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Friday, July 06, 2007

My Flexible FriendBack in October I mentioned that I'd been specially selected (possibly at random) to trial a new debit card with Lisa's face on it. I duly received my card (in return for £5) a week later, and have been proudly using it in pound shops up and down the country ever since. Although now that you have to stick your own card in the reader, the only chance I get to show off the picture is when I'm caught on security cameras trying to jimmy open locks in the middle of the night. But nevertheless I love my card. Almost as much as I love Lisa.

So I was naturally pleased to get a letter about it from the bank yesterday afternoon (Royal Mail's delivery times are getting no better). The letter begins:

"During 2006, you took part in a pilot scheme for picture personalised debit cards."

I already knew that. But they continue...

"Following evaluation of the pilot which ended in October last year, we've decided not to continue with the scheme."

Oh. Apparently Lisa's face proved surprisingly unpopular, demand was low, and they want to replace my card with one devoid of her features. It's an outrage. Albeit an understandable one.

And talking of outrages, I did attend the Stanmer Night Life Thriller yesterday evening. Unfortunately the organisers of the event didn't. Admittedly I questioned my own sanity a few times as I drove through Brighton in the wind and the rain at half past nine on a Thursday night, but hey, if I'm willing to turn out in all weathers, so should the Countryside Ranger, Dave Larkin. Especially as I already had a title for my Argus article: 'Larkin About in the Park'. I'll never get to use that now.

To be fair to Dave though, it is just possible that he turned up. The event details stated "Meet: Stanmer Park, car park before Stanmer House", instructions which became slightly less clear once I arrived and found various little parking areas, plus a gypsy camp. The only tarmacked car park was empty, but I did see a van and a car parked together under the trees not far from Stanmer House. I drove around twice, and I'm sure the door of the van was open, but no one emerged to greet me, so I didn't stop. It could have been the Ranger, but frankly the idea of walking up to a parked van in a Brighton public park at dusk was, as Dave Larkin would put it, "scarey". So I drove on. I'm not that committed to my Argus blog.

Tokyo TowerIn other news, Big Sis left Japan on Wednesday and is now in Perth. I did get to see the view from her Tokyo hotel room window via webcam, but to be perfectly honest, with the Tokyo Tower in the background, it just looked like Blackpool to me, so it was hard to be impressed.

She came online yesterday though and sent me a message. I told her I was in the middle of something and couldn't really talk, and she replied "No worries". She's only been in Australia a day and she's already picked up the lingo.

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