Ich gab kein Gold für dieses Eisen

I should have been working late this evening but just couldn't be bothered, especially as I've just finished my most recent piece, Ich gab kein Gold für dieses Eisen:





A piece based on the iron jewellery from Berlin, made during the Napoleonic wars to be exchanged by the wealthy Berliners for their gold. The iron jewellery was freqently stamped with the words, "Dem Alten Vaterland Die Treue zu beweisen Gab Ich in schwerer Zeit Ihm Gold fur dieses Eisen" ("For the old fatherland Loyalty to Show ,Gave I in difficult time To him gold for this iron"). The title of mine translates - thanks to the assistance of James - as "I gave no gold for this iron"!

I've wanted to make a piece on this theme for ages, so it was a huge pleasure to me to be able to make a piece with a real 1820s feel!

Invulnerable my ass...

Invulnerable my ass..Mabel get the blowtorch.
Originally uploaded by rj.tempest

Merry festive season! I loved this.

A word to the wise...

This morning, around 8.30am, I was looking for a cheaper health insurance policy and did a bit of a search. I went to a website www.health-on-line.co.uk which requested certain information from me, which I wasn't too bothered about filling in as it was an email address and phone number plus my name and age. When I got to the bottom of the page, I noticed a little disclaimer which said that by clicking "proceed" I would be granting health-on-line the rights to contact me. Of course, I shut the page down without clicking.

At 10.30am, I received an email, thanking me for my interest in health-on-line. At 2pm, I received another. I have just had a phone call from a smarmy idiot who simply would not take on board how annoyed I am that their supposedly passive website has actively stolen and used my details... despite the fact that I did not click the link giving them permission to contact me.

It makes me wonder what other "respectable" websites use methods like this to steal details without the user noticing.