The computer hack

The TV news report was alarmist – the local council’s computer system had been hacked and maybe a lot the ratepayers’ information had been improperly accessed?

On the other hand, the council’s website, while acknowledging that there had been an issue  (“We are experiencing an IT issue”), and that some online services weren’t available,  made no mention of the fact that information about ratepayers may have been accessed.   It merely stated, “We are working tirelessly to rectify the situation, keep us connected and ensure our data remains secure.”

Who to believe?   Perhaps we need to wait and see while the Council comes to a landing about what has actually happened.  Sure, everyone is sympathetic to anyone who is the victim of a hack;  it does seem to happen to all sorts of organisations.  Hopefully more information will become available in coming days.

UPDATE – dated 31 August:  “We are investigating the incident on an ongoing basis and want to assure everyone that our rate payer and customer data is still safe.“

Well, if they say that rate payer data is safe, then who are we to doubt it!

Birthday zooming

We “zoomed” for T’s birthday last year.   Who would have imagined that we’d have to zoom a year later for his next birthday?  But there we were, doing it all again.

Second-hand cars

The quote for renewing the car insurance, as usual, increased from last year.    I shopped around a little and decided that it was about as good as I could get. But on looking little closer – the “nominated value” of the car had increased too, by a little more than 7%.    There have been reports that the price of second-hand cars has increased, due to shortages of new cars, so for once, it seems that the car isn’t a deprecating asset.

In a way, this is a nice feeling, but of course, it obviously is one of the factors that has led to an increase in the premium.

 

 

Elwood Canal

Elwood Canal is within our permitted distance, and C suggested we ought to go for a walk there.    I’ve never before done this.    It’s tidal, and the tide was in, so the water was clean and clear.    Not unexpectedly, on a fine afternoon there were quite a few others out, both walking and cycling.   However, it was “BYO” coffee;  perhaps I need to do some research to see if there are any coffee venues nearby.

 

“Excitement” at Aldi

I was just arriving at Aldi as a woman was leaving with a handful of items and a couple of staff members close behind – informing her that she had to pay for her things.    It was all quite tense for a moment, as the three staff members surrounded her (but didn’t touch her).   She claimed “her father owned the store!”, but threw the items to the ground and made off.    The police arrived a few minutes later but seemed disinterested.

K^

I had taken pictures of the incident, but the staff informed me that they had plenty of cameras in the store and didn’t need anything from me.    And when later I was at the checkout, I told the guy that I thought the staff had done a good job.    He said that the she was known to the staff and seemed to have some “problems”.

In hindsight, could I have done more?   What if I had offered to pay for the goods?   It might have made a difference, but it may have been that any interference would just have made the situation worse.  I wonder, too, about the staff.   As soon as the incident was over, they were back at their tasks.   I think they might have seen at all before.

White camellia

Our white camellia always has lots of buds and seems to promise us a lot, but when the flowers arrive, they’re fragile and only last for a day or so (especially if it’s windy)   This year, in addition to all the other issues, the buds came under attack from the possums!   But there were a few days when the flowers were nice.

Strawberries

It seems as though there’s a glut of strawberries at present.    I’m fine with that;   we’ve been doing our bit to ease the problem and have been buying up.   Apparently strawberries are an “impulse” buy, and when at times like this people are buying on-line, they don’t think of adding strawberries to the order.

New bank

The local branch of NAB is relocating. I suppose that’s good news, at least it isn’t closing down.    We peered through the windows of the space that’s being fitted out. I know that modern bank branches all have a different look and feel about them, but I was left with the impression that NAB wants customers to do all the work themselves.

No doubt all will be revealed in due course, but at this stage, I was struggling to see where the tellers – or are they now, “customer service officers? – are to be located.     There’s a table, ATMs, a TV screen and a couch.   Maybe the staff will be behind the planter boxes?

 

Self service checkouts

I’m basically OK with selfserve checkouts at the supermarket.    But I don’t usually have a full trolley of groceries, and I’m OK with keeping an eye on the screen to make sure I don’t scan things twice.

I wondered why all the vans were outside Coles

But in a discussion with friends the other day, it seems that people are noticing there are fewer “full service” lanes open at some supermarkets.    And indeed at our local Coles, most of the “full service” lanes have now been replaced by self-service lanes.   The new aisles are better designed to cater for trolley loads.

But later in the day, most of the lanes that previously had an operator had gone, replaced by self-service lanes (better able to cater for trolleys than the initial self-service machines)

It seems that are supermarkets really are going the same way as petrol stations, where the person who once put fuel into your car is but a distant memory.

No doubt the supermarkets wish to encourage us to do our transactions in a way that best suits them.    For them, the cost of handling cash is probably greater than the fees on cards.

Most of the machines are very close together at Woolworths Metro, making a trolley very hard to use

At the dentist

Last time we went into lockdown, my appointment at the dentist for a filling was postponed.    Needless to say, by the time the re-scheduled date arrived, we were in lockdown again.    However, the surgery informed me that the work would go ahead.

According to the dentist, the rules have been varied. No longer does a patient have to be in pain for dental work to occur;   it’s sufficient for the need to be such that, if the work doesn’t proceed, the condition will deteriorate.    I’m not sure how urgent this particular filling was, but the dentist was satisfied that it was within the rules.   Getting a filling isn’t a particularly enjoyable experience, but it has to be done and it’s good that this one is now out the way.