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Queen Elizabeth. Lessons from a life well lived. – politicalbetting.com

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  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,709

    Expanding slightly on Foxy's piece, the variation in life expectancy between different social groups, and different areas, is quite astonishing. In East Sussex, for example, there is something like a ten-year difference across just a few miles between the rural, generally prosperous north, and the less prosperous strip along the coast around Hastings.

    That takes us back to that John Burn-Murdoch piece that people have been discussing over the last few days. By the standards of the sort of countries we like to compare ourselves with, the UK is not a great place to be in the bottom third of the heap.

    If one is what might be called a Christian Democrat / wet Conservative, that ought to give pause for uncomfortable thought.
    Compared to most of the world it is, even compared to developed nations like the US or even Italy, Spain or Canada it still is. The best place to be poor is and always has been the Nordic countries but that is because they have the biggest welfare state
  • WhisperingOracleWhisperingOracle Posts: 8,480
    edited September 2022
    HYUFD said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Fishing said:

    An interesting thread, thanks. We have a number of posters with different areas of expertise here and it would be nice to read the occasional one about some random thing that people know a lot about, even if it's not directly and obviously related to political betting.

    Chilling out is another good tip. I've seen a study that says being under repeated and regular heavy stress shorterns your life by up to three years. Of course that's partly covered by no.3 - but arguably the antithesis of #2.

    I think not drinking to excess is certainly another tip. According to a random website: "One study found that people drinking more than 25 drinks a week have a shorter life expectancy by four to five years. Another study in Scandinavia concluded that people hospitalized for an alcohol use disorder had a lifespan that was 24 to 28 years fewer [sic] than the general population."

    I was wondering about religion too - whether its effect is explained through correlation with other variables. Religious people are I think significantly less likely to smoke and drink and more likely to get and stay married. So it isn't so much the belief in itself, rather that it is covered amongst the other pieces of advice you give.

    yes it really would be weird if being religious in itself added years to life (almost proving God in the sense of some divine intervention )
    There's a small negative correlation between religious belief and life expectancy at the country level.

    But that's almost certainly a simple byproduct of poorer countries being more religious.
    Even if you took the religious and compared to the non religious in poorer nations I expect the religious would come on top, with the exception of Islamic jihadis for obvious reasons
    Yes, Quakers, Sufis, Buddhists and probably a fair amount of Church of England people I suspect would do well, violent suicide bombers not quite so well.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,771
    As an aside, I don't think anyone has really noticed, but Murkowski looks like she's in real trouble in Alaska.

    A lot of polls (even accounting for ranked choice), have put her Republican challenger ahead of her, so the Senate may well lose one of its most independent actors.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 43,624

    HYUFD said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Fishing said:

    An interesting thread, thanks. We have a number of posters with different areas of expertise here and it would be nice to read the occasional one about some random thing that people know a lot about, even if it's not directly and obviously related to political betting.

    Chilling out is another good tip. I've seen a study that says being under repeated and regular heavy stress shorterns your life by up to three years. Of course that's partly covered by no.3 - but arguably the antithesis of #2.

    I think not drinking to excess is certainly another tip. According to a random website: "One study found that people drinking more than 25 drinks a week have a shorter life expectancy by four to five years. Another study in Scandinavia concluded that people hospitalized for an alcohol use disorder had a lifespan that was 24 to 28 years fewer [sic] than the general population."

    I was wondering about religion too - whether its effect is explained through correlation with other variables. Religious people are I think significantly less likely to smoke and drink and more likely to get and stay married. So it isn't so much the belief in itself, rather that it is covered amongst the other pieces of advice you give.

    yes it really would be weird if being religious in itself added years to life (almost proving God in the sense of some divine intervention )
    There's a small negative correlation between religious belief and life expectancy at the country level.

    But that's almost certainly a simple byproduct of poorer countries being more religious.
    Even if you took the religious and compared to the non religious in poorer nations I expect the religious would come on top, with the exception of Islamic jihadis for obvious reasons
    Yes, Quakers, Sufis, Buddhists and probably a fair amount of Church of England people I suspect would do well, violent suicide bombers not quite so well.
    When I worked for a global oil company, I met a retired chap who came in the office. A former pilot for many years, he had started his flying career as a kamikaze pilot in WWII….
  • rcs1000 said:

    As an aside, I don't think anyone has really noticed, but Murkowski looks like she's in real trouble in Alaska.

    A lot of polls (even accounting for ranked choice), have put her Republican challenger ahead of her, so the Senate may well lose one of its most independent actors.

    A lot of polls? I've only seen one recent poll. Could you provide references for these please?
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 43,624

    HYUFD said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Fishing said:

    An interesting thread, thanks. We have a number of posters with different areas of expertise here and it would be nice to read the occasional one about some random thing that people know a lot about, even if it's not directly and obviously related to political betting.

    Chilling out is another good tip. I've seen a study that says being under repeated and regular heavy stress shorterns your life by up to three years. Of course that's partly covered by no.3 - but arguably the antithesis of #2.

    I think not drinking to excess is certainly another tip. According to a random website: "One study found that people drinking more than 25 drinks a week have a shorter life expectancy by four to five years. Another study in Scandinavia concluded that people hospitalized for an alcohol use disorder had a lifespan that was 24 to 28 years fewer [sic] than the general population."

    I was wondering about religion too - whether its effect is explained through correlation with other variables. Religious people are I think significantly less likely to smoke and drink and more likely to get and stay married. So it isn't so much the belief in itself, rather that it is covered amongst the other pieces of advice you give.

    yes it really would be weird if being religious in itself added years to life (almost proving God in the sense of some divine intervention )
    There's a small negative correlation between religious belief and life expectancy at the country level.

    But that's almost certainly a simple byproduct of poorer countries being more religious.
    Even if you took the religious and compared to the non religious in poorer nations I expect the religious would come on top, with the exception of Islamic jihadis for obvious reasons
    Yes, Quakers, Sufis, Buddhists and probably a fair amount of Church of England people I suspect would do well, violent suicide bombers not quite so well.
    When I worked for a global oil company, I met a retired chap who came in the office. A former pilot for many years, he had started his flying career as a kamikaze pilot in WWII….
    He can't have been very good at it.
    Lack of opportunity. They trained thousands for the expected invasion of Japan and held them in reserve.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 39,149

    HYUFD said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Fishing said:

    An interesting thread, thanks. We have a number of posters with different areas of expertise here and it would be nice to read the occasional one about some random thing that people know a lot about, even if it's not directly and obviously related to political betting.

    Chilling out is another good tip. I've seen a study that says being under repeated and regular heavy stress shorterns your life by up to three years. Of course that's partly covered by no.3 - but arguably the antithesis of #2.

    I think not drinking to excess is certainly another tip. According to a random website: "One study found that people drinking more than 25 drinks a week have a shorter life expectancy by four to five years. Another study in Scandinavia concluded that people hospitalized for an alcohol use disorder had a lifespan that was 24 to 28 years fewer [sic] than the general population."

    I was wondering about religion too - whether its effect is explained through correlation with other variables. Religious people are I think significantly less likely to smoke and drink and more likely to get and stay married. So it isn't so much the belief in itself, rather that it is covered amongst the other pieces of advice you give.

    yes it really would be weird if being religious in itself added years to life (almost proving God in the sense of some divine intervention )
    There's a small negative correlation between religious belief and life expectancy at the country level.

    But that's almost certainly a simple byproduct of poorer countries being more religious.
    Even if you took the religious and compared to the non religious in poorer nations I expect the religious would come on top, with the exception of Islamic jihadis for obvious reasons
    Yes, Quakers, Sufis, Buddhists and probably a fair amount of Church of England people I suspect would do well, violent suicide bombers not quite so well.
    When I worked for a global oil company, I met a retired chap who came in the office. A former pilot for many years, he had started his flying career as a kamikaze pilot in WWII….
    He wasn't a very good kamikaze pilot then?
    Didn't finish the training course before the bomb dropped. Though IIRC a few did go on missions and came back for lack of targets. Must be a let-down.
  • Is THIS quote from Leon (previous thread) why he got banned?

    Leon: ". . . I will do my my duty, skip the ludicrous "queue", then penetrate the queen in her box . . ."
  • The people's princess Queen flint-knapper. Taken from us for inevitable arrogant I am above the law guffage.

    Begin the period of national mourning. 1 minute compulsory drinking at 8pm tonite.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 39,149

    HYUFD said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Fishing said:

    An interesting thread, thanks. We have a number of posters with different areas of expertise here and it would be nice to read the occasional one about some random thing that people know a lot about, even if it's not directly and obviously related to political betting.

    Chilling out is another good tip. I've seen a study that says being under repeated and regular heavy stress shorterns your life by up to three years. Of course that's partly covered by no.3 - but arguably the antithesis of #2.

    I think not drinking to excess is certainly another tip. According to a random website: "One study found that people drinking more than 25 drinks a week have a shorter life expectancy by four to five years. Another study in Scandinavia concluded that people hospitalized for an alcohol use disorder had a lifespan that was 24 to 28 years fewer [sic] than the general population."

    I was wondering about religion too - whether its effect is explained through correlation with other variables. Religious people are I think significantly less likely to smoke and drink and more likely to get and stay married. So it isn't so much the belief in itself, rather that it is covered amongst the other pieces of advice you give.

    yes it really would be weird if being religious in itself added years to life (almost proving God in the sense of some divine intervention )
    There's a small negative correlation between religious belief and life expectancy at the country level.

    But that's almost certainly a simple byproduct of poorer countries being more religious.
    Even if you took the religious and compared to the non religious in poorer nations I expect the religious would come on top, with the exception of Islamic jihadis for obvious reasons
    Yes, Quakers, Sufis, Buddhists and probably a fair amount of Church of England people I suspect would do well, violent suicide bombers not quite so well.
    When I worked for a global oil company, I met a retired chap who came in the office. A former pilot for many years, he had started his flying career as a kamikaze pilot in WWII….
    He can't have been very good at it.
    Lack of opportunity. They trained thousands for the expected invasion of Japan and held them in reserve.
    Ditto kamikaze motorboaters and kamikaze frogmen.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 18,087
    edited September 2022
    kle4 said:

    Long live the Hobbit King? On why Charles could be the right king for the new age.

    The Hobbit King: Charles III is far more interested in the benefits of traditional English hedgerows than the great, global glory of Britain.
    https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2022/09/king-charles-queen-elizabeth-funeral-death/671457/

    I think that's not a good piece - he does quite a lot of skating over detail to make the world fit his title.

    I prefer this one by Helen Lewis on 'The Second Elizabethan Age Has Ended' .
    https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/09/queen-elizabeth-ii-death-british-royal-family-transition/671370/
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 43,624
    edited September 2022
    Carnyx said:

    HYUFD said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Fishing said:

    An interesting thread, thanks. We have a number of posters with different areas of expertise here and it would be nice to read the occasional one about some random thing that people know a lot about, even if it's not directly and obviously related to political betting.

    Chilling out is another good tip. I've seen a study that says being under repeated and regular heavy stress shorterns your life by up to three years. Of course that's partly covered by no.3 - but arguably the antithesis of #2.

    I think not drinking to excess is certainly another tip. According to a random website: "One study found that people drinking more than 25 drinks a week have a shorter life expectancy by four to five years. Another study in Scandinavia concluded that people hospitalized for an alcohol use disorder had a lifespan that was 24 to 28 years fewer [sic] than the general population."

    I was wondering about religion too - whether its effect is explained through correlation with other variables. Religious people are I think significantly less likely to smoke and drink and more likely to get and stay married. So it isn't so much the belief in itself, rather that it is covered amongst the other pieces of advice you give.

    yes it really would be weird if being religious in itself added years to life (almost proving God in the sense of some divine intervention )
    There's a small negative correlation between religious belief and life expectancy at the country level.

    But that's almost certainly a simple byproduct of poorer countries being more religious.
    Even if you took the religious and compared to the non religious in poorer nations I expect the religious would come on top, with the exception of Islamic jihadis for obvious reasons
    Yes, Quakers, Sufis, Buddhists and probably a fair amount of Church of England people I suspect would do well, violent suicide bombers not quite so well.
    When I worked for a global oil company, I met a retired chap who came in the office. A former pilot for many years, he had started his flying career as a kamikaze pilot in WWII….
    He can't have been very good at it.
    Lack of opportunity. They trained thousands for the expected invasion of Japan and held them in reserve.
    Ditto kamikaze motorboaters and kamikaze frogmen.
    A number of whom seem to have reached astonishing ages appearing in various documentaries.

    Edit: in a comic twist that shows how stuffed the Japanese were, being detailed for such suicide duties turned out to give you a much better chance of surviving the war than the conventional military options…
  • MattWMattW Posts: 18,087

    HYUFD said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Fishing said:

    An interesting thread, thanks. We have a number of posters with different areas of expertise here and it would be nice to read the occasional one about some random thing that people know a lot about, even if it's not directly and obviously related to political betting.

    Chilling out is another good tip. I've seen a study that says being under repeated and regular heavy stress shorterns your life by up to three years. Of course that's partly covered by no.3 - but arguably the antithesis of #2.

    I think not drinking to excess is certainly another tip. According to a random website: "One study found that people drinking more than 25 drinks a week have a shorter life expectancy by four to five years. Another study in Scandinavia concluded that people hospitalized for an alcohol use disorder had a lifespan that was 24 to 28 years fewer [sic] than the general population."

    I was wondering about religion too - whether its effect is explained through correlation with other variables. Religious people are I think significantly less likely to smoke and drink and more likely to get and stay married. So it isn't so much the belief in itself, rather that it is covered amongst the other pieces of advice you give.

    yes it really would be weird if being religious in itself added years to life (almost proving God in the sense of some divine intervention )
    There's a small negative correlation between religious belief and life expectancy at the country level.

    But that's almost certainly a simple byproduct of poorer countries being more religious.
    Even if you took the religious and compared to the non religious in poorer nations I expect the religious would come on top, with the exception of Islamic jihadis for obvious reasons
    Yes, Quakers, Sufis, Buddhists and probably a fair amount of Church of England people I suspect would do well, violent suicide bombers not quite so well.
    When I worked for a global oil company, I met a retired chap who came in the office. A former pilot for many years, he had started his flying career as a kamikaze pilot in WWII….
    Bowlers, Roman Catholics, Dancers and High Anglicans stay flexible in their joints.
  • kle4 said:

    Eight people?!

    In fact, there has been escalating use of lying in state in America — with eight people doing so in Washington since 2018 — whilst this is only the second such British ceremony since Winston Churchill in 1965. It is today *mostly an American occurrence.*

    https://twitter.com/b_judah/status/1571504089934053376?cxt=HHwWgIC-uZipjc8rAAAA

    I'd also add that the Americans are obsessed by queuing. They will do it for hours for anything from getting into a good barbeque place to casting a vote.

    Americans are NOT in the same league as Brits when it comes to standing in line (the words "queue" and "queuing being virtually unknown to Americans who are NOT either English majors OR super-fans of PBS).

    For example, in USA people will wait in a sort of line to board a bus, but it will be NOTHING as organized (or as respected) as in UK.
  • Regarding Leon's sudden demise.

    Did he shake hands with Liz Truss as well?
  • Excellent piece, @Foxy

    I enjoyed it.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 43,624

    kle4 said:

    Eight people?!

    In fact, there has been escalating use of lying in state in America — with eight people doing so in Washington since 2018 — whilst this is only the second such British ceremony since Winston Churchill in 1965. It is today *mostly an American occurrence.*

    https://twitter.com/b_judah/status/1571504089934053376?cxt=HHwWgIC-uZipjc8rAAAA

    I'd also add that the Americans are obsessed by queuing. They will do it for hours for anything from getting into a good barbeque place to casting a vote.

    Americans are NOT in the same league as Brits when it comes to standing in line (the words "queue" and "queuing being virtually unknown to Americans who are NOT either English majors OR super-fans of PBS).

    For example, in USA people will wait in a sort of line to board a bus, but it will be NOTHING as organized (or as respected) as in UK.
    At Dunkirk, a senior French officer was astonished and impressed by the queues and their self organisation.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 24,586

    Is THIS quote from Leon (previous thread) why he got banned?

    Leon: ". . . I will do my my duty, skip the ludicrous "queue", then penetrate the queen in her box . . ."

    Oh dear! That really isn't respectful.

    I am no Royalist yet even I am offended.
  • DynamoDynamo Posts: 651
    7. Be filthy rich and have peasants waiting on you hand and foot all your life.
  • vinovino Posts: 151
    Has anyone else been contacted by their energy supplier to inform of their new tariff. Octopus Energy has told me my direct debit payment will be lowered by 43% from October.

    • The Government have announced a 2 year Energy Price Guarantee, capping the increase in prices to £2,500 for a typical home
    • The £400 energy bill support scheme will also go ahead with monthly payments from October to March
    • This combination of a reduced cap and winter credits means while some unit rates will rise around 30%, typical annual costs will increase less than 10%
    • These discounts will be applied automatically: you don't need to do anything
    • Your new unit rates will match the Energy Price Guarantee, but your Octopus standing charges will be 4% lower – so you will be saving compared to Energy Price Guarantee rates from October 1
    • We're not adjusting monthly payments yet for the new prices. We'll review your payments in the coming weeks and send you a recommendation should they need adjusting
    • However from October to March your payments will be reduced by £ XX [ENDATED], as part of the Energy Bill Support Scheme
    • We're working hard to help those who need it most this winter. Details below

    Well done Liz!!
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,771

    rcs1000 said:

    As an aside, I don't think anyone has really noticed, but Murkowski looks like she's in real trouble in Alaska.

    A lot of polls (even accounting for ranked choice), have put her Republican challenger ahead of her, so the Senate may well lose one of its most independent actors.

    A lot of polls? I've only seen one recent poll. Could you provide references for these please?
    Ah: my list of polls was showing the AARP poll as three polls (!), with All Adults, Registered Voters and Likely Voters showing as three different results.

    More accurately: there have been two likely voter polls since the start of July in Alaska: one shows Murkowski ahead by four points, the other shows a tied race.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 43,624

    Carnyx said:

    HYUFD said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Fishing said:

    An interesting thread, thanks. We have a number of posters with different areas of expertise here and it would be nice to read the occasional one about some random thing that people know a lot about, even if it's not directly and obviously related to political betting.

    Chilling out is another good tip. I've seen a study that says being under repeated and regular heavy stress shorterns your life by up to three years. Of course that's partly covered by no.3 - but arguably the antithesis of #2.

    I think not drinking to excess is certainly another tip. According to a random website: "One study found that people drinking more than 25 drinks a week have a shorter life expectancy by four to five years. Another study in Scandinavia concluded that people hospitalized for an alcohol use disorder had a lifespan that was 24 to 28 years fewer [sic] than the general population."

    I was wondering about religion too - whether its effect is explained through correlation with other variables. Religious people are I think significantly less likely to smoke and drink and more likely to get and stay married. So it isn't so much the belief in itself, rather that it is covered amongst the other pieces of advice you give.

    yes it really would be weird if being religious in itself added years to life (almost proving God in the sense of some divine intervention )
    There's a small negative correlation between religious belief and life expectancy at the country level.

    But that's almost certainly a simple byproduct of poorer countries being more religious.
    Even if you took the religious and compared to the non religious in poorer nations I expect the religious would come on top, with the exception of Islamic jihadis for obvious reasons
    Yes, Quakers, Sufis, Buddhists and probably a fair amount of Church of England people I suspect would do well, violent suicide bombers not quite so well.
    When I worked for a global oil company, I met a retired chap who came in the office. A former pilot for many years, he had started his flying career as a kamikaze pilot in WWII….
    He can't have been very good at it.
    Lack of opportunity. They trained thousands for the expected invasion of Japan and held them in reserve.
    Ditto kamikaze motorboaters and kamikaze frogmen.
    A number of whom seem to have reached astonishing ages appearing in various documentaries.

    Edit: in a comic twist that shows how stuffed the Japanese were, being detailed for such suicide duties turned out to give you a much better chance of surviving the war than the conventional military options…
    Come to think of it, this would mean, among a certain demographic that having been a Kamikazee was an indicator of longer life…
  • CD13CD13 Posts: 6,349
    edited September 2022
    Dr Fox,

    Hormesis is interesting, but easy to misinterpret. However radiation can be bracing as they say in Skeggy.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hormesis
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 91,400
    Dynamo said:

    7. Be filthy rich and have peasants waiting on you hand and foot all your life.

    Absurdity - peasants don't get anywhere near the top echelons. Don't think even a yeoman would be worthy.
  • Am shocked that that noted royalist (in more ways than one) "Sir" Donald Trump, cannot be bothered to fly to London so he too can pay his respects to QEII.

    As we have seen, no invite required to join The Queue. PLUS he could probably join the VIP line, as former (or secret) POTUS. Or he could snag a press pass as the senior correspondent for Truth Social?
  • TazTaz Posts: 10,704

    Is THIS quote from Leon (previous thread) why he got banned?

    Leon: ". . . I will do my my duty, skip the ludicrous "queue", then penetrate the queen in her box . . ."

    I wouldn’t have thought so. People make far more offensive comments about fellow posters that don’t draw sanction.

    It is rather tasteless.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 24,586
    vino said:

    Has anyone else been contacted by their energy supplier to inform of their new tariff. Octopus Energy has told me my direct debit payment will be lowered by 43% from October.

    • The Government have announced a 2 year Energy Price Guarantee, capping the increase in prices to £2,500 for a typical home
    • The £400 energy bill support scheme will also go ahead with monthly payments from October to March
    • This combination of a reduced cap and winter credits means while some unit rates will rise around 30%, typical annual costs will increase less than 10%
    • These discounts will be applied automatically: you don't need to do anything
    • Your new unit rates will match the Energy Price Guarantee, but your Octopus standing charges will be 4% lower – so you will be saving compared to Energy Price Guarantee rates from October 1
    • We're not adjusting monthly payments yet for the new prices. We'll review your payments in the coming weeks and send you a recommendation should they need adjusting
    • However from October to March your payments will be reduced by £ XX [ENDATED], as part of the Energy Bill Support Scheme
    • We're working hard to help those who need it most this winter. Details below

    Well done Liz!!

    Thank you Mr Kwartang.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 91,400
    If true, at least shows the Russians think they may come under pressure in the city itself?

    Southern Command: Russian forces stage shooting in Kherson to accuse Ukraine of urban warfare.

    Ukrainian military said Russian troops are shooting on the streets of occupied Kherson to frame Ukrainian troops and allege that Kyiv is endangering civilians.

    https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1571522150498009090?cxt=HHwWhIC8kbrElc8rAAAA
  • TazTaz Posts: 10,704

    Regarding Leon's sudden demise.

    Did he shake hands with Liz Truss as well?

    Presumably he will regenerate into a new user ?
  • FrankBoothFrankBooth Posts: 9,005

    kle4 said:

    Eight people?!

    In fact, there has been escalating use of lying in state in America — with eight people doing so in Washington since 2018 — whilst this is only the second such British ceremony since Winston Churchill in 1965. It is today *mostly an American occurrence.*

    https://twitter.com/b_judah/status/1571504089934053376?cxt=HHwWgIC-uZipjc8rAAAA

    I'd also add that the Americans are obsessed by queuing. They will do it for hours for anything from getting into a good barbeque place to casting a vote.

    I presume the voting remark was meant wryly.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 39,149
    kle4 said:

    Dynamo said:

    7. Be filthy rich and have peasants waiting on you hand and foot all your life.

    Absurdity - peasants don't get anywhere near the top echelons. Don't think even a yeoman would be worthy.
    Yep, our King's namesakes had their botties wiped for them by Marquises and Earls. Maybe.

    "It is a matter of some debate as to whether the duties involved cleaning the king's anus, but the groom is known to have been responsible for supplying a bowl, water and towels and also for monitoring the king's diet and bowel movements[6] and liaising with the Royal Doctor about the king's health."

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groom_of_the_Stool#Grooms_of_the_Stool_to_Charles_I_(1625–1649)
  • vino said:

    Has anyone else been contacted by their energy supplier to inform of their new tariff. Octopus Energy has told me my direct debit payment will be lowered by 43% from October.

    • The Government have announced a 2 year Energy Price Guarantee, capping the increase in prices to £2,500 for a typical home
    • The £400 energy bill support scheme will also go ahead with monthly payments from October to March
    • This combination of a reduced cap and winter credits means while some unit rates will rise around 30%, typical annual costs will increase less than 10%
    • These discounts will be applied automatically: you don't need to do anything
    • Your new unit rates will match the Energy Price Guarantee, but your Octopus standing charges will be 4% lower – so you will be saving compared to Energy Price Guarantee rates from October 1
    • We're not adjusting monthly payments yet for the new prices. We'll review your payments in the coming weeks and send you a recommendation should they need adjusting
    • However from October to March your payments will be reduced by £ XX [ENDATED], as part of the Energy Bill Support Scheme
    • We're working hard to help those who need it most this winter. Details below

    Well done Liz!!

    Thank you Mr Kwartang.
    Actually I believe that everyone is to receive a personal energy statement on similar lines before the 1st October
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 39,149
    Taz said:

    Is THIS quote from Leon (previous thread) why he got banned?

    Leon: ". . . I will do my my duty, skip the ludicrous "queue", then penetrate the queen in her box . . ."

    I wouldn’t have thought so. People make far more offensive comments about fellow posters that don’t draw sanction.

    It is rather tasteless.
    But about HM? Soome of us get *very* excited about treason and sedition and republicanism.
  • ohnotnowohnotnow Posts: 2,803
    vino said:

    Has anyone else been contacted by their energy supplier to inform of their new tariff. Octopus Energy has told me my direct debit payment will be lowered by 43% from October.

    • The Government have announced a 2 year Energy Price Guarantee, capping the increase in prices to £2,500 for a typical home
    • The £400 energy bill support scheme will also go ahead with monthly payments from October to March
    • This combination of a reduced cap and winter credits means while some unit rates will rise around 30%, typical annual costs will increase less than 10%
    • These discounts will be applied automatically: you don't need to do anything
    • Your new unit rates will match the Energy Price Guarantee, but your Octopus standing charges will be 4% lower – so you will be saving compared to Energy Price Guarantee rates from October 1
    • We're not adjusting monthly payments yet for the new prices. We'll review your payments in the coming weeks and send you a recommendation should they need adjusting
    • However from October to March your payments will be reduced by £ XX [ENDATED], as part of the Energy Bill Support Scheme
    • We're working hard to help those who need it most this winter. Details below

    Well done Liz!!

    Somewhat related - my smart meter has stopped sending gas readings to my supplier so I'm having to do manual readings like some sort of savage.

    Oh, the humanity.
  • vinovino Posts: 151

    vino said:

    Has anyone else been contacted by their energy supplier to inform of their new tariff. Octopus Energy has told me my direct debit payment will be lowered by 43% from October.

    • The Government have announced a 2 year Energy Price Guarantee, capping the increase in prices to £2,500 for a typical home
    • The £400 energy bill support scheme will also go ahead with monthly payments from October to March
    • This combination of a reduced cap and winter credits means while some unit rates will rise around 30%, typical annual costs will increase less than 10%
    • These discounts will be applied automatically: you don't need to do anything
    • Your new unit rates will match the Energy Price Guarantee, but your Octopus standing charges will be 4% lower – so you will be saving compared to Energy Price Guarantee rates from October 1
    • We're not adjusting monthly payments yet for the new prices. We'll review your payments in the coming weeks and send you a recommendation should they need adjusting
    • However from October to March your payments will be reduced by £ XX [ENDATED], as part of the Energy Bill Support Scheme
    • We're working hard to help those who need it most this winter. Details below

    Well done Liz!!

    Thank you Mr Kwartang.
    Yes but who appointed Mr Kwartang?
  • TazTaz Posts: 10,704
    Carnyx said:

    kle4 said:

    Dynamo said:

    7. Be filthy rich and have peasants waiting on you hand and foot all your life.

    Absurdity - peasants don't get anywhere near the top echelons. Don't think even a yeoman would be worthy.
    Yep, our King's namesakes had their botties wiped for them by Marquises and Earls. Maybe.

    "It is a matter of some debate as to whether the duties involved cleaning the king's anus, but the groom is known to have been responsible for supplying a bowl, water and towels and also for monitoring the king's diet and bowel movements[6] and liaising with the Royal Doctor about the king's health."

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groom_of_the_Stool#Grooms_of_the_Stool_to_Charles_I_(1625–1649)
    The modern day equivalent being the royal correspondent of the Daily Mail.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 49,959

    Expanding slightly on Foxy's piece, the variation in life expectancy between different social groups, and different areas, is quite astonishing. In East Sussex, for example, there is something like a ten-year difference across just a few miles between the rural, generally prosperous north, and the less prosperous strip along the coast around Hastings.

    It is quite easy to give up the will to live, in Hastings....
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 15,242
    edited September 2022
    rcs1000 said:

    As an aside, I don't think anyone has really noticed, but Murkowski looks like she's in real trouble in Alaska.

    A lot of polls (even accounting for ranked choice), have put her Republican challenger ahead of her, so the Senate may well lose one of its most independent actors.

    Are you factoring in 2nd-choice support? Seeing as how it's a Ranked Choice election featuring four candidates on the ballot?

    EDIT - Four being incumbent Lisa Murkowski (Republican), Kelly Tshibaka (Republican Putinist), Pat Chesbro (Democrat) and Buzz Kelley (Republican who's announced he's dropped out BUT his name will be on the ballot).
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 39,149
    Taz said:

    Carnyx said:

    kle4 said:

    Dynamo said:

    7. Be filthy rich and have peasants waiting on you hand and foot all your life.

    Absurdity - peasants don't get anywhere near the top echelons. Don't think even a yeoman would be worthy.
    Yep, our King's namesakes had their botties wiped for them by Marquises and Earls. Maybe.

    "It is a matter of some debate as to whether the duties involved cleaning the king's anus, but the groom is known to have been responsible for supplying a bowl, water and towels and also for monitoring the king's diet and bowel movements[6] and liaising with the Royal Doctor about the king's health."

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groom_of_the_Stool#Grooms_of_the_Stool_to_Charles_I_(1625–1649)
    The modern day equivalent being the royal correspondent of the Daily Mail.
    Wouldn'ty that leave a grimy, oily skidmark?
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 39,149
    ohnotnow said:

    vino said:

    Has anyone else been contacted by their energy supplier to inform of their new tariff. Octopus Energy has told me my direct debit payment will be lowered by 43% from October.

    • The Government have announced a 2 year Energy Price Guarantee, capping the increase in prices to £2,500 for a typical home
    • The £400 energy bill support scheme will also go ahead with monthly payments from October to March
    • This combination of a reduced cap and winter credits means while some unit rates will rise around 30%, typical annual costs will increase less than 10%
    • These discounts will be applied automatically: you don't need to do anything
    • Your new unit rates will match the Energy Price Guarantee, but your Octopus standing charges will be 4% lower – so you will be saving compared to Energy Price Guarantee rates from October 1
    • We're not adjusting monthly payments yet for the new prices. We'll review your payments in the coming weeks and send you a recommendation should they need adjusting
    • However from October to March your payments will be reduced by £ XX [ENDATED], as part of the Energy Bill Support Scheme
    • We're working hard to help those who need it most this winter. Details below

    Well done Liz!!

    Somewhat related - my smart meter has stopped sending gas readings to my supplier so I'm having to do manual readings like some sort of savage.

    Oh, the humanity.
    Ooh, you have a Braille meter? How clever it must be.
  • A new account will be arriving shortly, Sean, sorry Leon's replacement.

    Is doxxing an acceptable behaviour in your neck of the woods?
    The guiltiest poster when it comes to doxxing Leon, is Leon.
    It's not doxxing if every time Sean makes a new account, he tells us it is him. He does it so obviously you'd have to be thick to not get it.
  • IcarusIcarus Posts: 885
    7). Gin and Dubonnet worked for The Queen Mother - she lasted even longer!
  • So people in the UK who believe in heaven have to wait longer to get there.

    There's irony.
  • vinovino Posts: 151
    ohnotnow said:

    vino said:

    Has anyone else been contacted by their energy supplier to inform of their new tariff. Octopus Energy has told me my direct debit payment will be lowered by 43% from October.

    • The Government have announced a 2 year Energy Price Guarantee, capping the increase in prices to £2,500 for a typical home
    • The £400 energy bill support scheme will also go ahead with monthly payments from October to March
    • This combination of a reduced cap and winter credits means while some unit rates will rise around 30%, typical annual costs will increase less than 10%
    • These discounts will be applied automatically: you don't need to do anything
    • Your new unit rates will match the Energy Price Guarantee, but your Octopus standing charges will be 4% lower – so you will be saving compared to Energy Price Guarantee rates from October 1
    • We're not adjusting monthly payments yet for the new prices. We'll review your payments in the coming weeks and send you a recommendation should they need adjusting
    • However from October to March your payments will be reduced by £ XX [ENDATED], as part of the Energy Bill Support Scheme
    • We're working hard to help those who need it most this winter. Details below

    Well done Liz!!

    Somewhat related - my smart meter has stopped sending gas readings to my supplier so I'm having to do manual readings like some sort of savage.

    Oh, the humanity.
    Still do mine manually on the 19th of every month and Octopus are good at sending my bill very quickly
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 49,959

    Carnyx said:

    ydoethur said:

    A new account will be arriving shortly, Sean, sorry Leon's replacement.

    Is doxxing an acceptable behaviour in your neck of the woods?
    The guiltiest poster when it comes to doxxing Leon, is Leon.
    I remember when one of [REDACTED] identities was banned, I joked that this would lead any new poster for the next three weeks to be suspected of being the next [REDACTED] sockpuppet. This led to a rather irritable reply from Mike, 'You can spot them a mile off.'

    I suspect that Leon's successor, if he does not in fact decide to apologise for whatever caused the problem and continue his merrily entertaining discussions of custom made flint sex toys, will be similarly easy to notice...
    Oh dear, what happened?
    Woke aliens kidnapped @Leon

    “I felt a great disturbance in the #Bullshit as if millions of @SeanTs suddenly cried out and were suddenly silenced”
    I gather it was Her Majesty's greatest regret that she never met him....
  • Carnyx said:

    ydoethur said:

    A new account will be arriving shortly, Sean, sorry Leon's replacement.

    Is doxxing an acceptable behaviour in your neck of the woods?
    The guiltiest poster when it comes to doxxing Leon, is Leon.
    I remember when one of [REDACTED] identities was banned, I joked that this would lead any new poster for the next three weeks to be suspected of being the next [REDACTED] sockpuppet. This led to a rather irritable reply from Mike, 'You can spot them a mile off.'

    I suspect that Leon's successor, if he does not in fact decide to apologise for whatever caused the problem and continue his merrily entertaining discussions of custom made flint sex toys, will be similarly easy to notice...
    Oh dear, what happened?
    Woke aliens kidnapped @Leon

    “I felt a great disturbance in the #Bullshit as if millions of @SeanTs suddenly cried out and were suddenly silenced”
    I gather it was Her Majesty's greatest regret that she never met him....
    Though Leon was apparently a guest of Her Majesty's at one time, for some time?
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 24,586
    vino said:

    vino said:

    Has anyone else been contacted by their energy supplier to inform of their new tariff. Octopus Energy has told me my direct debit payment will be lowered by 43% from October.

    • The Government have announced a 2 year Energy Price Guarantee, capping the increase in prices to £2,500 for a typical home
    • The £400 energy bill support scheme will also go ahead with monthly payments from October to March
    • This combination of a reduced cap and winter credits means while some unit rates will rise around 30%, typical annual costs will increase less than 10%
    • These discounts will be applied automatically: you don't need to do anything
    • Your new unit rates will match the Energy Price Guarantee, but your Octopus standing charges will be 4% lower – so you will be saving compared to Energy Price Guarantee rates from October 1
    • We're not adjusting monthly payments yet for the new prices. We'll review your payments in the coming weeks and send you a recommendation should they need adjusting
    • However from October to March your payments will be reduced by £ XX [ENDATED], as part of the Energy Bill Support Scheme
    • We're working hard to help those who need it most this winter. Details below

    Well done Liz!!

    Thank you Mr Kwartang.
    Yes but who appointed Mr Kwartang?
    No, no. I was assuming you are Mr Kwartang. Nice Treasury sales pitch Sir.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    Icarus said:

    7). Gin and Dubonnet worked for The Queen Mother - she lasted even longer!

    Late to the party, see the first post. HMQ also drank G & D.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,069

    kle4 said:

    Eight people?!

    In fact, there has been escalating use of lying in state in America — with eight people doing so in Washington since 2018 — whilst this is only the second such British ceremony since Winston Churchill in 1965. It is today *mostly an American occurrence.*

    https://twitter.com/b_judah/status/1571504089934053376?cxt=HHwWgIC-uZipjc8rAAAA

    I'd also add that the Americans are obsessed by queuing. They will do it for hours for anything from getting into a good barbeque place to casting a vote.

    Americans are NOT in the same league as Brits when it comes to standing in line (the words "queue" and "queuing being virtually unknown to Americans who are NOT either English majors OR super-fans of PBS).

    For example, in USA people will wait in a sort of line to board a bus, but it will be NOTHING as organized (or as respected) as in UK.
    My favourite queue is the one at Waterloo for the Waterloo and City line, or at least how it was 30 years ago, when it was briefly part of my daily commute.

    The crowd would silently form up in queue formatted as columns, 3 abreast in almost complete silence. The heads of the queue would be to the left had side of the carriages when the train pulled in. Arrivals would get off and move off to their left hand side, and as the last one departed the queue columns would enter.

    If everyone had been choreographed it couldn't have been more efficient or disciplined. I guess the regulars set the tone for the novices like myself.
  • pingping Posts: 3,724
    edited September 2022
    On topic

    Great piece, although I would add, surely, unlimited private medical care is a factor?

    I doubt anyone in the Windsor family has ever had to fight like hell in a long telephone queue just to get an GP appointment at 8am.

    My mother’s experience of trying to access decent medical care over the last few years has been appalling.

    Eventiually she’s been able to get relevant tests done and, just now she’s had an emergency referral for a potential blood cancer diagnosis.

    Her life may well have been significantly shortened because she didn’t have access to the same sort of medical care that Windsors get.

    We’ll find out in a few weeks.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 38,851
    MattW said:

    kle4 said:

    Long live the Hobbit King? On why Charles could be the right king for the new age.

    The Hobbit King: Charles III is far more interested in the benefits of traditional English hedgerows than the great, global glory of Britain.
    https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2022/09/king-charles-queen-elizabeth-funeral-death/671457/

    I think that's not a good piece - he does quite a lot of skating over detail to make the world fit his title.

    I prefer this one by Helen Lewis on 'The Second Elizabethan Age Has Ended' .
    https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/09/queen-elizabeth-ii-death-british-royal-family-transition/671370/
    These type pieces are fun to read but are essentially a confection. In fact the only thing that's changed is the individual on the throne. And given the role is decorative - you appear at things - what it boils down to is nothing has really changed. The "era" is created by projecting a shape onto it and by analysing events in history to get the shape you want. This is a suspect exercise even when done from a couple of centuries distance. To do it with no distance at all to work with is pure entertainment.
  • Thought of the day.

    Is Coffey the first health secretary in NHS history to care more about commas than comas?

    And more about colons than colons?
  • MattWMattW Posts: 18,087
    edited September 2022

    vino said:

    Has anyone else been contacted by their energy supplier to inform of their new tariff. Octopus Energy has told me my direct debit payment will be lowered by 43% from October.

    • The Government have announced a 2 year Energy Price Guarantee, capping the increase in prices to £2,500 for a typical home
    • The £400 energy bill support scheme will also go ahead with monthly payments from October to March
    • This combination of a reduced cap and winter credits means while some unit rates will rise around 30%, typical annual costs will increase less than 10%
    • These discounts will be applied automatically: you don't need to do anything
    • Your new unit rates will match the Energy Price Guarantee, but your Octopus standing charges will be 4% lower – so you will be saving compared to Energy Price Guarantee rates from October 1
    • We're not adjusting monthly payments yet for the new prices. We'll review your payments in the coming weeks and send you a recommendation should they need adjusting
    • However from October to March your payments will be reduced by £ XX [ENDATED], as part of the Energy Bill Support Scheme
    • We're working hard to help those who need it most this winter. Details below

    Well done Liz!!

    Thank you Mr Kwartang.
    Have to admit that I have started calling him Kwazy Kwarteng, given some of the stuff he seems to want to do - particularly the short-sighted stuff around industry.

    OTOH, I have had an email from Octopussy, who tell me I will be receiving £67 per month from October as the first installment of the £400.

    Since my monthly payment is £65 and the credit balance has been increasing all summer, I am officially in profit from October 1st - subject to the increased price cap, which (I hope) will be more than balanced by the different tariff I am switching to.

    Unless the winter gas bills go bezique.

    My smart meter display unit has still not picked up the gas readings after 2 months, though the meter has.
  • vinovino Posts: 151

    vino said:

    vino said:

    Has anyone else been contacted by their energy supplier to inform of their new tariff. Octopus Energy has told me my direct debit payment will be lowered by 43% from October.

    • The Government have announced a 2 year Energy Price Guarantee, capping the increase in prices to £2,500 for a typical home
    • The £400 energy bill support scheme will also go ahead with monthly payments from October to March
    • This combination of a reduced cap and winter credits means while some unit rates will rise around 30%, typical annual costs will increase less than 10%
    • These discounts will be applied automatically: you don't need to do anything
    • Your new unit rates will match the Energy Price Guarantee, but your Octopus standing charges will be 4% lower – so you will be saving compared to Energy Price Guarantee rates from October 1
    • We're not adjusting monthly payments yet for the new prices. We'll review your payments in the coming weeks and send you a recommendation should they need adjusting
    • However from October to March your payments will be reduced by £ XX [ENDATED], as part of the Energy Bill Support Scheme
    • We're working hard to help those who need it most this winter. Details below

    Well done Liz!!

    Thank you Mr Kwartang.
    Yes but who appointed Mr Kwartang?
    No, no. I was assuming you are Mr Kwartang. Nice Treasury sales pitch Sir.
    Yes but if the vast majority of the voting public get a similar email what effect will it have?
  • CookieCookie Posts: 11,184

    kle4 said:

    Eight people?!

    In fact, there has been escalating use of lying in state in America — with eight people doing so in Washington since 2018 — whilst this is only the second such British ceremony since Winston Churchill in 1965. It is today *mostly an American occurrence.*

    https://twitter.com/b_judah/status/1571504089934053376?cxt=HHwWgIC-uZipjc8rAAAA

    I'd also add that the Americans are obsessed by queuing. They will do it for hours for anything from getting into a good barbeque place to casting a vote.

    Americans are NOT in the same league as Brits when it comes to standing in line (the words "queue" and "queuing being virtually unknown to Americans who are NOT either English majors OR super-fans of PBS).

    For example, in USA people will wait in a sort of line to board a bus, but it will be NOTHING as organized (or as respected) as in UK.
    The bus queue is the one most frequently cited. But in my experience, bus queues more often than not tend to operate more like barber queues. A lot of people wait around - it is your duty when you turn up to note the order of everyone's arrival and board the bus in that order. But there is rarely a 'line' as such.

    The true British genius for queuing can be observed where there are two separate queues for equally acceptable results - like people to serve you in a sandwich shop. Left unmarshalled, the British will naturally form one queue, the front person of which goes to whoever is next available. In my limited experience, that doesn't tend to happen abroad.
  • DynamoDynamo Posts: 651
    edited September 2022

    Expanding slightly on Foxy's piece, the variation in life expectancy between different social groups, and different areas, is quite astonishing. In East Sussex, for example, there is something like a ten-year difference across just a few miles between the rural, generally prosperous north, and the less prosperous strip along the coast around Hastings.

    Pick any big city in Britain and compare its richest area with its poorest area and the difference is likely to be 20 years or more. Death at ~85 and death at ~65. I have no stats for this. Just an impression. Some women in poor areas live into their 90s, but many of both sexes are doing quite well if they make it to retirement age.

    That chart says women in the most deprived decile have LE of ~78... Doesn't tally with what I've seen. But I am going by ages at which people actually die, which is of course different from LE.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,069

    vino said:

    Has anyone else been contacted by their energy supplier to inform of their new tariff. Octopus Energy has told me my direct debit payment will be lowered by 43% from October.

    • The Government have announced a 2 year Energy Price Guarantee, capping the increase in prices to £2,500 for a typical home
    • The £400 energy bill support scheme will also go ahead with monthly payments from October to March
    • This combination of a reduced cap and winter credits means while some unit rates will rise around 30%, typical annual costs will increase less than 10%
    • These discounts will be applied automatically: you don't need to do anything
    • Your new unit rates will match the Energy Price Guarantee, but your Octopus standing charges will be 4% lower – so you will be saving compared to Energy Price Guarantee rates from October 1
    • We're not adjusting monthly payments yet for the new prices. We'll review your payments in the coming weeks and send you a recommendation should they need adjusting
    • However from October to March your payments will be reduced by £ XX [ENDATED], as part of the Energy Bill Support Scheme
    • We're working hard to help those who need it most this winter. Details below

    Well done Liz!!

    Thank you Mr Kwartang.
    Actually I believe that everyone is to receive a personal energy statement on similar lines before the 1st October
    I too am with Octopus and quite impressed. They are stopping some forms of advertising and putting the savings into a hardship fund in order to spend standing charges for 6 months for some vulnerable customers.

    It is no great thank you to Ms Truss though, we will be paying off the resultant debt in other forms
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 24,586
    edited September 2022

    A new account will be arriving shortly, Sean, sorry Leon's replacement.

    Is doxxing an acceptable behaviour in your neck of the woods?
    The guiltiest poster when it comes to doxxing Leon, is Leon.
    It's not doxxing if every time Sean makes a new account, he tells us it is him. He does it so obviously you'd have to be thick to not get it.
    I'll know the moment a new poster comes up with a lazy and tasteless ASD stereotype, which will anger me greatly.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,069
    Dynamo said:

    Expanding slightly on Foxy's piece, the variation in life expectancy between different social groups, and different areas, is quite astonishing. In East Sussex, for example, there is something like a ten-year difference across just a few miles between the rural, generally prosperous north, and the less prosperous strip along the coast around Hastings.

    Pick any big city in Britain and compare its richest area with its poorest area and the difference is likely to be 20 years or more. Death at ~85 and death at ~65. I have no stats for this. Just an impression. Some women in poor areas live into their 90s, but many of both sexes are doing quite well if they make it to retirement age.
    The UK stats don't really bear that out. The difference in longevity for females between top and bottom decides is 7 years. It is healthy life expectancy that differs by 20 years.

  • vinovino Posts: 151
    Foxy said:

    vino said:

    Has anyone else been contacted by their energy supplier to inform of their new tariff. Octopus Energy has told me my direct debit payment will be lowered by 43% from October.

    • The Government have announced a 2 year Energy Price Guarantee, capping the increase in prices to £2,500 for a typical home
    • The £400 energy bill support scheme will also go ahead with monthly payments from October to March
    • This combination of a reduced cap and winter credits means while some unit rates will rise around 30%, typical annual costs will increase less than 10%
    • These discounts will be applied automatically: you don't need to do anything
    • Your new unit rates will match the Energy Price Guarantee, but your Octopus standing charges will be 4% lower – so you will be saving compared to Energy Price Guarantee rates from October 1
    • We're not adjusting monthly payments yet for the new prices. We'll review your payments in the coming weeks and send you a recommendation should they need adjusting
    • However from October to March your payments will be reduced by £ XX [ENDATED], as part of the Energy Bill Support Scheme
    • We're working hard to help those who need it most this winter. Details below

    Well done Liz!!

    Thank you Mr Kwartang.
    Actually I believe that everyone is to receive a personal energy statement on similar lines before the 1st October
    I too am with Octopus and quite impressed. They are stopping some forms of advertising and putting the savings into a hardship fund in order to spend standing charges for 6 months for some vulnerable customers.

    It is no great thank you to Ms Truss though, we will be paying off the resultant debt in other forms
    Again she will get the credit.
  • Carnyx said:

    vino said:

    Foxy said:

    vino said:

    Has anyone else been contacted by their energy supplier to inform of their new tariff. Octopus Energy has told me my direct debit payment will be lowered by 43% from October.

    • The Government have announced a 2 year Energy Price Guarantee, capping the increase in prices to £2,500 for a typical home
    • The £400 energy bill support scheme will also go ahead with monthly payments from October to March
    • This combination of a reduced cap and winter credits means while some unit rates will rise around 30%, typical annual costs will increase less than 10%
    • These discounts will be applied automatically: you don't need to do anything
    • Your new unit rates will match the Energy Price Guarantee, but your Octopus standing charges will be 4% lower – so you will be saving compared to Energy Price Guarantee rates from October 1
    • We're not adjusting monthly payments yet for the new prices. We'll review your payments in the coming weeks and send you a recommendation should they need adjusting
    • However from October to March your payments will be reduced by £ XX [ENDATED], as part of the Energy Bill Support Scheme
    • We're working hard to help those who need it most this winter. Details below

    Well done Liz!!

    Thank you Mr Kwartang.
    Actually I believe that everyone is to receive a personal energy statement on similar lines before the 1st October
    I too am with Octopus and quite impressed. They are stopping some forms of advertising and putting the savings into a hardship fund in order to spend standing charges for 6 months for some vulnerable customers.

    It is no great thank you to Ms Truss though, we will be paying off the resultant debt in other forms
    Again she will get the credit.
    She certainly is paying it on credit.
    If you don't want that, don't ask for Government expenditure.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    Dynamo said:

    Expanding slightly on Foxy's piece, the variation in life expectancy between different social groups, and different areas, is quite astonishing. In East Sussex, for example, there is something like a ten-year difference across just a few miles between the rural, generally prosperous north, and the less prosperous strip along the coast around Hastings.

    Pick any big city in Britain and compare its richest area with its poorest area and the difference is likely to be 20 years or more. Death at ~85 and death at ~65. I have no stats for this. Just an impression. Some women in poor areas live into their 90s, but many of both sexes are doing quite well if they make it to retirement age.

    That chart says women in the most deprived decile have LE of ~78... Doesn't tally with what I've seen. But I am going by ages at which people actually die, which is of course different from LE.
    The spread is 5 or 6 years not 20.
  • vinovino Posts: 151
    Carnyx said:

    vino said:

    Foxy said:

    vino said:

    Has anyone else been contacted by their energy supplier to inform of their new tariff. Octopus Energy has told me my direct debit payment will be lowered by 43% from October.

    • The Government have announced a 2 year Energy Price Guarantee, capping the increase in prices to £2,500 for a typical home
    • The £400 energy bill support scheme will also go ahead with monthly payments from October to March
    • This combination of a reduced cap and winter credits means while some unit rates will rise around 30%, typical annual costs will increase less than 10%
    • These discounts will be applied automatically: you don't need to do anything
    • Your new unit rates will match the Energy Price Guarantee, but your Octopus standing charges will be 4% lower – so you will be saving compared to Energy Price Guarantee rates from October 1
    • We're not adjusting monthly payments yet for the new prices. We'll review your payments in the coming weeks and send you a recommendation should they need adjusting
    • However from October to March your payments will be reduced by £ XX [ENDATED], as part of the Energy Bill Support Scheme
    • We're working hard to help those who need it most this winter. Details below

    Well done Liz!!

    Thank you Mr Kwartang.
    Actually I believe that everyone is to receive a personal energy statement on similar lines before the 1st October
    I too am with Octopus and quite impressed. They are stopping some forms of advertising and putting the savings into a hardship fund in order to spend standing charges for 6 months for some vulnerable customers.

    It is no great thank you to Ms Truss though, we will be paying off the resultant debt in other forms
    Again she will get the credit.
    She certainly is paying it on credit.
    You think the voting electorate will be bothered?
  • Foxy said:

    Dynamo said:

    Expanding slightly on Foxy's piece, the variation in life expectancy between different social groups, and different areas, is quite astonishing. In East Sussex, for example, there is something like a ten-year difference across just a few miles between the rural, generally prosperous north, and the less prosperous strip along the coast around Hastings.

    Pick any big city in Britain and compare its richest area with its poorest area and the difference is likely to be 20 years or more. Death at ~85 and death at ~65. I have no stats for this. Just an impression. Some women in poor areas live into their 90s, but many of both sexes are doing quite well if they make it to retirement age.
    The UK stats don't really bear that out. The difference in longevity for females between top and bottom decides is 7 years. It is healthy life expectancy that differs by 20 years.
    That struck me from eyeballing the graph WRT men too - as we’ve discussed since that FT analysis, this is not a great country to be poor in.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 39,149
    vino said:

    Carnyx said:

    vino said:

    Foxy said:

    vino said:

    Has anyone else been contacted by their energy supplier to inform of their new tariff. Octopus Energy has told me my direct debit payment will be lowered by 43% from October.

    • The Government have announced a 2 year Energy Price Guarantee, capping the increase in prices to £2,500 for a typical home
    • The £400 energy bill support scheme will also go ahead with monthly payments from October to March
    • This combination of a reduced cap and winter credits means while some unit rates will rise around 30%, typical annual costs will increase less than 10%
    • These discounts will be applied automatically: you don't need to do anything
    • Your new unit rates will match the Energy Price Guarantee, but your Octopus standing charges will be 4% lower – so you will be saving compared to Energy Price Guarantee rates from October 1
    • We're not adjusting monthly payments yet for the new prices. We'll review your payments in the coming weeks and send you a recommendation should they need adjusting
    • However from October to March your payments will be reduced by £ XX [ENDATED], as part of the Energy Bill Support Scheme
    • We're working hard to help those who need it most this winter. Details below

    Well done Liz!!

    Thank you Mr Kwartang.
    Actually I believe that everyone is to receive a personal energy statement on similar lines before the 1st October
    I too am with Octopus and quite impressed. They are stopping some forms of advertising and putting the savings into a hardship fund in order to spend standing charges for 6 months for some vulnerable customers.

    It is no great thank you to Ms Truss though, we will be paying off the resultant debt in other forms
    Again she will get the credit.
    She certainly is paying it on credit.
    You think the voting electorate will be bothered?
    Indeed.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 18,087
    edited September 2022
    Cookie said:

    kle4 said:

    Eight people?!

    In fact, there has been escalating use of lying in state in America — with eight people doing so in Washington since 2018 — whilst this is only the second such British ceremony since Winston Churchill in 1965. It is today *mostly an American occurrence.*

    https://twitter.com/b_judah/status/1571504089934053376?cxt=HHwWgIC-uZipjc8rAAAA

    I'd also add that the Americans are obsessed by queuing. They will do it for hours for anything from getting into a good barbeque place to casting a vote.

    Americans are NOT in the same league as Brits when it comes to standing in line (the words "queue" and "queuing being virtually unknown to Americans who are NOT either English majors OR super-fans of PBS).

    For example, in USA people will wait in a sort of line to board a bus, but it will be NOTHING as organized (or as respected) as in UK.
    The bus queue is the one most frequently cited. But in my experience, bus queues more often than not tend to operate more like barber queues. A lot of people wait around - it is your duty when you turn up to note the order of everyone's arrival and board the bus in that order. But there is rarely a 'line' as such.

    The true British genius for queuing can be observed where there are two separate queues for equally acceptable results - like people to serve you in a sandwich shop. Left unmarshalled, the British will naturally form one queue, the front person of which goes to whoever is next available. In my limited experience, that doesn't tend to happen abroad.
    That's an interesting contrast to "merge in turn" on the roads, which other countries call "zip queueing".

    On our roads this is terrible, with it being routine to see selfish drivers blocking a second lane to prevent all the road space being used, or closing the gap to 3cm to prevent someone from another lane merging in.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 18,087
    Foxy said:

    Dynamo said:

    Expanding slightly on Foxy's piece, the variation in life expectancy between different social groups, and different areas, is quite astonishing. In East Sussex, for example, there is something like a ten-year difference across just a few miles between the rural, generally prosperous north, and the less prosperous strip along the coast around Hastings.

    Pick any big city in Britain and compare its richest area with its poorest area and the difference is likely to be 20 years or more. Death at ~85 and death at ~65. I have no stats for this. Just an impression. Some women in poor areas live into their 90s, but many of both sexes are doing quite well if they make it to retirement age.
    The UK stats don't really bear that out. The difference in longevity for females between top and bottom decides is 7 years. It is healthy life expectancy that differs by 20 years.

    * Intense admiration for the Doctor's politeness *
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,074
    On my afternoon walk today I saw this -


  • ohnotnowohnotnow Posts: 2,803
    vino said:

    ohnotnow said:

    vino said:

    Has anyone else been contacted by their energy supplier to inform of their new tariff. Octopus Energy has told me my direct debit payment will be lowered by 43% from October.

    • The Government have announced a 2 year Energy Price Guarantee, capping the increase in prices to £2,500 for a typical home
    • The £400 energy bill support scheme will also go ahead with monthly payments from October to March
    • This combination of a reduced cap and winter credits means while some unit rates will rise around 30%, typical annual costs will increase less than 10%
    • These discounts will be applied automatically: you don't need to do anything
    • Your new unit rates will match the Energy Price Guarantee, but your Octopus standing charges will be 4% lower – so you will be saving compared to Energy Price Guarantee rates from October 1
    • We're not adjusting monthly payments yet for the new prices. We'll review your payments in the coming weeks and send you a recommendation should they need adjusting
    • However from October to March your payments will be reduced by £ XX [ENDATED], as part of the Energy Bill Support Scheme
    • We're working hard to help those who need it most this winter. Details below

    Well done Liz!!

    Somewhat related - my smart meter has stopped sending gas readings to my supplier so I'm having to do manual readings like some sort of savage.

    Oh, the humanity.
    Still do mine manually on the 19th of every month and Octopus are good at sending my bill very quickly
    I'm with Octopus too. When I first switched to them a year or so ago they said my smart meter didn't support sending gas readings. So I pointed it it had happily been doing so to my previous supplier for about five years. After a month or two it started working. So I'm guessing some switch has been flipped at their end or mine that's buggered it up again.

    But still.

    I feel like I've slipped back to a world where I have to put a shilling in the meter and crank a big cast iron handle until the coin goes ker-chunk.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 24,586

    Carnyx said:

    vino said:

    Foxy said:

    vino said:

    Has anyone else been contacted by their energy supplier to inform of their new tariff. Octopus Energy has told me my direct debit payment will be lowered by 43% from October.

    • The Government have announced a 2 year Energy Price Guarantee, capping the increase in prices to £2,500 for a typical home
    • The £400 energy bill support scheme will also go ahead with monthly payments from October to March
    • This combination of a reduced cap and winter credits means while some unit rates will rise around 30%, typical annual costs will increase less than 10%
    • These discounts will be applied automatically: you don't need to do anything
    • Your new unit rates will match the Energy Price Guarantee, but your Octopus standing charges will be 4% lower – so you will be saving compared to Energy Price Guarantee rates from October 1
    • We're not adjusting monthly payments yet for the new prices. We'll review your payments in the coming weeks and send you a recommendation should they need adjusting
    • However from October to March your payments will be reduced by £ XX [ENDATED], as part of the Energy Bill Support Scheme
    • We're working hard to help those who need it most this winter. Details below

    Well done Liz!!

    Thank you Mr Kwartang.
    Actually I believe that everyone is to receive a personal energy statement on similar lines before the 1st October
    I too am with Octopus and quite impressed. They are stopping some forms of advertising and putting the savings into a hardship fund in order to spend standing charges for 6 months for some vulnerable customers.

    It is no great thank you to Ms Truss though, we will be paying off the resultant debt in other forms
    Again she will get the credit.
    She certainly is paying it on credit.
    If you don't want that, don't ask for Government expenditure.
    One of the key reasons you detested Brown was his propensity to borrow out of trouble. Why is it OK now?

    Asking for a friend.
  • boulayboulay Posts: 3,773
    edited September 2022
    MattW said:

    Cookie said:

    kle4 said:

    Eight people?!

    In fact, there has been escalating use of lying in state in America — with eight people doing so in Washington since 2018 — whilst this is only the second such British ceremony since Winston Churchill in 1965. It is today *mostly an American occurrence.*

    https://twitter.com/b_judah/status/1571504089934053376?cxt=HHwWgIC-uZipjc8rAAAA

    I'd also add that the Americans are obsessed by queuing. They will do it for hours for anything from getting into a good barbeque place to casting a vote.

    Americans are NOT in the same league as Brits when it comes to standing in line (the words "queue" and "queuing being virtually unknown to Americans who are NOT either English majors OR super-fans of PBS).

    For example, in USA people will wait in a sort of line to board a bus, but it will be NOTHING as organized (or as respected) as in UK.
    The bus queue is the one most frequently cited. But in my experience, bus queues more often than not tend to operate more like barber queues. A lot of people wait around - it is your duty when you turn up to note the order of everyone's arrival and board the bus in that order. But there is rarely a 'line' as such.

    The true British genius for queuing can be observed where there are two separate queues for equally acceptable results - like people to serve you in a sandwich shop. Left unmarshalled, the British will naturally form one queue, the front person of which goes to whoever is next available. In my limited experience, that doesn't tend to happen abroad.
    That's an interesting contrast to "merge in turn" on the roads, which other countries call "zip queueing".

    On our roads this is terrible, with it being routine to see selfish drivers blocking a second lane to prevent all the road space being used, or closing the gap to 3cm to
    prevent someone from another lane merging in.
    We have something called “filter in turn” where for example a two lane road becomes one. Everyone seems to respect it and works well. It’s also used on a very busy but small roundabout which is a junction of three main artery roads - priority to the right but it’s filter in turn otherwise it’s possible you could sit waiting in one of the roads for decades and get nowhere but at least it allows for steady movement.

  • Regarding Leon's sudden demise.

    Did he shake hands with Liz Truss as well?

    No but he did shake hands regularly with one of her admirers.
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 35,765
    Carnyx said:

    kle4 said:

    Dynamo said:

    7. Be filthy rich and have peasants waiting on you hand and foot all your life.

    Absurdity - peasants don't get anywhere near the top echelons. Don't think even a yeoman would be worthy.
    Yep, our King's namesakes had their botties wiped for them by Marquises and Earls. Maybe.

    "It is a matter of some debate as to whether the duties involved cleaning the king's anus, but the groom is known to have been responsible for supplying a bowl, water and towels and also for monitoring the king's diet and bowel movements[6] and liaising with the Royal Doctor about the king's health."

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groom_of_the_Stool#Grooms_of_the_Stool_to_Charles_I_(1625–1649)
    Henry VIII would have been among the least pleasant to have to tend, as he became morbidly obese.

    Thomas Culpepper had to clean the pus from the royal leg ulcer. Wiping the royal anus, for a man who was severely constipated, and took emetics, would have been most unpleasant.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 11,184
    MattW said:

    Cookie said:

    kle4 said:

    Eight people?!

    In fact, there has been escalating use of lying in state in America — with eight people doing so in Washington since 2018 — whilst this is only the second such British ceremony since Winston Churchill in 1965. It is today *mostly an American occurrence.*

    https://twitter.com/b_judah/status/1571504089934053376?cxt=HHwWgIC-uZipjc8rAAAA

    I'd also add that the Americans are obsessed by queuing. They will do it for hours for anything from getting into a good barbeque place to casting a vote.

    Americans are NOT in the same league as Brits when it comes to standing in line (the words "queue" and "queuing being virtually unknown to Americans who are NOT either English majors OR super-fans of PBS).

    For example, in USA people will wait in a sort of line to board a bus, but it will be NOTHING as organized (or as respected) as in UK.
    The bus queue is the one most frequently cited. But in my experience, bus queues more often than not tend to operate more like barber queues. A lot of people wait around - it is your duty when you turn up to note the order of everyone's arrival and board the bus in that order. But there is rarely a 'line' as such.

    The true British genius for queuing can be observed where there are two separate queues for equally acceptable results - like people to serve you in a sandwich shop. Left unmarshalled, the British will naturally form one queue, the front person of which goes to whoever is next available. In my limited experience, that doesn't tend to happen abroad.
    That's an interesting contrast to "merge in turn" on the roads, which other countries call "zip queueing".

    On our roads this is terrible, with it being routine to see selfish drivers blocking a second lane to prevent all the road space being used, or closing the gap to 3cm to prevent someone from another lane merging in.
    Queues on roads are very different.
    Picture this: a motorway, lanes 2 and 3 are closed up ahead.
    Every time some arrogant fucker in the outside lane whizzes past the queue in lane 1 for half a mile, the kind soul who lets him cut in at the last minute is putting back not just himself but the long queue of drivers behind him who are doing the right thing.
    The people closing the gap to 3cm are rewarding the virtuous and punishing the wicked.

    These things would work a lot better with a bit more thought put into how the queuing will work.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 24,586

    Regarding Leon's sudden demise.

    Did he shake hands with Liz Truss as well?

    No but he did shake hands regularly with one of her admirers.
    Didn't he once write a thesis on hand shaking?
  • CookieCookie Posts: 11,184
    boulay said:

    MattW said:

    Cookie said:

    kle4 said:

    Eight people?!

    In fact, there has been escalating use of lying in state in America — with eight people doing so in Washington since 2018 — whilst this is only the second such British ceremony since Winston Churchill in 1965. It is today *mostly an American occurrence.*

    https://twitter.com/b_judah/status/1571504089934053376?cxt=HHwWgIC-uZipjc8rAAAA

    I'd also add that the Americans are obsessed by queuing. They will do it for hours for anything from getting into a good barbeque place to casting a vote.

    Americans are NOT in the same league as Brits when it comes to standing in line (the words "queue" and "queuing being virtually unknown to Americans who are NOT either English majors OR super-fans of PBS).

    For example, in USA people will wait in a sort of line to board a bus, but it will be NOTHING as organized (or as respected) as in UK.
    The bus queue is the one most frequently cited. But in my experience, bus queues more often than not tend to operate more like barber queues. A lot of people wait around - it is your duty when you turn up to note the order of everyone's arrival and board the bus in that order. But there is rarely a 'line' as such.

    The true British genius for queuing can be observed where there are two separate queues for equally acceptable results - like people to serve you in a sandwich shop. Left unmarshalled, the British will naturally form one queue, the front person of which goes to whoever is next available. In my limited experience, that doesn't tend to happen abroad.
    That's an interesting contrast to "merge in turn" on the roads, which other countries call "zip queueing".

    On our roads this is terrible, with it being routine to see selfish drivers blocking a second lane to prevent all the road space being used, or closing the gap to 3cm to
    prevent someone from another lane merging in.
    We have something called “filter in turn” where for example a two lane road becomes one. Everyone seems to respect it and works well. It’s also used on a very busy but small roundabout which is a junction of three main artery roads - priority to the right but it’s filter in turn otherwise it’s possible you could sit waiting in one of the roads for decades and get nowhere but at least it allows for steady movement.

    Who is 'we' in this case?
    I remember on a childhood holiday to Jersey being very impressed by filter in turn junctions, and coming home and setting up my cardboard road and matchbox cars with such an arrangement.
    I was possibly a slightly odd child.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 43,624
    Foxy said:

    Dynamo said:

    Expanding slightly on Foxy's piece, the variation in life expectancy between different social groups, and different areas, is quite astonishing. In East Sussex, for example, there is something like a ten-year difference across just a few miles between the rural, generally prosperous north, and the less prosperous strip along the coast around Hastings.

    Pick any big city in Britain and compare its richest area with its poorest area and the difference is likely to be 20 years or more. Death at ~85 and death at ~65. I have no stats for this. Just an impression. Some women in poor areas live into their 90s, but many of both sexes are doing quite well if they make it to retirement age.
    The UK stats don't really bear that out. The difference in longevity for females between top and bottom decides is 7 years. It is healthy life expectancy that differs by 20 years.

    Disagreeing with someone’s beliefs purely on the basis of expertise and scientific fact? Good Lord, that’s a bit harsh….
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,758
    ohnotnow said:

    vino said:

    ohnotnow said:

    vino said:

    Has anyone else been contacted by their energy supplier to inform of their new tariff. Octopus Energy has told me my direct debit payment will be lowered by 43% from October.

    • The Government have announced a 2 year Energy Price Guarantee, capping the increase in prices to £2,500 for a typical home
    • The £400 energy bill support scheme will also go ahead with monthly payments from October to March
    • This combination of a reduced cap and winter credits means while some unit rates will rise around 30%, typical annual costs will increase less than 10%
    • These discounts will be applied automatically: you don't need to do anything
    • Your new unit rates will match the Energy Price Guarantee, but your Octopus standing charges will be 4% lower – so you will be saving compared to Energy Price Guarantee rates from October 1
    • We're not adjusting monthly payments yet for the new prices. We'll review your payments in the coming weeks and send you a recommendation should they need adjusting
    • However from October to March your payments will be reduced by £ XX [ENDATED], as part of the Energy Bill Support Scheme
    • We're working hard to help those who need it most this winter. Details below

    Well done Liz!!

    Somewhat related - my smart meter has stopped sending gas readings to my supplier so I'm having to do manual readings like some sort of savage.

    Oh, the humanity.
    Still do mine manually on the 19th of every month and Octopus are good at sending my bill very quickly
    I'm with Octopus too. When I first switched to them a year or so ago they said my smart meter didn't support sending gas readings. So I pointed it it had happily been doing so to my previous supplier for about five years. After a month or two it started working. So I'm guessing some switch has been flipped at their end or mine that's buggered it up again.

    But still.

    I feel like I've slipped back to a world where I have to put a shilling in the meter and crank a big cast iron handle until the coin goes ker-chunk.
    You probably have a SMETS1 (first gen) smart meter. These only supported readings for the companies that installed them.

    They are gradually being updated so that all companies can access them (as the newer SMETSII versions can) but it's falling behind and some of the technology hasn't worked as expected.

    I have exactly the same problem with my electricity meter and I've been told there's nothing to be done about it except wait for the commissioning company to get its arse into gear.

    Even more annoyingly - the gas one works perfectly well.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,758
    Cyclefree said:

    Based on this list -

    - female
    - Mother long-lived & kept her marbles; father died young but all the females in his family were exceptionally long-lived & became wildly eccentric in later years
    - don't smoke
    - married with 3 children & on good terms with pretty much everyone
    - Catholic
    - Still working & interested in lots of stuff
    - Reasonably active with gardening but could do more on that front

    Need to lose weight & have shit lungs and peculiar blood. But have managed to dodge Covid so maybe have something going for me. I've had something like 11 ops in my life and survived some really very serious illness which nearly killed me in my 20's so I have sort of lived life backwards, in terms of health. So am vaguely hoping that my latter years will be healthier than my younger years. Probably foolish.

    I would only add one thing to this list.

    A day without laughter is a day wasted.

    An hour without an awesome pun is an hour of all hour time wasted.
  • pingping Posts: 3,724
    edited September 2022
    ping said:

    On topic

    Great piece, although I would add, surely, unlimited private medical care is a factor?

    I doubt anyone in the Windsor family has ever had to fight like hell in a long telephone queue just to get an GP appointment at 8am.

    My mother’s experience of trying to access decent medical care over the last few years has been appalling.

    Eventiually she’s been able to get relevant tests done and, just now she’s had an emergency referral for a potential blood cancer diagnosis.

    Her life may well have been significantly shortened because she didn’t have access to the same sort of medical care that Windsors get.

    We’ll find out in a few weeks.

    @MSmithsonPB

    “Both my wife and I have had longstanding medical appointments scheduled for tomorrow put back even more because of the decision to make it a public holiday. I am furious”

    You have my sympathies, @MikeSmithson

    In fairness, as a counterbalance to both my post above, and your tweet - as a result of my mums emergency consultation on Friday, she’s been booked in for an emergency test tomorrow, at midday.

    At least some people/parts of the NHS are functioning normally.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    Cookie said:

    MattW said:

    Cookie said:

    kle4 said:

    Eight people?!

    In fact, there has been escalating use of lying in state in America — with eight people doing so in Washington since 2018 — whilst this is only the second such British ceremony since Winston Churchill in 1965. It is today *mostly an American occurrence.*

    https://twitter.com/b_judah/status/1571504089934053376?cxt=HHwWgIC-uZipjc8rAAAA

    I'd also add that the Americans are obsessed by queuing. They will do it for hours for anything from getting into a good barbeque place to casting a vote.

    Americans are NOT in the same league as Brits when it comes to standing in line (the words "queue" and "queuing being virtually unknown to Americans who are NOT either English majors OR super-fans of PBS).

    For example, in USA people will wait in a sort of line to board a bus, but it will be NOTHING as organized (or as respected) as in UK.
    The bus queue is the one most frequently cited. But in my experience, bus queues more often than not tend to operate more like barber queues. A lot of people wait around - it is your duty when you turn up to note the order of everyone's arrival and board the bus in that order. But there is rarely a 'line' as such.

    The true British genius for queuing can be observed where there are two separate queues for equally acceptable results - like people to serve you in a sandwich shop. Left unmarshalled, the British will naturally form one queue, the front person of which goes to whoever is next available. In my limited experience, that doesn't tend to happen abroad.
    That's an interesting contrast to "merge in turn" on the roads, which other countries call "zip queueing".

    On our roads this is terrible, with it being routine to see selfish drivers blocking a second lane to prevent all the road space being used, or closing the gap to 3cm to prevent someone from another lane merging in.
    Queues on roads are very different.
    Picture this: a motorway, lanes 2 and 3 are closed up ahead.
    Every time some arrogant fucker in the outside lane whizzes past the queue in lane 1 for half a mile, the kind soul who lets him cut in at the last minute is putting back not just himself but the long queue of drivers behind him who are doing the right thing.
    The people closing the gap to 3cm are rewarding the virtuous and punishing the wicked.

    These things would work a lot better with a bit more thought put into how the queuing will work.
    That is sooooo wrong it's embarrassing. The most efficient use of the road area available is to have two lanes, merging at the last possible moment. I am the arrogant fucker because I understand traffic theory.

    Best LOL of all time: the other day I did about 2 miles of arrogant prickery to find when I got to the top that the 2 to 1 reduction had been sorted out and no longer existed; they just hadn't got as far as removing the signs. Think about the implications of that.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,758
    IshmaelZ said:

    Cookie said:

    MattW said:

    Cookie said:

    kle4 said:

    Eight people?!

    In fact, there has been escalating use of lying in state in America — with eight people doing so in Washington since 2018 — whilst this is only the second such British ceremony since Winston Churchill in 1965. It is today *mostly an American occurrence.*

    https://twitter.com/b_judah/status/1571504089934053376?cxt=HHwWgIC-uZipjc8rAAAA

    I'd also add that the Americans are obsessed by queuing. They will do it for hours for anything from getting into a good barbeque place to casting a vote.

    Americans are NOT in the same league as Brits when it comes to standing in line (the words "queue" and "queuing being virtually unknown to Americans who are NOT either English majors OR super-fans of PBS).

    For example, in USA people will wait in a sort of line to board a bus, but it will be NOTHING as organized (or as respected) as in UK.
    The bus queue is the one most frequently cited. But in my experience, bus queues more often than not tend to operate more like barber queues. A lot of people wait around - it is your duty when you turn up to note the order of everyone's arrival and board the bus in that order. But there is rarely a 'line' as such.

    The true British genius for queuing can be observed where there are two separate queues for equally acceptable results - like people to serve you in a sandwich shop. Left unmarshalled, the British will naturally form one queue, the front person of which goes to whoever is next available. In my limited experience, that doesn't tend to happen abroad.
    That's an interesting contrast to "merge in turn" on the roads, which other countries call "zip queueing".

    On our roads this is terrible, with it being routine to see selfish drivers blocking a second lane to prevent all the road space being used, or closing the gap to 3cm to prevent someone from another lane merging in.
    Queues on roads are very different.
    Picture this: a motorway, lanes 2 and 3 are closed up ahead.
    Every time some arrogant fucker in the outside lane whizzes past the queue in lane 1 for half a mile, the kind soul who lets him cut in at the last minute is putting back not just himself but the long queue of drivers behind him who are doing the right thing.
    The people closing the gap to 3cm are rewarding the virtuous and punishing the wicked.

    These things would work a lot better with a bit more thought put into how the queuing will work.
    That is sooooo wrong it's embarrassing. The most efficient use of the road area available is to have two lanes, merging at the last possible moment. I am the arrogant fucker because I understand traffic theory.

    Best LOL of all time: the other day I did about 2 miles of arrogant prickery to find when I got to the top that the 2 to 1 reduction had been sorted out and no longer existed; they just hadn't got as far as removing the signs. Think about the implications of that.
    That whoever is doing it is as stupid as the retards who run the smart motorways in the West Midlands, who do that every single fecking day?
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 14,882
    ping said:

    ping said:

    On topic

    Great piece, although I would add, surely, unlimited private medical care is a factor?

    I doubt anyone in the Windsor family has ever had to fight like hell in a long telephone queue just to get an GP appointment at 8am.

    My mother’s experience of trying to access decent medical care over the last few years has been appalling.

    Eventiually she’s been able to get relevant tests done and, just now she’s had an emergency referral for a potential blood cancer diagnosis.

    Her life may well have been significantly shortened because she didn’t have access to the same sort of medical care that Windsors get.

    We’ll find out in a few weeks.

    @MSmithsonPB

    “Both my wife and I have had longstanding medical appointments scheduled for tomorrow put back even more because of the decision to make it a public holiday. I am furious”

    You have my sympathies, @MikeSmithson

    In fairness, as a counterbalance to both my post above, and your tweet - as a result of my mums emergency consultation on Friday, she’s been booked in for an emergency test tomorrow, at midday.

    At least some people/parts of the NHS are functioning normally.
    My wife’s scan was moved from tomorrow at 8 am to last Friday at 8 am. No issue for us. Will affect different people differently.
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,074
    ydoethur said:

    Cyclefree said:

    Based on this list -

    - female
    - Mother long-lived & kept her marbles; father died young but all the females in his family were exceptionally long-lived & became wildly eccentric in later years
    - don't smoke
    - married with 3 children & on good terms with pretty much everyone
    - Catholic
    - Still working & interested in lots of stuff
    - Reasonably active with gardening but could do more on that front

    Need to lose weight & have shit lungs and peculiar blood. But have managed to dodge Covid so maybe have something going for me. I've had something like 11 ops in my life and survived some really very serious illness which nearly killed me in my 20's so I have sort of lived life backwards, in terms of health. So am vaguely hoping that my latter years will be healthier than my younger years. Probably foolish.

    I would only add one thing to this list.

    A day without laughter is a day wasted.

    An hour without an awesome pun is an hour of all hour time wasted.
    Oh well done! A big smile on my face right now.

    I shall get you to smuggle City based puns into my drama.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,758
    Cyclefree said:

    ydoethur said:

    Cyclefree said:

    Based on this list -

    - female
    - Mother long-lived & kept her marbles; father died young but all the females in his family were exceptionally long-lived & became wildly eccentric in later years
    - don't smoke
    - married with 3 children & on good terms with pretty much everyone
    - Catholic
    - Still working & interested in lots of stuff
    - Reasonably active with gardening but could do more on that front

    Need to lose weight & have shit lungs and peculiar blood. But have managed to dodge Covid so maybe have something going for me. I've had something like 11 ops in my life and survived some really very serious illness which nearly killed me in my 20's so I have sort of lived life backwards, in terms of health. So am vaguely hoping that my latter years will be healthier than my younger years. Probably foolish.

    I would only add one thing to this list.

    A day without laughter is a day wasted.

    An hour without an awesome pun is an hour of all hour time wasted.
    Oh well done! A big smile on my face right now.

    I shall get you to smuggle City based puns into my drama.
    I'm willing to try, and I think you can bank on my efforts being a success.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 24,586
    ydoethur said:

    ohnotnow said:

    vino said:

    ohnotnow said:

    vino said:

    Has anyone else been contacted by their energy supplier to inform of their new tariff. Octopus Energy has told me my direct debit payment will be lowered by 43% from October.

    • The Government have announced a 2 year Energy Price Guarantee, capping the increase in prices to £2,500 for a typical home
    • The £400 energy bill support scheme will also go ahead with monthly payments from October to March
    • This combination of a reduced cap and winter credits means while some unit rates will rise around 30%, typical annual costs will increase less than 10%
    • These discounts will be applied automatically: you don't need to do anything
    • Your new unit rates will match the Energy Price Guarantee, but your Octopus standing charges will be 4% lower – so you will be saving compared to Energy Price Guarantee rates from October 1
    • We're not adjusting monthly payments yet for the new prices. We'll review your payments in the coming weeks and send you a recommendation should they need adjusting
    • However from October to March your payments will be reduced by £ XX [ENDATED], as part of the Energy Bill Support Scheme
    • We're working hard to help those who need it most this winter. Details below

    Well done Liz!!

    Somewhat related - my smart meter has stopped sending gas readings to my supplier so I'm having to do manual readings like some sort of savage.

    Oh, the humanity.
    Still do mine manually on the 19th of every month and Octopus are good at sending my bill very quickly
    I'm with Octopus too. When I first switched to them a year or so ago they said my smart meter didn't support sending gas readings. So I pointed it it had happily been doing so to my previous supplier for about five years. After a month or two it started working. So I'm guessing some switch has been flipped at their end or mine that's buggered it up again.

    But still.

    I feel like I've slipped back to a world where I have to put a shilling in the meter and crank a big cast iron handle until the coin goes ker-chunk.
    You probably have a SMETS1 (first gen) smart meter. These only supported readings for the companies that installed them.

    They are gradually being updated so that all companies can access them (as the newer SMETSII versions can) but it's falling behind and some of the technology hasn't worked as expected.

    I have exactly the same problem with my electricity meter and I've been told there's nothing to be done about it except wait for the commissioning company to get its arse into gear.

    Even more annoyingly - the gas one works perfectly well.
    The installation of first generation smart meters really annoyed me. British Gas fitted mine using a taxpayers' subsidy. Not long after, I switched to EDF who then wanted to fit a new first generation smart meter using a taxpayers' subsidy. I told them to **** right off and read the meter every month. What a stupid wasteful system.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    ydoethur said:

    Cyclefree said:

    Based on this list -

    - female
    - Mother long-lived & kept her marbles; father died young but all the females in his family were exceptionally long-lived & became wildly eccentric in later years
    - don't smoke
    - married with 3 children & on good terms with pretty much everyone
    - Catholic
    - Still working & interested in lots of stuff
    - Reasonably active with gardening but could do more on that front

    Need to lose weight & have shit lungs and peculiar blood. But have managed to dodge Covid so maybe have something going for me. I've had something like 11 ops in my life and survived some really very serious illness which nearly killed me in my 20's so I have sort of lived life backwards, in terms of health. So am vaguely hoping that my latter years will be healthier than my younger years. Probably foolish.

    I would only add one thing to this list.

    A day without laughter is a day wasted.

    An hour without an awesome pun is an hour of all hour time wasted.
    That motion is not valid unless seconded and voted on, and the result minuted.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 14,882
    IshmaelZ said:

    Cookie said:

    MattW said:

    Cookie said:

    kle4 said:

    Eight people?!

    In fact, there has been escalating use of lying in state in America — with eight people doing so in Washington since 2018 — whilst this is only the second such British ceremony since Winston Churchill in 1965. It is today *mostly an American occurrence.*

    https://twitter.com/b_judah/status/1571504089934053376?cxt=HHwWgIC-uZipjc8rAAAA

    I'd also add that the Americans are obsessed by queuing. They will do it for hours for anything from getting into a good barbeque place to casting a vote.

    Americans are NOT in the same league as Brits when it comes to standing in line (the words "queue" and "queuing being virtually unknown to Americans who are NOT either English majors OR super-fans of PBS).

    For example, in USA people will wait in a sort of line to board a bus, but it will be NOTHING as organized (or as respected) as in UK.
    The bus queue is the one most frequently cited. But in my experience, bus queues more often than not tend to operate more like barber queues. A lot of people wait around - it is your duty when you turn up to note the order of everyone's arrival and board the bus in that order. But there is rarely a 'line' as such.

    The true British genius for queuing can be observed where there are two separate queues for equally acceptable results - like people to serve you in a sandwich shop. Left unmarshalled, the British will naturally form one queue, the front person of which goes to whoever is next available. In my limited experience, that doesn't tend to happen abroad.
    That's an interesting contrast to "merge in turn" on the roads, which other countries call "zip queueing".

    On our roads this is terrible, with it being routine to see selfish drivers blocking a second lane to prevent all the road space being used, or closing the gap to 3cm to prevent someone from another lane merging in.
    Queues on roads are very different.
    Picture this: a motorway, lanes 2 and 3 are closed up ahead.
    Every time some arrogant fucker in the outside lane whizzes past the queue in lane 1 for half a mile, the kind soul who lets him cut in at the last minute is putting back not just himself but the long queue of drivers behind him who are doing the right thing.
    The people closing the gap to 3cm are rewarding the virtuous and punishing the wicked.

    These things would work a lot better with a bit more thought put into how the queuing will work.
    That is sooooo wrong it's embarrassing. The most efficient use of the road area available is to have two lanes, merging at the last possible moment. I am the arrogant fucker because I understand traffic theory.

    Best LOL of all time: the other day I did about 2 miles of arrogant prickery to find when I got to the top that the 2 to 1 reduction had been sorted out and no longer existed; they just hadn't got as far as removing the signs. Think about the implications of that.
    If two well used lanes go into one the British psyche can cope with merging in turn. However the last time I encountered something like this was in light traffic on a dual carriageway. Most cars were in the inside lane but had ground to a halt about a mile away from the single lane start point. So hundreds of cars arriving at this queue opted to overtake, quite legitimately. However it impinges on the British sense of FairPlay that so many cars essentially queue jumped.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,069
    ping said:

    ping said:

    On topic

    Great piece, although I would add, surely, unlimited private medical care is a factor?

    I doubt anyone in the Windsor family has ever had to fight like hell in a long telephone queue just to get an GP appointment at 8am.

    My mother’s experience of trying to access decent medical care over the last few years has been appalling.

    Eventiually she’s been able to get relevant tests done and, just now she’s had an emergency referral for a potential blood cancer diagnosis.

    Her life may well have been significantly shortened because she didn’t have access to the same sort of medical care that Windsors get.

    We’ll find out in a few weeks.

    @MSmithsonPB

    “Both my wife and I have had longstanding medical appointments scheduled for tomorrow put back even more because of the decision to make it a public holiday. I am furious”

    You have my sympathies, @MikeSmithson

    In fairness, as a counterbalance to both my post above, and your tweet - as a result of my mums emergency consultation on Friday, she’s been booked in for an emergency test tomorrow, at midday.

    At least some people/parts of the NHS are functioning normally.
    I am working normal hours tommorow. In my dept we were asked whether we wanted to, and a substantial majority voted to do so. We didn't think it appropriate to cancel long awaited appointments to mark the funeral. Quite a few patients have rebooked, but that is their choice. I expect it will be a fairly quiet and I will be able to slip into the waiting room for some of the highlights.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,758
    IshmaelZ said:

    ydoethur said:

    Cyclefree said:

    Based on this list -

    - female
    - Mother long-lived & kept her marbles; father died young but all the females in his family were exceptionally long-lived & became wildly eccentric in later years
    - don't smoke
    - married with 3 children & on good terms with pretty much everyone
    - Catholic
    - Still working & interested in lots of stuff
    - Reasonably active with gardening but could do more on that front

    Need to lose weight & have shit lungs and peculiar blood. But have managed to dodge Covid so maybe have something going for me. I've had something like 11 ops in my life and survived some really very serious illness which nearly killed me in my 20's so I have sort of lived life backwards, in terms of health. So am vaguely hoping that my latter years will be healthier than my younger years. Probably foolish.

    I would only add one thing to this list.

    A day without laughter is a day wasted.

    An hour without an awesome pun is an hour of all hour time wasted.
    That motion is not valid unless seconded and voted on, and the result minuted.
    That wasn't a quarter as good as mine.
  • Cyclefree said:

    ydoethur said:

    Cyclefree said:

    Based on this list -

    - female
    - Mother long-lived & kept her marbles; father died young but all the females in his family were exceptionally long-lived & became wildly eccentric in later years
    - don't smoke
    - married with 3 children & on good terms with pretty much everyone
    - Catholic
    - Still working & interested in lots of stuff
    - Reasonably active with gardening but could do more on that front

    Need to lose weight & have shit lungs and peculiar blood. But have managed to dodge Covid so maybe have something going for me. I've had something like 11 ops in my life and survived some really very serious illness which nearly killed me in my 20's so I have sort of lived life backwards, in terms of health. So am vaguely hoping that my latter years will be healthier than my younger years. Probably foolish.

    I would only add one thing to this list.

    A day without laughter is a day wasted.

    An hour without an awesome pun is an hour of all hour time wasted.
    Oh well done! A big smile on my face right now.

    I shall get you to smuggle City based puns into my drama.
    The Square Vile?

    (Bit harsh, but best I could come up with on short notice!)
  • IshmaelZ said:

    Cookie said:

    MattW said:

    Cookie said:

    kle4 said:

    Eight people?!

    In fact, there has been escalating use of lying in state in America — with eight people doing so in Washington since 2018 — whilst this is only the second such British ceremony since Winston Churchill in 1965. It is today *mostly an American occurrence.*

    https://twitter.com/b_judah/status/1571504089934053376?cxt=HHwWgIC-uZipjc8rAAAA

    I'd also add that the Americans are obsessed by queuing. They will do it for hours for anything from getting into a good barbeque place to casting a vote.

    Americans are NOT in the same league as Brits when it comes to standing in line (the words "queue" and "queuing being virtually unknown to Americans who are NOT either English majors OR super-fans of PBS).

    For example, in USA people will wait in a sort of line to board a bus, but it will be NOTHING as organized (or as respected) as in UK.
    The bus queue is the one most frequently cited. But in my experience, bus queues more often than not tend to operate more like barber queues. A lot of people wait around - it is your duty when you turn up to note the order of everyone's arrival and board the bus in that order. But there is rarely a 'line' as such.

    The true British genius for queuing can be observed where there are two separate queues for equally acceptable results - like people to serve you in a sandwich shop. Left unmarshalled, the British will naturally form one queue, the front person of which goes to whoever is next available. In my limited experience, that doesn't tend to happen abroad.
    That's an interesting contrast to "merge in turn" on the roads, which other countries call "zip queueing".

    On our roads this is terrible, with it being routine to see selfish drivers blocking a second lane to prevent all the road space being used, or closing the gap to 3cm to prevent someone from another lane merging in.
    Queues on roads are very different.
    Picture this: a motorway, lanes 2 and 3 are closed up ahead.
    Every time some arrogant fucker in the outside lane whizzes past the queue in lane 1 for half a mile, the kind soul who lets him cut in at the last minute is putting back not just himself but the long queue of drivers behind him who are doing the right thing.
    The people closing the gap to 3cm are rewarding the virtuous and punishing the wicked.

    These things would work a lot better with a bit more thought put into how the queuing will work.
    That is sooooo wrong it's embarrassing. The most efficient use of the road area available is to have two lanes, merging at the last possible moment. I am the arrogant fucker because I understand traffic theory.

    Best LOL of all time: the other day I did about 2 miles of arrogant prickery to find when I got to the top that the 2 to 1 reduction had been sorted out and no longer existed; they just hadn't got as far as removing the signs. Think about the implications of that.
    I totally agree, the problem comes when the people at the top of the lane 1 queue refuse to operate the "merge".
  • CookieCookie Posts: 11,184
    IshmaelZ said:

    Cookie said:

    MattW said:

    Cookie said:

    kle4 said:

    Eight people?!

    In fact, there has been escalating use of lying in state in America — with eight people doing so in Washington since 2018 — whilst this is only the second such British ceremony since Winston Churchill in 1965. It is today *mostly an American occurrence.*

    https://twitter.com/b_judah/status/1571504089934053376?cxt=HHwWgIC-uZipjc8rAAAA

    I'd also add that the Americans are obsessed by queuing. They will do it for hours for anything from getting into a good barbeque place to casting a vote.

    Americans are NOT in the same league as Brits when it comes to standing in line (the words "queue" and "queuing being virtually unknown to Americans who are NOT either English majors OR super-fans of PBS).

    For example, in USA people will wait in a sort of line to board a bus, but it will be NOTHING as organized (or as respected) as in UK.
    The bus queue is the one most frequently cited. But in my experience, bus queues more often than not tend to operate more like barber queues. A lot of people wait around - it is your duty when you turn up to note the order of everyone's arrival and board the bus in that order. But there is rarely a 'line' as such.

    The true British genius for queuing can be observed where there are two separate queues for equally acceptable results - like people to serve you in a sandwich shop. Left unmarshalled, the British will naturally form one queue, the front person of which goes to whoever is next available. In my limited experience, that doesn't tend to happen abroad.
    That's an interesting contrast to "merge in turn" on the roads, which other countries call "zip queueing".

    On our roads this is terrible, with it being routine to see selfish drivers blocking a second lane to prevent all the road space being used, or closing the gap to 3cm to prevent someone from another lane merging in.
    Queues on roads are very different.
    Picture this: a motorway, lanes 2 and 3 are closed up ahead.
    Every time some arrogant fucker in the outside lane whizzes past the queue in lane 1 for half a mile, the kind soul who lets him cut in at the last minute is putting back not just himself but the long queue of drivers behind him who are doing the right thing.
    The people closing the gap to 3cm are rewarding the virtuous and punishing the wicked.

    These things would work a lot better with a bit more thought put into how the queuing will work.
    That is sooooo wrong it's embarrassing. The most efficient use of the road area available is to have two lanes, merging at the last possible moment. I am the arrogant fucker because I understand traffic theory.

    Best LOL of all time: the other day I did about 2 miles of arrogant prickery to find when I got to the top that the 2 to 1 reduction had been sorted out and no longer existed; they just hadn't got as far as removing the signs. Think about the implications of that.
    I know a fair bit about this, and I know how to use road space efficiently. But highways management is about more than just efficient use of highway - otherwise we'd have no signals at all - it's about ensuring all parties are abke to make some progress, rather than some arrogant fuckers making all the progress and the majority crawling along at almost no speed.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830

    IshmaelZ said:

    Cookie said:

    MattW said:

    Cookie said:

    kle4 said:

    Eight people?!

    In fact, there has been escalating use of lying in state in America — with eight people doing so in Washington since 2018 — whilst this is only the second such British ceremony since Winston Churchill in 1965. It is today *mostly an American occurrence.*

    https://twitter.com/b_judah/status/1571504089934053376?cxt=HHwWgIC-uZipjc8rAAAA

    I'd also add that the Americans are obsessed by queuing. They will do it for hours for anything from getting into a good barbeque place to casting a vote.

    Americans are NOT in the same league as Brits when it comes to standing in line (the words "queue" and "queuing being virtually unknown to Americans who are NOT either English majors OR super-fans of PBS).

    For example, in USA people will wait in a sort of line to board a bus, but it will be NOTHING as organized (or as respected) as in UK.
    The bus queue is the one most frequently cited. But in my experience, bus queues more often than not tend to operate more like barber queues. A lot of people wait around - it is your duty when you turn up to note the order of everyone's arrival and board the bus in that order. But there is rarely a 'line' as such.

    The true British genius for queuing can be observed where there are two separate queues for equally acceptable results - like people to serve you in a sandwich shop. Left unmarshalled, the British will naturally form one queue, the front person of which goes to whoever is next available. In my limited experience, that doesn't tend to happen abroad.
    That's an interesting contrast to "merge in turn" on the roads, which other countries call "zip queueing".

    On our roads this is terrible, with it being routine to see selfish drivers blocking a second lane to prevent all the road space being used, or closing the gap to 3cm to prevent someone from another lane merging in.
    Queues on roads are very different.
    Picture this: a motorway, lanes 2 and 3 are closed up ahead.
    Every time some arrogant fucker in the outside lane whizzes past the queue in lane 1 for half a mile, the kind soul who lets him cut in at the last minute is putting back not just himself but the long queue of drivers behind him who are doing the right thing.
    The people closing the gap to 3cm are rewarding the virtuous and punishing the wicked.

    These things would work a lot better with a bit more thought put into how the queuing will work.
    That is sooooo wrong it's embarrassing. The most efficient use of the road area available is to have two lanes, merging at the last possible moment. I am the arrogant fucker because I understand traffic theory.

    Best LOL of all time: the other day I did about 2 miles of arrogant prickery to find when I got to the top that the 2 to 1 reduction had been sorted out and no longer existed; they just hadn't got as far as removing the signs. Think about the implications of that.
    If two well used lanes go into one the British psyche can cope with merging in turn. However the last time I encountered something like this was in light traffic on a dual carriageway. Most cars were in the inside lane but had ground to a halt about a mile away from the single lane start point. So hundreds of cars arriving at this queue opted to overtake, quite legitimately. However it impinges on the British sense of FairPlay that so many cars essentially queue jumped.
    But what they are doing is as follows: there's a bank with two counters open. Fifty customers have arbitrarily decided to queue for counter 1 leaving counter 2 unused. Then they get arsey when someone less stupid than they are walks up to counter 2.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 61,575
    TimS said:

    carnforth said:

    Just enjoyed a 40 minute checkout queue. Worse than Christmas eve...

    We’ve realised late in the day that it’s basically like Christmas or Easter and should be planned as such. No presents, but a lie in then watch the funeral followed by a big roast (we got a duck) and some nice wine, an afternoon walk then cheese and biscuits for supper.

    That plus a couple of teams calls and in my case an early call from the beeb to talk about tax on the Today programme.
    Do they too warn you about using the C-word ?

This discussion has been closed.