[David9694]

Village Facebook noticing that our local garage is now charging £1.60 / ltr and saying it’s 8p less in town (10 mile round trip to save £3, anyone?) Someone saying it’ll be £2 by the end of the month.

I reacted cautiously to the “shortage” of fuel in September – a lot more desperate scratting about for supplies and not concentrating was my take.

I don’t wish financial hardship on anyone, but there’s the energy cap change and the increase in NI all coming down the track.  The best ways to economise on fuel are to drive less, drive smaller, stick at 55 mph, check tyre pressures, drive like you’re a cyclist – keep a steady momentum.

I wonder what we’ll see on the roads and at the pumps in the coming weeks? 

Topic

[David9694]

A couple of reports on local

A couple of reports on local FB groups of local filling stations being “out”, diesel seems to be the most affected. Just Stop Oil being blamed. Drivers actually trying to steady each other’s nerves and not kick off another wave of “brimming” your tank. 

Curious place, local FB.  This week I posted a builder’s van 100% blocking the pavement. Our moderator doesn’t usually allow this sort of thing, so I was suprised it ran.  Not sure who won that one, but the loudest voices, from white van man, were saying I should have (single-handedly, and there were 3 of them) asked them to move it, because that would totally would have happened, had I done so;  I’m clearly such a snowflake.

Not sure where we are getting to on councils enforcing pavement parking – not convinced it needs anything other than being prioritised, but I can see them being kept quite busy, at least to begin with. It’s gone unchecked for too long now, many drivers no longer see it as wrong and will go into their usual victim mode if caught. 

Then elsewhere, on a new housing development fronting our main road, they’ve put in a small children’s play area: why, oh why?? People seem to get that the side of the main road isn’t a nice place for anyone to linger, but make no further connection. 

[Rendel Harris]

brooksby wrote:

Last month a few tabloids ran a story about a thief filling up a wheelie bin with petrol…  I won’t put links, and TBH I’ve half convinced myself it is fake news anyway.

Found the story (slow work day) and seems to be semi-fake news, from the video he’s clearly filling containers inside the wheelie bin, the bin itself is just a convenient trolley to carry away the jerrycans or whatever he has inside it.

[brooksby]

Last month a few tabloids ran

Last month a few tabloids ran a story about a thief filling up a wheelie bin with petrol…  I won’t put links, and TBH I’ve half convinced myself it is fake news anyway.

[chrisonabike]

wycombewheeler wrote:

Chris Hayes wrote:

I’d question whether driving at 55mph (as opposed to the speed limt) saves much on modern engines.

I reckon you save the most by driving at 62mph, so you can sit in the left lane behind a massive great HGV

Motoring peleton.  Apparently also works for bikes if you can gear high enough.

[andystow]

Nothing compared to this

Nothing compared to this colonial ingenuity.

https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/gas-station-thieves-use-trap-door-under-van-to-steal-diesel-manager-says/2914336/

[David9694]

I predict a rise in this sort

I predict a rise in this sort of thing:

NHS transport vehicles have fuel stolen in Blandford

https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/20065995.nhs-transport-vehicles-fuel-stolen-blandford/

[wycombewheeler]

Chris Hayes wrote:

I’d question whether driving at 55mph (as opposed to the speed limt) saves much on modern engines.

I reckon you save the most by driving at 62mph, so you can sit in the left lane behind a massive great HGV

[David9694]

And relatively painless, I’d

And relatively painless, I’d have thought.  Whether you scale it at one household or many, it’s hard to see what the downside is.

[hawkinspeter]

Rich_cb wrote:

Rich_cb wrote:

It was an incredibly good point, made incredibly badly. There was an opinion piece in the Telegraph (boo/hiss etc etc) recently calling for more insulation and better energy efficiency. The comments were full of those vehemently opposed to the idea ostensibly because of IB’s antics.

The problem with protesting is that you’ll either get criticised for not making enough of an impact, or you’ll get criticised for making too much of an impact.

I’d suggest that if IB are winding up Telegraph (and other papers, too) commenters then they’re heading in the right direction. Whether they will be successful remains to be seen.

Historically, if we look at almost any successful protests that ended up effecting a meaningful change, there were hordes of people criticising their tactics. My favourite example is the suffragettes and their use of violence to get what they wanted (eventually).

Ultimately, if you want to change the status quo, then people (especially the older and wealthier) will get upset and angry – there’s simply no way to change things whilst keeping people happy unless you just kick the can down the road (c.f. conservative strategy). Unfortunately, the world has been kicking the can down the road for decades.

[chrisonabike]

They (IB) aren’t making many

They (IB) aren’t making many friends. However I doubt there would be many people signing up to the idea – who haven’t already – even if it was presented by Jacob Rees-Mogg (or indeed anyone short of the queen).  The objections you hear are almost exactly the same as for bike infra. “Yes we need to do something about this / I’m all for the environment, BUT…” It’s usually “not now”, “not in this way”, “not here”, “I’ll do this for myself in my own time” etc.

[Rich_cb]

It was an incredibly good
It was an incredibly good point, made incredibly badly.

There was an opinion piece in the Telegraph (boo/hiss etc etc) recently calling for more insulation and better energy efficiency.

The comments were full of those vehemently opposed to the idea ostensibly because of IB’s antics.

[chrisonabike]

True – but those are not the

True – but those are not the skilled / “technology” jobs we are seeking apparently. Nor is “use less energy / resources and make your usage more efficient” the way things run long-term.

Digression: I suspect you can live a very fulfilling life at a former level of technology *.  But we all want to keep up with the Joneses because that drives our social lives and that involves having more / new stuff.

* Caveat – we’d almost certainly need to back-port some modern medical tech because no-one – not even “alternative medicine” types – wants to go back to shamans and herbalists to fix their broken leg. Healt spending as a percentage of “income” continues to rise and indeed faster than GDP.

[ktache]

Insulate British had a very

Insulate British had a very good point.

Provide jobs, reduce people’s heating bills, reduce carbon.

And relatively quick.

[David9694]

“Yesterday my daughter tried

“Yesterday my daughter tried seven petrol stations on Sheppey and in Sittingbourne without any luck.” (That’s a 20 mile round trip)

Petrol and diesel shortages affecting Sheppey and Sittingbourne

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/sheerness/news/drivers-face-fuel-nightmares-again-265272/

This is being blamed on Just Stop Oil, who get a brief mention. If they are descendants of Insulate Britain, wouldn’t it be better to think that they might just be right, rather than arrest them and double down on ignoring the point they’re trying to make?

photo caption: Sheerness roads gridlocked by drivers trying to get fuel at Tesco this morning. Picture: Googlemaps

[David9694]

nope, still not expensive

nope, still not expensive enough 

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/dartford/news/second-clampdown-on-boy-racers-263849/

[Author]

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