A Fine Line Between Scambaiting And A Money Grab

I'm not going to name any names, but I have grown somewhat disillusioned by a YouTube scambaiter I had been subscribed to.

It had been a while since I bothered to visit their streams because they seemed to constantly be going on about background stuff that the audience doesn't really need to know. 

When I state that, I mean the business end of their videos. They'd constantly talk about things they were doing to try to monetize their channel. Then they'd spend another portion of the stream asking people to sign up. All before what we're supposed to be there for: to watch/listen to them disturb scammers at work.

YouTube has recently deemed their content to not meet the qualifications for monetisation, so they've tried to move their 'show', or whatever you call it, to other platforms and have set up a Patreon for people to donate.

I was sent a notification by YouTube today informing me of last night's stream. I had a listen. I could only last a few minutes because, again, it was all about the business end of their videos and not what I signed up for.

I'm all for people monetising their work. In this case, however, it feels like the monetisation is the priority ahead of the mission to disrupt scammers.

I believe there should be a balance between content and requests for donations. It feels very lopsided in this case. That's why I've made the decision to move on and find other people with similar mission statements who don't seem laser-focused on the Yankee Dollar.

Taylor's 2026 Update For April

It is getting there.

That's the best sentence I can use right now as it pertains Taylor's Pro Football Gambling Annual 2026.

I'm doing bits and bobs with the research each day, but there's little more I can do right now until the NFL releases the 2026 schedules.

That'll be when everything will fall into place.

Mid-May is when I expect the schedules to come out. Going by previous years, I'll gamble on it being two weeks from now when the little leaks of information start filtering in before the big reveal on May 14th.

I have a date I'd like the book to be published on, but I don't want to go public just yet just in case I (1) jinx it (2) miss the target or (3) BOTH!

A 'No-No' From Me

In one final KFC post, for the time being, I have an announcement to make regarding the fast food brand's latest limited edition burger.

I won't be trying this one out.

Not because of the issues I had earlier month. Nope, it's definitely not that. It's because....

... I'm too much of a wuss to try this one.

I suppose the Daredevil Zinger burger with the sweet chilli sauce would be tolerable. But, the jalapenos are a 'no-no' for me.

I look forward to checking out the next limited edition offering which, I surmise, will be available from May 18th. 

An Update About The KFC Pickle Burger Situation

Do you remember the post from April 17th, when I wrote about trying KFC's pickle burger?

As I was writing about trying the limited edition offering from the fast food chicken company, I went onto its website to help me describe what was exactly inside the pickle burger and the loaded fries with pickles. Upon visiting the website, I realised that what I had eaten days earlier was a significant contrast to the images, and descriptions, on the website.

I had planned to write about how much I enjoyed the burger before I realised there was not an abundance of pickles as the picture on the website promised. In fact, I genuinely cannot recall having a pickle in the burger itself.

I know for a fact I didn't have pickles in the loaded fries which contained the fries, popcorn chicken and pickle sauce. As already stated, I didn't realise until the moment I was in the process of writing the blog post. 

I enjoyed what I was given, even if it was missing its main selling point.

After writing the post, I thought I'd send it across to KFC because I wanted them to see the images of what I received. 

I felt their initial response wasn't fair. I had told them I wasn't looking for a refund. All I wanted was acknowledgement that I was not served what the advert promised. The person who replied to my query did not answer my question. Instead, I was instructed to seek a refund with Just Eat - the delivery platform I used for the meal.

As I stated, I wasn't looking for a refund. I repeated that to KFC and stated a manager should look into the situation because 'it is a trading standards issue'. After all, it was a pickle meal without one of the main draws if not THE main item.

A couple of days later, a manager from the KFC care team reached out to me and offered a £20 voucher for the situation.

One of the paragraph reads:

Our suppliers always take great care to ensure that our chicken and all ingredients used in our guests meals are to the best quality before they are provided to us. Our chefs and front of house team then double-check our guests' orders when prepping, cooking and packaging to ensure everything is as it should be, so they are really puzzled about how this may have happened to your meal. However, we do understand this does not make up for what has happened. The management team will log this on their internal system to ensure that the feedback is provided to the team.

Am I being paranoid or am I meant to take the line about the staff being puzzled about how this happened to my meal to be they are calling my claim bogus?

That's how it feels every time I reread it.

I have no reason to lie. There's a handful of KFC content here on the blog. I don't believe I ever had anything to complain about it any of them. Heck, even the one from April 17th wasn't a true complaint because I stated I had enjoyed what I was given, even if what I received was not what was advertised.

If that's not what the 'puzzled' term implies, then - fair enough.

I've thanked KFC for the £20 voucher. They settled the issue well even though they've left me wondering if they believe me or not.

I Try Pepsi Max Tropical

I tried the latest Pepsi Max flavour to hit store shelves last night.

Pepsi Max Tropical promises to give the customer a fruity taste alongside what you'd expect from the Pepsi brand.

In my experience, I didn't get that. There was no true hit of flavour when I sampled mine. It came across as extremely bland.

Certainly not something I would ever go out of my way to try again.

Apparently, this flavour is out to replace Pepsi Max Mango. If true, I find that to be a shame because I enjoyed the taste from that version of Pepsi. This newer one is a miss. 

Very disappointing.

A Wake Up

I watched almost all of the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft in the early hours of Friday morning. 

It's always interesting to watch the new players find out where their professional careers will begin. However, as a Colts fan, there was nothing in regards to that team for me. That's because the team gave up their first round pick (and next year's as well, for that matter) to the New York Jets in order to bring Sauce Gardner into the fold.

Indianapolis had picks in the second and third rounds, so I tuned in last night's coverage to watch. 

I didn't make it. Well, not in the way I had planned.

I must have fallen asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. 

Anyway, as per usual, I was given a wake up call by Oreo. He often stirs me up in the middle of the night wanting me to lean outside of the bed and give him a belly rub before he jumps in beside me. 

He did it again last night. Only this time, as I was manoeuvring my way to lean over the side of my bed to see Oreo, I caught a glimpse of the TV.

Pat McAfee was on the screen and was about to announce the Colts' third round pick.

I would say that was perfect timing. It wasn't, however. It was PURRRRfect timing.

Indianapolis selected Georgia linebacker - CJ Allen - and A.J. Haulcy, who played safety at Louisiana State University, with the 53rd and 78th overall picks.

Another Fake DPD Text Message Received

I received another scam text message this afternoon.

As you'll see immediately below, the scammers claim to be the DPD parcel company and allege that a delivery was attempted at 12:26 today. The fake parcel handoff couldn't be completed 'due to a missing signature and unconfirmed recipient details'. 

I am then expected to click on the link to reschedule the delivery. I must do it ASAP because they stress that my item will be 'held until 25 April 2026'.

I obviously didn't click on the URL because reading the text is as far as I'll go in reacting to it. Well, that and writing this blog post about it.

The text has been reported as spam.