxes and a x for each. It seems the only way to delete duplicate comments from our end is to click edit on one then manually delete as you would with a single letter or word then when the whole box is clear put a single letter in. Save it. Then click X in the corner and it seems, because it's now different to the other comment you can click the X and it only deletes the one with the single letter in. Maybe that's why there was a request from a well known commenter for you to delete their duplicate.

I try not to make bad comments anywhere except when necessary but I have to say, the number of problems appearing here for different people, it's starting to look as though things are being changed for the sake of change rather than necessity without some knowing what they're doing. I appreciate the comment about change for Google etc but that's no reason to mess up things that weren't broken or causing problems before.

I also like the TARDIS idea, but now I've to complain about the pulsing not being long enough to hum the Dr Who theme tune which I loved in the early days of Dr Who. I'm joking there as I'd rather forego the humming if the pulsing can stop.

I did enjoy the "Tardis materialising" analogy posted on another page

I do as well

I rather like the pulsing, there’s something quite reassuring about it. 🤩🐷

We want something to indicate loading to reduce the possibility of pages being closed if some members not in the know believe that something is not working properly. But it is not a flash but a pulse with a slower fade in and out than flashing and the effect is a dim one. As I said, Tech are going to do what they can to both meet our needs to address closing down of the page and the needs of members.

Also, I have never seen our Snip ad flash. What I see is a static image which says "Slash your supermarket spend with Snip." Do you know how to do a screen recording? If you have a Windows device, the Windows Snipping tool has a recording function. It would be very helpful to see what you see please and an image/screenshot would not display it.

Thank you Em, it does tend to trigger a migraine but why do we need the flashing? Surely people can wait a couple of seconds for the postcodes to show as they have done since 2011.

Another migraine trigger is the flashing adverts - Snip and Virgin are the worst - but I can cover those up if I'm quick enough.

Thanks Em, Just increased my font size and it is a lot easier on my eyes now. 👍🙂

Thatcher stopped BT deploying fibre during her time as PM. That's why we are years behind.

years behind? In 1989 the then CEO of BT, Iain Vallance, claimed that fibre would have replaced copper lines by the year 2000. Quarter of a century behind already

I live in a cul de sac of 26 houses. So far open reach have dug up the pavement 8 times for 8 different houses including us. This does not include the surveyor visits of at least 2 or 3 for every house.

Our house is in a group of 3 with a private drive which the 3 of us maintain. All 3 of us applied for full fibre. Ours was completed in December after application in Feb 24. Our neighbours are still waiting, although immediate neighbour has had the surveyor twice and white lines drawn for the direction of the cable. He suggested to the workman digging the drive for our cable in December that all 3 could have cable installed with just one set of roadworks on the drive. Nope can't do that, as they can only do what the surveyor has agreed! So we will have our shared drive dug up 3 times in total. No wonder they are years behind.

Then I hope that a) you're not with BT or a company who use BT's lines which are being removed and b) that rural areas have been taken into account by BT and it is only towns and cities which they are actioning.

Mobiles are useless without a signal. We have to walk onto a main road and upwards until we get a signal. None in the house. That’s why we had to keep the landline.

If we lose that, we’re pretty much stuffed.

Mobiles contain rechargeable batteries so when the mains power goes off you still have a good few hours of battery charge for making & recieving calls, & 112 is the international mobile equivalent of 999.

If the power goes out, the phone won't work. Doesn't matter if you dial 999 or 112, there is no power to your router so there is no internet so you can't make calls.

Open Reach said we were 'in scope' for fibre broadband back in 2014, still not available here in my little corner in the outer reaches of North Wales. Choice of broadband via copper phone line with upto 2Mbps or sim card in a router which sometimes manages to get as fast as 10Mbps if its not raining or too windy. Open Reach say we will say on copper lines until fibre is available, with date 2030 suggested as likely when whole UK is supposed to be full fibre.

VoIP is Voice Over Internet Protocol. It lets you make calls over the internet instead of a landline. Some companies kept it for a little Ng time as they found it so much more reliable. I personally know nothing about it other than that.

@CarolineC - VoIP stands for 'voice over IP', i.e. a phone line via the internet. Because it's not over a local exchange, you have to dial the full number like on a mobile. It's supposed to to be clearer and you often get an app or website you can use to make calls as well and see all the incoming calls.

We are actually on Airband, which is an altnet, that is an alternative network to BT/open reach, which have their own cables, there are quite a few others, often local to different areas and offer better deals than BT or the majors that use their network. We found their service to be excellent and far better than Talk talk, who we moved from. Some friends who live in a blackspot in the country and were struggling with really slow speeds got them recently and are loving the 500mb they now have!

BT have admitted to me in print that even though landline will be removed, I will still have to pay the landline price, as it will be added to my broadband price. Seriously, they are going to still charge me for something that does not exist?

By the way, I have not made a call on my landline for years as I have unlimited minutes on my mobile, but I am charged £9 a quarter for the privilege of paying per call, yet the other option makes me pay even more.

It's just a shame that bt own the infrastructure of the telecommunications industry in this country.

Right kipper box put away, normal service will be resumed.

I was going to get a personal alarm (thought it was a good idea with my falls over the last two years). However, £24/month, or £40-odd for one that works out of the house, seemed a heck of a lot to pay, plus there’s the problem of all our power cuts. I was very pleased to find my dirt-cheap Samsung fitbit style watch also has an automatic fall-alert and will phone my emergency contact for me. Grand sum? £44, reduced to £33 with student discount.

Sorry to seem stupid but I have to ask - what's VoIP? I haven't a clue if we've got it or not.

Our phone is on Voip via fibre broadband.

About once a month we have to reboot the router box otherwise the incoming number stops working. That was actually the "Fix" given to us when we complained that an elderly vulnerable relative couldn't get through to us (and refuses to phone mobile numbers because she is elderly.)

I'm all for updating systems but they haven't thought this through properly, especially with regard to medical alarms which many people now have. We're in a rural area with very poor broadband signal, frequent power outages and little to no mobile signal. When the power goes off, we will have no phone as totally reliant on the landline.

Our internet and phone signals are abysmal despite numerous providers over the years, extenders etc. the only thing that has ever worked reliably is the landline!

No, Freeview is not going. It's licence is to 2034.

our internet (talktalk) is very unreliable. We don't have a smartphone, just an elderly basic mobile. I also hear that Freeview is to be taken away as well as our landline. Again we don't have a tv with internet access so will feel completely cut off

If the power went out we could use 112 = the recognised emergency number for mobiles .

Been with Talktalk for years and had voip for 3, free calls where part of the deal.

The issue is, if there is a power cut when Emergency services cannot be contacted on the landline, you can buy a UPS adapter, which is basically a battery back up.

They have said anyone without Broadband will be accommodated into the new system.

My opinion is it is not the best but not the end of the world.

When Simon & I moved in to our house in 2019, we decided that we didn't need a landline. We have a package with Toob which is internet only, full-fibre broadband, originally for £25 per month but increased to £29 a couple of months ago. Still a decent price, we feel.

We changed over at home last year when we got full fibre and it's OK but of course you can't use it if the broadband or power goes out. We already had it at our business premises and we have the full digital handset there too but I wouldn't recommend that as it was driving us mad. It kept disconnecting from the base unit but there was no indication that it was off until someone tried to call and it wouldn't go through! It seems to have gotten sorted but we still have to check it every day, so at home we opted for the adapter to use a regular phone with.

You can make 999 calls over VOIP. There is the power issue and also location cannot be derived simply when using VOIP as you could be anywhere.

One of the main issues with it is that you need to have broadband and it plugged in to work, which means in a power cut it wouldn't be available. I assume this is when 999 wouldn't work? It can't be all of the time.

Been on VoIP for 3 years now. At the moment you have to have a mobile in case of emergencies as 999 doesn't work on VoIP. I don't know if that will change sometime.

Mel T, I had what sounds like a similar problem as you with my yahoo emails. I clicked on my initials in top left hand corner, chose settings and put conversations to off, which solved my problem. Hope this works for you too.

I use thunderbird to get my yahoo emails, no probs with that platform

I don’t like the reply on the new Yahoo if you have more than one previous exchange of emails with the recipient. I can never find where the new reply email is to type on it! Am I just getting too old for technology?

None of that pulsing stuff on my laptop but some of the surveys have a circular thing turning round. Always has.

We bought new Nokias when the signal was upgraded and I've often called 999 by mistake until I blocked it.

We 've also got new home phones that kept our number.

All good now - just getting used to the new Yahoo email and wish I'd done it a long time ago.

My old mobile sim card was binned by Tesco Mobile but after a month without my number they condecended to replace it on another sim.

I don’t like the pulsing. It’s the exact thing that the light does when I get migraines. Horrible.

It is not flashing, more pulsing. All of the draw pages pulse to show that it is loading. We needed something to show that the site is working as it should be, when there are natural seconds of delay with that page.

We had one of those Christmas card strings with the little plastic pegs in my student days...we even operated colour coding for how many times the bag had been used 🤮

My friend at uni used to dry the teabags on the radiator for reuse. The joys of student finance.

Where’s the teapot?

I only make tea for other people, can't stand the stuff myself; if i make it, it is brew, remove bag, add milk. One of my housemates puts milk in with the bag in and sometimes drinks it with the bag still in.

Teabag, water, stir a little, milk, see how strong it is and when to your liking, tea bag out!

Yorkshire tea is my favourite ❤️ “where everything’s done proper!”

FORGIVE CAPS PMP.

RARELY HAVE THAT PROBLEM AS I USE HERBAL TEAS.

MINE IS WHAT’S THE RIGHT TIME TO REMOVE THE INFUSER ON SOME OF THEM 🙃

Tea bag placed in a mug, add boiling water, then milk, leave to brew or steep for a minute or so (perhaps longer depending on how tired I am feeling), then remove the teabag with a gentle squeeze more to reduce drips than anything. I also leave decaf teabags to steep for a minute because I like the flavour.

Agree with leaving T bag in cup Kat, and I find that putting bag in cup with a little milk before boiling water helps to mix it up a bit better.

Don't particularly care. I often ask folk to leave the teabag in because non tea drinkers often use Tetley & serve 'Maiden's Water'. I wouldn't put it in with the teabag before the water though, scalded milk tastes like sterilised milk to me.😝 Mr Tom puts milk first if the tea is in a teapot.

Real leaf tea is more expensive but I think I'm going to buy some Co-op 99 & see if it's as grand as I remember from 60 years ago. I suppose I'm setting myself up for disappointment.

Milk in first was to stop the hot tea breaking expensive china cups & I did see a brand new china mug shatter when the boiling water was poured in so the reason is valid. Think it was Queen somebody or other made it part of the etiquette?

There I go again, a mine of useless information!🤣

I don't have milk in tea. Nor sugar/sweeteners.

We enjoy a builder's brew, hence teabag gets dunked and squeezed several times in boiling water, before adding just a touch of milk.

Leave teabag in for 4 minutes, remove, then milk. It really annoys me when you buy tea at a cafe and they put milk in at the same time as teabag. No hope of it brewing that way

Before teabag, as a non tea drinker it's the only way I can work out the strength of the tea. ( Takes cover with tin hat on 😉 )

Tea in pot, milk in cup, brew, then strain tea into cup - if I ever had to use a teabag in a cup I'd have a glass of water instead. :-)

Definitely take the teabag out before putting the milk in!

You have to take the teabag out first! You can't possibly put milk in with it still in there.

Just give the bag 5 mins (Yorkshire Gold, currently), remove bag, then add milk

I was wondering if any one still used loose tea I used to drink it when I bought loose tea. Had to be in a China cup

Milk in first then remove tea bag

Tea bag in, hot water next, then milk. These days I leave the teabag in 😱 I sometimes use a teapot but I can't cope with loose tea even though I know it's better for the planet.

Usually milk and teabag in first. Yes I know it’s not the proper way but hard water area means it forms a scummy layer if you put milk in last. At least the milk has a chance to blend and warm up if you pour water over it. We’ve got a water filter jug now so will try milk in last and see if any difference.

I never drink tea.

Milk in after taking the teabag out. Partner does that, I can't stand the smell of tea!

Hubby makes my 'gnat's pee' hot water with one hermesetas, one squidge and out then add red top milk. Tesco give us teapots and enough milk for 3 cups with 3 sugars, for me. Hubby has oat milk and no sugar.

Er... I think we must be "posh". We use a teapot - lol!

Milk in teabag out after a gentle squeeze

Definitely tea bag out followed by milk in. Unless I’m making it for my daughter, when it’s milk in and leave the tea bag in while she drinks it!

Milk in once the teabag has been squeezed and removed, just a tiny drop, I like strong tea.

🥳🥳🥳 I hope you had a good bonus when you won Taz108am.

I've actually won, have had about 8 'anyone you know' to my first half of my postcode being drawn. No idea (without looking up) where they are.

That has happened to me twice