h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

My friend (training to be a mental health nurse)
just ICQed me this :
"I here from work that the nhs is on full alert now. Food running out, lots of nurses cant get in. Sounds like a good reason to have a few more days off when I have to go back on sat."
His spelling mistakes, not mine.

News just on the radio......

Esso have gone completely BONKERS

New deliveries of fuel gone up in price.

2p per litre on petrol, 4p per litre on deisel.............

The company is blaming increased crude prices..

Madness, madness, madness!!!!!!!!!!

'G'

Which just goes to show that even if the government had reduced the fuel duty, the price wouldn't have come down

But it wouldn't have gone up......

Where do you live, Phil? Can't be the North of Scotland, where the fuel prices are crippling. If it were I reckon you would be cheering the blockaders on, but you obviously like kicking the worst off in the teeth. The price of fuel doesn't effect the rich, they can afford £1 a litre, but those not in cities, or not so well off, it is money that they cannot afford. A well but I am sure that doesn't bother you at all.....
BCNU - Crescent

You're right it doesn't bother me. I don't drive. I don't live in the N of Scotland either.
You yourself have said that people shouldn't be so selfish. Get them to get rid of the car then. A car is a very selfish thing to have.
As for cheering the blockaders, it was commented earlier I think that there was only 30 something% who would support the actions when it started to inconvinence them. I do not support the direct action they are deciding to use. I think the tax should be higher to discourage car use even further.
And before you say that 'You're all right and you don't care about anybody else' guess what you're right. I make my life choices including where I want to live and what I want to do for a career. Everybody else can make their own.

I think that there is a lot of difference between living in an area where there is a public transport infrastructure and living in an area where you have to be dependant on cars regardless of whether it is percieved as selfish or not.

Having worked with voluntary groups in the Highlands region I know how neccessary cars are. AFter all there are areas of Norfolk that have only one bus a week.

However I live in an area where I have good links and so I choose to leave my car at home most of the time.

What does annoy me intensely though is the Government claiming that to drop tax would harm essential services when in the last couple of budgets they claimed that increases in fuel duty would be devoted to improving public transport.

The freedom of choice is something, which alas, is not available to everyone. Some people have to accept the s**t that life has dealt them with little chance of altering it. Around here, there is one bus service a week (if your're lucky) which is a great help with getting to work!! There is no other form of public transport and therefore everyone HAS to travel by car, whether they like it or not.

The high fuel prices certainly don't affect me as much as many other people, but I like to feel I am broadminded enough to appreciate the crippling effect high fuel prices have on others.

Exactly Slug - you get my vote on that one.

After going through the entire backog of this thread, I decided to step in for a second or two to air some thoughts that have accumulated in my mind during the reading.
I have to admit that I haven't heard the latest updates as I am too lazy to go check the newspaper home pages and I'm not allowed to have a radio at my work station. Therefor, these thoughts may be seen as a bit off the mark in a few places, but I thought I'd share them with you anyways.

I agree with the peole of the thread that thinks that panic-buying is idiocy. Okay, we might get a bit low on milk, bread and butter, but we can live without it. It's not like we'll starve just because we can't have tea and toast in the morning. Sure, there is a routine in enjoying the daily newspaper along with a cuppa, but we can live without it.

I also agree with Crescent that the petrol prices hits the regions with poor public transportation, where people HAVE to have a car to get to work at all, or face a walk of 10-15 miles. A lot of my colleagues live about 15 miles from work and start their shifts at 7am. The problem with this is that the public transports doesn't start running until about 7:30am which means that if they do not have a car, they can not get to work in time. There has been talk of improving the bus connections, but they always seem to be promised, and then shut down as quickly as they are set up. And car pooling is used by most of my colleagues who live outside the convenience of the public transport.

And then a personal question to Phil. Do you really think it's selfish to own a car and live in an area of the country where there is insufficient public transport, if what you do for a living depends on your having a car to be able to do your work, ie meals-on-wheels, or home caring for elderly people? It's not as if you can force elderly people to evacuate their home just because they don't live where the public transport is accessible.

These ast couple of days, I have relied on public transport to get to work instead of using my car, and that doesn't mean I don't have any petrol in the car, because I do. At least enough for me to get to and from work for at least two days. BUt I decided to leave the car at home anyways.

I guess I could keep on ranting about this for a while longer, but unfortunately, I have to go to a meeting now, so I'll be quiet.

Lost. (originally from Sweden, where the price of a litre of unleaded costs around 10SEK = about £0.70 at the moment)

Unfortunately we don't all have a choice of transport, I agree with the idea of taxing people to make them use their cars less to help environmental problems, but to do this without ensuring a decent public transport system is in place is preposterous. Having just come back from Amsterdam, I've again been surprised at the quality and regularity of public systems in Europe, we seem to forget how bad the UK is until we're shown the light elsewhere. I'm all for doing everything we can to cut down on harmful gases being produced, but this isn't the right way to go about it.

As to the demonstrators, I think they've been doing a great job in blocking off the refinerys, but due to the scaremongering that the NHS is in crisis, they'll have to stop before the tide of public opinion turns agains them. Don't agree however with rolling roadblocks up and down the M1 etc., just when people want to be going home from work, this is just directly causing havoc for innocent folks wanting to get home for tea!

Longer note than expected....... phew!

ps. Marks & Spencers doesn't seem to be having a problem at all with fresh food supplies...... obviously due to their secret underground network, I smell a conspiracy afoot..

I've just heard that they are re-blocking some of the refineries in the face of today's price increases. You would have thought the petrol companies would have waited a few days until everyone had cooled down before whacking up the price!!

Earlier on the PM gave a press conference, saying he was delighted that blockades had finished and patronisingly telling the hauliers that protests will never win and the government will never give in to this sort of pressure - the arrogance ....Has no-one learnt anything?

Yes I have just got back from some top-level panic buying in M&S and it is a haven of peace and tranquility.

A car burning petrol is not the only transport option, especially when there is only one person in it.
As you work for a rather large employer LiS, at a site which the last time I was there had it's own train station. You'd have thought that they might do something to help employees working shifts get to and from work easily (a minibus service or similar) as the catchment area for employment is large.

As for the hauliers, if they're complaining that the road tax et al is so much higher here than on the continent, why don't they re-register their trucks over there. There is nothing stopping them doing so, thus leveling the playing field with the people they're complaining of poaching their work with lower prices.

Apparently, an ugly fight broke out in my local Tescos over some bread - one woman had loaded her trolley full of bread and another (disgruntled) woman was removing it and putting it in her trolley, claiming her need was greater. - call in reinforcements!!

Hopefully, it was all captured on the store's CCTV, then it and other similar incidents from other stores can be used to make up a "Caught on Camera" special showing how the British cope in a 'crisis'.

Phil in the north of Scotland it may very well be. Well technically no, you could walk, it is only 40 miles to your work, the shops, a doctors, a station. It is selfish of you to use that car after all.
BCNU - Crescent

I'm sure that there is plenty of housing nearer to the place of work.

Yep, but all way too expensive....
BCNU - Crescent

Let's face it, some people need to use a car more than others.

It's important to accept that in a community as large and widespread as h2g2 we're bound to have opposing views, as well as differing lifestyles, needs and wants.

It's important that everyone gets a chance to state their views. But none of us can claim to understand each others needs or lifestyles totally, because h2g2 merely gives us a small window into the world of others.

That's a long-winded way of saying, it's great share your views but be tolerant, you really don't *know*, you know..

Happy h2g2-ing Researchers...

Peta Haigh
Community Editor

I understand about way too expensive housing. That's why I live in a room as it's all I can afford