~Off Topic Thread~

[English Muffin 59]

I have done my second day of body scuplting and moving with the same speed as my 88 year old grandmother

That's two days more body sculpting than I intend doing!

[Jeraly 4]

HE'S HEEEEEEEEEERRRRRREEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*runs off again to get more cuddles*

[no name 1]

This could well be my personal info floating around out there...seeing as this was my local hospital & where I had foot surgery.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england...don/7461619.stm

[Ban Hammer 13,206]

This could well be my personal info floating around out there...seeing as this was my local hospital & where I had foot surgery.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england...don/7461619.stm

Six laptops stolen from hospital

Six laptops containing information about 20,000 patients have been stolen from a south London hospital.

The computers were taken from a locked cabinet in a secure room at St George's Hospital in Tooting, in June.

Patient information kept on the laptops includes brief medical notes, names, dates of birth and postcodes.

The hospital accepts the data should not have been stored on portable computers and has written to every patient to apologise.

Police have launched an investigation and the St George's Healthcare NHS Trust has begun an internal inquiry into the theft.

'Determined thief

The trust said the data was only stored on laptops as a temporary measure because of a problem with the computer network.

It added all the information on the laptops was password protected and personal information, such as postcodes, were hidden - although the patient's name and hospital number was shown.

The data has not been lost and the theft will not affect any treatments or appointments, the trust said.

Chief Executive David Astley said: "We offer all our patients our sincere apologies for putting their confidential information at risk, although we could not anticipate a determined thief who was prepared to force open a filing cabinet and locked drawers to get to the laptops.

"We believe the data will almost certainly be wiped by the thief so he can get a quick sale.

"Nonetheless, we owe it to our patients to protect their personal information and we have reminded our staff not to store this kind of data on laptops in the future."

He said a helpline has been set up which has been included in the letters to the affected patients.

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oh yeah, an apology will make it all better won't it? sounds like an inside job, either that or the secure room wasn't as secure as they'd like to think.

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

there seems to be a lot of this sort of thing happening in the UK lately - makes it pretty hard to convince me everyone's personal information would be secured if the government decided to impose ID cards.

[Ban Hammer 13,206]

g'morning uk! :dance:

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

Good evening UK! My last night in Seoul (it's quarter to 10 here) and I'm typing away in the window seat of my room at the Ritz. (Very cheap deal through Expedia has made it possible.) Just went out for Korean barbecue with friends, and had a bit of a surprise. So there's 7 of us having dinner together -- 3 Americans, 1 Brit, 1 Italian, 1 Australian, 1 Korean -- and who would that solitary Brit be? Well, it was the last guy I dated in London before I met Bruce. He's a nice enough guy, and 6 years younger than me, but I looked at him and thought: what in the world was I thinking?

I had met him at a conference in London the day of the July 7th bombings. It was a bit of Blitz spirit in me, I guess, and the fact that I had just found out that my ex-husband (who I was still married to at that time) was dating a younger woman, that inspired me to pursue this boy. We got a bit drunk, and snogged. Then two days later we went to a Bright Eyes gig at Somerset House. It was a beautiful summer night, London was defiant and triumphant, and, well, it all got the better of us and we ended up becoming a sort-of casual couple for the next month or so.

Things were always going to end badly for us. First off, my company was his client, so I had to deal with him on a regular basis for business stuff. The governance community is small and tight-knit in London, and we didn't really want anyone to find out so we couldn't go out together much lest we start a rumour. And he was always a bit odd and diffident, so I never really knew where I stood with him. We never really broke up so much as drifted apart, and we moved on to a sparky friendship.

And then I met Bruce, and the whole world changed. Tom (not his name, but close enough) got all weird and snarky, and referred to him only as "The Actor." And said it wouldn't last, and was I comfortable with some guy who kissed other girls on stage. After a while, I stopped meeting Tom for the occasional drink. My company stopped being his company's client, which meant we hardly ever saw each other professionally or socially. It was all fine by me.

So tonight, here I was, sitting next to him and eating Korean barbecue. He was full of questions about Bruce, and was I happy, and didn't I miss the UK? And when was I coming back next to London so he could buy me lunch? I wasn't sure if he was genuinely interested in my happiness, but I think he was. I was happy to see him. But where I used to feel that lurch of lust and longing just by being 2, 5, 10 feet away from him, I felt nothing much. I felt I was looking back at a life that almost happened. A life that I branched off from and left back in England. And I didn't feel one bit regretful that I met Bruce and let Tom recede into my past.

Just needed to ramble a bit there... I miss my Bruce. Home tomorrow night!

[Jeraly 4]

Aww Maven - but these memories are good I have exes I bump into and chat to from time to time and I must say I have much the same feelings!!

Last day of work yesterday! I am free now for the next few months... what a weird feeling... can't believe I move in little over a week... I get nervous from time to time but having Jeremy here has really helped - Normally I am panicking about him leaving but I don't have to do that now and instead I get to be nervous about the move. But what is so great about that is that we are doing it together which makes it not so scary

Have to call shipping companies today!!

[Ban Hammer 13,206]

good morning everyone.

what's snogged?

and how is korea maven? it's planned for me to make a trip there in sep.

[Krikit 1,164]

That is an awesome story, Maven. lol. I never run into any of my old exes. Oh wait. Except for an ex from years ago who still hangs around with my family because he thinks of them as his family. He's a nice guy and all, but it's weird that he won't let go. But I'm fine with it. My husband's not, but I am.

No wait. I take that back. It's not weird that he still hangs around my family. My family is awesome. I'd keep hanging around them too.

Edited June 21, 2008 by Krikit

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

snogging - to make out with. I think the US equivalent would be "mashing"

Did you make a trip to the DMZ maven? That's was my #1 priority when I went to Seoul a few years back. It was a little odd.

Exes are weird - my ex from many years ago, who was the first love of my life, and who I've maintained friendly and sporadic contact with emailed me out of the blue for the first time in a few years to announce that he was getting a divorce and arguing with his wife about custody of the children but "not to worry about him" because "he was okay." Considering I hadn't known about the divorce at all or any of the drama in the first place I hadn't really lost any sleep over it.

My high school boyfriend got in touch with me on linkedin. Since he wouldn't have had any of the email addresses that account is linked to, he would have had to actively gone looking for me, which was weird. I noticed that my best friend from high school who I've lost touch with was linked to him and have been having this debate with myself over whether to message her. She stopped returning my phone calls after a New Years 1994 where I was drunk and disorderly. I must have done something wrong but I don't know what. The perils of modern day social networking!

[Krikit 1,164]

Oh good. "Weird ex" stories! More! More!

[VisaJourneyLady 33]

I'm from such a small town in Ireland that I still see all my secondary school friends every christmas, and any ex's from then too.

Nearly there Jeraly!!! You must be peeing your pants in anticipation

[Robyn-n-Kris 72]

i have so many ex stories but for now.. going to refrain from them lol

[Jeraly 4]

Nearly there Jeraly!!! You must be peeing your pants in anticipation

That's one way of putting it - this time next week will be my last full day in the UK and I am cacking myself I am SO glad I have Jeremy here for moral support - he's been wonderful as I've been freaking out on and off all week - yesterday was interesting as I had a full blown panic attack ><