Stormy Weather II

[BBMmk2]

68F this morning! Brrr! It’s gradually creeping up, the temperature is now, thankfully! Two mugs of tea later and a bowl of porridge at Castle Plantagenet today!

[oddoneout]

Last night was pretty disgusting - not all the wet stuff was liquid - and I'm glad I didn't need to be out. Today is sunny and blue sky with fluffy bits, albeit with a somewhat energetic cold quarter wind. Good to get out into for a while especially if something warming awaits on return, but possibly not the best for a coastal foray. The wet stuff is due to return this evening apparently.

[BBMmk2]

MrsBBM went out and saw some snow had collected in a corner!

[Serial_Apologist]

68F this morning! Brrr!

Shurely Shome Mishtake, BBM? I was out sunbathing in 68 degs F (ie 20 degs C) only 4 days ago, making the most of the last of the free Vitamin D! I was glad to discover that the 7 degs C (45 F) didn't feel as cold as I'd anticipated, when taking my walk this afternoon. Nice and fresh, bracing.

[BBMmk2]

65C this morning, when I woke up! Brr!

Have to go to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, a half hour drive, grr. I’m having a heart MRI scan done!

[Bryn]

65C this morning, when I woke up! Brr!

Eh? That's way beyond lethally hot! Perhaps you mean 65°F (18.3°C, which is itself not that chilly).

[Ah. I think I have it. You meant 6°C.]

[BBMmk2]

Eh? That's way beyond lethally hot! Perhaps you mean 65°F (18.3°C, which is itself not that chilly).

Oops! Yes 65F. Which for me is, ever since I had my chemo, my body temperature has been well confusing!

[Bryn]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2654710 says the temperature outside in your area is around 6°C at the moment. Now that, to me, is chilly. That said, it's 2°C lower here.

[Joseph K]

… and yet, it's sunny to the extent that I didn't need to wear my coat while on my walk (though the sun went behind the clouds intermittently for the latter half of the walk).

[Serial_Apologist]

Eh? That's way beyond lethally hot! Perhaps you mean 65°F (18.3°C, which is itself not that chilly).

[Ah. I think I have it. You meant 6°C.]

I'm thinking BBM's thermometer must either be sited on a south-facing wall, sheltered from winds coming from the north, as they presently are, or that the actual thermometer itself must have slipped inside its housing in such as way as to be giving misaligned readings!

[Serial_Apologist]

… and yet, it's sunny to the extent that I didn't need to wear my coat while on my walk (though the sun went behind the clouds intermittently for the latter half of the walk).

The humidity's not that high (65% at Kenley at 1 pm), which may account for that. I can never figure why it is that "experts" inform us that air at high humidity is less likely to be experienced as wind-chill than dry air. If that were true one would feel less cold when immersing onself in water at a temperature of 15 degrees C than standing dressed in just swimming trunks in the same open air temperature. In my experience the "coldest" weather always seems to be when foggy, at just above freezing point.

[Serial_Apologist]

Speaking of heating bills, I just had my second estimated electricity quarterly in a row. I cut down enormously on the amount of electricity and gas I used during the hot days of summer, and the last bill was £23 more than I'd expected. Today's, which I'd pre-estimated at £100, was a demand for £115. A manual meter reading revealed the one assumed by Eon to be 280 units more than the actual. Advised on the bill to submit the actual reading online, the system then declared my entry figures invalid! Evidently there was no way the supplier was going to accept the bit I'd been doing for the environment. Now resorting to the telephone number to be rung to report such matters, I was kept waiting for 20 minutes, having to put up with repeating alternations of pre-recorded apologies and the first 5 bars of the slow movement of Mozart's Jupiter, and gave up. I decided to try another phone number on the bill advised for ringing in one's readings. This involved several attempts to dictate my name, postal code and date of birth, all proving impossible as the system apparently was unable to interpret my speaking voice; likewise, for the first 3 attempts, typing in the same details on my phone key pad, which were too slow. Eventually I was through, this time "only" having to wait 10 minutes listening this time to a repeated Mozart piano concerto slow intro alternating with another pre-recorded apology, and the sprightly Scottish lass based up in Glasgow was able to process my amendments manually while I hung on listening to one of the Purcell Chaconnes! In the end I was informed that I will be receiving a new demand through the post in the next 5 working days, and the amount will be for £68.60, "proving" it pays to be patient. By how much my life has been shortened by the strain of it all will have to remain conjectural.

[oddoneout]

Speaking of heating bills, I just had my second estimated electricity quarterly in a row. I cut down enormously on the amount of electricity and gas I used during the hot days of summer, and the last bill was £23 more than I'd expected. Today's, which I'd pre-estimated at £100, was a demand for £115. A manual meter reading revealed the one assumed by Eon to be 280 units more than the actual. Advised on the bill to submit the actual reading online, the system then declared my entry figures invalid! Evidently there was no way the supplier was going to accept the bit I'd been doing for the environment. Now resorting to the telephone number to be rung to report such matters, I was kept waiting for 20 minutes, having to put up with repeating alternations of pre-recorded apologies and the first 5 bars of the slow movement of Mozart's Jupiter, and gave up. I decided to try another phone number on the bill advised for ringing in one's readings. This involved several attempts to dictate my name, postal code and date of birth, all proving impossible as the system apparently was unable to interpret my speaking voice; likewise, for the first 3 attempts, typing in the same details on my phone key pad, which were too slow. Eventually I was through, this time "only" having to wait 10 minutes listening this time to a repeated Mozart piano concerto slow intro alternating with another pre-recorded apology, and the sprightly Scottish lass based up in Glasgow was able to process my amendments manually while I hung on listening to one of the Purcell Chaconnes! In the end I was informed that I will be receiving a new demand through the post in the next 5 working days, and the amount will be for £68.60, "proving" it pays to be patient. By how much my life has been shortened by the strain of it all will have to remain conjectural.

The energy companies routinely overestimate during the warmer months to build up credit against the winter bills. The official line is that this helps customers by evening out the financial load(I have been told this several times when complaining about big discrepancies); my take on it is that it's free borrowing for them, and also reduces the build up of bill non-payments which affect their profits. It's another reason why we are pushed to use direct debit as they can just drip feed their coffers each month and few customers bother to challenge the figures.

[oddoneout]

The humidity's not that high (65% at Kenley at 1 pm), which may account for that. I can never figure why it is that "experts" inform us that air at high humidity is less likely to be experienced as wind-chill than dry air. If that were true one would feel less cold when immersing onself in water at a temperature of 15 degrees C than standing dressed in just swimming trunks in the same open air temperature. In my experience the "coldest" weather always seems to be when foggy, at just above freezing point.

Is it to do with the effect of evaporation? I remember a vet remarking that lambs born during fresh dry windy spring days were more at risk than those born on murky days as the damp fleeces drying out quickly in a cool wind could lower their body temperature much more quickly. As humans I think that perception may have an influence as well - a dry clear day will seem less cold than the soggy one as it has a more positive effect on our mood, but the thermometer might not agree.

[antongould]

The energy companies routinely overestimate during the warmer months to build up credit against the winter bills. The official line is that this helps customers by evening out the financial load(I have been told this several times when complaining about big discrepancies); my take on it is that it's free borrowing for them, and also reduces the build up of bill non-payments which affect their profits. It's another reason why we are pushed to use direct debit as they can just drip feed their coffers each month and few customers bother to challenge the figures.

I don’t think, having worked in the Industry for 40 years, they do “routinely overestimate “ they have to use the customers previous consumption to estimate and if they were found to be doing as you suggest then Ofgem should come down on them like a ton of bricks. Don’t get me wrong - I am not defending the current suppliers ... S_A’s experience is only too typical .... the whole industry is a shambles ....