26th September 2017 Surely not, again?

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Tuesday 26th 56-60F, 13-15C, damp, heavy grey overcast and quite windy. A quiet walk along the lanes. A busy day at home so no ride.

The UN is investigating Denmark for breaking global sanctions against the use of North Korean forced labour to build their latest, coal-fired battleship. The profits from the ship building are known to go straight to North Korea's nuclear weapons research according to one UN spokesman.

This verge trimmer had two independent mowers. Requiring some skill to work around signposts and other obstacles without losing its steady walking pace.

Wednesday 27th 56F, 13C, slightly misty, heavy grey overcast and quite windy. From now on I shall refer to my shopping rides as going to get ripped off by the danish supermarket chains. Without being paranoid it is obvious the system is set up for massive theft by the supermarkets. A complete lack of staff usually means a young teenager on the checkout is the only visible staff member.

Items are either not priced or are showing the wrong price compared with the bar code reader at the checkout. The belts at the checkouts are deliberately made short on both sides of the till to ensure the shopper has absolutely no chance in hell of having time to read the tiny print on the receipt. The shopper is too busy racing to put away their shopping as the queue inevitably lengthens. Because that is how the system works and is fine tuned to work precisely that way by the supermarkets.

There is usually nowhere to put down shopping bags while the receipt can be read unless one has a trolley. Many prefer a handheld basket when shopping for fewer items. The checkout staff always ask if a receipt is required. Many shoppers can't be bothered. To their own detriment, as they are more likely to be ripped off through ignorance of the charges for the items they just bought. They use a clever system where the full price of a reduced item is listed and then the discount shown below. This is deliberately designed to confuse the shopper. Who must do a double take before moving on down the list.

The staff often have no idea of the cost of items where a price label is not displayed and there are always unmarked items. I was told by a young teenager that both options of one product were the same, low price, but was then charged double at the checkout for the unmarked option. It occurs far too often that any item on special offer is literally removed from the shelves, or fridges and only returns after the end of the offer. This suggests that the manufacturer is paying for an offer which never transpires. It still seems very odd, to me, that a country in the EU has no consumer protection at all and only three chains of supermarket but using different trade names.

I took advantage of the stubble fields yet again to explore new viewpoints and capture fresh landscapes. I managed 56 images in all, thanks to my attempts to reach the same deer which has been grazing out on the prairies for several days now. It dashed off just as I reached the limits of my modest zoom lens. [Misty woods top left]

Not much later I found another deer resting in a hollow. It rose to its feet and we stared each other out. As I advanced a few steps at a time and took numerous snaps. The ground was remarkably dry this morning instead of the usual heavy dew. Even where the fields had been pig's muck sprayed it was firm underfoot.

A wealthy landowner has been accused of setting pigeons as live bait to catch birds of prey in traps to increase his profits from shooting on his land. He denies knowing anything about it. I wonder if he has Scots ancestry? No ride today.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

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