Great Western Coffee Shop

I don't know how many have seen this, now headlining on the BBC-

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cnk4jdwp49et

So far (as at 9-25) only the Govia train companies have been mentioned, but it appears to be having an effect on airports worldwide.

Hope this doesn't mean a stressful day ahead on the Coffeeshop

Allegedly this is due to an update to Crowdstrike antivirus that puts machines out of action ... and it's used in other IT services which have been affected too ... including Microsoft Cloud ...

Couple of traffic wobbles on the server log this morning - such things happen from time to time and no evidence of anything that will stop my flow of Americano, black, no sugar.

I have had noticeably less junk mail today.

From the Slough and South Bucks Observer

 (https://www.sloughobserver.co.uk/news/24462632.microsoft-outage-causes-chaos-uk-train-stations/)

Had to pay in cash at Waitrose...............what is the world coming to?

Southampton Airport Parkway.

Wait... that's not in London. Now what London Airport can you get to from Waterloo without changing trains?

Scratching my head here. ???

Ahh. I forgot National Express coach to Stansted from Waterloo is direct.

I could not get my pre-bought ticket from the TVM at TVP yesterday afternoon, and the ticket office was closed. I don't know if I was the harbinger of the IT outrage, or if it was pure coincidence.


Every cloud..

It's been a quiet day for my landline, too. Usually at least one person calls from BT, Microsoft, or the Amazon Prime refund department.

I travelled to Dublin today. All the trains were on time. The ferry from Holyhead was about 30 mins late, but (inasmuch as that I understood what the captain told us) this was because the Irish Sea was too splishy today. So what was the problem again?

Very few problems shown on JourneyCheck (GWR or SWR) this morning. Actual or part of the IT outage?

It seems that railways coped better than airlines, both in UK and overseas.
Obviously, railways need to learn from airlines !

London City Airport is quite handy via Waterloo, and Gatwick's only 45 mins away.

You carry cash?!  ;) ;)
I only have a few pieces of cash in the car.
Only carry cards these days, so I'd be up the swaneee...

I've just paid with a £10 note at the local Coop for the sake of the change. (It was accepting cards after having had problems with the Crowdstrike debacle.) Last year a couple of friends had to rummage for coins after their satnavs had sent them over Whitchuch toll bridge, there's a chance that I might need £2 if I travel by bus before my railcard became valid at 0930, and  I put money in charity boxes.

We've always found it useful to have a few pound coins handy for car parks.  A good many of them still use coins.  After the palaver we've sometimes had trying to pay online when out of loose change, we've rather learnt our lesson there.

I got mugged by a local charity in the foyer of my local supermarket. I said I already support them (which I do by direct debit). The lady said it was a raffle tthis time. I said I didn't have any money, and she produced a card reader. I told her I had no card with me, having paid by phone, she produced the other bit that works with phones. I admitted defeat, and took a fiver's worth.

My answer to that is ........... I do not make payments to such devices as I have been scammed as a result of payments via these devices as they are not secure

My answer to that is ........... I do not make payments to such devices as I have been scammed as a result of payments via these devices as they are not secure
[/quote]

I've checked, and all is well.