Other What currently makes your life awesome?

It's pretty minging, I'm not leaving that sat on my cooker!

 

Hide it away in a cupboard. Let the flavour mature.

 

If you don't want to do deep frying home made potato wedges are a pretty good compromise.

Cut potato up, boil for 5 minutes, coat in oil, salt and pepper then stick in oven at 180c for 20 minutes. They're grand

 

American style home fries are also a good one to try. Small cubes of potato, shallow fried, great with crispy bacon bits and/or garlic and chili.

 

Just had my first TV licensing inspector round, it was just how I expected it to be:

- ding-dong, ding-dong, bang bang bang bang
> Hi
- Can I take your name please
> Umm No? Why? (at this point having no idea who this man is)
- I'm the TV license inspector <flashes ID card, that tbh looks as bad as a fake ID I had when I was 14>
> Oh, okay. I don't have a TV license.
- Yes, I know, that's why I'm here
> Why?
- To verify that there isn't a TV on the premises
> There are three TVs on the premises
- Can I come in
> No, I'm working and busy
- I need to verify that you're not watching TV
> I'm using the TVs, but I don't watch live broadcasts or use iPlayer, just Netflix, Amazon, Blu-rays, games.
- I just need to verify that
> Well I'm busy and you're not coming in. How do you propose you would verify that anyway? (genuine question as opposed to just being arsey, he took it as the latter)
- Oh we have our ways <leaves>

Wow

EDIT: Oh yeah, the guy was wearing a cowboy hat. How appropriate

 

Haha.
You know, I have also wondered what this would be like, and every time I try to flesh out a scenario where somone would come and ask me, it ends VERY similarly to your story.

haha.

 

I've yet to hear a TV licencing inspector story that ends amicably.

Has anyone who legitimately doesn't have a TV license ever actually let them for a cuppa & a chat?

 

Do you not need a license to watch iplayer nowadays?

 

You do, but:

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Could be the best move long term. They might be so pleasantly surprised that they take it upon themselves to strike you from the hassle list.

 

Oops.

 

He started off on the wrong foot by demanding my name rather than introducing himself, and then continued on the wrong foot by resuming the conversation on the assumption that I'm a criminal.

Pro Tip: Hi, I'm Jonno from the TV Licensing people, terribly sorry to bother you, I see you've cancelled your license and I'd just like to ask you a few questions. I'll just take a few minutes of your time if that's okay, or if another time would be better let me know and I'll come back then.

This gets you in to my house to have a cuppa. The approach he took most certainly does not. The reason I didn't let him in is because I immediately from his tone assumed he was looking to "catch me out", so I half expected if I let him in he would see TVs, we would turn them on, and he would see the (non-removable) iPlayer app on one of the menus. Or see that there's an aerial cable plugged in to another TV (simply because it dangles if it's loose) and assume I'm watching broadcast.

 

It must happen sometimes, surely.

 

Totally agree. I happen to think the BBC and the licence fee is a good thing (a discussion about it here would be a bad thing) but the way and people they get to enforce it is shitty at best.

If you see them back again have an audio recording of the Eastenders theme tune timed to start playing loud shortly after you open the door. For the lols

 

I'm in agreement that it's a good thing - I just came to the realisation when reading the changes (to include iPlayer) that I don't need one, and haven't for quite some time, so canned it.

I looked at it from the point of view that it's ~£12/month for a service I don't use, and have no intention of using, rather than some other motivation. I cancelled Sky when I realised I never used it. If I stopped using Netflix, Spotify, Tidal, or whatever else, I'd cancel that too.

 

I would take the aerial cable out of your TV or remove it entirely if possible. I would imagine it is probably enough to get you done for something you're not doing.

 

I already have enough on my to-do without pulling an aerial cable from the wall (additional context, it's on a wall mounted bracket and the cable is chased to pop out behind it), and if suddenly Freeview became worth my while for some reason (unlikely, but if someone suddenly got very serious about broadcasting NFL for instance I'd be persuaded to go back) then it gives me more work again to re-chase a cable. Nope.

The aerial is still in the loft for the same reason, though I've unplugged the booster/distribution box - suppose I could pull the cables as well so there's no chance of a signal going to the TV, but pulling the cable from the back is a PITA. It's immaterial though because with that attitude they're never getting in my house.

 

And now I know how to gain access to Tad's house and get a free cuppa

 

Receiving a package of several a3 acrylic sheets thanks to the generosity of @fix-the-spade.

I be laser-cutting like a mofo.

 

Having a good old chuckle because of a scam caller telling me that my computer has 'hacking activity' (obviously technical term, I know) when it's turned off and I need to "stop talking and turn my computer on so they can help me". Does their stuff work so little that they have to try and bully people?

I was really tempted to mess with them using a virtual machine but I couldn't be bothered. Told him he was a bull****er and I hung up.

 

These scams work do to volume. The vast majority of people will hang up as fast as possible and the scammer contacts the next person. If every call took 5 minutes rather than 10 seconds then the business model falls apart. Thus my philosophy is to delay every single telemarketer and scam call I get. I also encourage everyone else to follow suit. When I get a "your computer is infect, let us help" call I run with it. My personal favourite was the three minutes I had the person trying to help me find the windows key on my Mac keyboard.