Wednesday 30 July 2008

Politicians - the Good the Bad & the Ugly

I have a thing about politicians....have you noticed that just before election time, they come creeping round to your house to try to persuade you to vote for them.

The candidate that tells me that he is a lying cheating evil scheming crook that just wants his share of the gravy train - gets my vote - at least he's honest!

Who was it that said - failed businessmen become consultants and failed consultants become politicians?

Motorists, speed cameras & technology

Great Britain is the most watched Country in the World....everywhere one looks there is someone or something watching you.

Friends in London have told me that whenever they have been burgled it's just not worth reporting the matter to the Police as all they do is give you a crime number for insurance purposes - but accidentally put ONE wheel in one of Red Ken's or (Boris's if you prefer) precious Bus Lanes - there's a 100 quid fixed penalty notice on its way to you within microseconds - cos you've been zapped on one of London's 17410348709187032874789 cameras.

I find it bizarre that a respectable law abiding motorist can lose his driving licence - his job - his home all because in any three year period he falls slightly foul of the Governments armchair policing policy of using Speed Cameras to catch speeding motorists driving at one or two miles an hour over the speed limit.

Every year hundreds of millions of pounds are raked in by the Government in speeding fines.

Every day we all witness examples of dangerous driving - that Police or the speed cameras don't see.

We have the technology available that as soon as a motorist sees any unacceptable or dangerous driving, a button can be pressed on his dashboard to record the event with the on-board digital camera and transmit the event immediately to the Police.

Have you also noticed that the Authorities have now got mobile detector vans to ensure that vehicles are displayed a valid road tax disc?

Surely the sensible way forward is that vehicles cannot be driven unless smart cards are inserted in a reader validating insurance, road tax and the drivers licence at the same time monitoring his breath to ensure he / she is sober.

The technology is here now - lets go for it!

We are all getting older

The recent death of marketing Guru Evan Steadman reminded me that we are all getting older.

Over the years I have lost contact with buddies that I grew up with.....

I would very much like to make contact again before we all croak it:-

Dick Broome - emigrated to Australia in 1967
Chris Crowther - my flying instructor Biggin Hill 1966
Bill Clinker - ex Athena - last seen 1979
Dick Williams - ex Distronic - last seen 1990
Bob Pearson - ex Mushroom - last seen 1991
Terry Roeves - ex MCP & Zetex - last seen 1995
Any salesman from Solidev Ltd - 1968
Ian Buxton - ex HRS - last seen 1988
The 2000 girls at Texas Instruments Bedford -1965 - I may not have loved you all - but I loved as many as I could!

If anyone knows the whereabouts of the any of the above - please let them know how to contact me.

John Cuss - the Man who never was!

We are approaching the anniversary of life changing events that took place in 1978.

I had established an Electronic Component Distributor in 1973 and had rapidly grown and had franchises with major manufacturers such as Sprague, Thompson, Augat and Alco.

Out of the blue, Mr Albert Winter from the Company's accountants McIntyre Hudson in Bedford introduced "John Cuss" to the company as a man of substance and good standing and one that could be thoroughly recommended and suggested that he should become involved with the company.

After several meetings, Mr Cuss was brought into the company.

The company went from strength to strength and after a few months Mr Vaughan & his wife went on holiday to Spain.

Mr Cuss immediately swung his well rehearsed plan into action....

Most of the staff were dismissed, the locks on the warehouse were changed, the company vehicles were taken as was the companies twin engined Piper Seneca aircraft

The Barclays bank account mandate was forged and the account run up to the overdraft limit and cleaned out.

It transpired that "Mr Cuss" was a professional con-man with a string of previous convictions who spent many years in prison and indeed John Cuss was not even his real name.

The company was dissolved owing thousands of pounds to creditors and Mr Cuss went to prison again for six years (which included time for other offences) leaving a string of wrecked companies and at least one company owner who committed suicide.

Mr Albert Winter left McIntyre Hudson's who never even had the balls to put their hands up to their negligence. Eventually they made a derisory payment whilst still trying to squirm their way out of any liability.

As one of the lads from the Fraud Squad at Scotland Yard remarked - give me an honest burglar any day - the REAL crooks are accountants & solicitors as they know how to get away with it!

The story frequently made front page news in local newspaper "Bedfordshire on Sunday"

Heide and I were left with two young children - no money - a mortgage and school fees to pay - but that's another story.......

£1000 Reward for information

Paul Vaughan my fearless leader from Mushroom Components tells me that on the afternoon of Sunday 27th July, one of the company vans was broken into while parked in the Embankment Bedford.

The thieves made off with a TomTom 720 SatNav and about £50 in cash as well as having caused damage estimated to be £1000 to the van.

The Bedford Police responded quickly and have several fingerprints now on file.

There is a an alarming rise in thefts of SatNavs to fund drug habits.

I say to the Government.....

£5 billion a year is spent of class A drugs....largely from the proceeds of petty crime.

Either a] give the drugs away free or b] anyone caught selling / dealing / using should be deported or put down so that these parasites no longer pose a threat or a drain on society.

Paul Vaughan has offered to put up £1000 of his own cash for information leading to the successful arrest and conviction of the culprits.

Post Offices in Kempston

Mushroom Components headquarters is in Kempston a town 50 miles north of London with a population of about 25000 served by just two post offices.

One has ample parking, but has only one serving counter - the other has many assistants - but no parking - just what you need when you are trying to post 20 parcels!

I say to the Royal Mail - sort this out now....and stop the eBayers hogging the only counter at the Springfield Road Post Office.

Every year the postal charges go North and the service goes South.