What annoyed you today?

[AnnoyingPentium]

1 hour ago, cheezemonkhai said:

It’s not Christmas, stop it.

 

...and a bah humbug to you too. 

[KenONeill]

Context - BBC Breakfast report on this story.

 

Presenter, who we'll call "Charlie" because that's his name  , says "It looks like an aeroplane" (because it is an aeroplane) and "it looks like it's on a runway" (because it is on a runway).

[mac11irl]

i think theres a fair few people see the word "drone" and can only picture a quadcopter type, as thats the most popular variety on sale. most of those same people probably dont know or realise that air forces have used drones as target practice for decades... 

so something thats basically just a big remote control plane being called a drone just doesnt make them think of a plane..

[punyXpress]

18 hours ago, mac11irl said:

i think theres a fair few people see the word "drone" and can only picture a quadcopter type, as thats the most popular variety on sale. most of those same people probably dont know or realise that air forces have used drones as target practice for decades... 

so something thats basically just a big remote control plane being called a drone just doesnt make them think of a plane..

 

Vincent Picador engines were used in target panes in the '50s

[Evil]

Need to insure the Mk1 today (insurance expires lunchtime tomorrow) and, for the first time in many years, I have to get on the phone because it's modified.

I hate ringing round insurance companies for a number of reasons.

Having been riding/driving since 1983 I've been there/done that with ringing round getting quotes (as have many of us I'd guess), it's tedious.

I now have pretty bad tinnitus which, in a general room I can usually do ok but, on the phone, with background noise and stuff (at either end).... no chance... throw in an accent. Impossible.

And... modifications. Gah!!..

 

NFU Mutual were highly recommended for cover and price. Not been with them before so what the hell.. Let's have at it.

No waiting, lovely sounding Scottish lass on the other end.. ok.. very clearly spoken.. having a little trouble but we're getting there.

Until..

Are you the owner of the vehicle?

Yes but not the registered keeper

Oh. Why not.

Because my partner, the named driver, bought the car for me and it's in her name.

Oh. I don't think we can insure you then. Hold the line please.

Tum te tum te tum.....

Hello.. sorry for the wait, no I'm sorry, since you don't own the car we can't insure it.

But I do own the car

But it's not your name on the log book

But the V5 isn't proof of ownership

 

We went round in circles a little.. I expressed disappointment that they wouldn't be getting my business and hung up..

 

Bit piddled off, now I have to make more phone calls and go through the same rigmarole again. Grumpy.

[J.R.]

If you are sure of your claim to ownership then you should simply have answered yes.

 

I would have suggested going with the flow and registering it in your name but then decided it was probably a safe assumption that the insurance would cost more in the name of the current registered keeper.

Edited 8 October, 2021 by J.R.

[Evil]

12 minutes ago, J.R. said:

If you are sure of your claim to ownership then you should simply have answered yes.

 

I would have suggested going with the flow and registering it in your name but then decided it was probably a safe assumption that the insurance would cost more in the name of the current registered keeper.

 

I've insured cars that I'm not the registered keeper of for a good few years now, I've not actually owned a car for a while, and it's rarely made any difference to the insurance. Once it cost something like £25 more.. they all ask, up to now, if I'm the owner and if I'm the registered keeper... 

[Evil]

And now.... 

After months of people I know personally telling me it costs the same (or similar, sometimes less!!) to insure modified as it does unmodified... like 'eck it does.

[J.R.]

3 hours ago, Evil said:

 

they all ask, up to now, if I'm the owner and if I'm the registered keeper... 

 

Good point, it's been 17 years since I last insured a vehicle in the UK, probably 20 since I shopped around for quotes, I had forgotten the script that they all seemed to follow back then, I take back my comments, I had taken from yours that you volunteered the information, even if you had they would likely have followed up with the question about the V5.

 

Sorry about that!

[J.R.]

Come to think of it they must be and/or questions with the amount of vehicles being leased and on HP.

[AnnoyingPentium]

Not impressed. The cheeky sods... 

 

[Ootohere]

@EvilIt can cost some people the same or less to insure a modified car than a standard car.

That is just how it is, and it might annoy those that can not. But that is life, and car insurance.

[MikeTheThinker]

1 hour ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

Not impressed. The cheeky sods... 

 

 

Parker's valuations:

 

[AnnoyingPentium]

3 minutes ago, MikeTheThinker said:

 

Parker's valuations:

 

 

Now that's better! My mileage is around 55,000 - not that 160,000 that they've assumed, plus I have extras (metallic paint and maybe air conditioning) on mine, but that's not bad going

[cheezemonkhai]

Morning TV… someone said that government should look at the holistic picture and tax payers should fund foreign holidays….

 

WTF!

[Evil]

1 hour ago, e-Roottoot said:

@EvilIt can cost some people the same or less to insure a modified car than a standard car.

That is just how it is, and it might annoy those that can not. But that is life, and car insurance.

 

Bloody insurance.... at 55 with 7 years ncb in a very low risk postcode I shouldn't be paying £440 a flipping year - got to be my highest premium for nearly 15 years.

I know how it goes with insurance, been robbed by them since 1983 and the ring-around today was an unwelcome throwback to the days of the yellow pages.

It was cheaper (today) to insure the car unemployed than it was employed. How the heck can that be??

I've never insured a modded car before or, rather, never declared mods before... can see why people don't.

 

No matter, it's done now.. 50 weeks til I have to jump back on the merry-go-round. Perhaps the comparison sites will have caught up by then. Here's hoping. 

[io1901]

Everything, energy and steel firms moaning about the gas price. The energy firms went bust because they didn't hedge, took the gains when the price was low, but forgot that prices can go up than down. They should have been in the market last year fixing their prices for the next five years. But I found management don't understand hedging as a method of fixing prices and so only see the short term losses and gains. That steel boss should be sacked or at least hauled over the coals for not hedging. Why should we (via the government) pay out for a bad (or stupid) business decision.

 

[mac11irl]

On 22/09/2021 at 01:55, @Lee said:

What the heck is Decathlon? From the comment by @J.R. about basket placement I'm guessing a shop of some kind. Are they a new start as I've never heard of them?

 

 

just  by way of update....

 

https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2021/1008/1252588-decathlon-plans-to-open-two-more-stores-here/

 

i know its probably performing really well as it still has the "new" novelty factor but still

[cheezemonkhai]

Oh, they’re french owned 😂😂😂

[Ootohere]

http://bbc.co.uk/news/business-58846999

 

Intensive energy users are whole different thing from domestic energy users.

Some intensive users produce their own electricity to run their plants, and that can be as much electricity as a large town or small city uses.

That requires Gas & Coal in some locations.

 

What annoys me is those that can not see the bigger picture, and do not understand that high energy dependent industries who are big employers and who keep the UK economy going pay for energy in a different way from those buying Domestic Energy and those supplying it.

Then the Gas and Oil that does come from the UK Waters is paid for in the UK at the Global Price while Greens and Zero Carbon lobbies argue that Gas & Oil should not be explored for in UK waters and that reserves should stay where they are now in the ground & the UK should buy it in from the Global Market bringing it in from around the world. 

 

If industries are not operating and staff are not working then they are not going to get paid and will not be able to pay the getting higher utility and food costs.

If industry is not producing materials like cement and steel then builders can not build.

 

There are reasons that the Tax Payers have to help those that are Industries that are intensive energy users.

Cracking plants/ refineries like Grangemouth use Oil & Gas piped from the North Sea to produce Electricity to produce Oil & Gas into Petrochemicals and Road / transport and heating fuels for homes and industry.  They need to import Gas from the likes of the US which is from Fracking.

 

Huge amounts of energy used producing energy for others and huge amounts of polution.

http://bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-57809448

http://bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-58642266

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/100-million-a-year-boost-for-energy-intensive-industries

 

Edited 10 October, 2021 by e-Roottoot

[olduns]

Bloody French.... After spending a day sorting out the caravan and the damage, cleaning it, lo and behold the next day someone stops and asks if it's for sale, even better not a Gypo 😁

Agree a price, explain no Carte Grise etc and deposit to be paid today, all good to now... 

Agree Bank transfer then the bombshell.... Can we transfer in November FFS 🙄. 

Explain we aren't back until Xmas and caravan could be stolen by then as someone has already tried and finally the Penny drops.... We want paying before it leaves us 😄

Compromise reached with a leap of faith for us, cash on Sunday and remainder November, still better than bugger all IF it got removed

 

[io1901]

On 10/10/2021 at 08:04, e-Roottoot said:

http://bbc.co.uk/news/business-58846999

 

Intensive energy users are whole different thing from domestic energy users.

Some intensive users produce their own electricity to run their plants, and that can be as much electricity as a large town or small city uses.

That requires Gas & Coal in some locations.

 

What annoys me is those that can not see the bigger picture, and do not understand that high energy dependent industries who are big employers and who keep the UK economy going pay for energy in a different way from those buying Domestic Energy and those supplying it.

Then the Gas and Oil that does come from the UK Waters is paid for in the UK at the Global Price while Greens and Zero Carbon lobbies argue that Gas & Oil should not be explored for in UK waters and that reserves should stay where they are now in the ground & the UK should buy it in from the Global Market bringing it in from around the world. 

 

If industries are not operating and staff are not working then they are not going to get paid and will not be able to pay the getting higher utility and food costs.

If industry is not producing materials like cement and steel then builders can not build.

 

There are reasons that the Tax Payers have to help those that are Industries that are intensive energy users.

Cracking plants/ refineries like Grangemouth use Oil & Gas piped from the North Sea to produce Electricity to produce Oil & Gas into Petrochemicals and Road / transport and heating fuels for homes and industry.  They need to import Gas from the likes of the US which is from Fracking.

 

Huge amounts of energy used producing energy for others and huge amounts of polution.

http://bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-57809448

http://bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-58642266

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/100-million-a-year-boost-for-energy-intensive-industries

 

 

But the bigger picture is that these high energy dependent industries should have hedged they gas (energy) requirements.  If they rely so much on these products they should have been  at least  a five year hedging strategy which would have minimised their exposure to this type of upward "blip", but as I mentioned previously they just like to moan at the government instead of doing their jobs properly in the first place.  Most banks and broker can hedge gas, diesel, petrol and most other commodities  by using a combination of  swaps or options.  Since accountancy reforms a few years ago, a lot of companies don't hedge anymore as they have to take the profit or loss (the bosses don't like this one!) on revaluation of the unmatured hedges on a monthly or quarterly basis. In other words if you hedge and the current price is lower you have to show that loss in your accounts - shareholders don't like that as they could be large numbers.  There are ways around this (hedge accounting) but these rules can be quite hard to understand and apply.

[Ootohere]

@io1901

Have you got a nice Fixed Price Dealer that runs now for 2 years or more?

Maybe a few pence a day standing charge on both and 18 pence a kWh or so for Electric. 3 pence a kWh for gas . 

 

To hedge you need someone who can actually provide what it is you want to be buying in 5 years time. Or even 2 years time.

So back in 2016 when the UK voted to leave the EU there might have been people that have the ability to actually get gas out of the ground

and to the British Isles and be prepared to fix the price,

or there were maybe actual gas companies that might have had no interest in doing a deal.

Some of the companies might even have British HQ's or large investments from the UK.

Maybe that gas supplier could be Russian.

 

There are plenty trade in all sorts of commodities that that do not own but hope to be able to buy cheap and then have supplied.

 

Buying futures like potatoes or pork bellies or even gold is rather different from something like gas or oil or even electricity. 

 

The gas is in the ground still and there for anyone that has the rights to then get it and move it and supply it but as to supplying at the price contracted in 2016 that is a whole different matter.

The price is so much higher than anyone was guessing it would be 5 years ago.

Who is going to hedge their bet now and make a deal on buying their gas for commercial use in 2024/5?  when it might fall 56% and actually does fall 70% ?

Edited 11 October, 2021 by e-Roottoot

[io1901]

12 minutes ago, e-Roottoot said:

@io1901

 

 

Buying futures like potatoes or pork bellies or even gold is rather different from something like gas or oil or even electricity. 

 

 

 

That shows that you don't know what you are talking about   It's exactly the same - you don't buy the physical commodity to fix the price, it's called a derivative.  Usually you "buy" a fixed price a unit for a particular time period and then you "sell" that back the unit at market rate when the contract matures -it's called a swap.  I'll give you an example -  I want to fix my price of widgets (if there is a quoted market for widgets) at the current market rate (there is usually an adjustment for future years or months) you agree to buy a widget in 12 months time for $200 and sell it back at the market rate at that time.  In 12 months time the price of the widget has risen to $400, you buy a physical  widget in the market for $400 and the fixed contract matures you pay $200 and receive $400 a gain of $200  this gain offsets physical purchase of $400 so you actually pay $200. (Why management and shareholders don't like fixing the price is that if the price falls to $100 when the contract matures the your still pay $200 and receive only $100 back (market price) $100 loss (-200=100) - the physical purchase costs $100 so you still pay $200 overall  ($100 loss from the contract and $100 cost of the widget).    They could also do it with an option, but there is usually a premium to pay upfront, but the option would only be "exercised" if the market price was higher than the option fixed price.   Usually a hedging strategy has swaps and options in various percentages (depending on how risk adverse the company is)  I didn't spend 25 years in a Corporate Treasury without learning something  .   They should have been doing this over the last five years - hedging is an ongoing process - it is to smooth the companies exposure to extreme price movements.  It is not generally understood by the public or shareholders.

[Ootohere]

I know quite a lot about it but them that does not matter.   So do you it seems.   

You will be doing very well with derivative and commodity trading.

 

Funnily those that are CEO's of Corporations might not know much but know where to find smart people that do.

 

The issue is that the world is full of experts, consultants, advisers, traders, and people with all the knowledge and each one wants paid and their share 

along the line.

Each and every step of the way the costs of commodities rise as the cream is taken off the top as people earn a fortune and expect the morons to lose their investments or savings, 

Fortunes to be made and to be lost and a limited amount of anything on the earth that people live on. 

https://independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/gas-prices-windfall-tax-uk-kwasi-kwarteng-b1924839.html

 

Edited 11 October, 2021 by e-Roottoot