Covid?

Brexit?

Both?

I notice it’s taken McDonald’s to run out of milkshakes for it to actually cause people to lose their shit.

I read that 14,000 EU lorry drivers left jobs in the UK since brexit, and only 600 have returned.

Covid caused loss of tests to be cancelled.

 

2 hours ago, boltondiver said:

Captain Hindsight 

Yes

My doom and gloom is a very recent affliction. 🙂

2 hours ago, Casino said:

Anyway, i do suspect brexit is playing a part in all this, but i cant be arsed arguing with bozos spokesman on here

 

What might be interesting would be to see gas prices across the EU maybe 3 years ago and compare em with now

 

Presumably, theyll all have increased at similar rates?

https://www.ft.com/content/0fba039b-9e1a-413f-aa3a-7478d02ef3a5

Quote

Surging gas and electricity costs are forcing European governments to discuss billions of euros in aid for households and stricken suppliers, as concern mounts over a deepening winter energy crisis.

EU energy ministers will meet this week to discuss national responses to a surge in wholesale gas prices, amid concern that they will jeopardise Europe’s post-pandemic economic recovery and undermine Brussels’ plans for ambitious but costly green reforms. Italy is expected this week to unveil a multibillion-euro support package for households.

A source at the Italian finance ministry with direct knowledge said “a plausible amount to tackle the issue [of soaring energy costs] could reach up to €4.5bn”. Rome has already spent €1bn on intervening directly in the energy market to cut consumer prices. Italy covers more than two-thirds of its energy needs with imports.

Italy’s plans follow Spain’s decision last week to raid what it says are energy companies’ excess profits and provide tax breaks to consumers. Companies are expected to mount a legal challenge to the move, which has driven down share prices. France has already announced a €100 subsidy for almost 6m low-income households.

The UK’s government is also considering providing energy companies with emergency state-backed loans to take on unprofitable customers from failing smaller suppliers, and has admitted that several companies could go bust in days.

Haven't got those figures, butthis from the FT yesterday would indicate that those all across Europe are suffering from the Gas hike as much as we are. 

 

Cahart for 4 Euro nations 2011-21 here:

https://www.bruegel.org/2021/09/is-europes-gas-and-electricity-price-surge-a-one-off/

 

Worryingly low ale stocks in DAUBHILL Lidl earlier...

Loads of cheapish selloffs though will update pissheadery thread later...

There are people panic buying in Tesco according to the missus.

I reminded her that we still have ten fathoms of bog roll and 4 furlongs of pasta left over from the Great Covid Shop of March 2020.

13 minutes ago, ZiggyStardust said:

https://www.ft.com/content/0fba039b-9e1a-413f-aa3a-7478d02ef3a5

Haven't got those figures, butthis from the FT yesterday would indicate that those all across Europe are suffering from the Gas hike as much as we are. 

 

Cahart for 4 Euro nations 2011-21 here:

https://www.bruegel.org/2021/09/is-europes-gas-and-electricity-price-surge-a-one-off/

 

Yep. Doesn't take too much looking for.

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/hu/MEMO_16_310

A plan from 2016 covering EU's plans for gas. Absolutely fine, no problems, however they've been stuffed like anyone else.

As for our gas, we get it as lng via ships, from our own fields (40%) or from pipelines which run through Europe from Russia etc or direct from Norway.

https://www.energy-uk.org.uk/our-work/generation/gas-generation/gas-supplies.html

Seems eu as a whole produces a similar amount of its own gas to us, around 40%.

So we're all importing the stuff and are subject to the vagaries of doing so.

Just learning that one of our problems has arisen from the old "rough" field no longer being used by centrica. Heard yesterday it had been leaking, but it also apparently had a fire. In the end centric dropped its use as a storage facility. As a commentator just said, "I'm sure they're regretting it now"

Whether they reinstate it who knows, but it's not going to alleviate current situation. 

Co-op near me is fucking empty. Not a piece of meat on the shelves.

5 minutes ago, Youri McAnespie said:

Worryingly low ale stocks in DAUBHILL Lidl earlier...

Loads of cheapish selloffs though will update pissheadery thread later...

Well, I've recently been instructed the re-start my wine production facility. As such I've got a few bottle's worth on the go, but it's not going to be ready any time soon. 

Missed a trick, though it does need the season to produce its bounty first.

When the price of bing increases or there is a shortage I will become concerned. 

Just now, Escobarp said:

When the price of bing increases or there is a shortage I will become concerned. 

Good time to produce your own I reckon. Soon be millions unemployed, all looking for something to alleviate the boredom.

As the government has now done a deal with the fertiliser company, the opportunity to get into co2 production has now gone. Boo.

6 minutes ago, Escobarp said:

When the price of bing increases or there is a shortage I will become concerned. 

Said it before, the govt should have let bing dealers sort Brexit, we'd have been drowning in ambrosia by now.

Tory cunts.

8 minutes ago, Escobarp said:

When the price of bing increases or there is a shortage I will become concerned. 

Should I be stocking up on herbs?

Sounds like that trucker is blaming the government to me.

Traitor.

No cauliflowers in aldi

But loads of meat.

The germans are trying to give us diabetes as punishment for winning all the war

 

4 minutes ago, Mr Grey said:

All past Governments over the last 30 years.

If they spent less time complaining and murdering prostitutes, they’d be able to get more stuff delivered.

 

40 minutes ago, Spider said:

Sounds like that trucker is blaming the government to me.

Traitor.

Sounds like the mard cunt needs to get a grip.

1 minute ago, Mr Grey said:

There is that, they do come with a bad rep, b&q sales figures are pretty good though  🔨

I was referring to the government 😁

They don't just murder prostitutes, they watch Netflix on their iPads wedged on the dash, doing 90mph in the lashing down rain, veering onto the hard shoulder and wiping out a pair of pensioners whose Nissan Micra had broke down...

3 minutes ago, Mr Grey said:

He has put forward the shit side, unfortunately he hasn't mentioned the good side, health and safety and a lady in every town 🥰

I wouldn't say prozzies are 'ladies' other than anatomically.

 

Edited September 21, 20214 yr by Youri McAnespie

3 minutes ago, Mr Grey said:

And some fucker who used to work for the CPS, probably let a few off 😃

Backbone of Britain.

My dad was a trucker, I used to go all over the place with him during the summer holidays.

Ive thrown bottles of piss onto more hard shoulders than I can count.

1 hour ago, Mr Grey said:

Pinched of Social Media:

From an ex-Trucker:

So, you are running out of food on the shelves, fuel in the garages, you can’t buy things you need, because the shops can’t get their supplies.
Why is that?  
A shortage of goods?  No
A shortage of money?  No
A shortage of drivers to deliver the goods?  Well, sort of.
There isn’t actually a shortage of drivers, what we have, is a shortage of people who can drive, that are willing to drive any more.  You might wonder why that is.  I can’t answer for all drivers, but I can give you the reason I no longer drive.  Driving was something I always yearned to do as a young boy, and as soon as I could, I managed to get my driving licence, I even joined the army to get my HGV licence faster, I held my licence at the age of 17.  It was all I ever wanted to do, drive trucks, I had that vision of being a knight of the roads, bringing the goods to everyone, providing a service everyone needed.  What I didn’t take into account was the absolute abuse my profession would get over the years.
I have seen a massive decline in the respect this trade has, first, it was the erosion of truck parking and transport café’s, then it was the massive increase in restricting where I could stop, timed weight limits in just about every city and town, but not all the time, you can get there to do your delivery, but you can’t stay there, nobody wants an empty truck, nobody wants you there once they have what they did want.
Compare France to the UK.  I can park in nearly every town or village, they have marked truck parking bays, and somewhere nearby, will be a small routier, where I can get a meal and a shower, the locals respect me, and have no problems with me or my truck being there for the night.
Go out onto the motorway services, and I can park for no cost, go into the service area, and get a shower for a minimal cost, and have freshly cooked food, I even get to jump the queues, because others know that my time is limited, and respect I am there because it is my job.  Add to that, I even get a 20% discount of all I purchase.  Compare that to the UK £25-£40 just to park overnight, dirty showers, and expensive, dried (under heat lamps) food that is overpriced, and I have no choice but to park there, because you don’t want me in your towns and cities.
Ask yourself how you would feel, if doing your job actually cost you money at the end of the day, just so you could rest.
But that isn’t the half of it.  Not only have we been rejected from our towns and cities, but we have also suffered massive pay cuts, because of the influx of foreign drivers willing to work for a wage that is high where they come from, companies eagerly recruited from the eastern bloc, who can blame them, why pay good money when you can get cheap labour, and a never ending supply of it as well.  Never mind that their own countries would suffer from a shortage themselves, that was never our problem, they could always get people from further afield if they needed drivers.
We were once seen as knights of the road, now we are seen as the lepers of society.  Why would anyone want to go back to that?
If you are worried about not getting supplies on your supermarket shelves, ask your local council just how well they cater for trucks in your district.
I know Canterbury has the grand total of zero truck parking facilities, but does have a lot of restrictions, making it difficult for trucks to stop anywhere.
Do you want me to go back to driving trucks?  Give me a good reason to do so.  Give anyone a good reason to take it up as a profession.
Perhaps once you work out why you can’t, you will understand why your shelves are not as full as they could be.
I tried it for over 30 years, but will never go back, you just couldn't pay me enough.

That's what you get when you demand free delivery of your Amazon packages. Or your incoming goods if you are a Tesco buyer

Jobs in distribution have been totally devalued

 

Long day

https://praguebusinessjournal.com/czechia-has-a-massive-truck-driver-shortage/

1 minute ago, Mr Grey said:

My Dad worked for Howaths from Bolton Market for a while, delivered mushrooms to Selby, Strawberries from Somerset, stayed in a caravan a couple of time, great gypo times 👌

Convoy, gives us a big 10 4 bitches.  

In the 80’s, he run containers from Felixstowe to pretty much everywhere.

After customs had checked the contents of the container and released them, they would seal them with a metal strip that could only be broken by the end recipient. If it had been tampered with, the driver would cop any consequences if anything was missing.

For a small cash exchange, the customs officer could sometimes be persuaded to give the seals to the driver on the understanding that he would put them on within the Felixstowe area.

As a result, loads of lorries would pull over on the industrial estates nearby and the containers would be given a “second inspection” by the driver before the seals went on.

Trouble was, drivers never knew what the cargo was, so it was a proper gamble. You didn’t get many chances either, so you really had to hope for the best.

I remember one time, my dad excitedly opened a container rubbing his hands and praying for a bumper payday.

It was full to the brim with rolls of wallpaper.

He barely said a word from Essex to Manchester. Fuming.

10 minutes ago, Spider said:

In the 80’s, he run containers from Felixstowe to pretty much everywhere.

After customs had checked the contents of the container and released them, they would seal them with a metal strip that could only be broken by the end recipient. If it had been tampered with, the driver would cop any consequences if anything was missing.

For a small cash exchange, the customs officer could sometimes be persuaded to give the seals to the driver on the understanding that he would put them on within the Felixstowe area.

As a result, loads of lorries would pull over on the industrial estates nearby and the containers would be given a “second inspection” by the driver before the seals went on.

Trouble was, drivers never knew what the cargo was, so it was a proper gamble. You didn’t get many chances either, so you really had to hope for the best.

I remember one time, my dad excitedly opened a container rubbing his hands and praying for a bumper payday.

It was full to the brim with rolls of wallpaper.

He barely said a word from Essex to Manchester. Fuming.

Some Wallpapers...

Cost the earth.

Shand-Kydd for example.

My old man would gazump those less skilled by quoting he'd do a house/rooms using less rolls

If your dad had the quality stuff he could've nabbed a dozen rolls and put his feet up the rest of the summer.

Edited September 21, 20214 yr by Youri McAnespie

Just now, Mr Grey said:

Did he ever bring some Nigerian friends back for Ugandan dollar 😃

My ex' dad was a trucker, the conversation went...

"Did the A1, stopped at services, on to the M1 towards Leeds, then on to the M62 where I had a coffee at J12 services... etc" , fuck me, he bored the shit out of me, John the Trucker, I still have nightmares about the cunt, waking up a 4am shouting M fucking 6! 

Aye

Dont get me wrong, for all the interesting stories that crop up, they are surrounded by hour after interminable hour of staring at a motorway.

My dad said one of the biggest lifesavers ever invented - EVER - were the rumble strips they put into the paint on the hard shoulder. The amount of truckers who would nod off in the 80’s and end up ploughed into a cortina was huge. The rumble strips genuinely woke up thousands of drivers and stopped catastrophes.

stressful job though. Did for my dad as he had a heart attack whilst out and about and that was that.