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17 Dec 2018, 11:35 (Ref:3870820) | #3276 | |||
The Honourable Mallett
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I've decided to stop reaching out to people. I'm just going to contact them instead. |
17 Dec 2018, 11:39 (Ref:3870821) | #3277 | ||
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About 2 years ago they started an upgrade project that, for the second time in 3 years, disrupted his 3 hour commute and meant he had to take an entirely different and longer route. That lasted 18 months plus a bit of over-run. Since the work finished many if not most of his journeys have been disrupted in some way to the point that a 3 hour commute (no improvement in journey times for him after the upgrades) more often takes between 4.5 and 6 hours. The Local daily commuters at his City of work second home seems to have a similar level of service to those enjoying London's facilities. It seems that the "State" of the railways may be less of a local UK problem than we thought. Last edited by grantp; 17 Dec 2018 at 11:47. |
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17 Dec 2018, 11:40 (Ref:3870822) | #3278 | |||
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I've decided to stop reaching out to people. I'm just going to contact them instead. |
17 Dec 2018, 11:51 (Ref:3870823) | #3279 | |
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It seems that, over time, Branston has been a name associated with many things. http://www.burton-on-trent.org.uk/ca...ranston-pickle That it is now a Japanese owned brand had passed me by. |
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17 Dec 2018, 12:21 (Ref:3870830) | #3280 | |||
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Perhaps that is why it has become "Blandston"...! |
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17 Dec 2018, 12:23 (Ref:3870831) | #3281 | ||
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Midgetman - known as Max Tyler to the world. MaxAttaq! |
17 Dec 2018, 12:56 (Ref:3870838) | #3282 | |
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17 Dec 2018, 13:25 (Ref:3870842) | #3283 | |||
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It's always amusing when someone on things like Facebook says we would like similar services to some Scandinavian country (can't remember which) e.g. great education, healthcare, pensions etc. someone invariably points out rather quickly that they pay a hell of a lot more tax!! I thought Normandy looked attractive as well, good property prices, great roads and several ferry routes to the UK - but did discover a downside when desperately looking for petrol at night!! When I was there driving a UK registered car I was amazed to find out that the locals were friendly to Brits as well!! True, railways (+ buses etc.) are simply profit making businesses, it would be great to see public transport reintroduced in the UK. No I didn't mean the UK is a net importer of power, it is a net importer of things in general - food, clothing, cars, builders(!) etc. of course it exports some stuff but relies on other countries to stock the shelves etc. and it seems rather unlikely that it would be possible to instantly produce the same as has been suggested by some MPs. |
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"The problem with internet quotes is that you can't always depend on their accuracy" - Abraham Lincoln, 1864 |
17 Dec 2018, 13:28 (Ref:3870843) | #3284 | |||
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Unfortunately the lovely Stacey Dooley has Lutonexited to Brighton which made it even less likely! |
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"The problem with internet quotes is that you can't always depend on their accuracy" - Abraham Lincoln, 1864 |
17 Dec 2018, 13:32 (Ref:3870844) | #3285 | ||
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17 Dec 2018, 13:37 (Ref:3870845) | #3286 | ||
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I just managed to avoid having lunch in a French fast food chain.
O'Tacos apparently sells French Tacos. Since when have Tacos been French? And why does a French company have an Irish name?? |
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"The problem with internet quotes is that you can't always depend on their accuracy" - Abraham Lincoln, 1864 |
17 Dec 2018, 13:38 (Ref:3870846) | #3287 | |||||||
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I've decided to stop reaching out to people. I'm just going to contact them instead. |
17 Dec 2018, 14:08 (Ref:3870854) | #3288 | ||
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Well there's one French company that isn't making a profit from hard working British families now. The Severn Bridge no longer has tolls
I expect they're still paid to maintain it though, and will likely make more money through Government contract than via the toll. Such is the way of things. Interesting to read that this is the first time for 800 years I won't have to pay to go and see MiniMM. Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk |
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Midgetman - known as Max Tyler to the world. MaxAttaq! |
17 Dec 2018, 14:16 (Ref:3870858) | #3289 | |||
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17 Dec 2018, 14:21 (Ref:3870860) | #3290 | |
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17 Dec 2018, 14:36 (Ref:3870862) | #3291 | ||
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Assuming this perishable food stuff is flown in one assumes that would still be possible. Might have to change the flight paths from Africa to avoid EU air space of course but assuming that can be done if necessary I can see that being good news for some countries and the air freight industry. Since prices don't seem to be so different I can't see a downside. (Other than Morocco where produce probably comes overland at the moment.) I assume that Spain would not be averse to "shipping" product to Morocco for labelling before it is sent to the UK. Not that I expect it to come to that - but with the calibre of people who seem to be involved with the alleged negotiations nothing would surprise me. I would imagine that all the really smart people who might have been involved took one look at the issues and decided that there were good reasons to avoid any connection with the negotiations having to be declared on their cvs. |
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17 Dec 2018, 14:44 (Ref:3870864) | #3292 | |||
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Some French infrastructure is up-to-date, like healthcare stuff. I was always amused when the UK said they would introduce motorway tolls when the technology existed to make it seamless, couldn't help but wonder what the French had been using! One difference between Belgian, German etc. exports to the UK is that the UK accounts for no more than 10% of any of the other countries trade, losing that isn't the same as the 45% the UK has with all of them. Of course none of them want to lose the trade and the chances are the UK will just put up with any extra costs and carry on buying the same stuff - probably less of it though. Vaguely related: todays news that an online retailer is struggling suggests that the drop in shop sales isn't entirely due to people buying stuff online, they might just be buying less stuff in general! |
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"The problem with internet quotes is that you can't always depend on their accuracy" - Abraham Lincoln, 1864 |
17 Dec 2018, 15:14 (Ref:3870870) | #3293 | ||||||
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Rather like Concorde, the EU idea has in my opinion, run its course. |
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I've decided to stop reaching out to people. I'm just going to contact them instead. |
17 Dec 2018, 15:22 (Ref:3870871) | #3294 | ||
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New car sales by the major groups have been well down for months. I am told. Double digit % drops. And well into double digits at that. Most are relying on Used sales to keep things running it seems. That, perhaps, reflects the wider malaise. The quality of goods I and my wife have bought recently is not great. Even for expensive stuff (in its marketplace) effective quality control seems absent more often than one would expect. It used to be only Christmas that the retailers were loaded with junk to be given as gifts that no one would or could use. Now it seems that it is ever more difficult to escape the unusable or the short lifed. |
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17 Dec 2018, 15:53 (Ref:3870876) | #3295 | ||
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When asking; "Is he joking?" Best assume yes! |
17 Dec 2018, 16:28 (Ref:3870889) | #3296 | |||
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Exactly, and is especially difficult in some countries. When I retired to live in Spain, being below their state retirement age, I was unable to join the state health service (that has changed recently, or it's supposed to have done but that's another story) so took out private health care cover. However, after a few years, I required to make a small (less than a couple of hundred Euro) claim, and was extremely surprised that the insurance company doubled the premium at the next renewal but paid it nevertheless. The following year, despite no further claims, the company doubled the premium yet again, and despite my complaints that it was unjustified, they stuck to their figure which I paid very reluctantly. Then the following year, the insurance company simply wrote that they no longer wished to provide cover, and that was their final decision! Problem is that in Spain the rules and regulations concerning all forms of insurance is very firmly written in favour of the providers, usually to the vast detriment of the insured. And unlike in the UK, most policies are annually renewable, not lifetime based. This allows insurers to decide on a year by year basis whether they wish to maintain cover. When it comes to things like car or house insurance, the insured has to notify the provider (in writing, and delivered to the company by registered post) at least two months prior to renewal if they wish to cease cover with that company. And that means that you won't have even received the renewal quote, so it's all a leap in the dark. As for the advert about the possible extra funding on Boris' bus in the lead up to the referendum, it wasn't so much that he tried to convince the voters how much extra could go the NHS (£350 million per week), but the fact that the figure was totally wrong. The amount quoted was roughly the gross contribution that the UK makes, but after rebates, farming subsidies and other payments the UK receives, it is nowhere near that figure. |
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17 Dec 2018, 18:58 (Ref:3870941) | #3297 | |||
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Of course a lot of the new car sales drop in recent months has been due to lack of stock, as existing stock was cleared out prior to the new fuel economy / emission testing regime, and many manufacturers simply haven't got their products through the new testing procedure, so don't have the metal to shift....... Some people would blame VW/Audi's Dieselgate for initiating this.....although a more realistic test has been needed for years |
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Richard Murtha: You don't stop racing because you are too old, you get old when you stop racing! But its looking increasingly likely that I've stopped.....have to go back to rallying ;) |
17 Dec 2018, 19:04 (Ref:3870942) | #3298 | |||
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Yep, my Spider is a 78 iniezione - fitted with the Spica mechanical injection system, although I'm contemplating replacing it with Webers I'd like to lose the ugly US-spec rubber bumpers too...... I'd say that for racing providing you don't have to get full papers for it, a replica would be much more cost-effective than a proper "matching numbers" car. |
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Richard Murtha: You don't stop racing because you are too old, you get old when you stop racing! But its looking increasingly likely that I've stopped.....have to go back to rallying ;) |
17 Dec 2018, 19:24 (Ref:3870949) | #3299 | |||
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17 Dec 2018, 19:53 (Ref:3870954) | #3300 | ||
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The information comes from a friend whose daughter had a very senior marketing coordination position with a major UK car sales conglomerate. Premium brands and lesser stuff. This is not a new "we couldn't get all of the test done in time" position. They have been in this situation for around a year. 12 months ago my elder daughter took on a Volvo XC90 at what was a remarkably low lease cost for a 50K car (only the base model was available in a significantly good financial deal but even so). Any colour but white. Back in August her husband got an even better deal on a Merc E220 "AMG" style Estate. Same sort of money but double the mileage included. In both cases the deal on offer for the specs being offered were 40 or maybe 50% less than the nearest not-on-offer model. I suspect that the Merc was related to a need to shift stock that could not be sold after 1st Sept, but that's not really the point. The stock existed because it have not been sold on time according to the predicted pattern. None of this makes for adopting a comfortable view of the future. Sadly. The ICE car manufacturers and the Fossil Fuel industry are both groups that are pinning their futures on the low political resistance path to electric vehicles and the hope of subsidies. Their challenge is to make the development both affordable and profitable. If will be interesting so see if they succeed. The rest of the retail economy seems to be in a state of watching to see what happens rather than exhibiting any potential for influencing what happens. Excluding Amazon and similar operations. For now. |
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