udderlyoffroad

Those in RSA who can afford it, have solar and a battery bank. Makes the load shedding almost invisible to you if you're well setup. Obviously, the, uh, lower wiring standards, not to mention labour costs means fitting solar is a much more economic option. And that's before we consider the effectiveness/hours of sunshine -though the difference between RSA and UK, depending on where you are, isn't as big as you'd expect. Sorry Scully, don't mean to single you out, but you were a young pup then. You're...older now. Might you find it harder going now? The people on this thread and the energy saving thread mentioning the winter of discontent in '79; that was 43 years ago. Other than some kind of 'folk were made of sterner stuff back then' - What can we learn from then, that is relevant to now? Yes, put a jumper on, ok we've got that. Anything else? As I say, please don't take this as a personal dig, you're just the first person on this thread to mention it.

France hasn't privatised its infrastructure France has far less of a domestic generation shortfall France is not an island, and therefore has more options when it comes importing electricity France has invested in Nuclear French people like a good riot.

Not really an option for indoor use, and I cant see the missus trudging outside to tend a stove. Be muggins here firing up the generator.

There was a thread recently about people planning for ‘water shortages’. Anyway, given the current situation with the UK electricity supply, and fundamental lack of domestic generation capacity, South African style ‘load shedding’, also known as rolling blackouts, is a very real possibility this winter. IMHO, of course. Having experienced a couple of days without supply thanks to the storms earlier this year, it was something of a rude reminder how dependent we are on electricity. So, what are people on PW doing to insulate themselves somewhat from this impending, uh, situation? For instance, I’ve got Makita 18V cordless tools and associated batteries. You can get an adaptor to allow you to charge your USB devices (phones, tablets, torches etc) off an 18V battery, so you can at least remain in contact with people (cell towers going down nothwithstanding). A 5Ah battery should last for days when used this way. I've ordered a 'caravan' kettle, 900w, which should run happily on the petrol generator. Previous experience was that my woodburner doesn't get hot enough on its top plate to boil water, and if it does, it burns fuel too quickly. Any other bright ideas folks?

Can definitely recommend one of those insulated kettles, especially if you have a significant other who has a habit of forgetting she's boiled the kettle then turns in on again after 5 mins. Insulation means it's still at 90-odd-so clicks off almost immediately. As stated, main benefit is the little separate display you get with it. Allows the more, um, arithmetically challenged, members of the household to see precisely what appliances uses what, and how much it costs, per hour to run. The tinfoil hat brigade will tell you that you will be the first in the queue to have your power cut if you have a smart meter. I've got bad news for them, that's not how 'rolling blackouts' (AKA Load shedding in RSA) works. It's coming to us all, unfortunately (IMHO, of course). Whether you have a smart meter or not will make precisely zero difference. Also, it should allow you to be charged for demand pricing, or the modern equivalent of economy 7. This may be good or bad, depending how you see it, but I personally don't see why I should pay full price for using the juice when there is otherwise low demand.

Wait, what? An actual plumber did that solder joint? And he was happy to charge you for that?

How old is your vehicle? Modern cars, a petrol nozzle will fit in a diesel filler, but not the other way around.

One metric of cost of living: Salary - minus tax, mortgage, bills, food, health insurance, etc = money left over as disposable income. So, at 2.5x basic salary, despite the higher costs, you'd probably still be better off in the US? In other words, a higher standard of living. Norway is astronomically expensive, their taxation is eye-watering, but they still have more disposable income and a better standard of living, by pretty much any metric, than the UK. Basic cost of comestibles really doesn't tell the full story at all. After so many years of being there, you're avoiding the tourist traps and not shopping in their equivalent of Waitrose (Trader Joe's!). Also, as you're presumably, on holiday, thus getting through more beer? 😉 I'll catch hell for this - but I suggest get a smart meter fitted. Comes with a display that shows in real-time your actual usage and associated cost per hour. Then you can talk to your family about who's using what with actual data. Incidentally, dishwashers use less energy and water than hand washing up by hand. It's just that if your water is heated by gas, (which used to be) 1/4 the price of electricity, unit for unit...

The "we've never had it so good" argument is firstly wrong, depending on your chosen metric, and in any case, so what? We should be aiming to increase standards, not saying how good things were. Otherwise, sooner or later, this kind of thread invariably descends into 4-Yorkshiremen-ism. 🤣 Pretty much any nation in western Europe, most of the 'eastern' ones*, North America, and you can pretty much choose your metric, respectively. Our neighbours across the channel have better healthcare outcomes whilst paying less for it. You have to explain the concept of a waiting list to new arrivals to the UK from these countries. Let me put it another way; we have reached the stage where we are taxed at Scandinavian levels, but have none of the benefits** i.e. free-to-user childcare, university/college education fully funded...need I go on? Our dwellings are smaller. We pay more in tax. We have, deliberately, one of the most complicated tax regimes of any nation. We have privatised basic infrastructure which holds an effective monopoly. *They would refer to themselves as central Europe. **Other than those at the bottom of society of course, or those willing to shamelessly game the system, where the state will seemingly take care of your needs from cradle to grave Depends on what you measure or what you're looking at. Regardless of country, some things cost more, some less. In my experience, Dairy products in the US , especially cheese, tend to cost more, especially in the more desert states - go figure, as they say. Toiletries, for some reason, are also incredibly expensive in the US.

Sorry, total hogwash. You need to spend more time abroad, the standard of living in this country is very low for a developed nation, and our infrastructure is only trumped in its quest for 'international embarrassment' by our healthcare system. Oh, and if indoor plumbing is your metric, I suggest you're firmly stuck in the 1950s, along with a sizable chunk of the PW membership! 😂 So you'd have er...a massive disincentive to use locally generated electricity and depend to more on the cross channel link? The root cause of this is a massive lack of domestic generation capacity coupled with an insane governmental policy. The engineering societies and trade press have been warning about this for years, but seemingly not making anywhere near enough noise. Make no mistake, South African style load-shedding, better known as rolling blackouts, is coming soon. Best get used to the racket of petrol generators. Those who can afford it, will doubtless get solar PV and a battery setup, and will essentially be immune to it. The rest of the population will suffer, elderly will be discovered dead from hypothermia. The standard of living never have been so high my backside.

Does this help? https://www.wilson55.com/auction/lot/lot-415---classic-game-12-bore-over-and-under-shotgun-licence-required/?lot=160412&so=0&st=415&sto=0&au=412&ef=&et=&ic=False&sd=1&pp=96&pn=1&g=1 Seems like a bargoon anyway.

Eh? That's the same as he's just bought?

One of the reasons I didn't offer much of an opinion about actually cable detectors, is the ones I've used are a bit hit-and-miss, and require a couple of run ups. My £10 Lidl job appears to work ok - though this isn't much use to you as Lidl rotate their offers and a this isn't currently available. I've never used an expensive professional grade one, but I'm given to understand that even these must be operated with caution. As said though, if you're going into an actual* stud wall, as long as you locate the studs (whether by use of a magnet or a detector) and screw into those, whilst staying out of the prescribed zones (so as not to hit a cable running perpendicular to the studs), the chances of you hitting an actual cable are vanishingly small, but not zero. By the way, the device you've bought does have some value, I use mine a lot, but it's a fault-finding tool, not a means for finding cables in walls. "Death stick" is a little harsh, but can be literally true if you were to use it as not intended, i.e. to confirm if a particular circuit is dead before working on it. There, as Jaymo says, following procedure using a tester and a proving unit is the only safe way. The instructions that came with yours will doubtless say the same. *Do make sure it's not dot-n-dab or some other though!

That’s a chicken stick/voltage detector pen, not meant for finding cables in walls. Won’t help with pipes or finding studs either! Its main purpose is to show whether a given cable has power to it. They will generally beep fast if you hold against the line conductor & slower against the neutral. It *might* work in a wall, but might not. Make sure your light is switched on, as they’re usually better at picking up on a line conductor from a distance.

This. Albeit it's what we would think of as a debit card, to a lot of US retailers it's treated as a pre-paid credit card. This seemingly means it's no good at gas pumps themselves, but as you say, go inside and stick 30 bucks on 'er. Problem only comes with wanting to 'fill er up' before you give the hire car back....where you have to go inside and get refunded. Because presumably it would inconvenience the vast majority with little benefit. Drive offs are comparatively rare, depending on where you are of course. In any case, sort of already happens in the UK. My local unattended Asda pre-authorises your card £99 and will not let you put more in.

Hence my 'strange hill to die on' statement. Pick your battles, but standing your ground against an FEO with a different idea from you as to how many guns fit in your cabinet seems like it will end up costing you way more money than an additional cabinet.

Yes.

Some merchants will deem it a pre pay credit card. Which can cause issues. Do try and keep up. 😆

Be careful with Revolut/Starling- some merchants will deem it a pre-pay credit card & not a genuine credit card, and will refuse to accept it. Car hire firms and paying for “gas” in the US spring to mind. Though seemingly @Lloyd90 has had no issue. I have the Halifax travel card (pronouns notwithstanding) for when I need a ‘proper’ credit card, and Revolut for everything else.

The phrase is “prescribed zones” But, as stated, not everyone complies with the rules. If it’s genuinely as stud wall however, just screw it into the studs using coach screws. You can usually find the studs by running a magnet along the wall looking for the plasterboard screws.

No such animal. In these matters, the force is free to interpret the guidance from the home office how they see fit. So, some forces will be entirely unbothered if you exceed the manufacturer’s stated capacity, others won’t. Seems like a poor choice of hill to die on in my opinion, cabinets are more expensive than they were before the pandemic, but still relatively affordable compared with the cost of what’s stored in them.

Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve never seen motorway services as anything other than a comfort break, and certainly not a destination. They’re invariably awful. Tebay just has nice scenery. And it starts to make sense. If you’re lugging a Tupperware trailer around at 60 mph, I guess motorway services must be a welcome respite from the buffeting and snaking. 😂 Nonsense - The trick is to eat where the local Italian expat population eats. Went to a place in Bristol I doubt I would’ve otherwise heard about, for an Italian colleague’s birthday. Food was excellent, went back repeatedly. Missus at the time had studied in Rome so was fluent-if-rusty, always received amazing welcome. Sadly the place did not survive the lockdown lunacy.

Because they don't spend any bluddy money. Look, you can scoff at the Schoffel/Fairfax and Favor brigade as much as you like. They are spending money, therefore the market will appeal to them. Not old farts on a forum pining for some rose-tinted memory of what country fairs used to look like. I think the problem is, as I mentioned above, a co-op/non-profit village show might be ok, but I just don't think you can (sustainably) scale it up to something the size of the Gamefair. You need professional organisation. And those people cost money, so you have be operating on a for-profit basis. That's not to say I agree with the astronomical prices being charged, but clearly the organisers and the stall holders are charging with the market will stand.

Quite correct, far better practice than creating yet another thread on the same topic. Wish some people on here were less trigger-happy with the 'create new topic' button and learnt to use search. The site's own or, in google entering site:forums.pigeonwatch.co.uk <your query here>

Ahh fair enough. I just couldn’t fathom my fellow travellers’ enthusiasm the last time I was there. Had what I presume was a good conversation with a duck & left without purchasing anything.