Alex's even longer post thread.

[Alex]

So life has been getting... interesting recently. Pre-Covid, Kristi had visited the doctors about something and was told that if there was a problem found on tests, they'd be back in touch. Fast forward 3 years, they got in touch and we'd to go up to Aberdeen hospital. The Consultant was raging when he found out that she'd been waiting that long and although they think everything is ok, she is going to be having a biopsy just to be on the safe side.

I got my dental checkup this morning. My teeth are fine, but the dentist asked me how long I'd had a lump on my tongue. What lump I enquired? Anyway, to cut a long story short I am also going to Aberdeen at some point for a biopsy. They think it isn't anything to worry about, they are just being cautious.

Anyway, post that I took a wander into Elgin. I saw a dark-skinned lady, maybe Middle Eastern, maybe South American (I really did not recognise her accent). She looked a bit lost and told me she was renting a house in Elgin, but couldn't find it. Anyway, I agreed to help her, got the postcode, and did the whole Google maps thing. She then asked me to walk her to where it was. Since it was only a 10-minute walk and I was in no particular hurry, I agreed. Halfway there she decided it was too far to walk to just now, she was hungry and was going to get something to eat. Fair enough, I turned around and started to head back into the main street. At some point, it came up that she was from Columbia originally but was now a UK citizen and had been living her for 20 years. It very quickly became obvious she was following me wherever I went. I asked her what she wanted to eat and she told me a steak, so I took her to the first place I could think of that would sell one and went to say my goodbyes.

At that point, it became obvious that she thought I was going to go in with her and pay for her steak. She then grabbed me and shoved her tongue down my throat. Evidently, she drinks coffee, something that I detest the smell and taste of. I got the hell out of there, ignoring whatever she was calling out to me. I then ducked into a shop where I knew the owners and told them that if a dark-skinned woman came in looking for me, they hadn't seen me and ducked beneath one of the tables.

After that I headed home. Quite often I find when a day gets strange, it will continue to get stranger and I wanted no more strangeness. When I got home I refused to kiss Kristi until I'd taken a mouthful of mouthwash and thoroughly brushed my teeth. Several times.

[Paquita]

That's why you men should be accompanied by a lady you trust at all times when out in public!  Seriously though that had to be scary. When it's a woman doing that to a man I imagine your options to get help or get yourself out of the situation are limited. So sorry that happened to you. I'm glad you got away.

Also hoping your tests go well. It sounds like risks are low but I know waiting for those results can be rough.

[Alex]

I didn't feel scared, but I was increasingly frustrated and p**sed off. Yeah, there isn't much I could do to get rid of her. There are no code words for men to get help at a bar if they are having a problem. I do wonder what will happen if I bump into her again though.

[Alex]

Do you know anyone who has fallen for any romance scams? I've known a couple of people who have, although only online people. No one I've known in real life. In both cases they handed over thousands of pounds, dollars or whatever their currency has been.

Day 1

I assumed these things were fairly sophisticated things designed to draw people in and part them from their money, but I wanted to see how they worked for myself. So I updated my virus/malware protection, I did a quick search, selected the first "dating" all that was free and created a profile of someone who was just looking for casual sex. I didn't bother uploading a photo and sat back and waited.

Well when I say waited, I mean I had messages pinging in my inbox instantly. All from incredibly hot women. One of them asked if I'd mind switching to Whatsapp. I said sure (since it is a messaging app I rarely use anyway and don't have many contacts on it, even if they were able to access my list they wouldn't be able to blackmail me). We started chatting. The first few lines were standard stuff, then she told me she works as a can girl in Elgin and asks if that bothers me. Telling her that didn't bother me might have been the first honest thing I'd put down since starting the project. Anyway, she tells me she is forced to work 12 hour shifts and has to meet a quota, but she'd always been turned on by the thought  of doing a show for a guy and then meeting up with him afterwards. I mentioned at some point that I was a lot older than her and got told age was just a number. Oh, speaking of numbers, her phone number has a prefix of +63 which I believe indicates its from the Philippines rather than Elgin.

I was feeling a bit grossed out by the thought of having someone half my age to be honest. Anyway, she asked me to register on some website. It would cost £1 and then she could give me a private show. She sent me a link. I waited a few minutes and then said I'd tried to register, but the website had tried to charge me a lot more. I then said that I'd to cancel my bank card to stop them taking money and wouldn't be able to register on any other websites until I received my replacement card and that would take a week to ten days. she sent me a bunch of photos, some clothed, some nude during all this, including some that were clearly a different person, but most of them were of a dark haired and dark eyed woman.

Well, at least they managed to get the kind of girl I prefer. Still hadn't seen a picture of me for all the declarations of how desperate she was to meet me. I'd made up a job where I worked on civilian aircraft. Figure I know enough about planes that I could answer any questions that might come up from that.

Day 2.

Anyway, my night shift finished and I went back home for a sleep. When I got up there were lots of messages asking where I was. She had another suggestion for how we could meet up. If I sent £150 via Western Union, she could have two days off work and we could meet up. I mentioned I could do that later as I'd be in town, but I wanted proof that she was real. I got sent this:



My first thought was I've never seen a printer using lined and margined paper before. I guess it isn't impossible, but if I'd been looking for reassurance that this person was real, it wasn't going to provide it. An image search confirmed that it was another picture that had been altered. We discussed going on a date in Elgin and I mentioned I'd like to go to the Greek restaurant (true I would, but it closed 8 years ago), followed by us walking to Elgin beach (Elgin is inland. It would take two hours to walk to the nearest beach). It is also bloody cold right now so this would not be a romantic option. Ever stood on sand with bare feet in the middle of a cold winter? It is worse than going into the ocean. I was also asked if I'd do her a favour and log out of the website we'd met on. I said I would but didn't. I got a lot more messages from other Philippine numbers. I replied to one and was asked if I'd like to chat more on WhatsApp again but declined. I had enough info on how they operated.

Having seen enough of the operation so far I did consider ending the project at this point. I felt the whole thing has been fairly crude. At no point did I really think that the person I was talking to was who they claimed to be. I wasn't even 100% convinced it was a woman, or even a person rather than a chatbot, or many a couple of scam artists working in shifts. I blocked the account and went off to bed.

Day 3.

I would have left things there, but the woman (Alexa Carter) was now messaging me on a separate number asking why I'd blocked her. Ok, fair enough. I have nothing else to do in the middle of the night, so during my next quiet time I unblocked the original account and replied that I knew the picture she'd  me was fake and includes the search link. Told her that unless she could prove she was real and in ElginI had nothing else to say etc. Had to pretend to be offended because after all I had went in to this looking for a fake person and we'll let's face it, I was lying just as much to her as she was to me. Anyway things went quiet for the rest of the day.

Day 4.

I got an apology, admitting the picture had been faked, but that it was still one of her. She'd only did It because she was so desperate to meet me. It was only at this point that she asked for a picture of me (Something still haven't provided). I gave it another dismissal and said repeated the line about prove you are in Elgin.

Day 6.

I thought 'Alexa' had given up, but this day I received this:


Figured this was an ok cut and paste job, but wouldn't fool anyone. Plus that Starbucks closed down a few weeks ago and reopened in a larger premises on the other side of the street.

Day 7.

this has now went on much longer than I expected.

Alexa messages me asking if I was still looking forward to meeting her. Have her a simple 'No', that another fake picture wouldn't cut it, but I offered her one last chance. I said that if she met me with her supervisor in town I'd hand the supervisor £500 to give her two days off.

Then I did start to worry a little bit just in case she did live in Elgin and I'd have to hand over £500, but then again I was still more than 99% sure I was safe. The reply I got that was that they couldn't receive money that wag. It would have to be sent by Western Union (the account is in Manilla btw). I

I think the conversation between us has fizzled out. What has surprised me is now crude the whole thing has been. No part of the scam survives even the most cursory check. I find myself having less sympathy than I had previously for the people who have fallen for these things. It was just a parade of red flags that I might as well have been in Moscow for the May victory parade during the height of the cold war. It requires more than just desperation to fall for this inept a level of a scam, you'd need to be willfully idiotic.

Anyway, how do you keep yourself amused during boring downtime?

[Alex]

Oh, when I told my friend Jerrad about this and showed him those pictures, he said the girl.in the photo was an incr,edibly famous web cam girl so me years ago and that the first picture was in its own way, quite well known.

[Alex]

Another update. She's messaged me telling me the reason for the fake photos is because she isn't allowed to leave the house. I've replied that if she is trapped let me know and I'll have her free within 24 hours. That offer is genuine, should she really be a trafficking victim or modern slave. Somehow I doubt it will be accepted.

[Alex]

It is a very chilly Sunday morning.

Had an argument with a mid level officer. I enforced a rule that he put it place, which he found inconvenient when it was applied to him. I am expecting a complaint to our management. I've already given them a heads up about the incident and they agree I did the right thing.

Wether or not that will make a difference remains to be seen. However I am confident in my actions.

Kristi and Ash will get back home today after she do g the weekend down at my mums. Since we are both working over the festive period there is no chance of us getting down at that time. I am working Yule, Kristi is working over New Year.  Since I'll be starting a 6, the plan is to get Ash up at midnight and let him open his presents then.

Our local gaming store seems to have been the site of some drama. One of the employees wanted a copy of his contract which the owner kept agreeing to supply, but never did. This caused problems for the employee getting a morgage. Finally be gets one and discovers he is on a zero hours contract as the owner had never let him see it before.

How did he sign it then?

Anyway, the employee had been thinking about starting his own business up and this evidently provided the spur he required. So he's opened his own place. It is over an hours travel away, so far enough not to be direct competition. Because of the problems the owner had caused him, and the terms of a zero hours contract, our subject simply worked his shift and then announced he was quitting with immediate effect. He is also the guy who did all the social media stuff for the shop, set up the online store, discord server etc. None of the other staff know how to do that, and things have already started to go wrong with the online side of things. The owner has unfriended anyone who mentions the new store on social media, kicked people out of his shop who speak about his ex-employee and so on. The new shop is far enough away that it wouldn't be practical for me to visit regular!y, but I am going to pop up to it next week, Tuesday or Wednesday. I might start ordering my paints online from him and I'll do a bit to support him.

[Alex]

Four days off work. Time to finish off The Lovecraft Investigations. I am on season 4 right now.

When I am working the front desk I keep getting people wandering in and asking for someone and every time they expect me to know exactly who they are after and how to contact them. Yeah, there are around 3000 people on this camp. Not going to happen. Some guy swaggered up to me today and said "I'm here to speak to Arabella." "Yeah, that means nothing to me." "I'll tell you exactly who it is!" and starts looking through his phone, then affter a minute "It's Arabella Bloggs" he declared triumphantly, only for his face to fall when I told him "Still means nothing to me. Do you have their phone number?" "Yeah its...", "Well, go give them a call and tell them they need to come down to escort you. I can't give you a pass until you have someone here to escort you around the camp." Anyway, he scuttled off to the corner of the foyer and stayed quiet until someone came down to collect him.

After a full day of dealing with people like that, by the time he pitched up my patience was getting low. If we aren't busy, I'll try and help to track people down if I can, but it is also something I am expressly told not to do in our orders and my world does not revolve around whatever random person has just walked in. This isn't a supermarket. You can't just grab an employee and expect them to drop what they are doing to show you where the eggs are.

Heading to my friends new gaming store tomorrow with Nikki. Got a couple of things to chat with her while I have her alone. The help we gave her allowed her to sort out her financial situation quite drastically and I am hoping that with money no longer being a major cause of stress that her relationship has improved.

[Alex]

We are starting to see snow falling inland. Just frost on the ground here so far, but as the show says, winter is coming.

I need a shave.

Watching Last Night In Soho. Not a bad movie. Trying to find a copy of a movie I'd saw part of when I was a kid. Blood Island. Can't seem to find it anywhere. All I've every really remembered about the film is a song playing that had lyrics something along the lines of "Boil me, bake me, saw me" and people being killed according to the song. One guy was boiled alive in a pool. Anyway, tracked down the film title but no luck finding it online.

Had an ex contact me out of the blue. She was wondering if she could come up to visit me for 3 days and just have lots of casual sex*. She seemed quite surprised that I am all married and settled down now. It has been a long time since we last spoke, somewhere between 12 to 15 years. Anyway, I turned her down as gently as is possible. In my experience, women do not take kindly to being turned down for sex no matter how to try to say no.

*Well, what she actually asked was if she took 3 days off work, would I spend it licking her arse as she'd woken up horny. The whole rimming thing is not really something I am into. I mean what happens if you are down there tonging away and they fart or even worse, follow through? I am extrapolating though that she'd want more than that though.

I don't recall her being into that before. I guess at some point I'll check my diary (yes, I have a diary of former lovers no matter how casual or short-term). Most of them are precious memories, each of them special and memorable in their own way. There is only one exception on that list. Even the good memories with that one are tainted. Anyway, I figure that isn't a bad result, one unmemorable lover out of a lifetime.

Went up to Dylan's new shop in Keith. Means a bus into Elgin, then a train to Keith followed by a fair walk to his place. He had very little stock in, he's trying to get the electricity turned on. I can't say he has hit the ground running to be honest, but I'll try and pop up again next month and do some online orders.

Going to pop up to Inverness tomorrow. There is a xmas fayre on. Kristi is working, so I'll drop Ash off at school, pop up for a couple of hours, and be back in time to pick him up. I had hoped Kristi would be going with me, but she took an extra shift instead.

[Alex]

Last night was a curious night. One guy called us asking for an ambulance as his girlfriend was having a heart attack. Funny how the symptoms of a heart attack match those of an overdose...

Anyway, he wouldn't let the medics do there job, so after our boss tried to talk sense to him and the police tried, he ended up getting himself arrested. He really had to push the boundaries there, they were giving him chance after chance. Later on I had a guy about my age come in with a much younger girl and tell me he needed to talk about a sensitive subject. Right at that point I was figuring that this would be a police matter rather than something I could help with. Turned out unfortunately I was right. I hope they listened and contacted the police.

Got home to discover Kristi had left her keys in the door so I'd to wake her up at 6 am to let me in. On the other hand it was her own fault.

Chilly night tonight. Getting icy underfoot. Another 4 and a bit hours still to go. No excitement tonight though.

[Alex]

Last night of this set of shifts. Tomorrow Kristi has her biopsy. Just hoping that comes back ok. I am still waiting on work about mine, but I am not expecting to hear back about that until a good bit into next year. Trying to decide if I should go with her or not. I'll be tired after a 12 hour night shift, but that I can deal with. The problem is more Ash got sent home from school with an upset stomach and it is how much do we risk taking him away from having a toilet nearby.

Gout our section festive drinks type stuff on Thursday. I'll go for a few drinks. I wanted to go to a fayre afterwards, but Kristi has booked a shift that evening working (which means I'll be home early).

Got one of the presents I bought Kristi last year to attend this weekend. We are going down to Edinburgh to see Wicked. We'll be dropping Ash off with his aunt for the night in Aberdeen, then heading down to Edinburgh for the show before we then have to go to Stirling to spend the night and then back home via Aberdeen so I can then go to work.

Yeah, not looking forward to that one. I'd much rather just have paid the extra money and stayed in Edinburgh, then got the train home without the messing around after the show.

Busy, busy, busy.

[Alex]

Well we didn't have a trip from hell, but it wasn't the best either. The trip started badly when the train turned up with half the number of carriages it needed. We managed to get seats, but we were scattered at opposite ends of the train. The train ended up overloaded, and they'd to kick off some of the passengers who weren't able to find seats. We arrived at Aberdeen late, so had to quickly hand Ash off to his auntie and dash. She walked off though before I could hand over his clothes and medication so I'd to phone and get her to come back. We barely made it to our connecting train.

Oh did I mention Kristi woke up with an ear infection?

Anyway, we got to Dundee no problem, booked into the hotel then went into Edinburgh, Where we had a meal in an Italian place, then went on to the theatre.I

Every time I go to the Playhouse, what I am thinking about is the time I saw Ozzy there. Anyway, show began, lots of singing, which to be honest I thought was slightly too loud and often at too high a pitch, but was tolerable. By the end of the first act though, Kristi's ear infection and the loud music was causing her a lot of pain and we'd to leave half way through. On the one hand I wasn't overly enjoying the show, but on the other hand it was a lot of money going to waste. Anyway, we headed back to Dundee on another crowded train but not as badly as the previous train. It did have a !one drink on board who managed to throw up all over himself.

Got back to our hotel. Kristi seemed to sleep quite well, but I had a rough night for whatever reason. Lots of waking up all through the night. The train back to Aberdeen was fine, met up with Dawn and took her for lunch as a thank you for babysitting. We then found there was no train home until 13:30, which meant I'd be tight for time to get back and get ready for work. The train was then late. We eventually managed to get home where I had 30 mins to get washed, shaved and prep my kit, oh and get my food sorted.

Not our best adventure, but things could have sent a lot worse.

[Trevor]

Watching Last Night In Soho. Not a bad movie. Trying to find a copy of a movie I'd saw part of when I was a kid. Blood Island. Can't seem to find it anywhere. All I've every really remembered about the film is a song playing that had lyrics something along the lines of "Boil me, bake me, saw me" and people being killed according to the song. One guy was boiled alive in a pool. Anyway, tracked down the film title but no luck finding it online.

Was that one of those Phillipino horrors, Alex?

[Alex]

Watching Last Night In Soho. Not a bad movie. Trying to find a copy of a movie I'd saw part of when I was a kid. Blood Island. Can't seem to find it anywhere. All I've every really remembered about the film is a song playing that had lyrics something along the lines of "Boil me, bake me, saw me" and people being killed according to the song. One guy was boiled alive in a pool. Anyway, tracked down the film title but no luck finding it online.

Was that one of those Phillipino horrors, Alex?

This one. Not one I am trying super hard to track down, I just want to see the start lol. The pool scene was where I started seeing it from.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0229480/?ref_=tt_urv

[Alex]

Pretty quiet night last night/this morning. There was maybe half a dozen people come through the whole 12 hours. It was a wild and stormy night which I'd say had something to do with it. Despite lack of anything happening, the night went past really quickly.

Tonight has been slightly more engaging. By that I mean the gate guard reported his heater had went off and the barrier kept going up by itself. I went out and checked the fuse box, found a circuit breaker had popped and reset it.

If three decades of being an electrical engineer has taught me nothing else, always check the basics first. Is it switched on, is it plugged in, then has the fuse went pop. That is the majority of electrical problems right there, the idiots who are allowed to use them. Some days I feel we should just take the warning labels off everything, see who is left after a year and go on from there.

Hell, some days, when I've been dealing with stupidity all day long and all my being nice has dried up I'd even be up for some variation on The Purge.

My knee is not liking me today. Might be the cold weather, maybe I've strained it.  Had to go lie in a hot bath before heading out to work, then popped some painkillers for when the hot water wears off. All that just so I can sit in a chair where my knee won't hurt anyway.