Some of the thoroughly bizarre things you have to do to prove you are you

So the bank sends me this letter (hubby didn't get one) about my having updated my address. They send it to your previous address. We did not update our address. We changed all of our accounts.

It's probably part of that, but getting such a letter after a home invasion is a bit unnerving and I am starting to crack. It has reached a piece of me that is not believing the "It's just stuff It's just stuff" mantra.

So they send you online and since I've not accessed this account online before, part of the process is sending an identity code to your phone number. The three numbers listed are way outdated. I choose none of the above. Clicking next brings me to the same page. The explanation says I can change it later but I have to choose one of these.

Hubby and I discuss at length and decide that before anything else happens they will let me change the number, so I choose an old work number and click Next.

They sent the code to that number. Naturally, I cannot proceed because they have sent this code to a number I have not had access to for a number of years.

So I call.

"In order to proceed we will  have to verify your identity using information from your public record not associated with your account." (Where did they get this public information--the same place that says I am in my twenties and have lived here with a roommate for three years?--BTW I am in my 60s and have lived with my husband for 43 years--35 of them in this house.)

Which of these three names are someone you have known? Three names are listed and I recognize none of them.

Which of these three vehicles have you owned or leased? Three vehicles I have never owned are listed and I tell the nice Indian gentleman this (no offense meant--he was A team).

So three more vehicles that I have not owned are offered and I tell him so.

"I am sorry ma'am, but I cannot verify your identity. Please go into your local bank branch to verify this."

I will go into my local bank on Monday, and they will get an earful.

On to London--Reflecting on St. James Park

St. James Park is a huge Royal Park in Central London. It is surrounded by famous places--Buckingham Palace is at one end. The Horse Guards are at the other. St. James Park Lake provided many opportunities for Weekend Reflections.

George took us on another hike while we were in Swansea

Well, actually Liz and Mike did, but George likes to take the credit.

They took us to this lovely beach.

With this awesome sky for SkyWatch Friday.

SkyWatch Friday has the SkyWatch Showcase at the site this week, along with this week's sky posts from around the world. Be sure to stop by to see.

Oops, George got distracted.

This view shows the reason that this is called Three Cliffs Beach.

Thanks for your patience. Still lots to do getting the house back to normal. We're sure we'll reach for things for the next few months and find them not there and say "oh..." But it's stuff--just stuff.

ABC Wednesday---I

I

am back!

I is for inscription, this Latin inscription incised into the stone was displayed

in the interior of Lincoln Cathedral.

I am back in time for ABC Wednesday. Reasonably regular blogging is in my foreseeable future.

a brief break while I sort out the house

We returned from a lovely workshop at the National Park to find that the house had been burgled--totally ransacked. I must admit that one might have looked before and thought it to have been ransacked already, but there is a definite difference between one's normal mess and having every drawer upended--even drawers we did not remember we had.

We've decided on a motel for the night. It will take hours just to put the bedroom to rights.

And now the good news:
I never take the laptop camping. Guess what? I took the laptop camping. I had some stuff to finish up. Heehee.
They apparently were not geek enough to recognize what an external hard drive is. It is there on my desk--ready to hook up to the laptop.
Heehee.
They did not seem to have any use for a sewing machine. All my machines are present and accounted for.

And all the things they DID take can be replaced.

And I thought the flat tire we had on Friday was annoying! A well.

I'll be back to Wales and London when I have sorted things out.

Sunday's Psalm--24th Sunday of Ordinary Time

I will rise

and go

to my father.

Have mercy on me,

O God, in your goodness;

in the greatness of your

 compassion wipe out my offense.

 

Thoroughly wash me from my guilt

and of my sin cleanse me.

I will rise and go to my father.




A clean heart
create for me,
O God,




and a steadfast spirit renew within me.

Cast me not out from your presence,

and your Holy Spirit take not from me.

I will rise and go to my father.

O Lord, open my lips,

and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.

My sacrifice,
O God,
is a contrite spirit;




a heart contrite
and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.







I will rise and go to my father.
 









from Psalm 51 and the gospel of Luke





bench at Worm's Head, Wales
waterfall at Coire Mhic Fhearchair, Scotland
Dawber Gardens, Lincoln, England
close off the Royal Mile, Edinburgh, Scotland
history exhibit sign in Edinburgh
moth in Wales

Mumbles Hill

I guess Liz and George and I posed for our first Blogger meet-up picture,  not at Three Cliffs as I had said, but the evening we arrived in Swansea when we went for a look see to Mumbles Hill.

(George is the blonde.)

Mumbles is an area of Swansea, and it's where Liz hails from.

I think that's Mumbles Light at the point.

 

We were able to look down on Mumbles Pier, which Liz blogged about not long ago here. The sea was pretty calm, so here is my Weekend Reflection, James.

There were some remnants of some WWII gun emplacements on the hill. Sawnse was a target for bombings during that conflict. Good to see a peaceful sprig of vegetation growing up in the hole.

And the view back to the whole city of Swansea showed that it was low tide.

SkyWatch on the Gower Peninsula

Okay, what's she doing now. Is this one of those find the changes in this picture games? Can you find the difference? Okay, yes, the angle is slightly different. A little more sea in the right and a little less rock in the left. But wait!! What is this?

The whole time we were at Worm's Head, this hang glider was taking advantage of the uplift off the sea. When we first saw him, we thought he was taking off from the top of the cliff.

But we eventually realized that he was starting on the beach and riding the thermals to the top.

But wait! Didn't I say this was a SkyWatch? I haven't even shown the sky...

If you have stopped over from SkyWatch Friday and haven't been here before, do scroll back to see some more of our amazing adventures through Scotland and England. And watch for more of Wales and finally our days in London coming soon.

Worm's Head

 Liz and George and I had our "official" Blogger meet-up photo earlier in the day at another beach and here it is. But since I started with the afternoon walk out to Worm's Head (not to be confused with the head of the "worm" currently gracing my header) I must show you how delighted George was to show it to us.

See: "Come on, you guys. What are you waiting for? I think I can put in twice as many steps as you in getting out to the point."

The spit of land that is the Worm's Head reaches out into the Bristol Channel from the point that extends west from Swansea.

You can hike out there if the tides are right, but the high tides cover the spit, and you have to time your hike to fit within the window of opportunity. We used lunch as an excuse to time  ours nicely so that we wouldn't have to decide whether to go or not.

I don't think everyone notices that the "worm" has an eye--you might not see this natural arch if you don't hike out there--or get really curious with your zoom lens.

Later this evening I will show you what else we saw at Worm's Head with a SkyWatch post. And our walk to Three Cliffs is coming up, too.

Working?

I was looking through the files looking for a Men Working picture for Thursday, but still thinking we ought to go on to Wales. So how, you may wonder,  is this Men Working in Wales?

It's surfing school at the beach near Worm's Head, on the Gower Peninsula.

It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it.

More from Worm's Head in the next few days.

Oops! Just checking something in Liz's blog and find that this is Rhossili Beach--one of the finest beaches in the UK.

But it is near Worm's Head.