alastairq

For Christmas, there's always Lidls? What we need is a return to basics.....? But then, if everybody went back to basics, there'd be all that Christmas guff sitting in containers, ready for next year..or the year after? Which wouldn't do the economy any good whatsoever. In fact, I suspect the reality is, what we don't need is for folk to ''go back to basics''...as its the consumer greed which powers a big percentage of our economy.... Oh well, head down, load the shotgun [just in case..it's a good covid precaution]...and hope the winter fuel allowance isn't too late in coming?

It's this thing called 'common sense'' that helped create the fuel issue in the first place.

Sorry, no, it wasn't. There would have been a few Sevens competing..also possibly a Trojan or two...cannot recall as I gave away my provisional entry list to someone on the event...PR and all that.. I didn't get to see even half the entry, because the Clerk of Course radioed in to close the section before the main trial got there....With 300-odd competitors in a variety of classes [and routes, so that the specials had something more challenging to deal with]...even if they all arrive on their allotted time, they are all still running at one minute intervals....It only takes one or two to 'stop' on a section for queues to form, and delays to build up....All f which gives Officials even more of a headache, as the primary aim is to minimise the impact of our annual event on the locality and locals...I even had to deal with a party of [elderly, my age group] ramblers who had ignored [IE, failed to notice] the official County Council 'footpath closed' signs..and appeared, wishing to cross the section. of course, I suspended proceedings, but they asked us to continue as they were quite interested in watching. They had no idea of the history of the event, of the fact that similar had been organised by the MCC since before WW1, and every year afterwards...[except covid and War..two of them!] The Derbyshire event [annual, same time each year]....was what the Edinburgh Trial eventually became [combining two events, originally] since it is less of a challenge for any 2, 3 or 4 wheeler to get from London to Edinburgh and back within 24 hours these days. Before WW1 it was another matter entirely. But competitors managed it, all without satnav too!

Well, i , for one, don;t care which thread its in...

Also, folk who are shopping for places like kids' homes, etc.....? I recall a distant family birthday meal..dearest daughter's, as it happened, she had booked an American Burger restaurant in Bridlington....5 of us, so not a stingy meal, price-wise. Future SIL also there, he's a Chef as well...anyway, we came to order dessert [puddin']...soon there was a back room argument to be heard, between the chef and FOH....we wanted ice cream..someone had emptied the freezer of ice cream, why was ice cream still on the menu, etc etc? Anyway, next thing we saw, was the kitchen hand hurrying out of the front door with an ampty carrier bag, and a fist full of notes. Just opposite was a big Tescos, with late night opening. LAd soon returned, and we were served Tesco's finest ice cream SIL was not impressed, neither was DD, who left a caustic remark on the facebook page... Me? I didn't go a whole heap of the burger, never mind Tesco ice cream! Of late we have had Indian delivered....or SIL has turned up trumps with something exotic.. That's covid for you!

A fortnight ago I drove along a motorway or two. On my way to start up an observed section on this year's MCC Edinburgh Trial[ in Derbyshire, but that's close enough for me] Thankfully I took heed of the weather forecast, and used my daily dwiver instead of something older and more appropriate. So I did the journey [there and back, Derbyshire residents will be pleased to note] in my 02 suzuki Grand{!} Vitara....OK, maybe slightly the wrong thread here, but I'm a creature of habit. It's a 2 litre petrol, said to be generating some close to 130 bhpeees [but not at 1500 revs!] Returned somewhere in the region of 35 miles to the short gallon, of finest E 9 1/2 petrol. {No issues finding fuel, everybody else has been fighting over diesel!!] Anyhow, being an old fart, and retired, I kept to around the 55-60 mph mark [Around 2500 rpm. I tend to govern my speeds according to the rev counter, not some lorry drivers wishes!] M62 and a bit, M18 [all of it] and M1 to someplace called ''Chesterfield''... I did argue with google maps too, so stopped at the McDonalds drive thru for a saturday morning breakfast [sausage & egg McMuffin, and a coffee] Plenty of out-of-the-way space to park..then onwards to Darley Dale. The section [Clough Wood] is just beyond Darley Bridge.. Got there for half nine, which surprised me...normally , if I've hurried, I cant seem to get there before 10 30...I think the road out of Chesterfield must have shrunk with all the rain? Anyway, set up, changed stuff, several times, got only half the number of marshals who had signed on....Then proceeded to get very very wet. So wet that the term 'dry' became obsolete. Not the sort of job where one can sit in one's car...spent most of the day picking up motorcyclists and their bikes...bikes that, to me, seemed far too big and heavy for them. An Austin Seven[special] made an excellent climb of the section, which was incredibly slippery by then, not to mention the tons of crab apples on the track.. trying to pick up a heavy bike on a steep [ 1 in 2, 1 in 3, average] track, which is sunken as well, just wide enough for a car to fit up....not as easy as it first seems. I am still trying to figure out why a perfectly compost mental motorcyclist should be doing quite well ascending the section, only to turn sharp right straight into the bushes..? Before falling off in a leisurely heap....Not as if there's a reet load of space , either...the track [footpath,really] is quite narrow...Mind,ths would be around midday or so, and they'd been riding, on & off, since midnight the night before...we were roughly a half dozen sections from the end [section 16]...FAtigue being the major issue...and wetness.... Anyway, we closed relatively early as the section was cancelled due to delays further back in the trial , and the fact the section was becoming almost impossible to 'clean'.....losing time still around 4 pm, however, so, it was up sticks, collect scoring cards [waterproof card, 2B pencils]... The home again home again jiggity jigg! The rain was easing, and brightening up, however, sitting in a car with wet undies and squelchy boots meant, I upped my speed game once on the motorways....70 mph or so... the 4 lane stretch of the M1.I was , as usual, sitting in the left lane..when a BMW X summat came alongside, travelling at a good 10 mph faster..then, stayed there.... Now, I've seen this before....folk steam alongside, then literally cease to carry on overtaking.....it's as if they've gone snow blind! So I maintained my speed [as per Highway Code when being overtaken]...., and watched. Sure nuff, BMW driver starts to wander to his left, in towards the side of my vehicle. I sounded my horn and he swerved back to his lane.....then, a bit later on, he did the same thing! MAybe his turban had fallen over his eyes, or last night's curry was taking effect? Anyway I know not...so I accelerated a bit to get slightly ahead, and he wandered into lane 1 right behind me. I had to pass a slower lorry shortly after, so did so...I'm pretty sure a bit later, he'd proceeded to drive into the back of the lorry....given the brake lights, hazards, and zig zagging going on behind me....The lorry stopped, at any rate, as I disappeared into the gathering gloom... That BMW X thingy was full of passengers too....Quite what does, or does not go through the minds of folk out there, I know not. Anyway, shortly aferwards I dorve back into the rain storm that I had endured for most of the day. I won't be doing 70 mph on a motorway again, I can tell you....if all it achieves is to catch up with the foul weather one has just left behind?

Or, FAcebook? [Don't forget Facebook in all of this!!] I am glad Dave can recall junior school.....I darned well can't, although that might just have a tinge of the psychological about it? LIke my unnatural aversion to butter beans?

I note the 'traffic light' furrin travel system has quietly been disposed of? Much yippeeing from a large percentage of the less ancient population? Clever move by government, in my view. In concert with 'allowing' or , not preventing?] the ever increasing rise in infections....I see we are now being red-lighted by other countries...so the government no longer can be 'blamed' for restricting peoples' travel plans....let the other countries do it for us?? Turning us into the dirty man of the world is clever...

The so-called 'silent' majority? Perhaps the real issue on the part of the Government wasn't that they did, or did not, heed the 'advice' that was coming from Sage and others..but that they took the advice of those whose brief is to advise on the moods & responses of the voters? A psychology team? [or whatever 'ology they go under?} Perhaps it was that team that got it wrong?

Mention is made of Southeast Asia, and even, Italy. What is not mentioned [but was brought out by many, even on this thread, at the time?} is that the societies, the general populations, of these places are so vastly different in character, to the sorts of folk we have living in the UK. One only has to view the bleatings about 'not being able to fly off abroad for the hard-earned hols, etc etc? Also, good or bad, the UK [its population I should say...the ''voters'']...has decided to make itself the centre of the travelling world...a global transport hub. Not so easy, given our [self-imposed?] global responsibilities. to simply 'shut down' , when compared to places like SE Asia? Like it or not, politics was continually thrust to the fore...by media, mainly...social or otherwise....everyone trying to make a meal out of the situation.

Hmmm............! It was foreseen [on here as well as elsewhere] as far back as almost 18 months ago, that the inevitable inquests into 'what went wrong, and what didn't' would slam the State's responses to the pandemic [benefits of hindsight, eh?] Lives wasted? Well, if we as a whole can learn from what did,or did not go well, then I don't see how lives were 'wasted?' [Even the august WHO got it so very wrong to begin with, regarding masks, etc....being mired in dogma as they were?} Going back 188 pages of this thread alone explains much of why the UK Govt delayed lockdowns, etc. It's been a new event, imposed upon a very different society [with very different ''needs''] to what went before. In my mind, it could be said, the reports are as much an indictment against each & every member of the UK's society, as anything else. We all got it wrong...before, during, and no doubt , yet to come. But I doubt a large percentage of the UK population really care, as long as they can continue doing as they please anyway? As for me, I have still locked down....but , as far as I can recall, I've never been healthier than now...

However, it's worth being aware that, by removing the ethanol in this way, one is also reducing the octane rating of the fuel, which in itself can lead to engine damage. [Ethanol is also used as an anti-knock agent, it seems] For garden machinery which may stand idle for much of the time, it is probably best to obtain a specialist fuel for the purpose. Ths fuel doesn't have the same head end components as pump fuel, probably doesn't have any alcohol in it, so 'keeps' better in storage..but costs a lot more per litre....However, for a lawn mower, how much fel is it going to use? Personally I'd drain whatever fuel is left in a lawn mower tank once use has ceased.....[I'd stick the left overs in my Daihatsu 4trak..it'll run on anything.]

Out of interest, what is the RON [Octane rating] of the stuff sold as E10? Is what you describe as [the more expensive] 95RON, does that have a lower ethanol content than E10 fuel? [E10 can be 100 octane, or 80 octane [pool petrol?], or any octane rating the manufacturer intends...]

If a car has an engine management system {ECU, sensors, etc] then the ECU will adapt to any fuel/air ratio issues presented by that [up to?] 5% more ethanol in the mix. Poor old Carburetors will have a harder time of it, and may need some adjustment by owners to obtain optimum fuel/air ratios..which will be harder since one cannot guarantee from one fuelling to the next, what the actual ethanol content will be? If one has unknown [as yet] issues with sensors, etc on a modern than it might take the ECU a bit of time to make its adjustments. I suppose, like mobile phones, cheaper{?} ECUs might take longer, or not have the same sort of range of internal adjustment to fuel/air ratios that more expensive items? [I suppose, its like comparing Iphones with Huawei phones, or Peugeot ECUs with BMW ECUs?] Anyway, on the latter I am conjecturing.... What does not surprise me is the amount of flapp & panic finding out that petrol has been changed......via media, and the sudden flappic with fuel supplies...that I see amongst petrol buyers ahead of me in the queue at the tills...? Imagine the panic amongst rail commuters if they found their trains had opening windows, for example? That could bring down governments!

Good grief! If the effect of ''E10'' is that bad, then my cars must be entirely upside down! I've been running E10 now since it came out...[always assuming the fuel actually has 10% ethanol in it? Might well be less, as there's currently a shortage of teh ethanol itself, apparently] My 2002 Suzuki Grand Vitara, 2 litre petrol, runs exactly the same as it did on E5. I have zero problems overtaking anything in it, should the need arise. I will, as a matter of course [I never take any of my cars for granted in any respect....]..I shall inspect the rubber fuel lines, since I don't know if, in its past life, someone has replaced the originals with something cheaper off ebay? My 1967 Mustang 6 cylinder coupe runs very cleanly on E10, when compared to ordinary E5. I use the cheapest fuel in my oldies anyway. at around 22-24 mpg, paying up to 10 pence a litre more for the pointless supper petrol doesn't make sense. The engines were designed by Ford to run on gnat'spee fuel anyway. My Dellow, powered by a Ford 100E sidevalve engine, also runs very noticeably more smoothly at sub-3000 revs { most drivers usual traffic engine revs...we rarely drive around at 4000 rpm everywhere]... If an engine had a low enough compression ratio to be happy on 95 octane E5, then it'll be happy on 95 octane E10. I would imagine an Aston Martin DV8 might blanche at 95 octane fuel, however..but I don't have an Aston [nor do I want one!], so the problem doesn't exist. As for 'cars over 10 years old?' Well, how long is is since France introduced E10 fuel, anybody? Honestly, if the fuel lines on a 10 year old car haven't already been inspected & replaced with new, maybe the brake fluid ought to be looked at as well? Also, ethanol [alcohol, it's like vodka, only more socially acceptable!], is a very good 'cleaner'....so the introduction of a slightly higher ethanol content to one's fuel is bound to have a cleaning effect of all the crud and muck that an owner has totally ignored in their fuel tank and system. This will now descend towards the engine, which will in itself create issues. The only car on my fleet that thus far hasn't seen E10 is my '94 Daihatsu Fourtrak! It has, in the past, seen half a tank of E5 [by mistake, I was distracted by another customer going off on one!]...., mixed with a gallon or two of the diesel already in the tank...and ran just as sweetly as ever....[although I did add a small bottle of Halfrods Lawn mower oil, just to be reet] That 4trak, too, is excellent at overtaking stuff....when the mood strikes, or when the new cars in front get in my way. E10 is here to stay, It was 'demanded'.....for the same sorts of reasons why we got unleaded petrol. Electric is irrelevant to me,since I will never ever be able to afford, nor desire, to buy a new car in my lifetime! Besides, I'll be likely to forget to unplug the extension lead....

Less than 3% more fuel consumption? Well, maybe topping up one time more every few months might be deemed 'more often' in the strictest sense? https://www.fbhvc.co.uk/fuels

Indeed...but if there are no lights, how can a MOTman claim it's a 'light switch? Unless the switch wasn't very heavy?

When does a switch suddenly become a light switch?

That sounds about right. Mind, whilst the ethanol content of fuel is ''up to'' the percentage posted, there's no guarantee one is actually filling up with 10 % ethanol......it could be far less indeed. My local [Esssso] rural large fuel point told me they had instructions to simply 'mix' the E5 that was still in the tanks, and new fills of 95 octane E10. They also didn't change the labels to E10 until sometime after the changeover date....simply because Esso were still supplying [max-E5] 95 octane fuel up here, after that date. I also suspect much of the supply issue [keeping low stocks of fuel has been mentioned by others further up the thread]....stemmed from the observations that, last year especially, during the pandemic, there was a huge reduction in fuel usage [vehicle usage]....Since petrol has a short shelf life, and the constituent mixes of petrol change from season to season [modern-day cars being rather picky prima donnas regarding fuel], petrol retailers may have been reluctant to hold large stocks of a particular season's fuel if sales were depressed, perhaps? The excuse of 'tanker driver shortage', whilst being a fact [and has been for years]....meant that the fuel suppliers couldn't keep up with the vast increase in fuel demand, once we came out of lockdown...No boxes of instantly inflatable tanker drivers being stocked either. I also think we should give turkeys a nice Christmas for once....There's plenty of roadkill out there [Tesco's meat department, for example?] Mind, soon we will have to ration the opening of our freezers, as power demands exceed supply...until, at least, the poorer half of the country cannot afford to buy electricity any more? Then the better off [to quote Guardian, the 'white home owners?'] will have their power supplies restored.... Me? I'd be stuffed, as in my village we have no street lamps.

I recall coming across a Marlin whose owner had made effective use of the [perspex?] panels from redundant telephone boxes....nice & rigid!

I think the broken screws were the result of something far more important going wrong, so to speak...the failure of NR to ensure implementation of procedures, the failure of the existing testing technology, etc etc. etc all conspiring to relegate the track maintenance down to somebody plodding along 'kicking' the fixings. So to speak. In other words, a Systemic failure within NR, which fed down to the staff on the ground.

In the public sector, actually 'retiring' isn't something one does these days. One cannot be 'forced' to retire [by dint of age] in the older accepted sense . [Although, in the past. ''retirement'' is disguised by a failure to meet physical standards, for example?] So until and unless a person submits an official resignation, nothing can be done regarding recruitment or replacement until that day arrives. Which it isn't actually 'forced' to do, in the case of the Civil Service. IE one can submit a resignation, but one can withdraw it at any time... Thus line management is rather hamstrung in respect of recruitment. As TheQ might attest, there are rules within the military & Civil Service [counterparts, we were cheaper than military personnel doing a similar job]....regarding job qualifications. Whether its about degrees, or licence categories or, in my case, the number of years the licence has been held & used, which is partly dictated by law, partly by Military Rules. Currently at my last place of work [5 years gone hence]...the civilian staff shortages [lack of recruitment instigated by both LAbour & Conservative Govts....recruitment freezes, etc, has meant that military personnel have had to be draughted in as support. [That may save on overtime payments, but not on overall staff costs..they get paid more, and need looking after more, which costs. Plus, they 'unfortunately' learn to be civvies, it rubs off, you know!] The legacy of successive Chancellors tying to cut 'public' expenditure....Pay freezes, pay rise limits, recruitment freezes...all is well as long as it works. when it doesn't, Government of the day actually doesn't get to find out, or care, really......as long as it does not directly impinge on them or their sponsors. [A failure to work is seen as someone else's responsibility, not that of the policy makers.]

In my experience, the problem of soft tops and access stem from the need for older designs of soft top to be erected from outside the car? My Dellow has a soft top. Putting it up is like coping with an Erectaset. There is also a 'modern fitment' roll over bar [to US racing standards, slightly cut down as previous owner was much taller than me]...I can 'get in' [insert ?] with the top erected, but that requires me to actually lie across the passenger side in order to get my legs inside. This could not be done with a passenger in situ. It may be possible for a passenger to get in with the driver in situ [me]...but most of the driver's 'cab' is actually intruding on the passenger side anyway. I don't have a side screen set [very expensive to make]....There was a set at one time....last evidenced in a photo taken for a newspaper advert in the early 1990's, before it got snapped up by a yank, and shipped off to the States. Thus, the hoods effectiveness when driving in the rain is marginal. The gear lever stays dry, but that's about all! Also the windscreen wipers are ''of the age'', so pretty naff by modern standards....They work, mainy by ensuring the rain droplets are smeared across the screen as one large vertical puddle, which I can 'see through'... Intermittent wipe is achieved by my left hand twiddling the lever on the Lucas screen mounted wiper motor. Handily placed for any passenge to head-butt if I should stop too quickly. That's if the passenger can actually stick their forehead on their knees in the first place?

The issue of disappearing skills though retirement [or simply getting pee'd off with the situation], has been recognised by the UK Civil service for more than a decade, to my knowledge. For at least a decade and a half, the Civil service as a whole has[via Management Practice documents, official policies] attempted to address the growing problem of skills vanishing, by offering employees various means of continuing their work [IE, keeping their skills in place] under more amenable working conditions...such as part-time, semi-retirement, or even, returning to the workplace after a period of retirement. I'm not referring to the higher end grades/jobs, such as found in the plush office suites of Whitehall, but the lesser grades of posts, found up & down the country, with an awful lot of posts not actually involving desk-driving. The factors which Civil Service departments had no control over were the appallingly low wage levels [certainly when compared to the private sector equivalents], offset by whatever 'benefits' could be hacked out via the CS as a whole. [Nope, the pensions were,and are not, ''non-contributory' as is often thought. The contributions comes via other sources, much like indirect taxation does.] I personally became involved in the process well over 10 years ago now. But failed to get my local management to either [a] acknowledge the burgeoning issue] or be bothered to actually work out a practical solution. My department was indeed facing the issue of the aging, skilled, workforce. All knew it was occuring. But partly because we had an overarching military management [who thought the problem wouldn't exist , possibly because they 'said so?'] who tended to have a limited [2 year or so, ] view of the future..... I banged on for 6 years or more, application after application [to set a policy precedent, really], even getting support from the very top [Whitehall].... I presented argument, facts, projections, you name it. I had full Union support too.....but they saw me as the knowledgeable one, simply because I had trawled the MPDs..or, was bothered enough to do so. I presented to full Colonels, Brigadiers, B2 and B1 Civil service management, etc etc. but no joy, at my Establishment. Even when [in simple terms] told to 'sort it out' by Whitehall, they squirmingly refused.. From a personal viewpoint, having undergone a divorce back then, I could foresee a time when I would struggle, age-wise, to continue to work full time. Yet I also knew whatever pensions I had were minimalist to say the least.....[as was my lifestyle anyway]. So anything I could achieve in terms of getting my Establishment to sort out some sort of reduced time working , within the Civil Service Rules, must be a 'good thing' for an aging worker. In the end, having endured endless persuasion by friends, I simply bit the bullet, and 'up-sticks' and left, taking my pensions as I did. The announcement that I was going [being viewed I suspect as one of the Establishment's 'permanent fixtures'...?] brought, I was told, a bit of a shock wave further up the food chain. For, within the following 12 months something like 25% of the existing work force decided to do likewise. The result ? Instant change of tack... instituting several part-time working schemes, open to all instructors....none of which really resulted in a loss of earnings . The CS semi-retirement scheme does likewise, no actual loss of earnings from when working full time, but a good deal less actual attendance. A lot of my peers took advantage of the schemes available...they wanted to work into their older age [most of my peers were aged well in excess of the 50 mark, a few were actually over 70!]...but didn;t want the hassle of full time attendance. The part-time schemes worked very much in the employers favour as well. A massive reduction in self-certified sickness, or appointments for medical reasons [we were paid regardless....a trip to one's GP cost nothing but a half day away from work, if the appointment was timed well....] Now that sort of thing has almost disappeared, as the aging staff can do all this, effectively, in their own time, of which they have a lot more of. Staff leave also has become more manageable [we were allowed no more than around 22% absences at any one time...so if one wanted a day off, one had to look at the numbers already booked off?] Part-time staff actually finncially beenfitited as well, due to the Civil Service rules concerning when overtime was paid/triggered. The military have specific rules about under what conditions all the training add to be conducted. One of which was, much of had to be done by both day, and night! Driving, obvioulsy, but also vehicle operation, etc. Our Establishment at one point [before I left] had a higher overtime [and ll that went with it] bill than the rest of the Civil Service put together. Just in one Establishment! All 'paid for' by the various militaries...[all our work was in fact, paid for by the various cap badges/hats....RAF, NAvy, RM and Army, even FO and HO...they were our clients, our products being, appropriately & correctly trained personnel].... Indeed, some managers [who had to be present..rules, you know] made enough out of overtime alone to pay off mortgages, etc...Simply because, a lot of what we did during daylight hours, had to be repeated during the night. Problems of working Time directives, military working & driving hours, and so on, complicated matters as well. I should add, much of our work was actually combined with all arms basic training.....so all personnel, having undergone their basic [phase 1] training, then came to us for licences and other skills.....[phase 2]....unlike when I started, when it was a 'select few' who came through our tender hands. Anyhow, I digress... The point being, the skills shortages are not in any way a new thing. The CS saw the reduction in working hours, but retention of skills, as most important....if only to help pass on those skills to the 'up & coming' youngsters? Because of aging populations [workforces?], and difficulties with things like children, care requirements, etc.....part time working has to be the way forwards for a lot of the skills shortage issues. Because of an aging population part time working has to be the way to retain skills, in order to pass them on. But part-time working is seen as the province of the low -paid, far too much. When we read about 'part-time' work numbers, the impression we are given is the harassed single parent juggling with two or three part time jobs, on minimum wage or less, because an employer finds that a cheaper route. When in reality it ought to be an acknowledgement that older folk need to actually be working 'less',due to their physical [& mental] state...but still encouraged to remain within the workplace so that the skills are not lost forever.

But those on low incomes will have less & less...relying on the relatively comfortable middle income folks to buy more & more to compensate. The advantage of having a large number of low income earners is that they can still buy more, keeping the consumerist-driven economy going. By forcing basic living prices up, the low income bracket will therefore spend less on consumables...driving the economy down... The only way to even modestly maintain low income earners' buying power is to slash low income taxes [in my view] Which will upset the middle income comfortables? [Higher income earners won't care less anyway.] As a low income earner [pensions, and not very big ones either], to raise my income , all I have to do is fork out for a medical, and I can go back into the workplace...depriving a younger person of the chance of a job. All higher living prices do is drive poverty levels up, in this day & age. There are too many folk who rely upon some form of State financial assistance. Unfortunately, the State isn't interested in maintaining even a reasonable living standard for those not 'earning'... We have all voted to live in a market economy......[or rather, a 'devil-take-the-hindmost' economy] Because the 'haves' don't like the prospect of subsidising the 'have-nots'.