Good News stories

[oddoneout]

Today is 25 November.

Dare one hope - as there has been no news about it - that they are no longer doing the C*******s C*r*l C*mp*t*t**n?

That would be really good news

I've just searched for it and the only references coming up are for 2023, when the deadline for entries was 1st November, so I think it safe to assume it ain't happening this year.

[johncorrigan]

As the years go by I become more and more fascinated by octopuses. I loved this story from BBC Wales.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-wales-60516908

[Pulcinella]

Zero standing charge energy tariffs to be introduced.
These will certainly be investigated here, given that we have solar panels (and a battery) so use very little from the grid (though the past month has been dire!).

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2024/dec/12/british-energy-firms-zero-standing-charge-tariff-ofgem-martin-lewis

[oddoneout]

Zero standing charge energy tariffs to be introduced.
These will certainly be investigated here, given that we have solar panels (and a battery) so use very little from the grid (though the past month has been dire!).

https://www.theguardian.com/money/20...m-martin-lewis

I was on a genuine zero standing charges tariff many years ago, from Equipower, which was set up to address such social disparity issues. When I switched to them from N-Power I immediately saved a third on my bills without changing the way I used electricity in my(all electric) home as, apart from the lack of standing charges, there wasn't the stupid sliding scale of unit charges that meant the more juice you used the lower the unit cost. There was just a single unit cost, although as I was on a E7 meter the nighttime rate was still lower. The big boys didn't like it and after several years managed to get the company effectively shut down. I was transferred to SSE(the supplier for Equipower), who claimed they would maintain the zero SC, but having acquired lots of new customers with no effort needless to say they did then, after a while, impose SC. I complained to various bodies about the deception/lies, pointing out that if I had known that was what they were going to do I would have looked at what other companies(not trying the same scam) had to offer.
I have my doubts about the extent to which the proposals will actually have the desired effect as I am still of the opinion that SC have become the way companies have maintained their profits, given the recent very large hikes. Yes, I know what they are supposed to cover, and that costs of delivering the goods have risen, but even so...
I think the priority has to be removing SC from pre-payment meters. Such customers are already paying more for their electricity that way and I've heard from a couple of acquaintances the effects that SC have, seeing how much disappears from a £10 top-up, when standing charges costs have to be paid before any usable credit goes on the account - even worse if the emergency credit buffer has had to be used.

[Serial_Apologist]

I was on a genuine zero standing charges tariff many years ago, from Equipower, which was set up to address such social disparity issues. When I switched to them from N-Power I immediately saved a third on my bills without changing the way I used electricity in my(all electric) home as, apart from the lack of standing charges, there wasn't the stupid sliding scale of unit charges that meant the more juice you used the lower the unit cost. There was just a single unit cost, although as I was on a E7 meter the nighttime rate was still lower. The big boys didn't like it and after several years managed to get the company effectively shut down. I was transferred to SSE(the supplier for Equipower), who claimed they would maintain the zero SC, but having acquired lots of new customers with no effort needless to say they did then, after a while, impose SC. I complained to various bodies about the deception/lies, pointing out that if I had known that was what they were going to do I would have looked at what other companies(not trying the same scam) had to offer.
I have my doubts about the extent to which the proposals will actually have the desired effect as I am still of the opinion that SC have become the way companies have maintained their profits, given the recent very large hikes. Yes, I know what they are supposed to cover, and that costs of delivering the goods have risen, but even so...
I think the priority has to be removing SC from pre-payment meters. Such customers are already paying more for their electricity that way and I've heard from a couple of acquaintances the effects that SC have, seeing how much disappears from a £10 top-up, when standing charges costs have to be paid before any usable credit goes on the account - even worse if the emergency credit buffer has had to be used.

I think standing charges should be abolished altogether - they are a venal punishment, both for elderly folk who can hardly afford to heat their homes and for helping to counteract global warming.

[Serial_Apologist]

This evening I succeeded in getting my landline phone working once again, following several days during which for some inexplicable reason I was unable to phone out, although incoming calls were unaffected. In the end I decided just to switch off the computer and wireless connector for half an hour, and then switch back on, and, hey presto, the phone was working fine. Huge relief because I haven't yet worked out how to operate the smart phone I've had for three years, but am hoping to rectify this over the Christmas period (when from quickly perusing the schedules nothing appears worth watching or listening to) with the assistance of Helpful Books, specially written in the simplest way possible for technophobes such as myself.

[kernelbogey]

Now that the winter solstice has passed - this morning - in a short while, the days will start slowly to get longer: Hooray!

[smittims]

Yes, indeed. But am I alone on feeling it's actually darker in the mornings for a while (regardless of cloud, etc.) ? It seems to be lighter in the evenings first. Is this the 'wobble' in the Earth's axis?

[Pulcinella]

Yes, indeed. But am I alone on feeling it's actually darker in the mornings for a while (regardless of cloud, etc.) ? It seems to be lighter in the evenings first. Is this the 'wobble' in the Earth's axis?

Yes it is; particularly exacerbated here by heavy rain this morning.

This (I hope shareable) was in yesterday's Times:

https://www.thetimes.com/article/6b93f426-4be1-4328-a283-01532888eb5d?shareToken=33826bd35e6aeb3af6aef88c302d84ae

[smittims]

Thanks, that;s interesting. Maybe I ought to read the papers!

I do think 2024 as been the wettest year I remember for a long time.

[oddoneout]

I read in a garden related article in the Guardian yesterday that 'solstice' comes from 'sol stit' in reference to the pause that was observed in ancient times before the times of sunrise and sunset began to change.
Something that lifted the spirits here yesterday was a lovely sunset, a sky full of pastel colour with the bare trees black against it. All the more appreciated as, although we have had quite a bit of sun and blue sky recently, actual sunsets have been lacking - it's at most just been a brief bit of pink or apricot wash low on the horizon.

[vinteuil]

Yes, indeed. But am I alone on feeling it's actually darker in the mornings for a while (regardless of cloud, etc.) ? It seems to be lighter in the evenings first.

... yes : the sun still goes on rising later and later until 27 December, and we have to wait until 4 January before the sun rises a little earlier - but the sun has actually been setting a little later since 17 December. The change is very gradual until we're well in to January / February.
.

[smittims]

That's most interesting, thanks. I had assumed it was later sunrise-earlier sunset until the solstice and then the reverse. All the same,I welcome the later sunsets , so that is good news.

[oddoneout]

Getting my errands and the Christmas provisions done the past few days has been rather a trial due to problems with a duff knee/leg(very painful and not working reliably - cause as yet unknown) but having to take the car rather than use the bus* had an unexpected bonus outcome yesterday. Lidl had one of their 'waste not' boxes left on the packing shelf and a cursory look at the contents prompted me to buy it, knowing that not only could actually get it home(not possible when using the bus), but that there would be plenty to share with my friend as well. She has been having a difficult time the past 4 years or so and I often share surpluses from my garden or from these £1-50 boxes.
This one was a real bumper of a box - part I imagine of their pre-shutdown clearout. No partridges in a pear tree but:
1 large spring cabbage, 1 large head of broccoli, large bag of sweet potatoes, 1kg net yellow peppers, 500g punnet white grapes, large pack blueberries, 500g tray organic vine tomatoes, 1 aubergine, 1kg bag carrots.
When I dropped it off this morning it turned out the timing couldn't have been better; she was having a rough time and the box shareout meant not having to think what she needed and organise getting it.

* having just got the route past my road restored after a 10 week closure, the congestion is so bad at the supermarket drop-off that it is being missed out and the next stop is being used instead, which is quite a walk away even before the walking to and round the three shops, and a bit too much of a facer with a loaded shopping trolley to drag back to the stop(no seat for recovery either) as well.

[teamsaint]

That's most interesting, thanks. I had assumed it was later sunrise-earlier sunset until the solstice and then the reverse. All the same,I welcome the later sunsets , so that is good news.

And for those who might be interested but not aware, the amount by which the length of days increases and decreases is at its greatest around the equinoxes, and at its smallest around the solstices.