Another side of Lesley Riddoch

How bank “security” makes you less secure

It all started innocently enough yesterday when I tried to use a new mobile phone app to pay for parking in Edinburgh. I tapped in the location code only to be told my bank had declined the transaction. The third time a transaction has been declined in three days. On those other occasions I was sitting at home with a computer and could see a dedicated bank number to call and clear things up. I did that fairly easily and was told that a popular thing to do when someone steals a credit/debit card is to buy a flat screen TV online from Curry's. And that – with my own card – was the transaction I'd been attempting. OK – I understand. But standing on the street yesterday it was a different matter. I looked on the back of the "offending" card and called the number imprinted there. Hanging on for ten minutes I discovered it's now the wrong number and tried the new number given hanging on for another five-ten minutes to finally get a human. I then managed to fail security – not on my business card but on my related Lloyds TSB personal account (how biz owners who don't have personal accounts get through "security" in an emergency I've no idea). Sadly since I couldn't recollect the precise sum of my last supermarket bill, couldn't name my overdraft limit (happily its many years since I've been overdrawn) couldn't say who last paid money into my account or who was the recipient of a £68 direct debit, I was stuffed.

Reykjavik Rap

We travelled to Iceland, had a great time and recorded this wee piece.

Copenhagen huts

Five minutes cycle from the centre of Copenhagen there's an amazing experiment in alternative living. Amongst the lochs, canals and woodland around the old city walls the "free town" of Christiania has grown up on the site of a former army camp. "Hippies" first started to squat here in 1971, and over the years a city-within-a-city has grown up – controversial because illegal dope-smoking is common – and home to 900 hard-working free spirits and their self-built, self-managed and affordable community. Many of the wooden-built waterfront homes are beautiful, with public buildings including a bath-house, concert hall (where Bob Dylan has played), restaurants, cafes, shops, sport facilities, a paddock and artful graffiti. Christiania Bikes are a familiar sight on the streets of Copenhagen. These tricycles with a large box between the two front wheels are great for taking the shopping home (the city's postal service uses 100 for mail deliveries), and parents buy child-carrying versions. Built in Christiania and sold throughout Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, they're also exported to the UK where their environmentally-friendly credentials are a major selling point. Interestingly – just one canal away lies the tiny wooden huts of Vennelyst, the first allotment gardens in Copenhagen opened in 1896 and still going strong today with a massive waiting list. Two very different hutting communities – one very democratic use of prime city centre land.

 

Trump & Wallander

I   love the first comment on my Guardian Trump piece today -- "I don't think he'll comb over to your way of thinking, Lesley." Happily I don't think he needs to. The Donald may have opened his golf empire at Balmedie but somehow I doubt he'll be staying the course (geddit). Actually the Guardian is a great read today with thoughtful pieces on the downside of Freedom of Info legislation, the Olympics becoming a corporate nightmare and security crackdown and the scandal that 1 in 6 peers has financial links to the banking industry (THAT's why Lords reform matters in an economic crisis by the way.) All subjects covered in today's Lesley Riddoch podcast now online here. Also an interesting piece in Comment is Free suggesting climate change will make the English (sic) character more Nordic. Perhaps the writer doesn't know it's also raining north of the border or perhaps (charitably) she thinks Scots are already Nordic. Either way, my bigger grouse is that damp summers like the one we're having are not Baltic! Rain in July with dreich dampness ain't a feature of the continental climate the inner Nordics enjoy - and my ol man and I have the photies and tans after a cycling holiday of the Finnish Aland Islands to prove it! (see above) Admittedly that was a few years back - so I'm not sure how the weather's been this year. But strange how southern commentators always need to link dreichness with the Nordics …and Sweden in particular. Meanwhile call me a purist but K Branagh's much lauded Wallander seems profoundly un-Swedish to me. It's "British" to the core -- shouty, cor blimey, scruffy & just gloomy not atmospheric. Give me the Krister Henriksson Yellow Bird version any day. Right. I feel better now.

Back on the bike....

I was the first car NOT to get on Saturdays sailing from Uig on Skye to Lochmaddy on North Uist in the 12 long standby queue. The reason the queues are so long is the new cheaper fares (hooray!) - but you'd have to book months in advance now to get a space on a weekend sailing. I was heading over to try and get to Splash MacKillop's funeral - so when I didnt get on, after waiting from 12.25 for the 2pm decision -- I grabbed my bike and a bag and left the car on the pier withe the keys in the ignition (as arranged with the Cal mac guys) so they would bring it over on Sunday. Fair enough I thought, through slightly gritted teeth. Them's the breaks. But when I got on board i found a whole row empty beside the motorhomes that are causing controversy on the Western Isles right now.  They are the same length as a long car (under 5 metres) but far wider. So having one of them seems to mean having an empty car lane beside them. Now fair enough. Backseat drivers are nothing compared to backseat ferry-loaders. and there were complaints too that the ferry was so jam-packed already that people couldnt open their car doors. But I'd humbly suggest that's a tad less frustrating than sitting on the quayside to hang around Skye for another day (as happened to the five other cars behind me) . Ive got nothing against folk in motorhomes -- there's so little accomodation here on the islands that its a very wise thing to bring the kitchen sink! and the islands will have to decide how much they really want to accomodate tourists in every sense of the word (and on every day of the week) or risk losing this new boom. But wouldnt it be possible to load the wide vans on first so they sit at the front and then have three full lanes free for ordinary cars?

I'm off to cycle from Berneray to Lochmaddy now to see if the car is there- its not raining AND the wind is westerly -- right at my back. Happy Days.

You can read more in my column in the Scotsman on Monday -- but if you've had a similar experience or are a motorhome owner who wants to put me right -- comment away!!!

The news from Orkney

I'm on sunny Westray -- the busiest island I've ever come across. not only having their first writers weekend but also trying to figure how to put up a community owned turbine in (arguably) the windiest place in Britain! They'll need to hire cranes to come over and lift turbine into place -- could you predict when wind will be calm enough now to haul turbine into position? But with Willie the maths whiz on the case, I imagine an answer will soon be forthcoming.

Where have you been ?

Well, I have been back on the bike cycling around Finland and Aland for the Herald newspaper. Here's a flavour of the cheery images from the trip. I will be thumping the keyboard over the next few weeks to finish the article. When it's published, I will let you know.

On the Bike in Finland

Although Riddoch Questions is away for its summer break, I am back on the bike for a quick trip around Finland on the auld bike. I will be writing about the trip for the Herald...so watch this space. First impressions...it is warm, dry and the airport is the size of Inverness. The cyclepaths are the size of the A9, before dualling, and the hospitality has been fantastic - viz we are using our host's computer to post this blog. No saddle sores so far and I will work out how to post photos next time...also note to self ...must jump into loch after sauna next time.

Photos from Iceland

As you will be aware, I have been away in Iceland. Naturally, I took the auld camera and took some photos. Have a look and see what you think.

A selection of Iceland Photos

Frankfurt - Dortmund and home

Frankfurt April 2008

Germany. Not the obvious place to take your dearly beloved for his birthday. But being a bit of a sucker for amazingly shaped Radisson Hotels, the most integrated transport system in Germany (for which probably read Europe) and a direct flight from Edinburgh – we were off for the weekend. And the result? Well, Frankfurt at this time of year is absolutely tourist free – partly because they’re still doing that thing of shutting museums and shops at the weekend. Hey, a few years ago you couldn’t get a pint of milk on the Sabbath! But we did catch the most unbelievable roup – a boisterous free-for-amongst the well-dressed burgers of Frankfurt at the Flea Market which straggles along the River Mainz with all that modernity and gleaming towers of the European Bank behind. Contrasts! It started to go pear-shaped when I tried buying rail tickets. The system is undoubtedly brilliant. But even Germans needed help using the machines. And with different prices according to which train you take it was STRESS in a bucket! We ended up buying three wrong, un-refundable tickets to take one simple journey to Heidelberg. And then had an epic journey coming back from Dortmund Airport (don’t ask -- it seemed a good way to see the Rhine!) which rivals Glasgow secret airport’s connection with Paisley Gilmour Street station for sheer nail nashing LACK OF SIGNAGE!

And the good news. However much they appear to be vorsprung durch technik, the good news is that the Germans are human. They make mistakes, don’t drop litter, don’t seem to be overweight and do have trains everywhere.ep