Grumble Thread

[oddoneout]

Mrs C and I headed for a day out yesterday. She had a bit of work to do in Dundee and after that we headed to an 'Exhibition Closing' in Pittenweem, a lovely East Neuk village. Very nice with free cake and coffee and I met an old acquaintance I hadn't seen in ages to add to the fun. Then we headed east along the coast to Kingsbarns, which has a fine beach and is decent for going for a dip and was not too bad yesterday, bar the jellyfish. Fish and chips seemed the order of the day so we headed to St Andrews and started to queue with the other tourists until we saw the carry-out menu and Fish Supper - £12.10. That was ten minutes queuing we'll never get back - no way we were paying that. We headed back to the motor and drove to Dundee and got a fine wee fish and chips for £8 and went up the Dundee Law, admired the spectacular view and fought off the gulls. It was a lovely day out but £12.10...that's just an outrage. We were imagining the days gone by when the kids were still around just how much it would have cost us. Rip-off Britain, I say.

Not necessarily simply rip off this time. Costs(overheads) in St Andrews may be higher than Dundee for a start - more of a tourist hotspot? - but as LHC has posted the costs of the raw ingredients have gone up significantly - the fish is affected by Russian sanctions and businesses are having to negotiate alternative supplies from Norway etc , potato supplies are being affected by drought, flour and oil by war in Ukraine. Chippies vary in the extent to which they have been able to absorb such increases, but the real problem will be the cost of electricity for the frying which will shut down a great many I fear.

If there are two of you perhaps have one in the queue as placeholder and one to scout out costs etc?

[Petrushka]

Not necessarily simply rip off this time. Costs(overheads) in St Andrews may be higher than Dundee for a start - more of a tourist hotspot? - but as LHC has posted the costs of the raw ingredients have gone up significantly - the fish is affected by Russian sanctions and businesses are having to negotiate alternative supplies from Norway etc , potato supplies are being affected by drought, flour and oil by war in Ukraine. Chippies vary in the extent to which they have been able to absorb such increases, but the real problem will be the cost of electricity for the frying which will shut down a great many I fear.

If there are two of you perhaps have one in the queue as placeholder and one to scout out costs etc?

A somewhat related grumble with the chip shop is that they always give you far too many chips with the result that a fair proportion get thrown away. I've not been to a chippy since the first lockdown temporarily closed them. I now find it far cheaper to do my own bought from the supermarket with no waste.

[french frank]

If there are two of you perhaps have one in the queue as placeholder and one to scout out costs etc?

Or buy one portion and share it between the two of you! Even cheaper than going to Dundee. Though ...

[cloughie]

A somewhat related grumble with the chip shop is that they always give you far too many chips with the result that a fair proportion get thrown away. I've not been to a chippy since the first lockdown temporarily closed them. I now find it far cheaper to do my own bought from the supermarket with no waste.

On the occasions we have f&c from our excellent village chippy we buy two small cod and a regular chips to share which costs us at the moment £10.60. At home we add a tin of Harry Ramsden’s Mushy Peas cooked in the microwave. There are usually too many chips so the spares go in the fridge to be reheated the following day as aperitif nibbles!

[johncorrigan]

On the occasions we have f&c from our excellent village chippy we buy two small cod and a regular chips to share which costs us at the moment £10.60. At home we add a tin of Harry Ramsden’s Mushy Peas cooked in the microwave. There are usually too many chips so the spares go in the fridge to be reheated the following day as aperitif nibbles!

Sounds like a fine chippy you have down there, cloughie. I can happily do without the mushy peas...never understood them. Normally we would get a fish supper and a single fish and share the chips. Personally I was just having a grump at being expected to cough up £24.20 for two fish suppers...as my brother said when I grouched at him about it, 'for that price in St Andrews I would expect a pimms to go with it'.

[HighlandDougie]

St Andrews always strikes me as a place to avoid like the plague. The combination of students, trippers, golfers and a wind off the North Sea which would cut you in half at times. And very expensive car parking so the ripping off of the poor misbegotten souls desperate for a fish supper somehow doesn’t surprise me. I wonder how much they were charging for my favourite - a pie supper. The Scots Pie does, though, have to be deep-fried. It makes the pastry extra-crispy and is rarely the greasy horror that the cooking method might suggest. Brown sauce as a condiment - bliss!

[DracoM]

This a.m. sent in meter readings - IMMEDIATE response from EON? Seems too LOW'
How b....y dare they!!

[Sir Velo]

This a.m. sent in meter readings - IMMEDIATE response from EON? Seems too LOW'
How b....y dare they!!

Take a photo of the meter and send it in?

[cloughie]

This a.m. sent in meter readings - IMMEDIATE response from EON? Seems too LOW'
How b....y dare they!!

Perhaps wherever in the World they are based they have not twigged that the hot July/August has led to less demand for their overpriced supply.

[oddoneout]

Perhaps wherever in the World they are based they have not twigged that the hot July/August has led to less demand for their overpriced supply.

Well, less for heating perhaps but more for cooling - fridges freezers and aircon - so balances out somewhat?
Unless it is way out of line for previous years' same period it's difficult to see why they are commenting - and even then I thought the idea was that we should be reducing our energy use for the good of the planet so you should be commended not questioned!

[DracoM]

<< and even then I thought the idea was that we should be reducing our energy use for the good of the planet so you should be commended not questioned!>>

Precisely!!

[french frank]

we should be reducing our energy use for the good of the planet

Yep, freezer has been decommissioned, so electricity consumption is down. Gas is just occasional use of gas hob for cooking and boiler for hot water - already on "eco setting" whatever that is. Fridge is now main electricity guzzler. Not sure how to deal with that.

[Joseph K]

Individuals limiting their use of energy are mere drops in the ocean (though energy companies probably like to frame the problem in terms of easing individuals' consciences).

The problem is using fossil fuels, which energy companies will do as long as it's profitable. That profit motive needs to disappear, those companies need to be nationalised and renewable energy sources used to substantially reduce carbon emissions.

[french frank]

Up to a point.

Individuals limiting their use of energy are mere drops in the ocean (though energy companies probably like to frame the problem in terms of easing individuals' consciences).

For individuals it's also about reducing their energy bills!

The problem is using fossil fuels, which energy companies will do as long as it's profitable. That profit motive needs to disappear, those companies need to be nationalised and renewable energy sources used to substantially reduce carbon emissions.

What any individual does is still only a drop in the ocean, though, even if it amounts to voting for parties/policies which do aim to tackle the fossil fuel problem. Did I read recently that a majority of Conservative voters were in favour of nationalising the energy industry? [Health warning on link but it's what I said]

[Joseph K]

Up to a point.



For individuals it's also about reducing their energy bills!



What any individual does is still only a drop in the ocean, though, even if it amounts to voting for parties/policies which do aim to tackle the fossil fuel problem. Did I read recently that a majority of Conservative voters were in favour of nationalising the energy industry? [Health warning on link but it's what I said]

Yes, I think I've posted here before a a clip where members of the public are enthused by socialist policies only be turned off when they discover a certain politician who would enact them! Establishment propaganda, false consciousness and cognitive dissonance are the phrases that spring uncontrollably to mind.

Reducing bills is nice if you can do it. Coordinated, collective action is required I agree and since we failed at that when it came to voting for sane policies, a strike is what's needed. https://dontpay.uk/