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Thread: Europe Energy

  1. #31
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    @rabidfoxes mine says "we have adjusted the DD based on the expected EBSS you are entitled to." So, down to ?3. I'm fixed so the bill horror for me is go8ng to next April when that ends.

    From the baltics, I'm guessing? I wanted to go to St. Petersburg pre-war because it looks nice, probably won't be happening for a very long while though. And they don't make it easy to enter.

    I've seen some of the US did it posts on twitter - all coming from accounts I have flagged as being Russian apologists/bots/useful idiots or Assad groupies. Generally, if russbots are aggresively trying to push someone, the opposite is probably true.

    Whole thing stinks of "our friends said we should visit this lovely town, we really wanted to admire the church spires."
    I'M GONNA FIGHT 'EM ALL
    A SEVEN NATION ARMY COULDN'T HOLD ME BACK.......


  2. #32
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    Quote rabidfoxes View Post
    ...I'm having cold showers hoping to toughen up a bit ...
    I just started that again two days ago, not really for financial reasons though. But now is the perfect time for that. We can still get the hang of it before it gets really cold. How's it going for you? Thus far it isn't as bad as I thought it would be, especially right after running.

    If you'd want to have a warm shower, I doubt it has to cost you a fortune if you just limit it to a few minutes though. Even with insanely high gas prices. In the summer I collected the water from showering and threw it in the garden. As an interesting challenge I had set out to see how little I could use while still properly showering. So I limited the time to two minutes or so. I was surprised to see I was only using seven liter tops per shower. Heating that kind of volume to, say 40C, doesn't use that much energy. Heating is a bigger challenge in a colder climate. Any measures for that in the pipeline (pun intended)? I'm planning to tough it out with extra layers, like I did in feb-march, when I got this house. For me it's no biggie, at least not with the "winters" we get nowadays, but I feel sorry for the ill and elderly folks on a very tight budget. Let alone for the people in Ukraine. Can somebody tell Putin the USSR has imploded over three decades ago?
    The best book I read about trauma since '97 is Pete Walker's Complex PTSD: From Surviving To Thriving

  3. #33
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    Our furnaces take three times as much electricity as the air conditioner. I had my electrical panel replaced in an emergency in the spring and almost couldn't have it done because of the lone 60 Amp switch on backorder (American supply chain ruined by our Cabinet!)
    But yes.....FurnaceEnergy = 3 * AirCondEnergy. And get this, GREENIES!

    ElectricCarCharge = 4 * AirCondEnergy

    So if, with limited fossil fuels, it takes that much energy to charge a car.

    Uh, we need to vote some idiots out of office like YESTERDAY!

  4. #34
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    I am hearing a rumor that the cellular telephone network could be in trouble, too. This is so bad and so unnecessary.

  5. #35
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    Meanwhile, we've had a good old government uturn on the "let's cut taxes for high earners during cost of living crisis and fund it with borrowing" plan, so point is (for now) back up in value.

    Since this prime minister change was an internal Conservative party matter, no election was held. Perhaps they should hold a General Election on this moronic plan, see if the electorate agrees that it is right to cut funding for other things and borrow money in order to ease the tax burden for the apparently struggling $200k, or that it is right to cause inflation to surge, crash pension funds and make it impossible to get a mortgage in pursuit of this.

    So bloody incompetent.
    I'M GONNA FIGHT 'EM ALL
    A SEVEN NATION ARMY COULDN'T HOLD ME BACK.......


  6. #36
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    Quote Otherside View Post
    Meanwhile, we've had a good old government uturn on the "let's cut taxes for high earners during cost of living crisis and fund it with borrowing" plan, so point is (for now) back up in value.

    Since this prime minister change was an internal Conservative party matter, no election was held. Perhaps they should hold a General Election on this moronic plan, see if the electorate agrees that it is right to cut funding for other things and borrow money in order to ease the tax burden for the apparently struggling $200k, or that it is right to cause inflation to surge, crash pension funds and make it impossible to get a mortgage in pursuit of this.

    So bloody incompetent.
    It's so bad in the States that we need to impeach the Speaker (or replace her party's majority next month) and then the Vice-President and President, in that order.

    Our VP is a mess and even the left is making fun of her. The President can't finish a sentence or read a teleprompter anymore - he's worse now than even six months ago.
    They helped get the three of them in power and can't hide it and are now trying to cover their backsides.

    Our leaders aren't who we are and the world knows it because they are facing the same problem. Hungary and Italy now are the only two that are even making any sense, and I am hoping Brazil keeps Bolsonaro to get them in that category.

    Gas prices in the USA are going up again because Saudi Arabia, as promised, stopped producing extra oil - they said they would do it for July and August only....and they did it. Now, our President is all upset and telling gas stations to lower the prices and "do it now!" Our elderly Nicolae Ceausescu has no clue.

  7. #37
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    @Ironman They don't have to hold elections here. Don't vote for a PM in theory, more a local representative (MP). Several MPs started realising that under Boris, they would lose there jobs next elections, and so as they do, got rid of him. Now we have Truss. Do not have to hold election, though they probably should. Only have to hold one once every 5 years, but can hold one whenever they want other than that.

    Is absolutely extraordinary how in the space of three weeks, we've managed to almost crash the economy. Pretty much all honeymoon period gone for her now. Interest rates have shot up here a lot. I think there are a lot of people about to lose homes, because the mortgage payments will soon become unaffordable. On top of the inflation. Absolutely incompetent. Would not win an election with what they are doing.

    Would be great if Hungarian government would stop sucking up to Russia though and vetoing sanctions, or trying to lift sanctions. Seems to have learned the wrong lessons from history. Italys government hopefully is not Russian backed, enough of those causing problems in Europe, do not need another pro-Russian or gets funding from undisclosed sources (Russia) governments on the continent.

    No idea about Bolsonaro or Brazil, South American problems.
    I'M GONNA FIGHT 'EM ALL
    A SEVEN NATION ARMY COULDN'T HOLD ME BACK.......


  8. #38
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    Isn?t England?s entire economy around the finance sector? I don?t know of anything else they export but I always hear London is the city of finance. How can it be so fragile they blow it all up in 2 weeks time ???

    Calling other political parties or countries Russia puppets is a cop out to deligtimize them IMO. Yes they might get some funding from Russia but that doesn?t meant they do everything Russia says, it just means Russia stands to benefit from them in some way.

    Italy, bolsonaro, Hungary, they are all NATIONALIST and Russia is too. We believe you should put your own country and your people FIRST rather than some liberal globalist organization. That is why until recently many republicans in the US would have said they sympathized with Russia more than the democraps.

    I?ve never had a Russian try to force my children to go to drag queen story hour. Never had a Russian expose little kids to books about anal sex. Never had a Russian tell me I had to take an experimental vaccine to keep my job. Never had them tell me men could be women. Never had a Russian try to ban me for being Christian, and most of all never had a Russian tell me I?m privileged for being white!!

  9. #39
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    @Otherside Yup, you've got it, Eastern Europe. I've been to Moscow but it was in the 90s and not much fun - there were lots of people with massive guns, apparently I cried and told my mother that they wouldn't let us leave. Some beautiful architecture though.

    I share in your frustration with the government, things are getting real very fast. I've already seen people saying they can't pay their mortgage.

    @TuanJie I dropped the cold showers last week. I found them quite pleasant overall but the jolt to the heart was making me feel uncomfortable so I stopped. Although from what I read it shouldn't be bad in any way.

    Re heating, I've got an arsenal: top and bottom base layers, wool knits, grandma's house socks, etc. I'm looking to transform my partner's old gloves into fingerless gloves for indoor use. However, my partner doesn't like wearing layers so we're wrestling over the thermostat. You probably are better at keeping warm than I am but my best two tips are: 1) wearing a scarf; back of the neck indicates to your brain how hot/cold you are so you want to cover that part; 2) water bottle (hot, not boiling water) is great for winter, if you cover yourself with a blanket over it it will trap the heat as well.

  10. #40
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    @CloudMaker we're a service based economy. A lot of it is finance in the City of London. We don't really have that many exports to speak of, we're a net importer. Pound devaluing against Euro/dollar as it did makes things more expensive for us, already expensive enough and going up in price as it is.

    I'm not saying they're Russian puppets. I'm saying that they are influenced by Russia which Europe has been ignoring for years and is only really starting to wake up to the danger. The goal is not right wing governments, its chaos (hence they have been backing the far left in the UK, which would be far more chaotic. Or separtist movements, hence why we see Scottish National Party leaders with primetime TV shows on Russia Today.).

    Its the same with Russian disinformation. Goal is not right wing or left wing, its chaos and divided countries. Hence they back both. Going quite well in some countries, which do appear very divided. If you look into Alexander Dugin, Foundations of Geopolitics, you will see what the end game is, does read as a to do list with everything going on.

    As for the vaccine, were you in Russia, you likely would have to take sputnik to keep your job, or to do much of anything. Trust me. Much better off in the US.

    And no idea about Bolsinaro, South American problems, nothing to do with Europe, and unlike Argentina, doesn't try to drag us into it.
    @rabidfoxes Yeah the architecture looks beautiful. But I dont think I'd want to be there now. Are stjll western tourists who go, who apparently get a lovely 3 hour interrogation at Passport Control.

    I applied for a mortgage May time, 3.22% five year fix. Today I would be lucky to get under 6%.

    It's never going to be record low interest rates again, but yeah. A lot of people seem to think there will be a "correction" in the market and they'll suddenly be able to buy a home (with what mortgage).Dream on, those repossessed homes will be bought up as an investment from the mid-east or Asia. I really, really wish they would get to grips with this and put some restrictions on who can buy as other countries do. "Right to live in the UK" would help a lot.

    It is worth investing in an electric blanket, I bought one last year in a boxing day sale and it is bliss, just sit under the that. Does not cost to much to run.
    I'M GONNA FIGHT 'EM ALL
    A SEVEN NATION ARMY COULDN'T HOLD ME BACK.......


  11. #41
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    @rabidfoxes
    I can't blame you for quitting the cold showers. Your heart may be sending you a signal you'd better listen to. Better safe than sorry, I'd say.

    You're well prepared for the cold! I love the extra creative touch with the gloves and hope you enjoy that side of an otherwise unpleasant situation as much as I am from over here :-) I've always been terrible at keeping warm, to be honest. The idea of cold showers alone! Me! WTF!? In recent years I've found a new appreciation for the colder time of the year, especially in the mornings. I'd started wearing a beanie and an old jacket indoors and not using heating. Not sure where that came from. Perhaps the feeling of living outdoors in Portugal I missed and tried to incorporate in urban life somehow. Turns out to have been a good preparation. I didn't know the scarf trick. Neat. Thanks for sharing. I'll keep it in mind when things get really bad this winter. Something that can be called actual winter doesn't happen very much over here anymore though. It's real eerie to witness such a rapid change. I remember you talking about -30C in this thread. That's serious cold! Nothing like over here. Hope Truss has been reigned in enough in time for you guys!
    The best book I read about trauma since '97 is Pete Walker's Complex PTSD: From Surviving To Thriving

  12. #42
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    The rising interest rates are going to stop the growth of the market.

    I refinanced my house from my father's estate after paying his mortgages for six years - The first, opened in August 1998 was 7.625% 30-year. He opened a home equity loan in August 2006 (five months before he passed away) at 7.75% (likely a 30 year). I had to pay off the second one before I would even be considered for a refinance/purchase from the estate. I actually had my first application rejected for it.

    In the States, you have to wait at least a year before trying again - I did not know this and only waited 11 months. My credit scores were all docked 30 points. Even with that, I got a 15-year mortgage at 3.5% fixed in September 2013. It was just past the record low of the Great Recession. Today, that would be at least 6.25% and will keep getting higher. Our government is full of partisan fools who have no concept of what is going on.

    Janet Yellen Our Treasury Secretary = WAT grandma body double


    Meanwhile, our Energy Secretary is constantly bragging about "I drive on sunshine" - a lot of good it'll do in Alaska wher they only get up to four hours of daylight in December. Northern Alaska sees the sun setting at the end of this month and it won't rise until near the end of January!

  13. #43
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    @Otherside oh yeah, I wouldn't go to Russia either. They border queues sucked even in the 90s, and they're the least of the reasons not to.
    I also would like to see a Danish-type approach to home ownership in the U.K. I'm in an awkward position of planning to buy my own place in the near future and I'm having serious doubts about London, for obvious reasons. Your mortgage fix sounds great though.
    I've seen electric blankets recommended a lot, might succumb to the temptation at some point

    @TuanJie don't quote me on the scarf thing, it's just something I picked up off the Internet (although it seems to work). When I was talking about -30C I was probably talking about my childhood/teenage years. I'm in the U.K. now so the winters are really mild as well. Do you run throughout winter? I started running recently and so far it's fine but I wonder if I'll be able to continue as the temperatures drop.

    @Ironman re-applying after 11 months must have been really frustrating, in general I find the whole credit rating system baffling. I was forced to get my first credit card because my rating was too low, despite (and because of) never having borrowed any money. It feels ridiculous that we have to pander to the credit system in order to have somewhere to live, or even to get a broadband contract. Glad you got a good fix in time, though!

  14. #44
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    @rabidfoxes
    First time with the running? Getting the hang of it? It's been a lifeline for me for many years now. Wouldn't want to miss it for the world. It works fine for me in winter as well. I don't remember if it was a challenge when I started off. I imagine it took some time to get used to. If winters are similar over there, there should be no problem if you fiddle around with layers though. The first 400 yards or so can be a bit chilly, but once your body is generating enough heat, it's actually really nice to run in the cold. Sometimes I take off a layer half way because I'm overheating. Melting snow sludge or icy roads can be tricky. Cold heavy rain is my least favorite. Mostly I can work around it by playing around with the time I go, but if I do end up in it, it's a matter of continuing, so I produce enough heat. There's probably good gear around for these sort of conditions, but I never bothered. My round is limited to 5 km (30 min), which limits the risk. If the rain is such that I don't get soaked, I love it. It's satisfactory on a primal level to dance with the elements. One more thing that has been a great help for me is to start a run very slowly. To always keep the breath in a comfortable range. At some point my body demands to increase the speed, to et into it's natural pace or something like that. It may be a personal thing, but I work best like a Diesel. Go for it, I'd say!

    Edit. The terrain is flat as a pancake over here off course.
    The best book I read about trauma since '97 is Pete Walker's Complex PTSD: From Surviving To Thriving

  15. #45
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    @rabidfoxes

    Yeah the housing market in London is fucked. No other word for it. Insanely expensive, multi-billion apartments being bought up as investments or as a holiday home for gulf arabs to come to for the summer months. Rental market in London is similarly fucked.

    I will hope that my lender does not withdraw the offer. Very frustrating watching a bunch of etonians play economic theory when they are unaffected by the consequences.
    I'M GONNA FIGHT 'EM ALL
    A SEVEN NATION ARMY COULDN'T HOLD ME BACK.......


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